[Review] Lollapalooza celebrates 25 anniversary in a big way
The Chicago staple of music festival excellence brought forth yet another unforgettable weekend of music and stellar performances. Lollapalooza celebrating it’s 25th anniversary in the biggest way possible. Extending the festival to four days created a marathon of incredible musical moments.
Lollapalooza had many highlights that came from inside and outside the music festival. Chicago transformed from the city with broad shoulders into, during for the four-day festival, music mecca.
The first two days had rain showers that spanned over a few hours. The temporary muggy start didn’t effect the mega celebration of the 25th anniversary. In fact, the only set backs to the festival were the uncontrollable rain and that the festival is already over.
Over the years Lolla grew not only in size but it also grew in multiple genres. It first started as an alternative rock festival in 1991 as a farewell tour for Jane’s Addiction. Now with over 170 acts and an extended four-day festival, Lollapalooza provided many history making moments.
It was announced by Lollapalooza that next year’s music festival will also be a 4 day festival.
Thursday, July 28 (Day 1)
Lollapalooza fixed up this problem from past years. The clear winner to the first night was hip-hop. Hip-hop actually had a deeper impact throughout the festival but it made a bold statement the first night with performances from Chicago’s own Towkio, G-Eazy, and J. Cole. Danny Brown also gained many fans with his energetic performance. Towkio brought out Chicago’s Joey Purp and Vic Mensa in a complete Chicago music takeover. Towkio from sneaking into Lollapalooza before his musical break to now setting the stage definitely was a crowd pleasure.
Another Chicago artist made headlines closing off the Perry’s stage this time from the electronic music duo Flosstradamus. They didn’t disappoint bringing their signature non-stop thrill ride of electric beats. They also brought out surprise guest Chance The Rapper, Michelle Williams, and Dwyane Wade.
From “Wet Dreamz” to “Work Out”, J. Cole stole the show with non-stop performance of hit after hit. With no back track, fans matched Cole jumping and rapping along with the Dreamville rapper. It’s important to note that Cole was the only rapper to close off the Samsung stage throughout the weekend. The others were Radiohead, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and LCD Soundsystem. The biggest stage at Lollapalooza was the perfect fit for J. Cole’s unforgettable set.
Lollapalooza 25 Year Anniversary Lineup Announced
Celebrating 25 years as a world-renowned festival, Lollapalooza 25 Year Anniversary delivers an all-star lineup with Radiohead, Red Hot Chili Peppers, LCD Soundsystem, J. Cole, Lana Del Rey, Future, Ellie Goulding, Major Lazer and Disclosure topping the bill. The diverse lineup also features performances from G-Eazy, Chris Stapleton, Leon Bridges, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, Miike Snow, Kurt Vile & The Violators and much more. To commemorate this milestone anniversary, Lollapalooza will bring four full days of music and over 170 performances to Chicago's beautiful Grant Park, July 28- 31. View the full lineup and lineup-by-day here.
Legacy acts from the early days of Lollapalooza will be front and center with the return of Jane's Addiction, fronted by Lollapalooza creator and founder Perry Farrell - with a set full of surprises, as well as Red Hot Chili Peppers, who headlined the festival in 1991 and 1992 respectively.
"I've immersed myself in this experience for 25 years now, but it's in a constant state of evolution, living and breathing. As long as we always try to find the eye of the hurricane, the epicenter of the music that is truly connecting right now, I think we can go for another 25 years! And we'll do it by always making sure to keep it fresh. Four days this year, over 170 of the best bands, including acts from all over the world as the music community connects globally more than ever; the best sound, staging and lights. We promise the festival will always strive to be the 'lifeblood' of the music scene," says Perry Farrell.
This year's collection of fresh faces include ZHU, Aurora, Bryson Tiller, Oh Wonder and Låpsley as well as heavy-hitting female artists including HAIM, Grimes, Alessia Cara, Lindsey Stirling, Kehlani, Melanie Martinez, and a highly anticipated return from Halsey following last year's breakthrough performance.
