Most of you take it upon yourselves to create inter-fest rivalries, pitting lineups and locales against each other, choosing your champion and mounting staunch defense and arguments to justify your fave. Thing is, with, say Coachella Vs. Bonnaroo, there’s no real need to pick; just go to both! Financial and logistical constraints aside, at least it’s within the realm of possibility.
Not so for Lolla and Virgin, though. Billboard reports that, in order to accommodate U.S. Virgin Fest-headliner The Police’s tour, Sir Richard Branson’s Baltimore-based event and Chi town’s Lolla getdown will fall on the same weekend of August 4th.
So which one to hit? Virgin’s got The Police, Beastie Boys, and The Smashing Pumpkins to headline. Lolla’s got Pearl Jam. Both festivals are tight-lipped on the rest of the lineup for the time being, so here are the invariable factors:
Crabs Vs. Steak
If you’re planning a trip from out of town, you gotta consider your urban environs; more precisely, your urban environs’ delicacies. For Chicago-bound vegetarians, “steak” may be substituted with “deep dish.” The health conscious are shit out of luck.
Pimlico Vs. Grant Park
Venue, venue, venue! August is hot, and both cities sit on bodies of water — so high humidity is a given. Chicago’s Grant Park is gorgeous, but foot traffic can send up the dust. Never been to Baltimore’s Pimlico, but seems to us even a shit-free horse racing track is still a horse racing track. Virgin veterans, feel free to correct us there. On the flip, Pimlico seems smaller, which means less hauling ass in the scorching sun between stages. Meanwhile, the cross-Grant trek feels endless in the summer (it’s at least a twenty minute walk between main stages). As if you boozers will need anything to dehydrate you further.
Quality Vs. Quantity
A salient issue here, and tangentially connected to venue considerations. As a Virgin Fest producer told Billboard, “We only have 12 slots a day on two big stages, and our concept is to fill our slots with the absolute best talent available.” Lolla, of course, will push something like 200 bands over something like eight stages at ya. Awesome in theory … well, maybe just awesome in general … but when the two bands you want most to see are back to back on stages miles apart, the fest goes from “best” to “unwieldy” right quick.
Other criteria you may want to discuss but for which our Virgin virginity leaves us too inexperienced to assess: sound, lodging, transport, and, most importantly, crowd attractiveness.
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Anybody whose ever been to Preakness knows that Pimlico can handle a large unruly crowd. The crabs are great down in Baltimore and the inner harbor is OK but that’s about all the city has to offer. I’m just glad that there’s a large festival on the east coast ’cause not everyone can get out to California, Tennessee, or Chicago every year.
i am boggled as to why the pumpkins are not playing lollapalooza.
The second you hear of any other bands playing Lollapalooza, please post them! I ordered tickets on their early bird special or whatever they call it, and we’re going a bit blindly. Can you imagine if they decided they were going to go “all country” this year! Hahaha. I’d just have to sell my tickets to my dad
chi-town represent. yes, i say go with deep dish. and pearl jam, how can you beat that? best live band in america, year in and year out. everything else is just gravy. afterwards, go drink at lincoln park, much cooler than linkin park.
I’d got to Virgin just to avoid Pearl Jam. Vedder is an interesting guy, but he’s failed to make interesting music for a good 15 years now.
Hey Michele,
A lot of these are confirmed Lolla acts through their MySpace dates:
Lupe Fiasco
The New Amsterdams
Jack?s Mannequin
The Roots
Son Volt
Pearl Jam
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Daft Punk
Charlie Musselwhite
Ghostland Observatory
Rhymefest
David Vandervelde
Peter, Bjorn and John
!!! (Chk Chk Chk)
Peter DiStefano
Funny, I went to a Lollapalooza when Beasties and Pumpkins were the headliners…
LCD is playing Saturday at Lolla per their MySpace.
Someone on the Lolla board was quick to note the Pumpkins could thoretically play say, Friday and be in Baltimore to play Sunday. We’ll see. I got my Lolla tix on the secret sale so I’m just pumped to be there.
“The crabs are great down in Baltimore and the inner harbor is OK but that’s about all the city has to offer.”
if you think baltimore is only about crabs and the inner harbor, then you must not have the right friends. *shaking head* this is exactly why i love baltimore…people like you stay by the water, and leave all the great hidden gems to us locals.
that being said…sadly, this festival will probably turn into what the HFS-tival used to be: crowded, annoying, and filled to the brim with idiots.
me and my friend are dubbing it “the festival of comeback letdowns”
see you there.
Yes, as pangora recommends, you should all go drinking in Lincoln Park after the shows … heh.
(Excellent, now that everyone is out of the decent neighborhoods I can get a beer!)
