Who to see, hour by hour, on:Friday • Saturday • Sunday
There is no reason to go to Lollapalooza. Most of the acts worth watching are playing afterparties around town over the weekend; those that don’t will probably be back as soon as they’re out from under the festival’s notoriously stringent radius clauses—which the organizers use to keep Lollapalooza acts from gigging in the Chicago market for weeks or months before and after the big weekend. If you want to see the Walkmen and White Rabbits play the same day at the same place, you’ve had literally dozens of opportunities to do so before, several within the city, so maybe you don’t really want it as bad as you think you do. And if you’re one of those people who lives hours from the nearest stop on the usual touring circuit and you come to Lollapalooza to gorge on live music once a year, you should either spend a little extra to go somewhere more scenic (maybe the Sasquatch festival in Washington state) or suck it up and move to an actual city.
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It’s expensive. Its branding and visuals are insultingly bad. Joining the human herd winding around sun-blasted Buckingham Fountain feels vaguely totalitarian, and the overall experience is like being stuck in a giddily hypercapitalistic refugee camp. And thanks to the goose guano baked into the infields of the baseball diamonds on the south end of the park, it literally smells like shit.
The fest’s lineup of nearly 140 acts is a mix of well-established names, buzzy upstarts, and veteran festival performers, spread across eight stages; one is devoted solely to electronic dance music (Perry’s) and another to children’s fare (Kidz). It’s easy to get overwhelmed, if not by the insane crowds and profusion of logos, then by the task of planning your day so that you’ll end up in front of artists you actually want to see.
RULES Attendees with three-day tickets will receive a nontransferable wristband that will allow them to come and go from the grounds up to five times per day; single-day ticket holders don’t have the option of re-entry. Blankets, soft-sided coolers, handheld umbrellas, and consumer-grade cameras are all allowed. Each festivalgoer can bring in two sealed plastic bottles of water (a liter or smaller) as well as empty plastic containers or hydration systems such as CamelBaks, which can be filled for free at stations throughout the park. Given how physically brutal the festival environment can be, getting enough water is crucial—if you’re drinking alcohol, the rule of thumb is at least one glass of water for every two adult beverages. Outside food and drink (excepting the aforementioned water), pets, skateboards, beach umbrellas, tents, professional recording gear (including cameras with detachable lenses), fireworks, and weapons are prohibited.
See our reviews for Friday • Saturday • Sunday
For something a little more useful, check out our list of afterparties.
We put together a Spotify playlist of our favorite Lolla acts. Have a listen!
