Lollapalooza 2012 | Top 10 surprises in the lineup

Today the full slate for the 2012 edition of Lollapalooza was released. Finally. 

The Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Black Keys, Jack White and Black Sabbath are the big names heading to Grant Park, August 3–5. Other acts high on the bill include Florence + The Machine, At the Drive-In, Justice, Avicii, Sigur Rós and Bassnectar.

Click here for the entire lineup.

Let’s get right to the biggest shockers found in the announcement.

1) There are no longer six headliners.

The festival runs three days, and has two primary fields. Six headliners makes basic mathematical sense. It'll be interesting to see how this breaks up over three days. We doubt that one of the headliners is going unopposed. The official press release lists eight names at the top: Red Hot Chili Peppers, Black Sabbath, the Black Keys, Jack White, Avicii, Justice, Florence + The Machine and At The Drive-In. Two of those top four will have to go head-to-head. That likely puts Jack White up against the Chili Peppers or Sabbath. We’re guessing the former. You can’t put Jack White up against Black Keys, right? Because…

2) Two of the headliners are essentially the same thing.

The Black Keys are a neo-blues duo. Jack White kicked off that whole neo-blues duo thing. Do we really need both? Especially considering…

3) Two of the headliners will have recently played arena shows in Chicago.

The Black Keys played United Center in March. The Chili Peppers play Allstate Arena at the end of May. Still bitching about the radius clause? What's more surprising is that tickets are technically still available for the Chili Peppers gig (they might not be good seats). This will be the third time Flea, Anthony and Chad have headlined Lollapalooza. But it's the first time for the new guy!

4) There's no pop or hip-hop headliner.

Yeah, we know what rumors and speculations are worth. But there were rumors and speculation that Watch the Throne would headline, or at least one of its halves, Kanye or Jay-Z, or maybe the latter's wife, Beyoncé. Drake and Nicki Minaj made sense, too. Others suspected that No Doubt might pop up. (Well, I did.) Beck was rumored. What we got is far more po-faced, riff-based and testosterone driven. Not a lot of smiles on stage at dusk. Didn’t that fake LollaLeaks bill look fun at the top?

5) Black Sabbath! Black Sabbath?

Take a moment for that to sink in. Black Sabbath. Ozzy. What a big, bizarre spectacle. The foursome invented metal, didn't it? Now, they are all over 60. Ozzy seemingly struggles to walk and talk. Tommy Iommi was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year. Drummer Bill Ward is sitting out because of a pay dispute. Ah, Sharon.

But wait, didn’t OzzFest start in 1996 because Lollapalooza wouldn’t have Ozzy on the tour?

Money buries all hatchets. This will be the event of 2012 for old school head-bangers, and it’ll lure one-day ticket-buyers. Will they have to add more motorcycle parking?

6) No Odd Future.

Crooner Frank Ocean is high on the bill. The rest of the gang is not. Tyler hinted on Twitter that OFWGKTA would be here. However, he also Tweets a lot about his bowels and genitals. Did someone fear the controversy that would come, as it did last summer at Pitchfork? Or will the crew crash Ocean’s set?

7) No Kimbra.

Even stranger is the lack of Kimbra. Not only is she is one of the hottest acts in the biz, but Lollapalooza was using a Kimbra lyric in its CTA teaser campaign. A good reminder that these lineups are fluid.

8) There's a student exchange.

Lolla has spread into South America with branches in Chile and Brazil. We ship a lot of bands down there. Now they are sending a couple our way. Brazilian reggae act O Rappa and Chile's folky Los Jaivas will make the trip to Chicago. Cool idea.

9) Bloc Party and Franz Ferdinand in evening slots.

What is this, 2004? What, were the Hives playing Summerfest or something? Oh, wait.

We kid. We look forward to Franz.

10) Delta Spirit are playing again.

Okay, this is a little inside baseball, but interesting to note. Delta Spirit played the festival last year and return in 2012. Can't recall that happening in the past. Couple that with the fact that the Chili Peppers headlining after visiting Allstate Arena nine weeks before Lolla, and it seems the booking restrictions are loosening.

Lollapalooza hits Grant Park August 3–5. Buy tickets here.

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