Music Blog: Five Reasons to go to Lollapalooza!

Summer is finally here and we all know what that means: summer concerts and music festivals. With so much going on in the music world this summer, it’s tough to decide which shows to go to, which bands to see and how much money to set aside for your musical endeavors.
 
One of the greatest events to hit Chicago during the summer is Lollapalooza – Lolla to those well acquainted with the music festival. For those of you who have been living under a rock, Lolla is a three-day music festival featuring alternative, heavy metal, hip hop and punk music. What’s the latest genre they’ve added to their repertoire? Throw Deadmau5 and Skrillex in the mix and you get some electronic and dubstep. These are only five of the many reasons you have to go to Lolla this year!

 
5. Lolla’s 20^th Anniversary
Jane’s Addiction lead singer Perry Farrell created Lollapalooza in 1991. After some restructuring and partnerships, Lolla has evolved into one of the greatest festivals to hit Chicago and Chile. To celebrate 20 years of epic shows, I’m sure they have some tricks up their sleeves, if not a surprise act or two.
 
4. Discover New Bands
There’s nothing better than going to a show for a big headliner and discovering a great opening act that ends up topping the charts the next year. At Lolla, this is almost guaranteed! Lollapalooza does a great job of scouring the earth for the best new bands in all different genres. One of my favorite new bands in the lineup this year is Foster The People. 
 
3.  Eminem+ Muse+ Kid Cudi+ Coldplay
Ok so I know that’s like… four reasons, but when else will you be able to catch these very different headliners together in one weekend? Not to mention the rest of the lineup, which includes Pretty Lights, Foo Fighters, Ellie Goulding and Ok Go. For $215 you get access to all three days and a chance to see the full lineup. I paid just about $100 for decent seats at a Coldplay show a few summers ago. The three-day Lolla pass is a pretty good value in my book.

 2. Perry’s Tent
When the official lineup was announced, I immediately logged onto the website and just by looking at the headliners I was already pleased. As I scrolled down to the bottom and glanced at the Perry’s lineup, I was almost jumping up and down when I saw Girl Talk, Pretty Lights, Afrojack and Skrillex listed. With Kid Cudi, Super Mash Bros and The Bloody Beetroots, this tent is sure to be one crazy dance rage-fest all weekend long.
 
1. The Experience
Picture this: you’re in Grant Park with a group of your best friends and thousands of screaming fans, it’s 85 degrees outside with a nice breeze, and you’re figuring out the right time to crowd surf. Everything goes at Lolla. No matter how you decide to pregame the event, you will go home with a handful of funny stories, a souvenir, or maybe even that cute guy that let you jump on his shoulders while Foo Fighters were killing it on stage. This is one of the best ways you could celebrate the end of the summer, before it’s back to school or back to work (for those recent grads).

 
If all of this hasn’t convinced you, I’ll be throwing in music from the artists into the top 10 from time to time. Here is this week’s top ten new songs:
 
10. How To Love – Lil Wayne
9. Champagne Showers – LMFAO feat. Natalia Kills
8. Jack Sparrow – The Lonely Island feat. Michael Bolton (Ok this is obviously a joke, but it gets me every time. Check the music video out.)
7. I Don’t Care – New Boyz feat. Big Sean
6. Silhouettes – Avicii
5. Loud Music – Michelle Branch
4. Marry The Night – Lady Gaga
3. Set Fire To the Rain (Moto Blanco Radio Edit) – Adele
2. Lights (Sex Ray Vision Remix) – Ellie Goulding
1. I’m On One – DJ Khaled Feat. Lil Wayne, Drake, Rick  Ross
 
Happy Listening,
Andrea