Flosstradamus, Hardwell, Martin Garrix, Duke Dumont, GRiZ, Big Gigantic, Marshmello and more will bring the beats for Lollapalooza's beloved dance music fans.
4-Day General Admission Tickets sold out on March 22. A limited number of 1-Day General Admission Tickets ($120) and 1-Day VIP Tickets ($650) will be available for purchase today,March 23 at 10am CT. 4-Day VIP Tickets ($2,200), 4-Day Platinum Tickets ($4,200) and Official Hotel Packages are also available now at here.
Lollapalooza welcomes music fans of all ages, including kids. Children 10-years-old and younger will be admitted free of charge with a ticket-holding adult.
Fans worldwide who can't make it to Grant Park can watch The Official 2016 Lollapalooza Live Broadcast exclusively on Red Bull TV, which is distributed digitally for free on the web, connected TV platforms, smartphones and tablets as well as Lollapalooza.com. A full schedule of performances will be announced this July on Lollapalooza.com.
Lollapalooza 2016 is generously sponsored by: Samsung, Red Bull Sound Select, Bud Light, Pepsi, Toyota, BMI, Tito's Handmade Vodka, Citi and Cupcake Vineyards.
[Video Playlist of the Week] Girl Power
The first quarter of the year is coming to a close and the women of the music industry have been slaying the competition. With new releases from some of your favorite artists and some artists you should know, this week’s playlist is packed full of the latest jams. Girl power!
- Madonna - Living For Love
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The queen of pop has been doing massive PR work for her new album Rebel Heart. Just this week she wrapped up “Madonna Week” on Ellen and just released tickets for her upcoming tour (35 cities in the U.S.). While her album may have dropped this week, it’s worth the listen for fans to hear the queen of pop coming back to the top.
- Ellie Goulding - Love Me Like You Do
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Ellie Goulding gained some major publicity for this song, which appeared on the 50 Shades Of Grey soundtrack. While the movie was a total flop amongst critics, the song went straight to #1 in most countries and snagged the #3 spot on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.
- Phoebe Ryan - Ignition / Do You… (R.Kelly / Miguel Cover)
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Browsing through Spotify’s “Top Hits” playlist, I discovered Phoebe Ryan’s mashup of R.Kelly’s “Ignition” and Miguel’s “Do You…” which is adorable (if you can call a song adorable) as well as catchy. While she doesn’t have many other songs yet, I’m guessing she’ll be in the “Top Hits” playlist with another song soon.
- Charli XCX - Famous
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Charli XCX just released her music video for “Famous” this week, which is directed by Eric Wareheim of Tim And Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! As a Tim & Eric fan myself, I was pretty pleased with the outcome. The video and song are “#LMFAO tite.”
- Marina And The Diamonds - Forget
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Marina And The Diamonds recently released her third album, FROOT, which has many critics fawning over her matured sound. A definite spring tune.
- Matt And Kim - Can You Blame Me
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Matt And Kim are about to drop their fifth studio album, New Glow, on April 7, 2015, but their newest single “Can You Blame Me” is already out for your listening pleasure. Perk: in this version of the song (Kim version), you can put your device (mobile, tablet, iPad) up to your face so it’s like Kim is singing through you.
- Florence + The Machine - St. Jude
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The English songstress has released her first single this week from her upcoming album, How Big How Blue How Beautiful, which will be released June 1, 2015.
- Best Coast - Heaven Sent
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FINALLY, Best Coast are putting together their new album, which is going to be released May 5, 2015. Thus far, if “Heaven Sent” and “California Nights” are indicators of how the album will sound, fans should get pumped (even Bill Murray is a fan). It seems Bethany Cosentino has been hard at work at something other than trying to get Drake to become her BFF.
- Oh Honey - Sugar, You
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The two New York singers came together a couple of years ago to create Oh Honey, an alternative-pop band with acoustic flare. Their newest EP, Wish You Were Here, dropped this week via Fueled By Ramen. The band is still under the radar, but have been featured on Glee, Red Band Society and various commercials.
