You’ve seen the day-by-day schedule, as well as the list of aftershows and our Lollapalooza Spotify playlist to get in the festival spirit. Now check out a full list of acts you’d be out of your mind to miss at Lollapalooza 2013!
Note: Cat Power would be included, but given that she has the sad misfortune of playing alongside The Cure and Phoenix, we can’t in good conscience suggest that she’d be a better set alternative. Sorry Miss Marshall!
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SET TIMES: Find Out When Your Favorite Bands Hit the Lollapalooza Stage
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PLAYLIST: 16 Tracks of Summertime Lollapalooza Goodness
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AFTERSHOWS: Check Out All Your Chicago Options Beyond the Lolla Stage
Lollapalooza Artists
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Nine Inch Nails
After four long years Nails are returning, and mastermind Trent Reznor recently revealed that he has been working on the follow-up to 2008's The Slip with Alan Moulder and Atticus Ross in secret. With Hesitation Marks' new single "Came Back Haunted" and new song "Find My Way" kicking our asses, it's safe to say that NIN's return to the stage at Lollapalooza 2013 is going to be epic.
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Queens of The Stone Age
Their new album ...Like Clockwork is the best album of 2013 so far. Their broken-robot strut-swagger is now anchored by the phenomenal Jon Theodore, former drummer for The Mars Volta and One Day As a Lion. If you like your music to set your veins on fire like dirty sex in a beat up hot rod, don't miss their Friday appearance at Lolla 2013.
Hell, don't take our word for it - just look at our list of the Top 10 QOTSA Songs of All Time for evidence. Then see if you can find your way into their Lolla preshow at The Metro in Chicago on Thursday...
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Deap Vally
The Los Angeles rock-blast duo Lindsey Troy and Julie Edwards arrive with their Cherrytree/Interscope debut is due later this month, but have already amassed a growing cult after some legendarily ferocious live performances and a couple of highly promising singles. If you miss the White Stripes and aren't intimidated by enough attitude to make Alison Mosshart and Courtney Love take notes, keep your schedule open for Deap Vally's head-crackin' charms this weekend.
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Father John Misty
Branding is everything for Fleet Foxes drummer Joshua Tillman, who has been releasing solo music for nearly a decade, but didn't hit his stride until last year's liftoff of the Father John Misty pseudonym was met with a wave of brand-new enthusiasm. The writhing, hypersensual lanky Tillman croons, quips and struts through a live display of sexual healing laced with some rather hilarious wit.
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Imagine Dragons
With a live show that's evolved by leaps and bounds over the past year, Imagine Dragons play like a band with everything to prove - despite being on top of the world thanks to hits like "Radioactive," "It's Time" and "Demons".
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Brick + Mortar
Formed in 2010 to a sharp trajectory of interest and enthusiasm, the intense nature of Brick & Mortar's presentation brought a deeper sense of meaning to the art this duo are driven to make. Check out our exclusive premiere of their new track "Locked In a Cage".
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Ghost B.C.
What do you get when you mix Black Sabbath with Vatican fashion? Apparently, the answer is Ghost BC, a Swedish doom and gloom production with a massively anticipated album on the way. These mysterious rockers have been making the rounds for over 5 years, and still nobody has any idea who they are. Searing metal riffage with a cross-section immersion into electronica make for a timely sonic tapestry, but prepare for an overdose of weird – the costume getups alone are enough to strike fear in the hearts of festival attendees. Let's see how those outfits hold up in 100+ degree temperatures...
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The Postal Service
The digi-blip emo duo of Ben Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie) and Jimmy Tamberello (Dntel) surprised us all this year with a reunion, and their Coachella & Sasquatch performances were warm baths of soft-sigh nostalgia. It's good to finally see some proper live shows behind their addictive 2003 electro-indie record Give Up, but there's no telling how long this little victory lap will last, so make sure to catch it while you can...
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Kendrick Lamar
Kendrick Lamar conquered Bonnaroo's massive main stage all on his own earlier this Summer with what appeared to be casual ease. Armed with only a DJ on the gigantic main platform, Kenrick pulls from his good kid, m.A.A.d city album during a body-rockin' set. You're bound to see fan favorites like "Backseat Freestyle," a dose of A$AP Rocky's "Fuckin' Problems" and Young Jeezy's "R.I.P.," alongside hits "Poetic Justice" and "Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe," with the inevitable "Swimming Pools (Drank)" in store as well.
