When Inez Carrasquillo got the phone call asking her to work at Lollapalooza, she thought the festival needed her as a security guard. “I’m 6’1″ and 250 pounds, so I assumed they needed that,” she says with a laugh. But no, Chappelle Rowan wanted a strong, professional woman on stage. “I was really confused because I’m definitely not a backup dancer.”
On Thursday night, the pop star, known for her wild themes in every performance, took to the stage in front of the festival crowd wearing a wrestling mask, surrounded by bodybuilders and other athletes, and in front of a huge wrestling ring. rolling stone Rowan's set was described as “deserving of headlines,” and for many athletes, including Carrasquillo, it was a completely unexpected and once-in-a-lifetime experience to join her on stage.
Carrasquillo — who just days before Lollapalooza was named North America’s Strongest Woman during a competition in Canada — was selected for the show by Lawrence Scott, owner of Rockwell Barbell gym in Chicago. He says one of the show’s producers reached out to him a few weeks ago looking for “people with muscles, unique looks, tattoos” for the show. After sending him some photos of gym members, Rowan selected Scott and Carrasquillo to join him on the show.
“I love training because I can train by myself, so being in front of a crowd like that was crazy,” Carrasquillo says. “I also have autism, so it’s really hard to express myself the way I want to, so being able to get up on stage and lift some weights, like I do in the gym, was amazing.”
“Weightlifting is a subculture,” Scott adds. “We’re an unpopular sport that a lot of people don’t understand, so it was great to show a lot of people what it’s like.”
Carrasquillo also had no idea who Chappelle Rowan was. She and many of the other members of Rockwell’s hardcore lounge leaned more toward punk and death metal. (Carrasquillo names Dying Fetus and Peeling Flesh as two of her favorite artists.) “I never imagined I would do this,” she says.
During the “Naked in Manhattan” show, bikini-clad bodybuilders stood near Carrasquillo, directly behind Roan. During the show, the women held foam dumbbells and would show off their bodies to the audience.
“I love to train hard. And “I like to make it exciting there,” Burmeister says with a laugh. She got a call from her home gym, Quads, which she spontaneously considered choosing for the party.
Before the show, Burmeister, a Chicago attorney, recalls meeting a mother and daughter who had flown in from Oregon to see Rowan perform. Talking to them before the show made her go from “nervous to totally excited to put on a good show for them.”
“I was looking as far as I could see, but the crowd kept coming,” she says. “I’ve worked so hard to build my physique, and bodybuilding is something that can be received in so many different ways, so just to feel so much love with this was beautiful to me.”
Burmeister and the rest of the athletes even got to meet Roan before the show. “She was amazing, a really nice girl,” says Burmeister, who had heard of Roan but didn’t realize how big her audience was.
Upton, on the other hand, discovered Rowan's music a few months ago, and her music slowly became “the soundtrack to her summer.” She remembers watching her sing. Late Show Performing the song “Red Wine Supernova” and feeling enchanted by her music.
Although Upton is an ally and not a member of the LGBTQ community like Rowan, whose shows are known for being a very safe space for queer people, performing with Rowan was “good luck.” Upton devotes much of her training to working with trans people who struggle with gender dysphoria as they transition, “building their bodies to fit their gender identity.”
“I’ve never heard so many people cheering and chanting at the same time. It was electric and sent chills down my spine,” she says. “The minute we got the go-ahead, all the nerves went away. We were all there for Chappelle, but it felt like it was my show, too.”
“I don't think I'll ever feel this way again,” she adds.