LCD is playing at Lolla? Outstanding. It doesn’t say anything on their official site, only lists their Chicago show at the Metro in April (which i have tix for…very pumped)
Ryan97ou:
Of course Baltimore has more than crabs and the inner harbor. I wasn’t trying to write a tourist brochure or anything. Every city has areas that non-natives tend to flock to. The hidden gems wouldn’t be hidden gems if everyone knew about them. I was just talking about my experiences there filtered through my New York bias.
I worked at virgin fest last year (and will this year) with the catering company I work for and it is a decent venue that can hold plenty of people. I mean, I guess it’s a good festival a few bands I’d want to see, but nothing I would ever pay to go to (although Flaming Lips were amazing)It is exactly like HFStival, just full of some idiots who got to get inflatable chairs and free soco beads.
eeek for me its Lolla vs Virgin vs Warped…fuck NYC Warped for being the same weekend as Lolla again. I think Warped wins out though, no travel fees and cheaper tickets….
I went to V-Fest last year & thought it was great. I’d rather spend one day seeing all the bands I’d want to see than three walking around everywhere trying to discover new bands in the scorching heat. Save that for clubs or SXSW. The walk from the main stage to the second stage was barely any time at all. They had great food along the way (although don’t get any sort of hot meat in the melting sun). I’m prone to heat sickness and was able to make it through the day before laying in the grass and watching The Flaming Lips.
I went to the Virgin fest last year and it was good on the overall. The field was bigger than I had expected it to be which created a lot more open space than I had expected. I figured there would be issues with the sound from both stages clashing somewhere in the middle and that wasn’t an issue.
There were definitely a lot of idiots walking around. Much more so than at Bonnaroo.
My biggest issue with the festival was with transportation/getting in and out. If you were hoping to rely on a cab to get back into the city after the show, it was near impossible. Plus, the area around the track is not very safe. At all. Not a fun place to try and hail a cab. Hopefully, they’ll try and operate some sort of shuttle bus system back into downtown.
I went to the Virgin fest last year and it was good on the overall. The field was bigger than I had expected it to be which created a lot more open space than I had expected. I figured there would be issues with the sound from both stages clashing somewhere in the middle and that wasn’t an issue.
There were definitely a lot of idiots walking around. Much more so than at Bonnaroo.
My biggest issue with the festival was with transportation/getting in and out. If you were hoping to rely on a cab to get back into the city after the show, it was near impossible. Plus, the area around the track is not very safe. At all. Not a fun place to try and hail a cab. Hopefully, they’ll try and operate some sort of shuttle bus system back into downtown.
I agree with Rachel: “I’d rather spend one day seeing all the bands I’d want to see than three walking around everywhere trying to discover new bands in the scorching heat. Save that for clubs or SXSW.” – How many of you guys go out and discover new bands at Lolla or Virgin? Yes, we can all discover new bands when there are not any other bands you’d rather see during that timeslot, but sometimes you have to eat or poo or something, right? I actually feel sorry for those brand hew bands who are on the bill for Lolla or Warped and they are good and no one is there to see them – so there they play to, like, 15 or 20 people! I’ve seen it. I think that festivals that have lots of unknown bands need to support those unknowns more. Anyway, my vote is with Virgin simply ‘cuz I gotta see the Beasties…
Lolla is a JOKE! lol
Hour long sets?!
Hour forty-five for a headliner?! That’s not a show.
No camping? That’s not a festival.
But PJ’s live show, well, you know…
chicago don’t need no stinkin’ hippies sleeping in our parks!
I went to Lolla in ’05, and I really liked the 2-day format with fewer bands. I didn’t go in ’06. I picked Pitchfork for Spoon. I didn’t realize they changed the mainstages to being miles apart. I had to sit through Dashboard playing not far away in order to have a decent spot for Dinosaur Jr. Hell, The Bravery’s sound on a side stage could almost be heard over Cake’s set on the mainstage. I think Lolla will really have to work for me to even go one day.
oh yeah, and Lolla was on the hottest day of the year (one degree under record temps) in 05.
The Annuals just added to Lollapalooza list, if anyone cares.
Uh-oh. NYC Warped is on Day Two of Virgin Fest? Guess somebody’s missing THEPOLICE(WHOCARES?).
I’ll wait through hours of sets I don’t care about to hear Corgan’s raspy voice and those beautiful, preprogrammed strings in Tonight, Tonight. That’s something I thought I’d never be able to hear live.
Now I know we’re not comparing Coachella to Virgin Festival here, but I’m from Washington DC and have gone to Coachella the last three years (and going back this year). I think my fantastic experiences at Coachella somewhat tainted my initial Virgin Festival experience. Having only two stages was extremely frustrating when there was no one on either stage that I wanted to see. On top of that, there’s always the set-up time, so often there’s only one band playing at a time which sucks when that one band is The Killers. The set-up was not bad, though I’d like a little more room for the audience at the second stage. Regardless, it’s only an hour away and I will definitely be back this year for The Police and Smashing Pumpkins.
