Lollapalooza 2012 Review: Day Three

Sunday, August 5 was a steady continuation of the current drought in the Midwest. The sun was high in a bleakly open sky. The park was sun-dried, putrefying the baseball fields and grass into a off-putting mud that rivaled Bonnaroo. And the night was set for the biggest acts of the entire weekend; Jack White and Justice. But more so than anything else on my mind was the imminent end of not only my weekend, but possibly my tenure at Lollapalooza. If it would be the final day - the truly final day - how would things end?

Day Three:

Five years in a row, three days a year. There's a passage in Into The Wild that reads, "Happiness is only real when shared." Since my second venture in Grant Park in 2008, I have ridden the Blue Line alone waiting for my friends to arrive late. And if this was truly my end, I'd rather share it than wade through half the day alone again.

We arrived pleasantly late - 3 p.m. to be exact. Slowly wandering the park, we traversed the seemingly endless mud pits on the South side of the park for a spot at Sigur Ros, electing to skip The Walkmen. Coming in, I've heard wild rumors about the Icelandic group's live performances; most notably how it can bring people to tears. Considering the heat and the relatively odd time for their performance (4 p.m.), the band put on one of the most memorable shows in Lollapalooza history. Tears didn't exactly happen, but rumblings of grown men crying did get around eventually. Even though the band left several notable songs out of their one hour set, including "Starálfur" and "Glósóli," the time was unmatched in terms of emotions. Jonsi, seemingly alone in a large group, could project unlike most other singers during the weekend to a continually stunned crowd.

Sigur Ros

While it seems like 80 percent of the park made their way to Florence + The Machine, my friends and I had just decided to spend the time languishing most of our last hours at Perry's with Dr. P, Big Gigantic, and Zed's Dead. It was a good change of pace just to not care for a while and joyously waste some time before the night ended.

The final night rounded out with the weekend's two biggest aforementioned acts - Justice and Jack White. Splitting among friends, I stayed for Justice on the North side. Considering last year's final venture with Deadmau5 proved to be a rain-soaked clusterfuck and that I still haven't seen Daft Punk, this would be the biggest electronica show I've ever seen. And that cannot be understated.

Justice

Justice are unbelievably intense live. Total non-stop, combining the best from their first two albums, It was a totally unique live experience. Although I'd relinquish Daft Punk's status at the top of the live electronica experience, Justice to me would be a fantastic second. It remained the best show of the weekend.

And that's how it all ended. What I'll be saying by this time next year is completely unknown to me, but for the time being I couldn't be happier of what these past five years have been.

Best Performances: Sigur Ros, Justice
Worst Performances: Zed's Dead

Highlights: "Varúð" by Sigur Ros
Lowlights: Mud

Lollapalooza schedule, aftershow lineup released

With less than two months before Lollapalooza, the last stretch of the preliminary events has finally passed. Earlier today, the festival released their official three-day schedule, and their lineup of pre-Lolla and post-Lolla after shows. You can check out the listed shows here; FIDLAR & Delta Spirit is one I'm particularly excited for.

As for the schedule, we already knew which artists were playing on which days, but not at which particular times, so this is simply a clarification. As it is, the biggest obvious dilemma is Justice and Jack White closing Sunday night on opposite sides of Grant Park, which is a fairly big decision for a lot of us. However, because of the relative openness of the Sunday schedule, you have the opportunity to see either At The Drive-In and Florence+The Machine prior to the aforementioned acts with relative ease.

Outside of that, there have been more divisive schedules, but there are a few big decisions that will have to be made. Check out the schedule for yourself, here.

Wednesday Bears: Lollapalooza rough schedule released

With three-day passes selling out yesterday, Lollapalooza released their "which artists on which day" rough schedule. The announcement (click photo for larger image) came with the release of single-day passes, which are available now for $95.

Conflicts are inevitable (in life as well, but, forget about that), and it seems that Sunday presents the biggest challenge. Jack White, Florence+The Machine, At the Drive-In, Justice, and Sigur Ros are scheduled to play as the day's largest acts, so decisions are likely going to be made, and unhappiness will spread like, let's say, smallpox.

