Today marks the first day of July, which means that we are exactly one month away from Lollapalooza and Eighteen days away from Pitchfork Music Festival. Considering the current price of gas and my reluctance to fly to Chicago, I am faced with a huge decision: Pitchfork or Lolla? Below I have broken down both of the festivals in hope that I can get some feedback for which one to attend.
Pitchfork
Dates: July 18 –20
Location: Chicago’s Union Park at the corner of Ashland and Lake.
Been around for: 3 years
Ticket Prices: 3-day passes are $65 (SOLD OUT), Saturday and Sunday 2-day passes are $50 (SOLD OUT) and single day passes are $30.
Lineup:
Public Enemy performing 'It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back' in its entirety, Sebadoh performing 'Bubble and Scrape' in its entirety, Mission of Burma performing 'Vs.' in its entirety, Animal Collective, Jarvis Cocker, The Hold Steady, !!!, Vampire Weekend, Dizzee Rascal, Fleet Foxes, Caribou, Jay Reatard, Titus Andronicus, No Age, Atlas Sound, Extra Golden, Fuck Buttons, Elf Power, The Ruby Suns, Icy Demons, A Hawk and a Hacksaw, Boban I Marko Markovic, Orkestar, Spoon, Dinosaur Jr., Spiritualized, M. Ward, Ghostface and Raekwon, Les Savy Fav, The Apples in Stereo, Boris, Dirty Projectors, Times New Viking, Cut Copy, Bon Iver, Dodos, Occidental Brothers Dance Band, International, King Khan & His Shrines, El Guincho, HEALTH, High Places and Mahjongg.
Highlights: Cut Copy, No Age, Spoon, Animal Collective, Vampire Weekend, The Hold Steady and Public Enemy.
Lollapalooza
Dates: August 1-3
Location: Grant Park
Been around for: 17 years, minus a five-year break during 1998-2002, and including the first seven years as a touring act.
Ticket Prices: Advance 3-day passes are $190 (SOLD OUT), regular 3-day passes are $205, Friday, Saturday and Sunday day passes are $80 each.
Lineup:
Radiohead, Rage Against the Machine, Kanye West, Nine Inch Nails, Wilco, The Raconteurs, Gnarls Barkley, Bloc Party, The Black Keys, Broken Social Scene, Flogging Molly, Mark Ronson, Cat Power, Lupe Fiasco, The National, G. Love & Special Sauce, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, Explosions in the Sky, Brand New, Gogol Bordello, Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, Perry Farrell, Iron & Wine, Toadies, Dierks Bentley, Okkervil River, Amadou & Mariam, Blues Traveler, The John Butler Trio, Girl Talk, CSS, Battles, Jamie Lidell, Butch Walker, Mates of State, Spank Rock, Brazilian Girls, 
Chromeo, Duffy, The Kills, Saul Williams, Rogue Wave, The Go! Team, Mason Jennings, The Gutter Twins, Yeasayer, DeVotchKa, Grizzly Bear, MGMT, The Weakerthans, Booka Shade, Free Sol, Black Kids, Black Lips, Louis XIV, Dr. Dog, Love and Rockets, Nicole Atkins & the Sea, The Ting Tings, Kid Sister, Office, The Cool Kids, What Made Milwaukee Famous, Does It Offend You, Yeah?, The Whigs, Manchester Orchestra, Foals, The Enemy, Uffie, The Octopus Project, Cadence Weapon, Ferras, De Novo Dahl, Noah and the Whale, Margot & the Nuclear So and So's, K'naan, Serena Ryder, Newton Faulkner, Your Vegas, Black Joe Lewis & the Honey Bears, Eli "Paperboy" Reed & The True Loves, Steel Train, Bang Camaro, The Blakes, Tally Hall, White Lies, Magic Wands, Wild Sweet Orange, Electric Touch, InnerPartySystem, The Postelles, The Parlor Mob, DJ Bald Eagle, Krista, Ha Ha Tonka, Witchcraft, We Go To 11, Sofia Talvik, Suzy Brack & the New Jack Lords, The Jimmies, Peter DiStefano & Tor, Tiny Masters of Today, Homemade Jamz, The Terrible Two's, The Q Brothers, The Dream Jam Band, Paul Green's School of Rock
Highlights: Rage Against the Machine, Broken Social Scene, The National, The Black Keys, Black Lips, CSS, Saul Williams, MGMT, The Go! Team and Radiohead (won’t even touch the show at Riverport…er, whatever it’s called now) and Stephen Malkmus.
This is a tough call. I mean, look at the lineup for Lollapalooza. Pretty much every band under the sun that I would want to see this summer is there; minus I’m From Barcelona and Vampire Weekend (but they will be in STL Sept. 10th at The Pageant). But, with quality comes cost. The tickets for Lolla are more than double the price of Pitchfork tickets.
Now I am stuck with a dilemma, a dilemma that I need help solving. I can only have so many mysterious food borne illnesses in a year, so both festivals are not an option, although that would be the ideal situation. So, which one should I go to? Let me know below. I need help deciding!