5 Reasons NOT to go to Lollapalooza

Call me jaded, but I've gone to Lolla almost every year since it's been in Chicago, and this is by far the worst lineup I have ever seen of ANY fest. The festival sold out of ALL tickets in nearly an hour before the lineup was even released, and just 20 minutes after, almost 5,000 tickets are made available on Stubhub for double the price. The lineup is a joke, there are literally like 7 bands I would be interested in seeing, and that's just sad because I'm a big music nerd and like a ton of stuff. The sad thing is that they don't even care if scalpers buy all of the tickets, because selling out guarantees that they make a profit, which must have been a lot because they obviously didn't invest much into the lineup. It's pretty shameful that they have acts that don't even sell out mid sized venues billed 4th, 5th, and 6th on the lineup. Since when was Lolla all about Hip Hop and Dance Music? If I'm not mistaken, Lollapalooza is a ROCK festival. There are at least 5 other Dance/Hip Hop fests in Chicago, and you could always count on Lolla to balance it all out and have some music worthy of listening to, that wasn't made with just a computer. Half the artists booked will just set up and press play from their computer. It's extremely annoying to have Dance Music acts taking over everything, and the crowds at the events are completely terrible because everyone goes for the party and not for the music anymore, because it's the hip thing to do, and then us people who actually care about music get screwed with this shit lineup, and then can't even get a chance to get a ticket if we did want to go. I remember a few years ago buying a ticket like a week before the fest, because the demand wasn't as high then, and the lineup was much much better. They've been booking less and less every year, and raising ticket prices, because people still keep paying.

5. The Cost. 
You are paying 250.00 at minimum for 30 total hours of live music, hotel fees if you live out of the city (which aren't cheap) would end up costing 500.00 for the weekend at the cheapest. And that's if you stay in the suburbs. Bonnaroo is a better value for your money.

4. Sell out. 
Lollapalooza is sold out now, and the only way you could even go is by giving money to a scalper. This is the reason why Lolla is sold out in the first place. More than 5,000 three day passes and single day tickets are listed for sale on stubhub. People are even scalping tickets right on the Lollapalooza Facebook page.

3. The crowd. 
The demographic gets younger and more irritating each year (or maybe I'm just getting old). I don't know about you, but I don't really want to be surrounded by a bunch of suburban high school kids on molly acting wild and tense, making the whole experience miserable. With top acts like Eminem, Kings of Leon and Skrillex,  Lollapalooza has proven to be giant "bro" convention. No thanks.

2. Better choices.
Why suffer through 30 hours of the worst hip hop and dance music around right now, when you can go to a festival with a good lineup. By all means I'm not slamming Outkast, I LOVE them, but you can easily see them at another festival near you (They are going to be playing 40 of them). Coachella, Bonnaroo, Governors Ball, and Pitchfork Music Festival all have a better lineup, and there are dozens of other fests that have great lineups too. 

1. The lineup.
I don't even know what to say about this. There are some good acts hidden in that mess of a lineup, but as a whole, it's missing any sort of "wow." I would definitely not pay $250.00 for this.

On the bright side, there are a ton of other choices in Chicagoland and across the USA, so if you did want to attend and didn't manage to snag a ticket, just find a different festival to attend this year. Hopefully next year Lollapalooza will return to its roots, and I can go back to attending a festival that I love. Most of us true fans will probably be sitting this year out, because we didn't get a ticket, or because the lineup is just a joke. If you do go, good luck to you.

What are your thoughts?