Worst ever festival line up?

Maybe we're just old.

Maybe? I recognize 25 of those names, and nothing below the 10th line, afaict.

It feels like "anyone who would commit to appearing on those dates"

Am I out of touch for wondering why Tyler, The Creator is top-billed? I thought he was more of a cult act.

"Limp Bizkit" slightly too short to fit the spacing

Tyler's been on a bunch of hits over the last few years and Yonkers is ten years old now, which has slowly gained canonical status

I asked my 13-year old if she saw the Lollapalooza line-up, and she said "no, who's playing?" I told her "Limp Bizkit," and she literally did a spit take, spraying milk out of her nose and mouth in hysterics. After she calmed down and cleaned things up, she asked me, "is there really a band called Limp Bizkit?! Who names a band Limp Bizkit?!" Then I played her "Rollin'" and she cracked up again.

Maybe? I recognize 25 of those names, and nothing below the 10th line, afaict.

― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, May 19, 2021 4:59 PM

ILM eye chart.

(I made it down to whichever line Jimmy eat World was on.)

lol, I love the idea that the lower (and smaller) you can literally read and recognize, the younger you are. Like, that's why they put the big names in big fonts, not because they're headliners but to make sure the old people see FOO FIGHTERS and MILEY CYRUS and JOURNEY.

The Front Bottoms

There's one line that scans like a Dada sound poem.

Flo Milli Bia Flipp Dinero Tnght Ag Club Boy Pablo Elohim Cam

lots of acts on that lineup I'd happily pay a sensible price to see to a full set at a regular show, but seeing them all crammed into that poster with all that other trash makes me crave death for some reason

so basically like every other mega-fest's lineup

Cam, performing their classic album Tajo Majo.

It doesn't seem like the worst lineup (and I only know maybe 1/3 of the acts) but it kind of just looks like something-for-everyone-fest with no particular identity.

Also I take back 1/3. Maybe I know 15% of those acts.

You are assuming, then, that the 85% of the acts you don't know are actually good and do not comprise the worst lineup of all time. Those are poor odds!

it feels distinctly strange and all over the place even by festival standards, like absolutely no sense of curation just anyone they could get at all, which is somewhat understandable considering the pandemic & all but

but i guess looking at the past few lineups it's been like that for a while, just this time it's more extreme surely due to covid

Vintage Culture is definitely one for the boring band names thread

I put this in the Band of Horses thread but by far the most surprising thing for me on this poster is the fact that they're on the 5th line. They had one big indie hit like 16 years ago, and if I'm not mistaken, have released only 1 new album in the last decade. Who is going to this festival that's going to the 6pm Band of Horses show? I didn't even know they were still a band.

It's been said many times before but the death of the band has never been more apparent. I'm sure I'm wrong, but I only recognize one or two bands that I think were formed after 2010 on the entire poster! Comparing this poster to the ones from ~2003-2008 is quite remarkable.

once you get beyond that line though there's really diminishing returns as far as recognisability goes, probably just because of how so many acts aren't ready to return to touring yet. "one big indie hit like 16 years ago" still makes them more recognisable than a ton of acts on that lineup i guess. i'd also imagine they might have a new album out this year if they're touring

as far as death of the band goes it's just festivals are much much more interested in booking non-rock band acts now because that's where youth culture is at, despite having all the festivals having started out as rock-oriented etc

reading to the end of that lolla lineup was worth it for the late Aly & AJ reunion reveal.

one of my only fest experiences abt 10 years ago included Band of Horses playing as an acoustic trio at 4:30pm to complete audience indifference, like most ppl with their backs literally turned to the stage. idgaf about Band of Horses but still remember the vivid feeling in that moment of "is this what fests are? bc this is kind of depressing"

It's sort of like a magic eye for old people. How many of this lineup that you know can you find?

https://assets-global.website-files.com/5e94ab5e53b1514c1704e66e/6065de4d718b4c1c9b5f967e_B21-Admat-v01_1080x1350.png

I got 33. (And some of the others I didn't know I recognized from the Lolla poster, lol). Regardless, this is a much better mish-mash, imo.

I got about as many from the Riot Fest lineup (34, including a few I'd actually want to see):

https://static.stereogum.com/uploads/2021/05/unnamed-2021-05-14T121550.587-1621008954.jpg

I got 34

and of those, there are maybe 5 I'd ever pay to see (and one of them is the very last name on the poster)

be hilarious if Andrew WK isn't performing and is just DJing

https://static.stereogum.com/uploads/2021/05/60a677206fb1b7ec61dd9f43_ACL21-Lineup-Final_1080x1350-1621522882-1000x1250.jpg

another kinda strange one, george strait is a gigantic country star but has pretty much zero crossover outside of that right?

it's clearly just a very weird year for festivals trying to piece things together

GUYS WE CAN GO TO SEE GRETA VAN FLEET AND HECKLE

and we might get....

wait for it...

