While celebrities use metal t-shirts as a fashion trend, major award ceremonies and festivals have sadly been snubbing the heavy genre. Within the last two days, we’ve seen major festival announcements that have very few heavy artists on the lineup despite how both festivals originated. And of course, we’re talking about Woodstock and Lollapalooza. Despite a few disasters the event had that didn’t involve music, it was twenty years ago when we celebrated the thirty-year Anniversary of Woodstock in 1999 with Metallica, and Rage Against the Machine, Nine Inch Nails and Limp Bizkit. Meanwhile, Lollapalooza, which was founded by Jane’s Addiction’s Perry Farrell in 1991, has seen a decrease in heavy music and an increase in indie rock acts.
With both festivals announcing their lineups, anything particularly heavy is in short supply. The furthest Woodstock goes is by having rap-rockers Fever 333 and Zep wannabes Greta Van Fleet. Lollapalooza throws in Slash and Myles Kennedy, Chevelle, Bring me the Horizon and metal Grammy winners Tenacious D. Both fests are pretty much bending to what’s trendy these days, with R&B, top 40 and hip hop fleshing out the indie rock and EDM. And given that nu-metal was pretty much (mostly unfairly) viewed as a scapegoat for the eventual riots of Woodstock ’99, it shouldn’t be all that surprising that there’s not much heavy to be found at Woodstock.
Lollapalooza:
Ariana Grande, Childish Gambino, Twenty One Pilots, The Strokes, Tame Impala, Flume, The Chainsmokers and J Balvin are the headliners for this year’s Lollapalooza festival that will be feature over 170 bands on eight stages from August 1-4 at Grant Park in Chicago. Heavier acts include: Tenacious D, Perry Farrell’s Kind Heaven Orchestra, Slash Featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators, Bring Me The Horizon, and Chevelle. For more details, check out the event’s website.
Woodstock 50th Anniversary:
The Killers, Miley Cyrus, Santana, The Lumineers, The Raconteurs, Dead & Company, Chance the Rapper, The Black Keys, Sturgill Simpson, Jay-Z, Imagine Dragons, Halsey, and Cage The Elephant are the headliners for this year’s 50th Anniversary celebration of Woodstock. The Woodstock Music and Arts Fair will be held on August 16th through 18th at Watkins Glen, NY. Heavier acts include: (?). For more information check out the event’s website.
