Blog Just who is this Lollapalooza lineup for, exactly?

Is it just us, or is the Lollapalooza lineup kind of a snooze? The Chicago Reader got it right today when it noted that “it looks a lot like every other big music festival that’s happened over the past five years or so,” but it goes beyond that, even. Whereas Lollapalooza was once a fest where people came to check out new music and see where an entire industry is going, now it’s the place for people to go and see where it’s been.

It’s absolutely possible to make a (depressing) case for Muse as the music industry’s future, but you’d be talking about stadium rock, and that’s just not where music’s bread is buttered these days. Those shows make a lot of money, but over the past few years, both the industry and music fans have become more focused on quantity rather than quality. That’s why single-track sales are up and why some of the biggest selling and most respected artists are on smaller labels. That “big four” model just doesn’t matter anymore. 

Lollapalooza’s organizers don’t seem to get that, though. Rather, they don’t have to get that. Their tickets, priced at a hefty $215, are going to sell out—barring some sort of weird disaster—and it doesn’t seem like they’re all that concerned with being “cool” (unlike Sasquatch, Coachella, or Bonnaroo). Leave that to Pitchfork, or whatever. Lolla’s after bro-dollars. They want to sell corporate suites to people who “like music” and want to have a good time but don’t really care all that much about what’s gone on in the industry past 2000. This isn’t a festival for music bloggers or people who can’t find what they want on the radio dial. This is a festival for people who really liked “Monkey Wrench,” which, to be fair, is a really good song.

While there are absolutely amazing smaller bands playing—Wye Oak, Mountain Goats, Smith Westerns, The Kills, and so on—a lot of those bands will be playing after-parties during Lolla at much more palatable and hospitable environments than a dry, sweaty Grant Park. Why bother seeing Wye Oak, for example, at 2 p.m. surrounded by a bunch of chatty people waiting for a stage headliner eight hours later when you could see them tear up a sold-out Schubas that night after a nice afternoon nap?

This would be a good point for naysayers to point out that the fact that we’re even thinking about naps, good beer, and air conditioning means that we’re, like, totally old, and that would be fair enough. That could be the case. On the other hand, good music and good times have the power to liven up even the oldest, most stodgy rock critic. Lollapalooza 2011 does not have that power. It’s not a festival for “us” anymore, and as far as C3, who puts on Lolla, is concerned, that’s probably okay.