Lollapalooza 2014: Wrapping It All Up, With An Eye Toward Next Year

By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on Aug 5, 2014 4:15PM

As memories of Lollpalooza 2014 gently fade away, let's take stock of the weekend before it transitions to a hazy fog. (Although for many attendees it was probably a hazy fog while still on the festival grounds, nudge nudge wink wink.)

This year's festival sold out before a single band was announced, raising serious questions as to just what Lollapalooza actually is, if it's not about fans seeing their favorite bands? While the line-up was met with a loud chorus of derision, that sentiment didn't exactly flood the secondary market with unwanted tickets. I'll be fair and admit that while the headliners were still mostly snooze-worthy—they could have at least thrown us one or two curveballs or interesting picks instead of safe acts that still move sales in the traditional market—the undercard meant the days were far more interesting than I'd anticipated.

If you read our recaps (see: Friday, Saturday, Sunday) you'll see that the entire team we had at the event had a largely positive time, but I walked away wondering what could have made the weekend something truly unforgettable. It's fairly obvious Lollapalooza is a juggernaut that can do as it pleases, and I think it's also evident that, while there are voices of dissent, it's an event many Chicago area people embrace. And I wholeheartedly think it's OK to admit we enjoy the eyes of the nation on the city for three days every summer. But shouldn't we also be pushing for Lollapalooza to remain something worthy of that attention? Is it enough to simply be the biggest party in the land or will attendees gradually demand Lollapalooza also be the best music festival? To rise to that challenge, the onus falls back on the music.

Look, I'm not one of those backwards looking fools who thinks Lollapalooza should return to its early '90s roots, or even it's mid-aughts reboot, when it comes to adventurous booking. But I don't think it's unreasonable to ask a festival of its stature to at lease mix things up and keep them interesting without booking the same headliners over and over again, with barely a year or two between appearances.

Now that Lollapalooza knows it can sell out without announcing a single musical act, I hope that means they realize they can book some truly exciting acts without worrying it will impact ticket sales. Of course, the worst case scenario is that Lolla takes this knowledge and realizes it can literally book anything and the people will still blindly come. But I refuse to be that pessimistic.

Coachella has slowly pushed itself into irrelevance with less exciting booking and, in my opinion, their move to holding their festival over two-weekend a year was the final nail in its coffin, built in the middle of a desert. Lollapalooza stands at a precipice—they've been gifted with the people's trust and can rise to the occasion by taking this opportunity to turn itself into the only festival that matters in the continental U.S. But will they?

I hope so.