Lollapalooza is filled with some of the most talented artists on the planet. The festival runs from Noon until 10 PM for four days in a row… but the fun doesn’t stop there. Lollapalooza hosts official after shows at some of the city's most popular venues like House of Blues, Metro, and Concord. On Tuesday this week, Metro hosted Anthony Pavel, MAX, and Jon Bellion for a show benefitting the Special Olympics. Nelarusky is hosted every year to support this incredible cause. This year marks the 11th annual Nelarusky.

Anthony Pavel started the night off with his band and they killed their set. His frequent collaborator was in attendance with him “Pink Slip.” Anthony and Pink Slip performed a lot of unreleased music from their collaborations which they call “Slip n’ Slide.” It’s always super cool to hear artists perform unreleased music especially when you are the first to hear it. Anthony showed off his smooth vocals and put on a great show before MAX and Jon Bellion came out.

Shortly after Anthony finished up, MAX was running out on stage singing “Savage” which is a collaboration between him, Whethan, and Flux Pavillion. The energy he brought to stage from the beginning of the set was out of this world. MAX was on stage going crazy to every song he performed and the crowd was feeling it. At one point, he grabbed his ukelele and showed the audience a different side of him. He was up there playing and singing his heart out and you could feel the passion he had. I’ve seen quite a few performances this summer and MAX is definitely one of the best I’ve seen.

After two incredible performances from Anthony Pavel and MAX, it was almost time for the amazing Jon Bellion. The crowd was going nuts waiting for him to come out. The Beautiful Mind Band came out, grabbed their instruments and were ready to play. Jon came out with a smile on his face and ready to perform in front a relatively smaller audience than usual. Jon and the band were killing every song and getting a ton of participation from the audience. During the performance, Jon took a few minutes to talk about the reason for the concert. He stressed the importance of helping others and giving back to those in need. He told the audience that it’s fun to perform for people but it’s bigger than that. It’s about doing things like performing for Special Olympics that makes it all worthwhile.

Nelarusky raised $45,000 for Special Olympics Illinois which is a huge contribution to the organization. This concert was much bigger than music and it was awesome to experience the event. Nelarusky has this concert annually at Metro Chicago during the week of Lollapalooza. If you are interested in volunteering or donating to Special Olympics visit http://www.specialolympics.org/.