While Sunday seems unfortunate, days one and two should be comfortable, with a super-strong mid-card scheduled to perform Saturday.

Check back to Bears and Bullets for when the official schedule is released.

Lollapalooza 2012 lineup revealed

So, the day's really here. And after the previous months/weeks of speculation, the biggest story of Lollapalooza 2012 ended up being that the lineup leaked from Sunday WAS 100% ACCURATE. It's the first time in recent memory that a complete leak like this has happened with a major U.S. music festival, so everything we heard tonight wasn't a surprise.

As you know, Black Sabbath, with all original members, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Black Keys, Jack White, Florence + The Machine, At The Drive-In, Avicii, and Justice are the big names headlining the August 3-5 Chicago festival. And if you've been following, you'd already known that M83, Sigur Ros, The Weeknd, The Shins, and many others will fit the billing as well.

So while the fest isn't as particularly top-heavy as in years past, there's a more-than solid mid-card to support it, with spectacular acts like The Tallest Man on Earth, Jeff the Brotherhood, Michael Kiwanuka, FIDLAR, and many others. Alongside them is an extremely solid electronica lineup, with Bassnectar, Star Slinger, Madeon, Kaskade, and plenty others worth your time this year.

There were a few left-field acts, like Franz Ferdinand and The Afghan Whigs making the billing, despite zero previous rumors of their inclusion.

But as it is every year, there are some notable disappointments. Namely, the absence of Odd Future, St. Vincent, Fucked Up, and Refused, among others, not making the final billing.

Regardless, there is a ton of depth to Lollapalooza 2012, and plenty of reason to get excited. Tickets for the festival are still available. And as always, stay tuned for more additions (and subtractions) from the billing, and the lineup schedule, which should be available in a few weeks. As well, check out the official Lolla video below.
 

Lollapalooza lineup leaked early?

What you're looking at above is an "apparent" copy of the official Lollapalooza 2012 lineup, given to press members at the festival's branch outing at Lollapalooza Brazil from last weekend. The photo leaked a few hours before midnight, Sunday, and for all reasonable expectations it looks accurate.

Considering the leaks that Lollapalooza has already confirmed with their CTA ads (Jack White, Justice, etc.), what you see above looks extremely plausible to be the actual lineup, which will be out officially sometime on Wednesday, April 11.

So while I won't go on the record saying that this is the full lineup, what we'll see Wednesday will probably be very similar to what's listed above. There are, however, a few notable holes in the lineup. Number one, namely, is the absence of Kimbra, who was one of the acts that Lollapalooza promoted with their aforementioned CTA ads. Several other acts, such as Odd Future, St. Vincent, and others, have also personally said that (at least through a varying party) they would be performing at the festival.

The other problem, notably, is that C3 (Lollapalooza promoters) have kept the lineup under extremely tight wraps - more so than they've ever done. Why, then, would they give the entire lineup to press members? What sense does that make, even more so considering the lineup will be out in less than three days?

So while there are some logical holes here, let's play around with the idea that this is the real lineup. Because if it is, I'd be pretty damn happy. Black Sabbath is a huge booking - one that no other festival could get. And Jack White will not performing at the other large music festivals this year, other than Sasquatch! More so, however, is the very strong undercard - possibly the best, in my opinion, since 2009.

I'll be keeping you up to date on Twitter of the leak's legitimacy, but if nothing shows up I'll be updating the real release Wednesday. Stay tuned.

Phoenix, Muse, and Others Do Talk Show Rounds

Here's a couple performances from talk shows earlier this week, including Phoenix gracing the Tonight Show stage and Muse singing about whatever on Later... With Jools Holland.

Phoenix - 1901 (Live Conan)



Muse - United States of Eurasia (Live on Later... With Jools Holland)



Florence and the Machine - Rabbit Heart (Raise it Up) (Live on Later... With Jools Holland)



Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros - Home (Live on Letterman)