Indignation day has arrived for Lollapalooza-goers. The festival, which lands in Grant Park for its 11th year on July 31-Aug. 2, rolled out its hour-by-hour schedule Tuesday, with its inevitable conflicts.
An annual tradition is that each day’s two headliners don’t play back to back, but against one another on opposite sides of the park, making it tough for anyone to catch both. This year, the choices come down to Paul McCartney vs. the Weeknd on July 31, Metallica going against Sam Smith on Aug. 1, and Florence + the Machine vying with Bassnectar on closing night, Aug. 2. Those are all pretty clear-cut choices, so the collective angst about who to see should be at a minimum.
But the choices will be tougher on the undercard for all three days, though not as many as in previous years. As usual eight stages will host more than 130 performers and pack in more than 10 hours of music daily. The festival is sold out, with 100,000 fans expected to attend each day.
Here are some of the cruelest overlaps each day for festivalgoers:
July 31: Even Lollapalooza’s typically college-age demographic should be curious enough to pack the south end of the field for McCartney’s headlining set, at the expense of the Weeknd, who deserves better. Another gem overshadowed by McCartney’s gargantuan shadow is Flying Lotus, who should provide a fine respite for electronic-music fans tired of battling crowds. Still, the toughest choice for many will be the late-afternoon matchup between Alabama Shakes and the War on Drugs. Manic ravers St. Paul & the Broken Bones go opposite spooky electro-soul band Glass Animals – either choice provides a good reason to show up early.
Aug. 1: The day presents few dilemmas. With Metallica and Sam Smith, most Lolla-goers won’t have to flip a coin to decide where they want to be. Similarly, most fans won’t have to fret about hanging out at the north end of the park in the late afternoon and early evening for alternative-rappers Kid Cudi and Tyler the Creator, or at the south end, for Tame Impala (though whose idea was it to book the Australian psych-rockers in daylight hours?). Similarly timed appearances by pop singers Ryn Weaver and Charli XCX vs. country singer Sturgill Simpson continue the conflict-free theme.
Aug. 2: Brutal, just brutal – the early evening pits TV on the Radio against rising U.K. R&B singer FKA Twigs. She debuted an ambitious new show Sunday in New York and it looks like a doozy, but TV on the Radio consistently delivers the goods on stage. Twin Peaks is a must-see in the early going, but at the expense of Shakey Graves, whose blend of Americana and soul is worth checking out. To close things down, headliner Florence + the Machine will have the south end of the field all to herself, while Bassnectar and Nero split the EDM crowd.
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