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salomey5 t1_jd4wiot wrote

Reply to comment by Chrizwald in Lollapalooza 2023 line-up: Kendrick Lamar, Billie Eilish, Lana Del Rey, and more confirmed by ninjazop

Yeah, to me, Lollapalooza means 90s grunge, alt-rock... I've nothing against Lamar, Eilish or Del Rey, but this is the kind of headliners I'd expect to see at Osheaga, not Lolla.

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Chrizwald t1_jd4xu6g wrote

I would like to think festivals could be aimed at a specific demographic

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salomey5 t1_jd50uqi wrote

Not even so much a specific demographic as a certain genre of music. Give me current rock, punk, garage, alternative bands, that would be much closer to the original spirit of Lollapalooza than a global pop/electro star like Billie Eilish.

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Title26 t1_jd5g3zi wrote

There are plenty of those in the lineup

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salomey5 t1_jd5mdt3 wrote

Still. Lollapalooza started as a rock affair. Book rock bands. I dunno, the Black Keys, the Strokes, the Offspring, hell, give me the Killers. It'd still make more sense than Billie Eilish or Kendrick Lamar.

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Title26 t1_jd5qyju wrote

Even the very first lollapalooza had Ice T performing.

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salomey5 t1_jd5yar0 wrote

I don't hate it. Ice T and the Bodycount could rock with the best of them. Musically, still makes more sense to me for a festival like Lollapalooza than any of this year's headliners.

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MF_Bfg t1_jd6s8w7 wrote

Kendrick makes sense to me - Cypress Hill were strongly associated with Lollapalooza (and Homerpalooza ), I think you need that hip-hop element.

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helmvoncanzis t1_jd61858 wrote

first one i went to was in 1997, Virginia Beach.

Headliners were Orbital, Devo, The Prodigy, The Orb, Tool, Snoop Doggy Dogg, Tricky, Korn. So, very electro-pop heavy.

That said, Tool fucking killed it.

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memphiscool t1_jd63irg wrote

That was also the last one. Till this festival started back in Chicago.

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night_dude t1_jd630rn wrote

There are ever-fewer good rock bands in the world though. Genre is kind of breaking down.

Like, who are the biggest rock bands in the world right now? Everything I hear on rock radio is either classic hits (yes, 90s is now "classic hits" according to radio programming conventions) or some unimaginative commercial garbage like Royal Blood that sounds like Wish QOTSA with the guts ripped out.

(small edit: i know I'm an old man yelling at musical clouds here - the first sentence is a sincere question!)

There are some phenomenal indie rock groups out there, but even modern vets like Courtney Barnett and Mac DeMarco feel like they are past their best already, and you can't fill an entire bill with Parquet Courts and Boygenius members.

The Strokes, actually, are a great example you gave of a rock band still making awesome music, but I feel like they're the exception. The fact that Red Hot Chili Peppers are headlining - a band formed in the 80s that haven't had a hit album since Stadium Arcadium - should tell you all you need to know about the dearth of big-ticket modern rock acts that are actually worth listening to.

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muzukashidesuyo t1_jd63k1h wrote

I will die on the hill that says classic rock is a set time frame from the late 60s to the early 80s. It’s not an ever expanding thing that bands move into when their music is 20+ years old.

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night_dude t1_jd64cop wrote

Yeah, actually, you're right. I should have specified that I meant "in terms of radio programming" not in strict genre terms. I was trying to highlight how old most "real" rock music is, even the stuff I (early 90s baby) might still consider contemporary. Also a sneaky little reference to this, well, classic.

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salomey5 t1_jd68aos wrote

You're not wrong. Rock is more underground these days, and it's mostly nostalgia acts that bring the masses to venues nowadays. Most of the contemporary rock acts I'm aware of play small to medium size venues now.

That said, and it may just be me being an old fart who's averse to change, but I'd rather see an old rock act, nostalgia be damned, than global popstars at Lollapalooza.

