Live music going away has been one of the hardest parts of the pandemic for me. I know it’s a luxury, but getting all those emotions out for a few hours really helps keep my mind level. Having almost a year and a half of almost nothing really took a toll, but now that people are getting the vaccine, things are opening back up. I was lucky enough to see KennyHoopla’s first ever headlining show last month (and barely made it in), so getting that small taste of live music really has me ready for everything to come back. Given the title of the post, I was lucky enough to get tickets for Lollapalooza again this year. Even though the lineup isn’t actually that good, there’s still quite a number of people I am excited to see live! I think that’s always a positive with a lineup this huge, which is that there will always be lots of undercard people I’m excited about. It took a while to actually convince myself to buy the ticket, and I’m glad I did because the upcoming Madison shows don’t really interest me at all. Especially for someone that listens to the genres that I do, having the two biggest venues in town have zero Black headliners out of over 80 shows doesn’t leave me with many options (although, I was lucky enough to score Phoebe Bridgers tickets a few days ago), so I’m glad to be able to see anyone I enjoy in 2021! Instead of talking about everyone that I don’t like on the lineup, I might as well talk about who I’m excited to see in a couple weeks!
Top Tier
The obvious headliner I’m most excited to see is Tyler, the Creator! This will be his first big performance of his new album, Call Me If You Get Lost. As expected, it’s probably my favorite project of 2021 so far, and this performance will likely be the first of the new era. He did three small, free shows across the country the week it came out, but this will be his first large-scale performance. As with his previous two albums, there’s been some sort of elaborate stage design that will hopefully be debuted here for the new album. With its theme of traveling and love, he could do something really unique with this big stage. But of course, he could just go up and perform these songs and it will likely still be amazing! He puts 100% of himself in every performance I’ve seen, and I have no doubt that this one will be the same.
The other artist I think might be special is Kenny Mason. His combination of rock and hip hop is unlike anything I’ve previously heard. No one has been able to do it this well or with this much authenticity. It could translate into an amazing performance, and judging from the online live videos he’s done in front of no one, it might be. I’m also seeing Kenny the day before Lollapalooza at an aftershow, as he’s the opener for an artist and the big reason I bought those tickets, but we’ll get back to that one later down the list. I am curious how it will go at the festival though, as Kenny’s at the smallest stage of the entire fest, and for someone who’s music can be pretty aggressive, it might be weird.
The two other artists that fall into this category are Brittany Howard and Freddie Gibbs. For those that don’t know, Brittany is the lead singer of famed indie-rock band Alabama Shakes and put out her first solo album in late 2019. Since her touring got cut off due to COVID, she seems to have the festival circuit to go, so I’m excited to catch her here, even if it’s on a terrible stage at a terrible time. I’m also super pumped to see Freddie Gibbs, especially after this run of fantastic projects he's been on! Releasing them year after year, each one has just gotten better and better! This upcoming project, Soul Sold Separately, looks like it will have his best feature and production list yet. Hopefully it comes out this year, but the way he’s hyping it, I’d be fine waiting until it’s perfect to come out.
Definitely Going To See
This section is for artists that I’m actively excited to see and would 100% see if they were coming to town, no question about it! I probably wouldn’t travel to another city to see them, but it would be an easy buy if they did come to town. Some of these are people that I have already seen live. I’ve seen Brockhampton two different times where they were at completely different places in their trajectory. Now, they just put out their best major label album in Roadrunner, and will have their debut performance in front of a live audience with this new material at Lolla! Earthgang is also another one I’ve seen many times before, but they surprisingly haven’t put out that much new music during the pandemic, so I’m not sure how new their show will be. Either way, they’re one of the best hip hop performers out there! JPEGMAFIA is also someone I’ve seen live once, but that was only when he was opening for Vince Staples. He’s put out three projects since then and changed his sound multiple times, so who knows what this new show will be like.
There are also some other rappers I’m excited to see what they bring to the table, and they’re all female rappers. Rico Nasty is one I’ve been a fan of for a few years, and her concerts always seem like they would be insane! Now that she’s gone into the hyperpop direction with a few tracks, there’s even more that’ll have some incredibly high energy. “IPhone” especially seems like it will be something special live! Charm La’Donna’s EP was pretty great, and considering she’s choreographed the biggest musical event of 2021, my expectations are high for what she’ll bring for her own performance. I haven’t seen any performances of her actually performing live yet, so I suppose she might be bad at it, but she’s clearly talented and has been on stage as a dancer for years! Also, one of the biggest new names in music will be there, Megan Thee Stallion. It feels like she’s becoming unavoidable, which is a bit annoying, but she still has an extremely high level of talent. Judging from her NPR Tiny Desk concert, she has great breath control, which will hopefully make for a fantastic show!