permabanned

from the festival

Those Surfaces doofuses really making the festival rounds.

never heard of them & was going to ask what made them doofuses but then it was clear from checking out their one hit

TalkToTransformer is no fun any more:

White Reaper. Peakaboo. Olivia O'Brien. Orville Peck. Princess Nokia. Cautious Clay. Dayglow. Trevor Daniel. Flo Milli. Bia. Flipp Dinero. TNGHT. AG Club. Boy Pablo. Elohim. Cam. Slowthai. Mick Jenkins. Tobi Lou. Drama. Grandson. Cavetown. Toosii. Bali. Rayl. A-Jac. DMA's. Girlpool. Eats Everything. Algiers. Detroit: Snail Mail. Quelle Chris. Cardinal Melancholy. J Brohasta. Guilty Pleasure. Jojo O'Brien. Lil Yachty. Gillie Mac Mac. Astroid Boys. MadeinTYO. Deap Vally. Milk Bar. SNBRN. LAFOOD. MaRLo. Rick Ross. Danny Brown. Goldlink. Mitski. Cupcakke. Dreamers. Gus Dapperton. Lykke Li. Super Junior. Little Dragon. Cut Snake. Lupe Fiasco. Saint Jhn. Dreamcar. Sho Baraka. The Bronx. Jidenna. Migos. DRAM. 6LACK. Jay Park. Tha Way. Sho Bar

genuinely couldn't tell which of the ones it generated were real or not for the most part

I am past the years of patience with festivals, but that Riot Fest lineup is the closest to making me want to consider giving it a go again, if I'm honest.

my poster stats:

Lolla - heard of 29, would pay to see 2 (Brittany Howard, Band of Horses)
Bonnaroo - heard of 39, would pay to see 9
Riot Fest - heard of 42, would pay to see 16
ACL - heard of 23, would pay to see 3 maybe 4

My takeaway is that I hope a festival appearance means we get a new Uncle Acid album soon.

it's clearly just a very weird year for festivals trying to piece things together

A festival here that was due to happen in July had to reschedule to September. Understandably some of the line up couldn't do the new date but replacing Kraftwerk as the headliner with Culture Club does seem a rather odd decision.

@ufo fairly certain they're all real

these are the ones it invented: Rayl, A-Jac, J Brohasta, Cardinal Melancholy, Gillie Mac Mac, Milk Bar, LAFOOD, Tha Way, Jojo O'Brien, Detroit: Snail Mail (though obviously snail mail is a real band) which was definitely less than i expected

Do bands just not go out of style as easily anymore? There was a time when it would have really cramped Lollapalooza's style to put the equivalent of a band like Foo Fighters on the bill (whose fanbase I assume is largely in their mid 30s to mid 40s).

to some extent, but foo fighters are still rock radio titans etc. and legacy big name rock acts have been on most festival lineups for ages now. earlier on in its existence lollapalooza wasn't really the sort of festival to go for that but like, journey and limp bizkit are on this one.

J Brohasta

Mine didn't invent any but lol at the lineup and especially the last one

Foo Fighters G-Eazy Tame Impala Young Thug Nelly Deadmau5 Incubus Young the Giant Glass Animals Janelle Monáe Lil Baby Deftones Kevin Gates Lizzo Leon Bridges My Morning Jacket Chris Stapleton Marshmello The Head and the Heart Natalie Prass Against Me! Judah & the Lion Sylvan Esso Brandi Carlile Maggie Rogers AFI Arctic Monkeys G-Eazy Kaytranada NF P!nk Grouplove Chvrches LZ7 Beach House Hozier Grouper Idina Menzel

I mean, in one way of looking at it, there is no discernible difference between putting Foo Fighters at the top of a festival bill in 2021 and putting Journey near the top of a festival bill in 2021.

otm

I think it totally sucks that the way live music is starting to come back is festivals, a way to see music that I despise on pretty much every level.

— Robert Beatty (@EdSunspot) May 20, 2021

Yup.

well Lollapalooza has just been a name with almost no connection to what we'd think of the historical Lolla festival for... maybe a decade? The thing runs in 7 countries now and the lineups are just whoever will pull in people that year. I got a tiny bit curious about going to the Berlin one for free a few years back. then I saw the poster...

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DzTCfV8X4AkNj-T.jpg

xps eh foo fighters are at least still a going concern - their new albums still sell decently and get rock radio play even if their best work is long behind them. there are only two members of journey from their best-known period (notably not the singer) & i don't think anyone at all has cared about anything they've put out in the last 25 years

Compiled stats for me:

Lolla - heard of 25, would pay to see* zero
Bonnaroo - heard of 33, would pay to see a generous ... seven?
Riot Fest - heard of 35, would pay to see nine or ten
ACL - heard of 22, would pay to see ... one?

*hypothetically, since there's no way I'm paying for any of these, though considered Riot Fest but backed out because I want to know the day-to-day schedule.

bonarroo lineup is orders of magnitude better than lolla's imo