LollapaLineup 2008

As Human Giant says in their "Illusionators" sketch, "Prepare your mind...for a mind EXPLOSION!" Yep, the full and official Lollapalooza lineup is set for announcement at 8am, however as in years past it once again has leaked all over the internet. Once again Chicago Sun-Times music critic Jim DeRogatis played spoiler and rained on Perry's parade by making the announcement-before-the-announcement. What I'm looking forward to now is the impending war of words and (and maybe fists) that's going to start up between the Lolla founder and the newspaper critic who may have overstepped his bounds. The controversy has already started on that, but I expect much more to come leading up to this year's festival and perhaps even during.

But enough about that, let's talk about how Lollapalooza 2008 has blown all the other music festivals out of the water this year. Clearly if you're going to attend one big music festival this year, Lollapalooza is it. Last year I was jealous of events like Coachella and Bonnarroo (for obvious lineup reasons), but this year the ball is in my court as the one fest I've consistently devoted lots of attention to has the spotlight firmly affixed on it. Let's work towards making this the best it can be, right?

For starters, in addition to the lineup, I've thrown a whole mess of mp3s at you right off the bat from artists playing Lollapalooza 2008. Last year I gave you an mp3 from every single artist playing the festival, and that went up a few days before the actual event happened. Look for that again this year, and consider this a small taste of what's to come at the end of July/beginning of August as we continue to prepare for the festival. If you'd like a few more mp3s from the headliners, see this post from last Friday's partial lineup announcement. And so, to drag this out no longer, here's your lineup for Lollapalooza 2008.

Lollapalooza 2008
Radiohead
Rage Against the Machine
Nine Inch Nails
Kanye West
Wilco
The Raconteurs
Louis XIV
Love and Rockets [So Alive]
Gnarls Barkley
Bloc Party [Vision of Heaven]
The Black Keys [The Lengths]
Broken Social Scene [Death Cock]
Lupe Fiasco
Flogging Molly
Mark Ronson
Cat Power [The Greatest]
The National [All the Wine]
G. Love & Special Sauce
Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings
Explosions in the Sky [Welcome, Ghosts]
Brand New
Gogol Bordello
Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks [Baltimore]
Dierks Bentley
Okkervil River [Our Life Is Not A Movie Or Maybe]
Amadou & Mariam
Blues Traveler
John Butler Trio
Girl Talk [Bounce That]
Your Vegas
CSS [Let's Make Love and Listen to Death from Above (Spank Rock Remix)]
Eli “Paperboy” Reed & the True Loves
Battles
Steel Train
Jamie Lidell
Bang Camaro
Butch Walker
The Blakes
Mates of State [Goods (All In Your Head)]
Tally Hall
Spank Rock
White Lies
Brazilian Girls
Magic Wands
Chromeo
Electric Touch
Duffy
Innerpartysystem
The Kills [Cheap and Cheerful]
The Postelles
Rogue Wave [Lake Michigan]
The Parlor Mob
The Go! Team
Bald Eagle
Mason Jennings
Krista
The Gutter Twins [All Misery/Flowers]
Ha Ha Tonka
Yeasayer [2080]
Witchcraft
Grizzly Bear [On A Neck, On A Spit]
We Go To 11
MGMT [Time to Pretend]
Sofia Talvik
The Weakerthans [Sun In An Empty Room]
Booka Shade
Santogold
Black Kids
Black Lips [Not A Problem]
Dr. Dog
Nicole Atkins & the Sea
The Ting Tings
Kid Sister
Office [Oh My]
The Cool Kids
What Made Milwaukee Famous
Does It Offend You, Yeah?
The Whigs [Right Hand On My Heart]
Manchester Orchestra
Foals [Balloons]
Uffie
The Octopus Project [I Saw the Bright Shinies]
Cadence Weapon
Ferras
De Novo Dahl
Noah and the Whale
Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s [Skeleton Key]
K’NAAN
Serena Ryder
Newton Faulkner

As with past years, more artists will be added to this before the whole thing kicks off on August 1st. Last year My Morning Jacket and a bunch of others were added several weeks after the initial lineup was presented. Plus, this is only 90-some artists with the promise of 100+ artists when all is said and done. So who knows what will also be added, but hopefully it'll be some other incredibly great artists.

If you're looking for my official reaction to this lineup, it's as follows. On the whole, there's a less number of artists that I'm excited about seeing this year (thus far), but the ones I do want to see I'm absolutely ecstatic about seeing (a repeat of Broken Social Scene's 2006 set? yes please), so my overall excitement factor is heightened. If anything I'd hope that lessens the number of conflicts I'll encounter come scheduling times.

As more details (lineup additions, etc) emerge, I will of course provide updates. If you're looking for the official announcement, check Lollapalooza.com after 8AM CST today. And you can go ahead and buy your tickets there as well, currently at $190, but they'll be up to $205 before long. Go get 'em and join me in Grant Park this August!

Labels: lollapalooza