Lollapalooza Chicago 2010: Strokes, Green Day, Soundgarden… and Phoenix?

Time Out Chicago have just claimed that a ‘trustworthy industry source’ has given them the lowdown on the Lollapalooza headliners for this upcoming summer’s show. Apparently the main acts will include: Strokes, Arcade Fire, Lady Gaga, Green Day, Soundgarden… and Phoenix.

“Aside from Phoenix, all acts had been previously named by Greg Kot on his blog back in February. The French band would take a major leap to the big leagues if this shakes out. Having seem Thomas Mars and co. thrill a packed Aragon, I can see it happening, despite the knee-jerk take that it is not popular enough.

I’m a fan of Phoenix, and their show at Chicago’s Aragon Theatre was very good. It’s thanks to events such as Lollapalooza that the ‘maybe’ headliners get their time at the top of the bill, let alone how many new bands get their first taste of a US festival. Phoenix, made up of four guys from Paris, have enjoyed huge success with their ‘Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix’ album; it has been hugely popular here with a wide range of fans, and several of the tracks have been deservedly huge hits. Check out some video here…

Phoenix – 1901 live from wearephoenix on Vimeo.

Chicago gig-goers are an excitable bunch. A whole array of shows over the last year or so have sold out, or certainly been packed enough for a successful night. Springing to mind as proof that live music is a huge passion here: U2 at Soldier Field, Basement Jazz at the Congress Theatre, the upcoming Air show, numerous other artists who are not seen as immediate big pulls, such as Miike Snow, OK Go (new video here), and RJD2 pack out the Metro week after week. There is definitely room to not only break new artists but help those on their way make another jump forward in the business. The relatively new Pitchfork Music Festival sold out it’s 3 day passes in record time this year; 5 days compared to two months last year. They hadn’t even announced the full line up, and of the 15 or so they had, I only recognised 3 acts. Serves me right for hesitating…

So no, Phoenix may not be at the epic global cult level of Green Day…. yet. But without Lollapalooza & co, we wouldn’t even have the chance to find out. And so, I hope that (a) the ‘rumour’ is true, and (b) that they rise to the occasion and move on up to another lever in their career.

Lee Jarvis.

(ps – Lollapalooza 2009 was incredible, by the way

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Tags: Basement Jaxx, Chicago, festival, Green Day, Lollapalooza, phoenix, Soundgarden, The Strokes