On Lollapalooza, part 1

We're finally just one month away from Lollapalooza. I've been looking forward to it forever. I'm going alone, which is actually great because when you go to these kinds of festivals with friends, you end up splitting up anyway to go see the bands you want to see. Being unfettered means I'll more easily be able to worm my way through crowds and get closer to the stage.

My biggest beef with Lolla is that they don't stagger the headlining acts, they have them performing at the same time. Which means that for much of the festival, I'm going to be catching 25 minutes of one band, racing to the other side of the park, and catching the last 25 minutes of the other band. That is not ideal, but I'd still rather do that than stay with one band for the full hour and miss the other band entirely. My biggest conflicts are Patti Smith vs. Spoon, Interpol vs. Muse, and Lupe Fiasco vs. Amy Winehouse.

I'm all about seeing as many bands as possible. I'd rather see 20 half-sets than 10 full sets. I've never quite understood the opposite mindset, but I guess to each his own...

Another criticism of Lolla is there are no WOW acts playing. Bonnaroo last year featured 2 of my 3 favorite bands, the Dresden Dolls and Radiohead. At Lolla, there will be a ton of very good acts, but none that are in my personal top ten.


CSS

Top 5 bands I'm looking forward to:
1. TV On the Radio -myspace
2. CSS -myspace
3. Tokyo Police Club -myspace
4. M.I.A. -myspace
5. Patti Smith -myspace
Honorable mention: Silverchair, Iggy Pop & the Stooges, Smoosh, Amy Winehouse, Pearl Jam, Mickey Avalon

TV On the Radio are playing late Sunday night, right before Pearl Jam, and right after !!! and Modest Mouse, so that's going to be a memorable way to end the festival. They blew the roof off Letterman when they played last year: