Lollapalooza's Daily Schedules Are Out; Here's What You Should Know

By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on May 9, 2016 4:07PM

LCD Soundsystem headlines Lollapalooza on July 31, photo by Jim Kopeny / Tankboy

Lollapalooza just released their daily schedules, so let the complaining about time-slot conflicts begin!

Or maybe not. This year, with four days of festival activities instead of three, there's more to navigate on the schedule than ever before, but that also means there are fewer obvious conflicts earlier in the day for fans who might favor one style over another.

Let's focus on the headliners, since those are the acts folks usually struggle with most when deciding which section of Grant Park to spend their evenings at.

Thursday sees Lana Del Rey up against J. Cole, so off the bat this seems like an easy choice for fans. J. Cole will put on a superior show for those looking to go out with a bang that night. Del Rey will offer a sleepy set meant to lull concertgoers—and we get that will totally be what some folks will be looking for after a day in the fields. However, if neither act is really your thing, we recommend checking out hometown heroes Flosstradamus, who will be taking the final slot at Perry's Stage.

Friday night Radiohead headlines the south end of the park, and we're pretty sure that's the place 75 to 90 percent of attendees will be crowding into. Major Lazer will close out the north end of Lollapalooza that night, but after a particularly disengaged and lackluster set last time they played the fest we feel bad for anyone that decides to head to their stage.

On Saturday, rock and funk-heads will head over to see The Red Hot Chili Peppers while fans of big ol' EDM-pop will take in Disclosure. We don't think there's a ton of overlap between fans of the two, so it again seems to be an easier choice for folks when it comes to the mainstage headliners. Again, a Chicago act might be your best bet Saturday night, since Vic Mensa will be playing at the same time, and his infectious hip-hop and spirited performance style means that might be the place where the real final party is happening.

Sunday sees LCD Soundsystem and Ellie Goulding facing off. Personally, we can't imagine who would want to miss LCD Soundsystem's dance party since the band has never failed to get a crowd moving—and we've seen numbers from 1000 to 40000 grooving to their infectious dance rock. However they, reuniting just five years after they "broke up" are kind of the nostalgia act of the evening. So we also expect Goulding, currently riding high and delivering critically praised live shows, will have a healthy draw as well. And if you don't feel like dancing you can always see out the night the aggro-political industrial noise of Die Antwoord.

Overall it does appear that fans won't have many hard choices to make when it comes to the headliners this year. That's actually a pleasant surprise.

Lollapalooza is July 28 to 31 in Grant Park, some VIP and Platinum tickets are still available if you are made of money.