The most wonderful time of the year (summer festival season!) is pretty much upon us…. Which makes this build-up time to that, after receiving the schedule for Lollapalooza 2017, the most pseudo-torturous time of the year because now is the time during which we have to start planning our lives to maximize our experience at one of the most noteworthy festivals in the nation.
Below you’ll find the complete schedule for all dates (August 3-6), but allow us to break it down and highlight some of the more annoying time conflicts that will keep us second-guessing our decision(s) till pretty much showtime.
You can start building your own schedule on the Lolla’s site.
THURSDAY
The first day of Lolla 2017 flows pretty well from the moments “doors open.” Kweku Collins, White Reaper, The O’My’s, Jain, and then The Drums. Little-to-no overlap here… But then you have 5:00pm slot, which has an unfairly early spot for Migos going up against Nick Valensi’s CRX, both of which bleed into A-Trak’s time. If you’re the set-traveler kind, then you won’t mind how the last 4 hours go down… However, if you like to “camp” at a stage, then you’ll have to decide early on whether you want a close-up spot for Kaytranada/Lil Uzi Vert at the Pepsi stage vs. Cage The Elephant/Muse at the Grant Park stage. Oh yeah, and there’s also Spoon! A completely satisfying decision will be hard to develop; and it’s only day one!
FRIDAY
Day you get to kick things off with acts like Bibi Bourelly, The Districts, The Lemon Twigs, and Jidenna, then making way for Mura Masa, Phantogram. So the first half of the day isn’t too hard to figure out, as you may see. Then comes 6pm, when it’s not so much a time overlap for some of our favorite artists’ set times, but rather it’s the amount of ground you’ll have to travel to see them. Ryan Adams, Run The Jewels, and then Whitney; my suggestion: wear comfortable shoes (and finish the night with Blink-182).
SATURDAY
You’ll find an early conflict at about 12:45 between the dope rhymes of Michael Christmas and the ballsy Rock & Roll of The Shelters. Follow that up with Aminé, some Warpaint, Highly Suspect, Royal Blood, and alt-J. While seeing 21 Savage will only mean you’ll have to stomach spending some time at the wild world that is the Perry’s stage, the headliners will get you thinking. Chance The Rapper is arguably one of the biggest names in all of Hip Hop right now, so to add the fact that he’s headlining once more at the hometown festival that catapulted him to superstardom is more than enough to convince you to see this man perform live. But if you want alternatives The xx will sure deliver an entertaining set, and you honestly can’t go wrong with the chill vibes of Mac DeMarco on a summer night.
SUNDAY
The final date you can start with The Walters, but then you’ll have to pick between Maggie Rogers and Noname, though you can do both if you leave Rogers’ set early since she starts off 20 minutes before the Chicago rapper. Charli XCX and 6LACK are good to go, but then you’ll have to pick between Sampha and The Shins at 6:30. While you can freely enjoy Joey Bada$$ at 7:45, if you choose that you can either have a dope spot to see Rae Sremmurd at 9, but then you will be missing out on the glory that is Arcade Fire live! My suggestion: See Joey and then run to the opposite side of the festival as fast you can and fight your way into a good spot to see Win Butler and company.
