Given its massive bill (six headliners included), two months offers ample enough time to formulate your Lollapalooza schedule. So right on queue, the Chicago-based extravaganza, which is set to take over Grant Park 58 days from now, has revealed its day-by-day breakdown. So what’d we got?
Friday features a clash of the UK titans as Coldplay and Muse play opposite ends of the park to close out day one. You can discuss this in the Lollapalooza thread in the Coldplay Live forum. And if that schedule wasn't enough of an "ouch," dance-inducers Ratatat and Girl Talk also hit the stage in the 8:00 hour. Another nasty conflict comes before the two main headliners: Bright Eyes opens for Coldplay, while A Perfect Circle plays before Muse. But all is not lost, especially with that swing slated for the North End featuring The Kills into Mountain Goats into Bright Eyes. Other solid picks for Friday include Sleigh Bells, Cults, Delta Spirit, and Smith Westerns.
On Saturday, Eminem and My Morning Jacket headline the festivities, with Cee-Lo Green opening for the former and Ween the latter. As for the day’s big conflicts? My Morning Jacket vs. Beirut, DFA 1979 vs. Big Audio Dynamite, and Lykke Li vs. Atmosphere are a few of the more nasty ones.
To close out the festival, you’ll have your choice of rock (Foo Fighters), hip hop (Kid Cudi), or electronica (Deadmau5). If you chose option one, then a camp out might be warranted, especially since Arctic Monkeys The Cars, and Titus Andronicus all play Q Music Unlimited prior to Dave Grohl and co.. Sunday features less noticeable conflicts than the two other days, but The Pains of Being Pure at Heart vs. Jay Electronica and Best Coast vs. Portugal. the Man are hard to swallow.
One-day passes are on sale for $90 beginning today. Three-day passes, priced at $215, also remain available. Visit the Lollapalooza website for complete ticketing info.
This summer will be Lollapalooza’s seventh year in Chicago as a destination festival, yet the three-day music event is celebrating a 20th anniversary.
There haven’t been 20 Lollapaloozas — the tours took a hiatus from 1997 to 2003, and 2004’s was canceled due to low ticket sales before the event was reborn on Chicago’s lakefront the following year. But the website and marketing for the concert package include a “time capsule” with photos and recollections from Lollas past, back to its 1991 founding by Jane’s Addiction leader Perry Farrell as a traveling, multistage festival.
The festival’s daily capacity will remain at 95,000 people, but this year they might have more room to roam. Charlie Jones, a partner in Lollapalooza’s organizers, the Texas-based C3 Presents, told the Sun-Times on Monday that changes to the layout will add several acres to the festival in Chicago’s downtown public park. (The footprint isn’t growing; the festival instead will utilize space it was allocated last year but did not use.) Much of that extra space will be in the softball fields west of Columbus Avenue, which last year was closed to traffic for the festival; Perry’s Stage, a tent for electronic acts curated by Lollapalooza founder and Jane’s Addiction leader Perry Farrell, will move there and double its capacity to about 15,000, Jones said. “That part is simply responding to the demand,” Jones said. “When we started, Perry’s area was on one of those little tiny shell stages in the north end by the rose gardens. Every year it reaches capacity, and we keep moving it. ... This is going to be the biggest tents you’ve ever seen.”
Other changes will include adjusting the schedule to improve foot traffic in and out of the main stages in Butler Field, which traditionally get jammed in the evenings. Jones said the festival is also adjusting the perimeter and tightening security to avoid a repeat of last year’s rash of fence jumpers.
Latest pictures of Coldplay at Rock am Ring festival, Germany (4th June 2011):
Pictures: swr3.de
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