lollapalooza festival – INDIE ROCK CAFE

Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails are reported to be two of the “headliners” at Lollapalooza 2008, according to a wishy-washy report published by The Chicago Tribune last night.

The Tribune article seems to play in to the non-stop rumor game – not a good thing for a journalism organization.

The headline of the article itself implies Radiohead will headline Lollapalooza, the opening paragraph of the story states they are “expected” to perform at Lolla and the following paragraph states Radiohead has been “confirmed” and in the same paragraph the Tribune’s catch word of the day – “expected” – appears again.

That’s not just lousy journalism, but the hype comes suspiciously close to the implication that the Tribune is trying to pump some life into a local festival that some readers of this blog have ‘written off’ for 2008. Lollapalooza was canceled in 2004 after weak ticket sales, but came back strong in 2005 with some 65,000 tickets sold.

All I Need – Radiohead from In Rainbows

Isobel – Bjork (2007 Lollapalooza headline artist)

Listen to past Lollapalooza performances from archive.org

Furthermore, aside from the fact (despite the Tribune’s rumor-mill reporting) that not one artist or group has been officially confirmed to perform at this year’s Lollapalooza Festival, the Tribune makes no mention of the usually costly tickets (ranging from $65 a day up to $195 for a three-day pass in 2007, a 30% increase from the previous year’s price of $150).

Lollapalooza 2008 is set to take place in Chicago’s Grant Park August 1-3. Early bird tickets go on sale March 25th. Apparently, the early bird tickets that went on sale this week were gone in a matter of hours with many potential ticket buyers complaining about the reliability of the online early bird purchasing process.

According to the Tribune (and obviously you’ll have to take this with a grain of salt), Lollapalooza festival organizers will release the entire lineup sometime in the ‘next few weeks.’

Let’s just hope that the long wait will be worth it in the end, although it would be nice if they held the event in any other month but August (got to sell those drinks to make the vendor unions happy).

If last year’s lineup at Lollapalooza is any indication of the lineup for 2008, then it’s safe to say there’s going to be a lot more lolla than looza.

Here is an article about last year’s Lollapalooza, including videos of the performers.

If you didn’t hear about last year’s controversy regarding AT&T’s censoring of Pearl Jam, check out the link to read about it.

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Over the next couple of days, IRC will publish complete updates on the latest news for 2008 music festivals, including Bonnaroo, SXSW, Coachella, Rothbury, Bamboozle, Sziget, Glastonbury, Austin City Limits, Virgin Festival and many others.

Next month, a comprehensive guide will be published and feature all of 2008’s indie-relevant music festivals including the latest news, ticket info, line-ups, artist profiles, discussions, photos, MP3s and videos of past performances.

Lollapalooza (August 1-3, 2008) – While ticket sale dates and the line-up for Lollapalooza 2008 have yet to be announced (as of 2/26/08), rumors are flying everywhere about which artists and groups might be playing at this year’s Lolllapalooza.

If the lineup is anything like last year’s (see flashback to 07 below), there will be more lolla than looza.

The following artists are rumored to be set for Lollapalooza, according to the official website’s board moderator sixtimes:

The rumor mill seems to be favoring the following artists as headliners: The Smashing Pumpkins (not a SP reunion, so it’s really Billy Corgan and the band), Radiohead (who wouldn’t love that, especially since In Rainbows is crazy popular in and of itself with a whole new generation), Wilco, Bjork, The National, Tom Petty and The Police.

Rumor mongering is dangerous, so let’s just say that as soon as the line-up is announced, it will be published here (got folks in the mix but they are staying mum right now).

In the meantime, let’s warp back to six months go for a memory fest of 2007’s killer lineup:

Headlining Lollapalooza 2007 was an eclectic mix of popular alternative, indie, rock, mainstream and electronica artists like Pearl Jam, Daft Punk, Modest Mouse, Ben Harper, Muse, Interpol, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Patti Smith, The Roots, Amy Winehouse, LCD Soundsystem, Spoon, The Black Keys, Kings of Leon and others.

The headliners did not come at the expense of ‘second-bill’ artists and groups Tokyo Police Club, !!!, My Morning Jacket, Yo La Tengo, Ted Leo and Pharmacists, Snow Patrol, CSS, Annuals, Blue October and many other indie artists who rocked Grant Park.

Where is Lollapalooza? The annual event is held in Chicago’s Grant Park on the shores Lake Michigan right off the Miracle Mile. Here’s a map of last year’s festival grounds.

Last year, festival goers endured blistering heat and suffocating humidity (as did festival attendees at the Austin City Limits fest in Austin).

Some folks may not realize this, but it’s a fact that festival organizers deliberately schedule such outdoor summer events during the ‘doggiest’ days of summer. Why? They sell more drinks at ridiculous prices.

Now, in fairness to event organizers, there are tremendous costs to put events like popular music festivals together. Still, don’t shed a tear for the organizers, corporate sponsors and vendors, they are raking in money.

The other point is that most music festivals are attended by students – whether college age or under – who obviously have the most free time during the summer months.

Tag: lollapalooza festival

Chicago Tribune’s Wishy-Washy Report of ‘Headliners’ for Lollapalooza 2008 Lineup Feeds Rumor Mill

Lollapalooza 2008: Lineup Rumors Abound, First Indications from Lolla Boards and Six Months Ago