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Reignwolf
Jordan Cook, better known as Reignwolf, tore the roof off the place at CraveOnline's SXSW music showcase this year, and took an electrified wrecking ball to the tired, rickety claims that "rock n' roll is dead". One moment coyly creeping to the mic and the next a raw fit of gnashing teeth, roaring howls and a blur of flying hair, Reignwolf delivers a conversion sermon of pure rock fury that must be experienced. A live Reignwolf show is a bloodlust-roaring blues solo freakout, an unforgettable dose of precisely the kind of rock music needs in 2013. With uncompromising passion, untethered talent and a long future ahead, there's no stopping Mr. Cook – get on this train before he hits the stratosphere.
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Death Grips
To the uninitiated, a Death Grips performance can be downright terrifying. A primal and incredibly raw intensity surges through the sound of Stefan “MC Ride” Burnett belting out barking vocal accompaniments to percussion-heavy prog-spaz punk freakouts.
Our own Iann Robinson said it best: "Death Grips rip the skin off of Hip Hop and expose the cancer of complacency allowing a genre that once spit out Public Enemy to now be responsible for Lil Wayne and the rest of what passes for Hip Hop today. This is a solid blow to the status quo from underground Hip Hop that isn’t boring or mired in bad impressions of Kool Keith. Nobody in Death Grips is getting off on being cute or clever, they’re too busy stomping your face in with sheer awesomeness."
Do not miss these monsters of the stage.
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Matt and Kim
If you're feeling the need to dance your sweaty ass off, Matt & Kim are the answer. Impossibly upbeat and energized, the dynamic duo engage their audiences like none other with an enthusiasm that's off the charts. If they kick into their amazing cover of Salt N' Pepa's "Push It," prepare yourself for dancefloor armageddon.
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The Cure
The emo pioneers are keeping it together with a whole lotta AquaNet and eyeliner, as well as some immortally classic tracks that span the band's three decades of existence. Their live show is still a force to be reckoned with - don't miss the opportunity to defy the calendar alongside 50,000 other fans screaming "Friday I'm In Love" - on Sunday night.
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Phoenix
Phoenix's return this year has been a celebrated run, with new album Bankrupt! winning over critics and crowds. Seasoned festival sluggers by now, they have no problems wowing crowds with a hit-rich tapestry of songs stretching back to their 2009 breakthrough Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. The French outfit is in top form these days - you'll see.
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Alt J
English indie rockers Alt-J, named for the triangle that appears when pressing "Alt" and "J" on a Mac, are hitting new heights of popularity with a folk-inflected dub-pop hybrid that hits right home in the EDM world as well as those pushing the boundary walls of modern rock. Early singles "Matilda" and "Fitzpleasure" are good indicators of the group's full-length studio debut, 2012's An Awesome Wave, and their sets at Coachella, Sasquatch and Bonnaroo this year were downright awesome (we were there for every one of em!).
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Major Lazer
More than just a Beyoncé single backdrop factory, Diplo's dance-floor project is guaranteed to have every girl you've been eyeing all weekend losing their minds in the sweltering Chicago heat. With star-studded appearances featured on their new album Free The Universe (out April 15), there's a good chance we could see some onstage guest collaboration between ML and the likes of Bruno Mars, Flux Pavillion or even Wyclef. Who knows? It's freakin' Lollapalooza.
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Baroness
Dominating awesomely on their first tour back following a devastating bus crash last year, expect to see the new Baroness lineup roaring and riffing their way through a set heavily peppered with songs off their 2012 album, Yellow & Green. Bassist Nick Jost and drummer Sebastian Thomson have replaced low-ender Matt Maggioni and drummer Allen Blickle after the incident, and though they're missed brethren we can now safely say that the current lineup is completely freakin' badass.
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The Mowgli's
CraveOnline's July Band of The Month is a great way to keep spirits high on the final day of Lolla 2013. This free-spirited collective is a rare blend of sunshine and screaming talent who first blew us away when they performed at our SXSW showcase this year (alongside Eagles of Death Metal, Reignwolf, My Goodness and more), tearing down the house with their harmony-rich blend of 70's California folk and modern indie rock charm. Their songs convey a relentlessly upbeat positivity, a framework for their message of universal love.
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Jake Bugg
19 year-old Jake Bugg's mix of folk and rock calls back to Hank III, despite being a British import. His self-titled debut album delivers 14 upbeat punk-folk jams with a startling amount of promise, and radio smash "Lightning Bolt" is just the tip. He's rapidly earning a reputation for being the real deal - see for yourself on Sunday.
