Categories: Music

Lollapalooza 2008: This Year’s Lineup

Summer is coming and that means many outdoor music festivals are headed your way.

One of the biggest names this year is the annual Lollapalooza festival, held at Grant Park in Chicago on August 1^st-3^rd.

Lollapalooza 2008 is headlined this year by Radiohead, Rage Against the Machine and Nine Inch Nails. Other big names include Kanye West, Wilco, The Raconteurs, Gnarls Barkley, Flogging Molly and Bloc Party.

Completing the roster is Love and Rockets, The Black Keys, Broken Social Scene, Mark Ronson, Cat Power, Lupe Fiasco, The National, G. Love & The Special Sauce, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, Explosions in the Sky, Brand New, Gogol Bordello, Dierks Bentley and Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks.

So far, Lollapalooza’s 2008 lineup is not too shabby. After all, they are the only major festival in the U.S. this summer to house rock gods Nine Inch Nails and Rage Against the Machine.

Possibly they could have added some bigger names to their grab-bag of alternative and reggae music, such as Citizen Cope, The Flaming Lips or The Smashing Pumpkins, who surprisingly have yet to appear on a summer festival roster.

But how does Lollapalooza’s lineup this year compare with other outdoor music festivals?

The first annual All Points West festival, held at Liberty State Park in New Jersey, also will contain performances by Radiohead and Cat Power, according to their website www.apwfestival.com. Otherwise, the three-day festival houses big names like Jack Johnson, The Roots and Kings of Leon, which Lollapalooza does not.

June 12^th-15^th will be the much-anticipated Bonnaroo Festival. Like Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo will feature artists like Kanye West, The Raconteurs, Cat Power, Broken Social Scene, Lupe Fiasco and Sharon & The Dap Kings.

Perhaps the biggest difference between the two festivals is the size. According to www.bonnaroo.com, Bonnaroo contains far more acts than any U.S. festival (with the exception of Coachella; see below.)

This year some of their big names include Pearl Jam, Metallica, Jack Johnson, Robert Plant, Phil Lesh, The Allman Brothers Band and more.

Lastly there is Coachella, the annual music festival held at Empire Polo Field, in Indio, California. This show will take place April 25^th-27^th. Like Lollapalooza, Coachella shares artists like Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, The Raconteurs, Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, Flogging Molly, Mark Ronson and Gogol Bordello.

According to the event website, big names of Coachella that are unique to Lollapalooza and other U.S. festivals this year include Portishead, Roger Waters, The Verve and The Breeders. This three-day festival seems to contain the largest line-up thus far when it comes to U.S. festivals; however the majority of artists are not mainstream.

No matter what region of the U.S. you reside, be sure to check out one of these music festivals.

To purchase Lollapalooza tickets or for more information, go to www.lollapalooza.com.