The best act at every Lollapalooza

The first Lollapalooza had a lineup that hasn’t really stood the test of time. It’s a VERY early ‘90s list featuring bands like Fishbone and Lords of Acid. At least Siouxsie and the Banshees were a cool early post-punk/goth band that had been around since the ‘70s. That gave them a track record of street cred to play with.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers and Pearl Jam both were on the tour this year, and both have their fans. Well, Pearl Jam still has its fans. The Jesus and Mary Chain is a slightly better band, though. No knock on Eddie Vedder, but Pearl Jam never quite had an album like the post-punk classic “Psychocandy.” Give the song “Just Like Honey” a listen if you disagree with this choice.

If you love a vicious guitar riff, look no further than J Mascis and Co. While the trio actually got better after a lengthy hiatus, in the interim Mascis’ trademark long hair went stark gray. In the early ‘90s, they still knew how to rip through a rock song. Dinosaur Jr. absolutely shredded in its heyday and, frankly, still does.

Though they rose to fame as bratty, fratty rappers, the Beastie Boys began life as a punk band. As such, they always fit in with a rock crowd a little better than some of their hip-hop brethren. Plus, by 1994 they had grown up a bit. Gone were the sophomoric antics of “Licensed to Ill,” replaced by a slightly more mature, but still with that impish, spirit that never really went away.

Pavement did not enjoy its Lollapalooza experience. In fact, after the disastrous 1995 tour, some of the band took joy in the idea that they had helped “kill” the festival. Things came to a head in West Virginia when the band got in a fight with the crowd, who threw mud at them, and their set ended with bassist Mark Ibold mooning the angry music fans. Oh, and despite all that, Pavement is the preeminent indie rock band of the ‘90s. We’re taking Pavement’s side in this one.

Rage Against the Machine was on a few different Lollapalooza lineups, as its angry, aggressive rock was what the tour was going for in the early days. The rest of the 1996 lineup was kind of lackluster — remember that the tour was starting to collapse after 1995 — so for this year at least Rage was the best band on the tour, and it wasn't even there for every date, either.

This was the last year of the original, touring Lollapalooza. You can see it in the lineup. It’s a bad lineup. Korn was involved. Some band called “The Orb” was involved. At least Beck was there, not on the main stage, but on a side stage. He was already a known name, but he wasn’t the established statesman of music he would be a few years later.

When Lollapalooza returned, it tried to do the whole touring thing again. The 2003 lineup is kind of lame, and also Steve-O was involved, to give you a sense. This was the hardest choice to make, given the options available. In the end, the winner out of this lackluster bunch wwas the briefly popular pop punk band The Donnas.

Finally, Lollapalooza figured out what would work. It set up shop in Chicago for a few days with a lot of bands playing, which is now how all music festivals seem to do it. There were some good choices available, including some classic acts like Liz Phair. However, it’s the up-and-coming Canadian weirdos fresh off the success of their breakout album, "Funeral," who take the cake. Oh, also Cake was at this event.

Sleater-Kinney came back from a hiatus a couple of years ago with the killer album "No Cities to Love." Alas, it seems like the bloom is off the rose, as Janet Weiss, maybe the best drummer in rock music, has left the band in the wake of its upcoming release. It’s not the first shakeup the band has experience. That aforementioned hiatus came just after its Lollapalooza set, and a few months later, it was done for a decade.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs was one of those bands that rose up in that early 2000s New York indie rock scene and fed the early days of music blogs. There’s even a book about it now. It seems that those bands have faded from the spotlight, including the Strokes. That being said, Yeah Yeah Yeahs was great at its peak. Karen O may be off doing more solo stuff now, but we’ll always have the glory days of this trio. We’ll always have “Maps.”

Radiohead needs no introduction. It has been one of the biggest bands in the world for years. In 2008, Radiohead was still at the peak of its powers and hadn’t gotten into where ther music is all ethereal and electronic yet — although, it had just released “In Rainbows,” so the band was getting there. The only surprise is that it took this long for Radiohead to headline Lollapalooza.

Vampire Weekend will always have its detractors. That being said, the band makes the kind of music that’s perfect for a summer music festival. It has a bright, bouncy element to it, and there is a reason it was able to become such a successful rock band. Vampire Weekend has at least aged better than The Killers, one of the headliners from this year.

Cypress Hill was at this year’s Lollapalooza as well, which calls to mind the “Simpsons” episode where Homer is a sideshow freak for Hullabalooza, a touring concert featuring the likes of Cypress Hill, Sonic Youth and Peter Frampton. None of that has anything to do with The New Pornographers, a Canadian power pop super group. You may have heard of one of its members Neko Case. She actually appeared solo at the festival in 2009.

To be frank, Titus Andronicus has been a bit much for the last several years. The  band makes lengthy, overwrought concept albums that are almost more rock operas than good old-fashioned punk. Hell, even 2010’s “The Monitor” is still sort of a concept album about the Civil War. All that being said, this band was still awesome in 2011 and great to see live.

At the Drive-In was a successful rock band that split up and yielded two more successful rock bands, The Mars Volta and Sparta. Eventually, At the Drive-In decided to reunite, and 2012 was the first year the band had played together since breaking up way back in 2001. Then it went on another hiatus, had another reunion and is currently on its third hiatus.

The National has something of a reputation of being a band for ruminating middle-aged men. They don’t have a ton of bangers in their repertoire necessarily. That being said, they also have a reputation as being a good band to see live. They can draw you in with frontman Matt Berninger’s deep, crooning vocals, and then when those dynamic songs are dropped into the set list, well, look out.

Though Lollapalooza started life as an alternative rock festival, and has always been rock focused, more and more hip-hop artists have appeared throughout the years. A few times Chicago native Kanye West has headlined, and while he didn’t make this list, the legendary duo from Atlanta had to make the cut. Anytime Andre 3000 and Big Boi are willing to take the stage together, it’s going to be a good show.

Father John Misty, the alter ego of Josh Tillman, likes to work the crowd. A less charitable way of putting it is that he likes to mess with his crowd. That being said, he’s committed to giving people a show. Also, he has put out some good music. There’s less ironic distance in it now than in 2015, but back then he was still the top outfit in this lineup.

This is a somber one to include, as only a couple of years later Frightened Rabbit is no longer an ongoing concern. The band dissolved after the death of frontman Scott Hutchinson in a presumed suicide. The sadness in Hutchinson’s lyrics was always apparent, but he rose above that in his Scottish brogue. This was a good band with a devoted following, and Hutchinson will be missed.

If this is the first time you’ve heard of Alvvays, get yourself educated. This was far from the biggest name in the lineup, but we had to go with it anyway because this band is just that good. The Canadian indie pop group has put out two albums, which are both amazing. Sometimes it pays to stray from the main stages at a big music festival.

J Mascis was shredding it up in the early days of Lollapalooza, and that shredding baton was passed down through the years, eventually landing with Annie Clark, aka St. Vincent. Though she may be tiny, she’s a powerful musician. St. Vincent also cares a lot about her visuals and stage presence, so you know you’re going to see an interesting performance. The music will probably be really good too.

IDLES is one of those bands you have to see live. The British post-punks aren’t messing around. They are political, opinionated and loud. Their energy on stage is intense. They performed at Glastonbury, a huge British music festival, earlier this summer, and their set tore the roof off. Now they are going to bring that energy to Chicago. Get ready.