- Courtney Barnett - Pedestrian At Best
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This Aussie has been getting quite the hype lately with the release of her debut album this week, Sometimes I Think And Sit And Sometimes I Just Sit, which is exceptional.
[Songs of the Day] 2/10/14 (Feat. SBTRKT, Ellie Goulding, DJ Rashad & More)
Ah, another week, a fresh batch of tracks for your listening pleasure. Starting things off this time around is none other than Ellie Goulding, who received a remix of her track "Burn" via Four Tet. UK production guru SBTRKT dropped his latest offering in the funky "Hold The Line" while New York City's ABGOHARD continued his push for his latest project with the Ryan Hemsworth-produced "GTA" featuring Slater, and Z Money teamed up with Chicago independent label Closed Sessions for "I Can't Stop". Big Boi continued to pump out content, following up last week's dual releases with "Run Th3 World" featuring the likes of Wavves and B.O.B, Missouri rockers Radkey give us "Feed My Brain", DJ Rashad keeps the jukin' hits coming with "First Move", some soul from Neneh Cherry with "Out of the Black" and Julian Bell's "Who I Am" while The Prototypes give us a synth-shower in "Lights". Chicago pops up with some new music from Chief Keef on "War" and Bruza The General with "Don C.". Check out this monster list from today and the weekend, all streaming below.
Track of the Day: SBTRKT: "Hold The Line"
Ellie Goulding: “Burn” (Four Tet Remix)
SBRKT: “Hold The Line”
ABGOHARD: “GTA” (Feat. Slater) (Prod. by Ryan Hemsworth)
Z Money: “I Can’t Stop”
Big Boi: “Run Th3 World” (Feat. B.O.B., Wavves & Third World)
Neneh Cherry: “Out of the Black” (Feat. Robyn)
Julian Bell: “Who I Am”
Bruza The General: “Don C.”
The Prototypes: “Lights”
Yasiin Gaye: “Anna’s Love Song”
DJ Rashad: “First Move”
Radkey: “Feed My Brain”
Chief Keef: “War”
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[Songs Of The Day] 2/3/14 (Feat. Young Thug, Ellie Goulding, Big Boi & More)
And we're back for week two of our new daily feature on the site, "Songs of the Day". Starting February off on the right foot, we have a banger from Atlanta's Young Thug who demonstrates why he has the like of Kanye West raving about him, teaming up with Future and Rich Homie Quan for "Out My Face". We get a healthy dose of remixes once again, with re-workings of James Blake's "Life Round Here" from Ellie Goulding and Angel Haze, Rico Love showed off a packed lineup on his "They Don't Know" remix which features the likes of Ludacris, Trey Songz, Tiara Thomas, T.I. and Emjay. Robbie Brundell also tacks on his own rendition of Drake and Jhene Aiko's hit, "From Time". Australian EDM artist Will Sparks also delivers the first single off his upcoming, debut album in "Catch".
Hottest track of the day: Yasiin Bey, better known to the larger world as Mos Def, teamed up with a posthumous Marvin Gaye for what he calls "Yasiin Gaye" on this mash-up remix of Bey's 1997 track "Travelin' Man" and Gaye's 1971 hit "Inner City Blues" by producer Amerigo Gazaway. The track is infectiously soulful from beginning to end, making it our hottest track of the day.
Young Thug: “Out My Face" (Feat. Future & Rich Homie Quan)
Ellie Goulding: “Life Round Here Remix” (Feat. Angel Haze)
Ciara: “Anytime” (Feat. Future)
Yasiin Bey x Marvin Gaye (Yasiin Gaye): “Inner City Travellin’ Man” (Amerigo Gazaway’s Soul Mates Remix)
Rico Love: “They Don’t Know Remix" (Feat. Ludacris, Trey Songz, Tiara Thomas, T.I. and Emjay)
Drake & Jhené Aiko: “From Time" (Ruben Brundell Remix)
Big Boi: "Gossipzilla" (Feat. Big K.R.I.T., Blue Oyster Cult & UGK)
Will Sparks: "Catch"