Some may still question Sombr’s overnight rockstar status, but he certainly doesn’t. The 21-year-old entered Lollapalooza Thursday like he owned the place, getting an escort to the stage in a classic muscle car and stepping out in a blaze, complete with feather boa, sunglasses, cigarette in mouth and margarita in hand.
The only other person who might be able to pull off that kind of bravado this weekend is Billy Corgan, whom Sombr has gleaned inspiration from in the past. While the Smashing Pumpkins frontman didn’t make an appearance with the young star (born Shane Michael Boose) like he did previously at April’s Coachella, other special guests did, including 5 Seconds Of Summer, who Sombr hailed as “the greatest band in the f—-ing world.”
The pop rock band ran through their own song “She Looks so Perfect” while Sombr basically milled about. It was an unnecessary touch and an odd pairing for Sombr’s ‘70s glam rock style. It’s not like the rising talent needed the extra lift anyway. He already drew the biggest crowd of the weekend up to this point with bodies stretching from the T-Mobile Stage back to the break at Balbo Street to hear signature hits “Undressed,” “12 to 12,” new song “Potential” and a few lines of Djo’s Chicago theme song “End of Beginning.”
Sombr is not the Lou Reed-Marc Bolan-Bowie messiah for the new millennium that some would claim him to be, but there is something special there under the surface that hasn’t even fully crested yet.
It’s quite incredible that in only a few years, the LaGuardia High dropout went from making music in the safe confines of his New York bedroom to playing the globe’s biggest stages with that level of confidence and swagger. All while still being open about his struggles with self-image, only making him more relatable to the young fanbase that has fed off his vulnerability anthems since the beginning.
“This next song is about my issues with body image, a struggle I’ve had my whole life,” he shared while introducing new song “My Body Isn’t Ready.” (In another recent baller move, he got “Obsession” star Inde Navarrette for the music video.) “If anyone out there looks in the mirror and doesn’t like what they see, know you’re beautiful and you’re loved and other people are going through it too,” he added.
Segueing into early hit “Back to Friends,” he went deeper on the matter. “You don’t only how much it means to me to see people showing up to my shows and seeing the reaction to the music. It reminds me why I wanted to do this in the first place,” he shared. “I’ve been in a dark mental state lately and really struggling so this is helping me a lot.”
With the stage motif designed like an urban construction zone, it further hinted at this “work in progress” theme that has become a big part of Sombr’s appeal. Give him a few years to fully grow into this rock God role thrust upon him, and he just might get there.
