By Kevin Lopez
The official 2023 Lollapalooza lineup has finally arrived. This year once again provided many surprises with unexpected artists added to the performance list.
Lollapalooza had a promotional game called “Legend of Lolla” that revealed 12 artists that were going to be performing at the event. Compared to last year, the artists that were revealed were much smaller, thus it created more excitement for the reveal on March 21.
With the lineup dropping at 10 a.m CT, the headliners were finally revealed. Billie Ellish, Kendrick Lamar, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Lana Del Rey, Karol G, ODESZA, the 1975, and Tomorrow x Together.
Social media as always was divided by the lineup as many were excited by the diversity on the undercard such as rising K-pop girl group NewJeans, popular hip hop artist Yung Gravy, rapper a Boogie wit a Hoodie, teen pop artist Sabrina Carpenter, NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal as DJ Diesel, and all girl rock band The Linda Linda’s.
While others felt that the lineup did not live up to expectations, with a lack of a true rock legend performing compared to previous years, Tomorrow x Together being a repeat performer, and a focus on more mainstream pop artists, there was a fear among festival goers that Lolla was losing its identity.
Of course, many will have differing opinions on who is performing, but The Collegiate set out to find out what Grand Rapids Community College students think of the lineup, so we went around campus to get student reactions.
Elijah Roesnar, 20, of Grand Rapids has gone to the festival in the past and was excited for this year.
“I love Lollapalooza, I would absolutely go!” Roesnar said. “I really like the lineup, especially Tomorrow x Together. They played last year and I saw them and I thought they were really good.”
Sabrina Tiensivu, 21, of Grand Rapids, said “The lineup has some pretty good selections, I think the undercard has some headliners there, too, like Yung Gravy.”
Fellow student Dominic Velez, 22, of Norton Shores strongly agreed with Tiensivu’s opinion.
“This is pretty sick! Kendrick Lamar is a headliner and I’ve wanted to see him for a long time” Velez said. “There’s a lot of good rap artists on the lineup like J.I.D and a Boogie wit a Hoodie.”
Lizbeth Lopez, 20, of Wyoming said, “Lana Del Rey and Karol G caught my eye immediately and I love TXT and NewJeans! It’s really good for K-pop in general to get some mainstream exposure at Lolla.”
Leslie Garcia, 21, of Grand Rapids was happy to see one specific artist.
“I think the lineup is pretty cool, but if I could go I would be really excited to see Karol G.”
Van Thwang, 19, of Grand Rapids said, “It looks good. You have the headliners, but you got the undercard like Ken Carson, Destroy Lonely and a Boogie wit a Hoodie.”
Not all reactions about the lineup were positive, as some students felt that the lineup was lackluster.
“How many of these people am I supposed to know?” said Mark DeKraker, 21, of Jenison. “I see a couple artists that I recognize, but outside of that it’s a lot of music I don’t listen to.”
Tom Hudelson, 31, of Grandville was very disappointed by the lineup.
“I mean there is a lot that I wouldn’t care to see at all.” Said Hudelson. “Even the headliners aren’t that big and the depth isn’t there at all. You should be able to recognize the artists even past half way through the list.”
Joshua Allen, 20, of Grand Rapids felt that the lineup could be better.
“A lot of these artists I don’t listen to, but it is varied,” Allen said. “It is nice to see the Red Hot Chilli Peppers there, but the rest of the lineup is decent.”
Madelyn Marsh, 20, of Grand Rapids said “It’s pretty varied, which surprised me. I wouldn’t go because I don’t like big crowds, personally.”
Emma Thompson, 16, of Grandville was very happy that the lineup had a lot of varied genres.
“It’s a very interesting mix of different genres, like Billie Ellish and Noah Kahn are two very different artists. I would go and I would think this would be very popular for GRCC students.”
Isabella Paparella, 19, of Grand Rapids, said “I think it’s much better than last year, I think there’s a lot of new artists that get exposure from Lollapalooza.”
Paparella also wanted to shout out artists from the undercard that deserved some attention.
“Isabel LaRosa, she is amazing, and Christian Gates is really good and I love Bonnie x Clyde. I think other students should go. I plan on going.”
Tiensivu said students should take advantage of the opportunity to go if possible.
“I say go because you never know what kind of fun you’re gonna have at an event like this,” she said. “It could be one of the best nights if you go.”
Velez agreed that students should go to see new artists and create new experiences.
“To encourage other students, you just don’t know how many new artists you’ll find by going to music festivals like this and the memories you’ll gain from this, especially something this big is just beneficial for everybody.”
It seems that the buzz around the lineup has everyone talking as a presale to buy 4-Day passes will begin on March 23 on Lollapalooza’s website.
The only thing left to do now is to wait to see who will perform on what days as the road to Lollapalooza officially begins now.
