Lollapalooza’s 2023 Lineup One Day Later: Highlights, Lowlights, and Omissions

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The post Lollapalooza’s 2023 Lineup One Day Later: Highlights, Lowlights, and Omissions appeared first on Consequence.

The biggest party in the midwest is back for another whirlwind year of music, revelry, and intoxicated young people: I’m talking, of course, about Lollapalooza. Yesterday, March 21st, Lollapalooza revealed their 2023 lineup, with the festival taking place across four days from August 3rd to August 6th in Chicago, Illinois.

Headlined by Kendrick Lamar, Billie Eilish, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and ODESZA, Lollapalooza 2023 will also feature Lana Del Rey, Karol G, The 1975, TOMORROW X TOGETHER, Maggie Rogers, Fred again.., Thirty Seconds to Mars, Noah Kahan, and many more.

With Lollapalooza sharing its lineup later in the year than its fellow North American stalwarts Coachella, Bonnaroo, Governors Ball, Osheaga, and Outside Lands, they have the slight disadvantage of boasting names that feel particularly familiar. While ODESZA are a justifiable, dazzling headlining act that will likely serve as the first EDM act to close the South stage, they’re also headlining nearly every other major US festival this year.

Similarly, Billie Eilish hasn’t played Lollapalooza since a hyped mid-day set in 2018, but she has headlined almost every significant festival in the country for the last two years. Kendrick Lamar and Red Hot Chili Peppers are stadium-caliber headliners, and are absolutely worth booking — but the “rarity” factor only really applies Kendrick, and even he is already set to headline Bonnaroo, Outside Lands, Governors Ball, and Osheaga. Essentially, none of the top four names feel particularly unique this year or stand up to the personalized curation of Coachella and festivals abroad.

Still, these four headliners (and the four sub-headliners, who play headlining sets opposite the top four names) are reliable, exciting artists that make some of last year’s selections feel dull in comparison. Karol G will make history as the first female Latin headliner in Lolla history, and organizers have doubled down on K-Pop, booking TOMORROW X TOGETHER, NewJeans, and Korean indie pop group The Rose. Lollapalooza also succeeds each year in the sheer depth of its lineup, hedging bets on rising newcomers and nabbing as many buzzy undercard acts as possible.

Ahead of Lollapalooza 2023, we’re breaking down this year’s artists line by line. Check out the full lineup below.

Lollapalooza 2023 lineup
Lollapalooza 2023 lineup

The Best Bookings

Kendrick Lamar

It’s a win for everyone when Kendrick Lamar decides to headline a festival. The lauded rapper has never headlined Lollapalooza before, and with his 2022 LP Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers, Kendrick has assumed his role as bonafide superstar better than most MCs in his generation. He may be topping the bill at several other festivals this year, but perhaps no appearance is more intriguing than a heavily-hyped Lollapalooza headlining set.

kendrick lamar live shows of the year 2022 glastonbury
kendrick lamar live shows of the year 2022 glastonbury

Kendrick Lamar, photo by Samir Hussein/WireImage

Lana Del Rey

With her new album, Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd, set to drop on March 24th, Lana Del Rey arrives on the Lollapalooza lineup with a refreshing sense of excitement. Aside from an appearance at San Francisco’s Outside Lands the week after Lolla, she’s not currently scheduled to play any other festivals or shows this year. So, Lizzy Grant’s marquee performance at Lollapalooza this year will surely bring high expectations, and with such an extensive catalog to play from, it’ll be fascinating to see what she delivers.

Lana Del Rey The Grants new song stream
Lana Del Rey The Grants new song stream

Lana Del Rey, photo by Philip Cosores

International Icons

Following up on last year’s major headlining appearance from BTS’ J-Hope, Lollapalooza has invited newer K-Pop heroes TOMORROW X TOGETHER back for a second consecutive performance. Also set to play are the K-Pop group NewJeans (one of our Rising Artists to Watch in 2023) and the indie pop band The Rose. With other globally-focused bookings like Karol G, Tems, Ivan Cornejo, and Rema, it’s clear that Lollapalooza’s organizers are adamant about giving the festival more of an international identity.

TOMORROW X TOGETHER Corden Sugar Rush Ride
TOMORROW X TOGETHER Corden Sugar Rush Ride

TOMORROW X TOGETHER on The Late Late Show with James Corden (CBS)

Future Stars

As they do every year, Lollapalooza has assembled a terrific list of rising stars in all genres for the poster’s undercard. There’s an influx of internet-centric bookings this year in particular; Hemlocke Springs (another one of our Rising Artists to Watch in 2023) is set to play a major set, rapper and comedian Zack Fox will appear, and emo-tinged hyperpop star brakence will take the stage as well. Other deep cuts include lovable indie pop acts Husbands, Arlie, Annie DiRusso, Junior Mesa, and Cafuné, hip-hop juggernauts like Big Boss Vette and the hybrid act Jean Dawson, and young punk extraordinaires The Linda Lindas.

