Lollapalooza Lineup Announced
By Scott Smith in Arts & Entertainment on Apr 22, 2005 4:22PM
The lineup for the new (but not necessarily improved) Lollapalooza on July 23rd and 24th in Grant Park was released this morning and well...it’s a mixed bag. We’re really excited about some of the bands on this list and unmoved by others. Many of the bands you’d expect to be in the lineup are: Arcade Fire, Death Cab For Cutie, The Bravery, The Walkmen, World Leader Pretend, Louis XIV, VHS or Beta, etc. Problem is these are bands that are best suited to clubs, not fields. The energy of some of their performances will likely dissipate once it reaches your blanket.
The nostalgia bands seem calculated to pull in people who don’t normally go to live shows like Pixies and Billy Idol (because even though we love ourselves some Billy, we’re still scratching our heads about that one). Plus, where’s the metal and hip-hop? There are definitely bands worth seeing here but the eclectic nature of previous bills is lacking (though we’re thankful to see Digable Planets will be playing). By the way, you can place Widespread Panic and G. Love and Special Sauce in the Unmoved category for us.
Is it too much to ask for a Dig!-like showdown between the Brian Jonestown Massacre and the Dandy Warhols?
Finally, locals in the lineup include the previously mentioned Ms. Phair, Redwalls and the Changes. The Lolla site promises more bands to come though if we had our choice between seeing our favorite local band at say, Double Door or Lolla you know what we’d pick.
While we’re still mulling over how we feel about the lineup, there’s one aspect about this show that’s got us pissed off to no end: the graudated ticket price. First, tickets will start off at $85 for a two-day pass. But there’s a limited supply (no word on how many) and once those are gone, tickets will shoot up to $100. Then $115. And that doesn’t include a $9 service charge for each ticket or the $7 per order shipping charge. The math whiz next to you will tell you that 23 percent of your ticket cost will be eaten up by those fees. Don’t be fooled by the site’s suggestion that parking is included. That’s an additional $18 (though it’s a steal compared to what it normally costs to park downtown).
Those are our thoughts for now. Yours and the current lineup after the jump.
Pixies
Widespread Panic
Weezer
The Killers
Dinosaur Jr.
Cake
Dashboard Confessional
The Arcade Fire
Billy Idol
Death Cab For Cutie
Digable Planets
Liz Phair
G. Love and Special Sauce
Blonde Redhead
The Black Keys
The Bravery
The Walkmen
Louis XIV
Sound Tribe Sector 9
Z-Trip
Los Amigos Invisibles
M83
The Dandy Warhols
Tegan and Sara
VHS or Beta
Brian Jonestown Massacre
Soulive
Ambulance LTD
Shout Out Louds
Blue Merle
The Warlocks
DeSoL
World Leader Pretend
The Redwalls
The Changes