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rabidelfman t1_jd6hi6c wrote

There's actually a damn good Japanese rock band playing Lolla this year - BAND-MAID. Check em out. For other rock bands, the big ones that come to mind are Volbeat, Ghost, Maneskin... Which is about all I can think of off the top of my head. I'm more into hard rock, metal, and synth pop these days... Tons of great bands abound in those genres.

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night_dude t1_jd6nd08 wrote

We truly live in the golden age of synth pop and disco revival. I'm a ginormous Lorde and Carly Rae Jepsen fan. Doja and SZA are awesome too, even though they're further toward hip-hop than synth pop.

Maneskin are a great example of the problem, IMO - I mostly like this review because it's OTT but it points to a broader point about modern rock, that basically since Jet came on the scene in the 2000s, most mainstream rock bands have been tributes to older, better music.

The alternative rock genres (like post-hardcore and emo in the 90s-2000s) and indie rock scenes (King Gizzard, Lucy Dacus, Courtney Barnett etc) have been making fantastic music in that time, but everything from the Darkness (who I love, don't get me wrong) to Greta Van Fleet is basically one giant Zeppelin, Queen and AC/DC tribute act, with a couple of bad Pearl Jam cover bands (looking at you, Nickelback) thrown in there for good measure

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rabidelfman t1_jd7xzan wrote

I absolutely love CHVRCHES and VNV Nation. I have Screen Violence on vinyl and I love every second of it. It sits right next to my Arch Enemy and Spiritbox vinyls, heh.

To be honest, I've only ever heard one or two tracks from Maneskin, and I thought they were alright. As long as it was rock, I was happy hearing it mainstream. But, I agree that a lot of the more popular rock bands these days are simply just mimicking 60s and 70s rock trends, it's one of the reasons I've been looking outside of the Western world for rock. Apparently, Japan has a massive rock band population, and it's pretty amazing. Like I said in my response above, BAND-MAID is playing Lolla - if you haven't heard them, check them out. They're excellent rock and hard rock, and sound phenomenal live. Definitely check out the JP rock scene, there are a ton of gems in there.

I, honestly, haven't heard of any good straight up rock bands come out of the West outside of Volbeat and Ghost (and I love both, though Ghost is its own genre, imo). It's to the point where I don't really actively search out new rock bands and stick with metal, synth pop, and industrial (Covenant is touring the US!).

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Jwishh t1_jd9ibv1 wrote

Ghost is making waves, I can see them being a rock staple for years to come.

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bohanmyl t1_jd6ycii wrote

The only festival ive been to was Day N Vegas and it was amazing just because it was basically strictly rap and when looking at other line ups it just always seems like id actually go see maybe 8 people across 3 days. DNV i wanted to see over half

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SparkyPantsMcGee t1_jd6lr0m wrote

Alright, give me a handful of current rock and alternative bands that would sell out a festival. Current being the key word here. I’ll even be nice and let you work as far back as 2017.

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paul-cus t1_jd5hodd wrote

Lollapalooza jumped the shark years ago when Lady Gaga headlined one of the nights.

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salomey5 t1_jd5m0kk wrote

I didn't even know Gaga had headlined Lolla!

I'll be honest, i would have been thrilled just because i like quite a few of her songs (her early dancey stuff was great) but i must admit it's an odd choice for Lolla. I guess they just want to make bank now, so might as well book huge international stars because that means a big draw.

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Jwishh t1_jd9ijvr wrote

I know a lot of fellow rock fans who fuck with Lady Gaga and not other pop artists

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blurrrrg t1_jd66m27 wrote

That's more RiotFest in Chicago these days

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salomey5 t1_jd68hh9 wrote

I seem to remember seeing an ad for a festival that was in Chicago, and the line-up was absolutely sick. It must have been that one.

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blurrrrg t1_jd68nrg wrote

Yup, RiotFest is where sick bands play. Lollapalooza is for rich high schoolers from the suburbs.

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salomey5 t1_jd6983n wrote

Then RiotFest needs to go on tour and come to Montreal, because we lost our metal festival a few years ago and I miss it. :(

Plus that line-up was fire.

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