The wait is over. Lollapalooza announced its 2016 lineup this morning, and as reported, your headliners are Red Hot Chili Peppers, LCD Soundsystem, and Radiohead.
Also topping the festival's first four-day bill are Lana Del Rey, J. Cole, festival founders Jane's Addiction, Ellie Goulding, Future, Major Lazer, Disclosure, and Flume. J. Cole will ostensibly close out Thursday night, with Radiohead, RHCP, and LCD Soundsystem wrapping Friday, Saturday, and Sunday respectively. Of those eleven headliners, only one, Flume, hasn't played the festival before.
Without getting too smarmy, Lolla seems to be reprising last year's m.o. of booking a few legacy acts (Metallica and Paul McCartney then) to corner an older demographic (read: the one with beer money). As long as Red Hot Chili Peppers and Radiohead put Lolla in the black and entice sponsors, the festival is free to target its flightier millennial audience with a mess of disparate bands.
The downside is a festival divided: younger fans won't see the modern-day heavyweights demanding headlining slots (Drake, Rihanna), and older fans are doomed to spend $120 on a 100-band bill to see a single act.
Indeed, the middle of the roster is all over the place. Danny Brown, Grimes, A$AP Ferg, and Vince Staples make long overdue festival debuts, while HAIM and Vic Mensa return on (likely) larger stages. Locals include rappers Saba, Towkio and the aforementioned Vic Mensa. Third Eye Blind is also playing, which is probably Lolla's most simultaneously curious and wonderful billing yet.
Four-day passes to the festival, which runs July 28 to 31 in Grant Park, sold out in just 46 minutes yesterday at $335 a pop. One-day passes go on sale today at 10 a.m., right here, for $120 (up $20 from last year). VIP and Platinum passes offering creature comforts like air-conditioned bathrooms and golf cart transit range from $665 to $4,200. And hotel packages top out at $13,319, if you're feeling wily.