Melocke Springs Lollapalooza 2023
Melocke Springs Lollapalooza 2023

Hemlocke Springs, photo by Mishi Mode

The Forgettable Bookings

Yung Gravy

If you’ve managed to escape Yung Gravy’s smash hit “Betty (Get Money),” then good for you! The midwest rapper broke on the scene last year by heavily sampling Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up” for a cheap pop-rap song, and now, he’s pretty much everywhere. Every year, there’s an artist who will undoubtedly draw the highest density of drunk teenagers, and this year, it’ll likely be Yung Gravy — so if you’re planning on attending Lolla 2023, that’s something to keep in mind.

Lollapalooza 2023 Yung Gravy
Lollapalooza 2023 Yung Gravy

Yung Gravy, photo via YouTube

Thirty Seconds to Mars

Depending on how you feel about Jared Leto, this is either a great nostalgia booking or a generally bizarre inclusion. At a festival like this year’s edition of When We Were Young, Thirty Seconds to Mars makes a lot of sense — but at Lollapalooza in 2023, it’s a bit puzzling. Put aside the ego-centric activities of the band’s divisive frontman (if that’s even possible), the real question is whether or not Thirty Seconds to Mars’ uneven output is worth the showcase in 2023.

Half of the Perry’s Stage Artists

There are some terrific EDM, electronic, and dance bookings at Lollapalooza this year. There are also some very unimaginative bookings in that category. For every engaging act like Fred again.., SOFI TUKKER, Big Wild, and The Knocks, there’s a handful of forgettable ones, like MEDUZA, Svdden Death, Afrojack, and Diplo. Even Shaquille O’Neal’s dubstep project Diesel — which is memorable at the least, but overall, very silly — has lost a bit of its original novelty.

diplo sexual assault lawsuit dropped plaintiff prejudice
diplo sexual assault lawsuit dropped plaintiff prejudice

Diplo, photo by Philip Cosores

Omissions

Paramore

Paramore’s 2023 summer tour routing ends just days before Lollapalooza, and many thought they were a shoe-in for this year’s edition. Even their respective openers — Foals and The Linda Lindas — are set to play, but Paramore is absent. The likely scenario is that they’ve opted to play Chicago’s Riot Fest instead, but mark this as yet another festival that continues to miss one of the biggest rock bands around today.

paramore top live shows 2022
paramore top live shows 2022

Paramore, photo by Kris Lori

Skrillex

There’s never been a better time to be Skrillex, or to be a Skrillex fan — after dropping two acclaimed albums back-to-back last month and headlining NYC’s Madison Square Garden alongside Four Tet and Fred again.., Sonny Moore has entered one of the biggest years of his career so far. He’s certainly picking and choosing his festivals more than he would in, say, 2013, but with ODSEZA headlining and a selection of standout dance artists, Skrillex will be missed at Lollapalooza 2023.

Skrillex // Photo by Kris Fuentes Cortes

The National

With The National continuing their US tour starting August 1st — as well as appearing on the bill for Osheaga Festival, the same weekend as Lollapalooza — they were rumored to make their Lolla return. While it makes sense for them to pass this time around, this festival is definitely in need of some bigger indie rock names on the top few lines, outside of The 1975 and Maggie Rogers (sort of). With their 2023 LP First Two Pages of Frankenstein set to drop next month, The National would be a welcome sight at the biggest festival in the midwest.

the national new album
the national new album

The National, photo by Ben Kaye

Takeaways

Last year, Metallica and Green Day were two of Lollapalooza’s headliners, and the undercard was balanced accordingly — IDLES, Turnstile, and Dashboard Confessional earned better billing, and the undercard was littered with up-and-coming bands. This year, most of the exciting rock acts live well below the fifth line of the poster, and there’s generally less “heavy” offerings than the last few editions.

Similarly, with Kendrick topping the bill, there are hip-hop phenoms sprinkled throughout the top end of the lineup — J.I.D., Pusha-T, Joey Bada$$, Rema, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, and Lil Yachty, to name a few. But overall, this isn’t as hip-hop centric as we’ve seen Lolla be in the past either. Instead, the festival seeks to have a generally more balanced density of genres — with the exception being electronic music, which is well-represented at Lollapalooza this year.

There are also a few billing surprises; obviously they’re more popular in England, but Foals being tucked away at the end of the eighth line feels a little strange considering they managed to nab much higher billing at US festivals in 2019. On the other hand, newcomers Noah Kahan and Fred again.. are billed just a few names away from headliners — a sign of both artists’ dominance in their respective genres.

Overall, there’s certainly a lot to love on this lineup, and when you compare it side-by-side to last year’s, there’s a higher density of noteworthy, acclaimed, or unmissable acts. Across four days, Lollapalooza will always deliver a stacked event, even if it shares much of its lineup with other festivals. Each year, the experience in Grant Park promises to be unforgettable, and Lollapalooza tends to keep its promises.

Lollapalooza’s 2023 Lineup One Day Later: Highlights, Lowlights, and Omissions
Paolo Ragusa

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