I heard that the area that the V fest is in is a complete shithole, is that true? I couldn’t be arsed dealing with hood related scares just to get to and from the venue. . .
Lollapalooza = SOUNDBLEED.
Never again, not for all the tea in China.
Went to Virgin last year and it was in a bad part of town. We wound up going in an hour late so we could drive around the vicinity to find a place to park that looked safe. We found one though.
A lot of bros and teenage girls at Virgin, but if the content of the crowd is a deterrent, I mean c’mon ..
The one thing about the crowd that detracts from it is there was not much familiarity in the crowd with the acts, so some of the bands played to a chilly reception (CYHSY was literally drowned out by the casual conversations in the crowd).
The sound was very very good, though not very loud. Not Coachella good, but impressive.
Baltimore is weak, the Orioles suck. Everyone is Chicagoing. The F’ing Pumpkins better get there shit together and play in Grant Park
I also attended Virgin last year, and unlike the person who could not find a cab, there was a cab stand available. It is in an unsafe part of town, and i was warned about wandering too far from the venue. But it was fine, and there were police EVERYWHERE. However, this all said it is not Coachella nor lollapalooza. Having been to both over the past two year, the main prblem with Virgin is that it only has 12 slots a day. If this is going to be something i attend each year, they are going to have too expand. The two main bands i wanted to see last year Kasabian and Drive By-Truckers, were both on at NOON!!!
Anyone get backstage last year or to a VIP platform?
please email me at paulsnider666@yahoo.com
looking for back stage, vip have cash to pay!
maybe catering girl can help!
Also if you pics from last year of the stage set up, and parking email me!
As someone that lives not far from the area I can say that Pimlico race track isn’t in the worst part of town ever. It’s right next to a very nice neighborhood, Mt. Washington..though if you do go the other way it is kind of shady but not really comparable to some places downtown.
I didn’t go to Virgin last year but I’m considering it this year. The venue is small enough that I don’t feel like I would need a telescope to watch (Coachella) and if you really like the bands I think you have a good chance of getting up close.
It’s a bit pricy though…
As someone that lives not far from the area I can say that Pimlico race track isn’t in the worst part of town ever. It’s right next to a very nice neighborhood, Mt. Washington..though if you do go the other way it is kind of shady but not really comparable to some places downtown.
I didn’t go to Virgin last year but I’m considering it this year. The venue is small enough that I don’t feel like I would need a telescope to watch (Coachella) and if you really like the bands I think you have a good chance of getting up close.
It’s a bit pricy though…
“i am boggled as to why the pumpkins are not playing lollapalooza.
Posted by: joe $ at March 22, 2007 1:39 PM”
BECAUSE Baltimore is AMAZING and its close to a lot of main cities like D.C.,New York,Philly,and cus Virgin Fest was awesome last year
God I miss the Rolling Rock Festival!
Anyway, we were going to hit palooza until I found out about the Virgin gig. Holy shit, Incubus, Ben Harper, Beasties, The Police, Cheap Trick and thats just Saturday!
Although just to see Pearl Jam again, they are one of the tightest bands going.
Just caught Spoon at Toads Place the other night, great live band.
Anyway, cant wait for the RoadTRIP!
See you all there…
i can’t believe no one’s mentioned the fact that the BEASTIE BOYS are playing VF. sheesh! that, in and of itself, is enough reason to go. then, the police, pumpkins, amy whinehouse, MIA, sasha and digweed, etc… i’m going down to balt. and the heading back up to NYC sunday night so i can make it to the muse/cold war kids show at MSG.
yay. i love summer music fun.
it looks like this is a defunct bulletin, but there is really no comparison: Lolla is AMAZING, and will be the fest to go to… and here’s 15 reasons why:
Pearl Jam
Daft Punk
MUSE (that’s alone reason enough to go!)
Modest Mouse
Interpol
Regina Spektor
Spoon
Amy Winehouse
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
LCD Soundsystem
Sean Lennon
Motion City Soundtrack
SILVERSUN PICKUPS!
The Rapture
The Cold War Kids
all of them and way more… and not to mention, it’s in CHICAGO…. you can’t pass it up!
Did anyone get VIP for Virgin last year? What did they include exactly and how close could you get to the stage? Any info would be appreciated…
Anyone camping at Virgin Festival? The nearest campground seems to be so far away from Pimlico. Regardless, I’ve booked a car service to take me to and from the campsite.
Anyone else at Patapsco?