The two of the three Lollapaloozas in South America have wrapped, and the lineup for the inaugural Lollapalooza Berlin was announced weeks ago. At last, Lollapalooza has released the lineup to this year's flagship festival in Chicago, set for July 31–August 2, 2015. Yesterday, three-day tickets to the event sold out in about 45 minutes, and would have gone faster if computers weren't so stupid. Today, we finally know who we get to watch in Grant Park.
Paul McCartney sits at the top of the bill. Metallica, Florence + The Machine, Sam Smith and Bassnectar will also headline—just as we predicted. Other notable rock acts include Alt-J, Alabama Shakes, Of Monsters and Men, Tame Impala and TV on the Radio. On the EDM front, we get Kaskade, Alesso and Nero, while hip-hop/R&B stars the Weeknd, A$AP Rocky and Kid Cudi mix things up. Let's try to refrain from starting petitions to kick them off the bill, m'kay?
So, how does it rank with past lineups? Honestly, on paper, not too high at first glance. We're still soaking it up. Seeing a Beatle will be cool, but Macca has been touring pretty heavily of late. Metallica still seems like a miscalculation of the festival's demographic in 2015. We miss a big rapper like Kanye or Drake. Still, as always, the middle of the bill is filled with some fantastic acts.
Here is the complete lineup!
Friday
Paul McCartney, The Weeknd, alt-J, Alabama Shakes, Kaskade, Dillon Francis, Gary Clark Jr., Flying Lotus, Hot Chip, The War on Drugs, Father John Misty, Cold War Kids, DJ Snake, Sylvan Esso, MS MR, Tove Lo, Glass Animals, St. Paul & The Broken Bones, First Aid Kit, DJ Mustard, James Bay, BROODS, MisterWives, What So Not, SZA, Jamestown Revival, Philip Selway, Young Thug, Coasts, Destructo, BØRNS, BADBADNOTGOOD, Mighty Oaks, Bear's Den, Peking Duk, Black Pistol Fire, Spookyland, Gabriel Garzón-Montano, Kyle Thornton & The Company, The New Pacific
Saturday
Metallica, Sam Smith, Alesso, Tame Impala, Kid Cudi, Brand New, Carnage, G-Eazy, Walk The Moon, Tyler The Creator, The Tallest Man On Earth, BANKS, Chet Faker, Sturgill Simpson, Death from Above 1979, Toro y Moi, Charli XCX, Django Django, Boys Noize, Delta Spirit, RL Grime, Givers, Ryn Weaver, Travi$ Scott, CAKED UP, Hermitude, Wet, Holychild, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Zella Day, Mt. Eden, Jessica Hernandez & The Deltas, SNBRN, Elle King, Beat Connection, Mick Jenkins, Raury, Jack Novak, Pell, White Sea, Hippo Campus, COIN
Sunday
Florence + the Machine, Bassnectar, Of Monsters and Men, A$AP Rocky, TV On The Radio, NERO, Kygo, twenty one pilots, Nicky Romero, Marina and The Diamonds, FKA twigs, Lord Huron, Gogol Bordello, Stromae, ODESZA, Logic, The Chainsmokers, Wild Belle, Twin Peaks, Angus & Julia Stone, George Ezra, Strand of Oaks, Moon Taxi, Shakey Graves, Galantis, Night Terrors of 1927, Alison Wonderland, Circa Waves, DMA's Sheppard Mako, Skylar Spence, The Wombats, Halsey, Lion Babe, Black Tiger Sex Machine, VÉRITÉ, jackLNDN, Zebra Katz, The Lonely Biscuits, SirenXX, In The Whale, Atarah Valentine