Let's talk Lolla

By Mike Ruby
After months of agonizing anticipation, the 2008 Lollapalooza lineup was finally announced. And just when you thought festival organizer Perry Farrell couldn't outdo himself, he went above and beyond with what many fans consider to be the most breathtaking lineup to date. I, for one, would support that statement, although having only been to one other year of the festival, it's hard to put one above or below the other.

Now that the list of artists is out in the open, the schedule still remains ambiguous. For those unfamiliar with Lolla's organization of its acts, there's an average of 5 or 6 out of the festival's 9 stages going simultaneously at any given time. This goes on up until the evening, when the first two nights are closed by two bands playing on opposite ends of the park (last year, Friday was closed by Daft Punk and Ben Harper and Saturday closed by Muse and Interpol). This leaves Sunday night as the only time during the festival in which one single band is playing (last year this was Pearl Jam). So that raises the critical question: Who will close this year's festival? Who will get the longest slot of the weekend, with no other bands to take their audience away?

Let's review. We have Radiohead, Rage Against the Machine, Kanye West, and Nine Inch Nails as the four "main attractions" of the event. It's almost positive that the closing slot will not be given to Radiohead (a disappointment to me and many others) simply because they have a show scheduled in Indiana during the last night of the festival.

So now we have Rage, NIN, and Kanye left to duke it out for the dream slot. I predict that Nine Inch Nails, another band I hold near and dear to me, won't be closing because they got bumped down to fourth on the lineup list, behind the fantastic Mr. Kanye West. I in no way denounce Kanye's talent and popularity within the music scene. In fact, I congratulate him for it. However, it would simply not be appropriate for him to headline Lollapalooza. It's a rock festival, and he is just not deserving of the longest set of the weekend.

I have my fingers crossed that the integrity of Lollapalooza is preserved and that a more worthy act closes the festival. I'm sure that many of you would agree with me when I say that what the world needs right now is Rage Against the Machine. If Radiohead isn't going to close, then Rage is the next best candidate. They're my generation's Bob Dylan, and I couldn't be more pleased that they're playing.

Anyway, there will be more to come on that topic. For now, lets take a quick look at the rest of the lineup. There are more bands playing than I can wrap my head around. For starters, Lollapalooza will feature festival regulars like G. Love & Special Sauce and Love & Rockets. With the recent release of their second album, there's no doubt in my mind that The Raconteurs will be fantastic. There are plenty of "catch up" bands, established acts like Wilco and The Black Keys I haven't yet seen live.

All the bases are covered. There are all the up-and-coming indie bands such as MGMT, Minus the Bear, and Rogue Wave. For soft, folky rock, there is John Bulter Trio and Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks. R&B fans will get, besides Kanye, Lupe Fiasco and Gnarls Barkely. With the soaring popularity of band member Leslie Fiest's solo career, I'm sure that Broken Social Scene will have quite an audience, as will Explosions in the Sky and Bloc Party. Other notable acts include Gogol Bordello, Girl Talk, The National, and the great Perry Farrell himself.

Then there are the large number of bands that I have to admit I'm not familiar with. Like lots of rock fans, I have a tendency to be cocky about my wealth of musical knowledge, so I give credit to Farrell and the rest of the Lolla organizers for putting us in our place. Kudos, Lollapalooza, and may this be the best one yet.