There are also a couple of weirder artists that fit into this category as well. Gay country singer Orville Peck will hopefully put on a good show. His voice seems like it will translate well live, and it’s sonically so much different from the rest of the festival that it will likely stand out no matter how great he is. Paris Texas is a new replacement for Slowthai, who isn’t going to make it due to a visa issue. I’ve talked about their material multiple times before, and the “Heavy Metal” single is still one of my favorite tracks this year! Even though their debut EP this year didn’t blow me away like I hoped, it’s still a solid project. They do seem so new to music, so I’m not sure how well they’ll be, but I’m tentatively excited! There could’ve been many worse replacements for Slowthai, so they made the best of a bad situation with this one.
Solid Artists That Would Put On A Good Show
This category contains artists that I definitely wouldn’t travel to see, and some I probably wouldn’t even see if they came to town. But a lot of them would at least make me think about going if they came here, and I probably would with how dry this fall schedule is. There are still some I wouldn’t though, like Foo Fighters and Roddy Ricch for example. I think both of those artists are very talented and will hopefully put on fascinating sets, but their music hasn’t really connected with me outside of a few songs. These are perfect for festivals because I’d never pay for a full concert from either of those two, but I’ll hopefully enjoy their sets late in the day!
There’s a bit of everything in this section, but let's stay in the hip hop category for this paragraph. After a late schedule change, I’ll now be able to catch Chicago native Mick Jenkins’ performance on Friday! Mick is one of the best wordsmiths currently in hip hop, and I’m hoping that being in Chicago will make that performance even more special. Up-and-comer Flo Milli is also on the lineup and will hopefully have a high energy performance. I haven’t found any footage of her performing in front of an audience, so it may go poorly, but her flow and charisma will hopefully be enough to overcome any beginner woes that might be there. RMR isn’t really a rapper, but he’s hip hop adjacent. His Rascal Flatts remix “Rascal” went viral last year and is still one of the prettiest ballads from that year. He’s got a very unique voice and even though his newer singles have been pretty middling, there’s still more than enough great music to make his set noteworthy.
Both R&B and pop have some cool people in here. After years of good material, Dominic Fike has now gotten a cosign from Paul McCartney! Dominic is the artist I’m seeing at the after show before the festival, but a big part of that is due to the scheduling and Kenny Mason opening. Noga Erez has been described as having a Billie Eilish-esque sound, and that’s definitely accurate. There are some songs that sound too much like Billie, but most of it allows the Israeli songwriter to stand out. Giveon got his big break from being featured on a Drake song last year, but he’s become one of the most prominent young voices in R&B today and was even on Justin Bieber’s chart topping hit “Peaches”. Emotional Oranges have become solidified in the newer, house-oriented style of R&B, and will likely put on a nice mid-day set.
Speaking of electronic and dance music, there’s a couple here I’m excited for as well! Kaytranada is coming off of two Grammy wins and his most successful album yet, and he’s still producing lots of fantastic songs for a plethora of artists! It looks like his live performance is just a DJ set, so I’m curious what it’ll be like, but it’ll be a really nice nighttime set with some great vibes. Moore Kismet is only 16 years old, but they’re already make some unique and hard hitting music. I don’t think their album will be out by this time, but I’m curious what a full out festival electronic set will be like, even if it’s happening at noon.
This last paragraph is just everyone else that didn’t really fit into a category that I’m still somewhat excited and curious to see what they do. Miley Cyrus’s album last year was actually pretty solid, and she obviously has the big nostalgia factor for those early few hits. With those two combined, I’m curious what her show will be like and how she’ll actually sound live. Marc Rebillet creates all his material live, and I’m wondering how his crazed online personality will translate to a live performance. 19-year old renforshort was a late addition, but after listening to her new EP this year, I think she could have a fascinating opening set to the day. If she releases more songs like “Virtual Reality”, she might end up being a lot bigger the next time festival season rolls around. Two semi-folk/indie artists Joy Oladokun and Cautious Clay have both put out albums in the last couple months and would probably put on decent performances. There’s also the Bud Light Bar and Toyota Music Tent, each of which will have more intimate sets from artists already on the lineup, but their schedule hasn’t come out yet.
Even with a lot of the bigger names not really being people I’d want to see live, there’s still a plethora of artists on the lineup to fill up four full days of live music! Personally, the Pitchfork lineup this year appealed to me a bit more than this one, especially with their headliner choices, but it’s also at an extremely inconvenient time, the first weekend after transferring to a four year university. But with a lineup the size of Lollapalooza, it’s hard to make something truly atrocious. I’ll likely always have a soft spot for this festival since it was my first festival experience in 2019, and hopefully I’ll remember a lot about it to make this one just that much better! Even though the lineup isn’t as good in my opinion, hopefully this year will be a better experience!
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