Call it an Irish hello: A wide range of talent from the Emerald Isle will take center stage at Lollapalooza on the first day of the festival with five rising acts in the spotlight.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere really is a wave of new Irish music coming through, but I think it\u2019s seen across the board, even beyond music,\u201d said Robbie Cunningham, singer\/guitarist of the Dublin folk trio Amble, who play at 5:15 p.m. on the Airbnb Stage, breaking out in 2025 with the album \u201cReverie.\u201d According to the band\u2019s label, Warner Records, it was the biggest Irish album release since 2018.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think there\u2019s a real moment in Ireland right now,\u201d he said, referencing A-list actors like Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal and Cillian Murphy, in addition to music bigwigs like Hozier and Fontaines D.C. \u201cAnd I think it just takes one band or one person to go and do it for other people to follow [who] think, \u2018I could do that, too.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n
Cunningham\u2019s theory zeroes in on a phenomenon the Los Angeles Times <\/i>has likened to a \u201cGreen Wave\u201d and The Week <\/i>has described as an insatiable hunger for Irish traditional music as of late, especially among younger listeners, even comparing the interest to modern-day Beatlemania. According to the Irish Recorded Music Association, the market share for Irish music has tripled since 2024, reaching 21.5% of the top 100 sales in 2025, driven by big releases from Hozier (a Lolla alum) as well as Amble, CMAT and Kingfishr (the latter two are also on the festival bill this year).<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you look at someone like Hozier, he has had this crazy moment in the last five years, and he\u2019s now bigger than anyone ever expected. And I find it interesting he\u2019s taking other Irish bands on his tour with him in the United States. Does that correlate? I think it does,\u201d said Avery Liardon, global festival talent buyer for Lollapalooza organizers C3 Presents. Notably, Amble opened several Hozier dates in America in 2025, including Fenway Park. Liardon also points to another relevant example of this sensation: when Chappell Roan, relatively unknown at the time, opened for Olivia Rodrigo a few months before playing in front of one of the biggest crowds ever recorded at Lollapalooza in 2024. \u201cI think that might be the same Hozier\/Amble effect of it all,\u201d said Liardon. \u201cEverything is one degree away from everything else.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the talent booker notes she and her team weren\u2019t \u201cconsciously thinking about\u201d booking Irish bands for the 2026 edition of the festival, you can\u2019t deny the team is thinking more internationally in recent years. Coupled with the fact that Lollapalooza now has six other international editions (Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Paris, India and Berlin), the festival has also seen wild success with the K-pop market and has the first Filipino band, SB19, taking the stage in Chicago this year.<\/p>\n
Plus, as Liardon explains, there is a domino effect that affects the way acts are chosen for Lolla \u2014 a complicated web of working with agents, managers and other partners who have \u201cthousands of bands to pitch\u201d while they eye ongoing trends. As the profile of Irish bands continue to rise (Amble has the same team as Hozier), they become more covetable.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen Amble comes over, they sell out all the rooms all over the U.S.,\u201d she said. \u201cSo, we\u2019re not just booking because we\u2019re doing any favors \u2026 there\u2019s a real business here with a band like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s an effect Amble taps into on its new single \u201cThe Swell,\u201d which will be featured on an upcoming record in 2027 (expect some new material during their Lolla set). \u201cIt\u2019s a song about us evolving and growing within the band, where you go from playing 300- to 400-cap rooms to then literally for 30,000 or 40,000 people. It\u2019s an insane experience for the body and the mind,\u201d said Amble instrumentalist\/vocalist Ois\u00edn McCaffrey. He wrote the song and is looking forward to performing it in Chicago where many of his family live and will be in the crowd.<\/p>\n
Remarkably, Amble only fully got together in 2024 with modest pub gigs; the band\u2019s first show in Chicago was that fall at Schubas. At the time, McCaffrey worked as a data scientist for Pfizer and Cunningham and fellow bandmate Ross McNerney were teachers. All three have since quit their day jobs. \u201cWe all love playing the shows and we owe it to the crowd every night to give the best of ourselves,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s the message of \u2018The Swell.\u2019 It\u2019s like a pinch me song, when you realize you are doing the coolest thing you could ever possibly do in your life.\u201d<\/p>\n
As Amble has found, young people in particular have been flocking to the band\u2019s music, as recently seen at other fests like Bonnaroo. \u201cI think it\u2019s the authenticity that we\u2019re channeling out to the world,\u201d McCaffrey said, speculating what\u2019s behind the youth explosion for Irish music. \u201cEvery time people come to the shows, it\u2019s just so real and there\u2019s nothing programmed. The gigs are such a huge singalong that it feels like a very communal experience, and I think people leave the shows feeling like they know each other in a way, too. It\u2019s a beautiful thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s a look at the other Irish bands playing Lollapalooza, all on Thursday:<\/i><\/p>\n
Kingfishr: <\/b>Irish trad music gets a modern eye with this Limerick trio who broke out with the 2025 album \u201cHalcyon\u201d (1:45 p.m., Tito\u2019s Stage).<\/p>\n Limerick trio Kingfishr plays at 1:45 p.m. Thursday on Tito\u2019s Stage.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n Chalk: <\/b>Gritty post-punk-meets-industrial act out of Belfast who\u2019d fit well on a lineup with Nine Inch Nails (5:40 p.m., BMI Stage).<\/p>\n
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