Image Credit: Tim Mosenfelder/WireImage.com

Coachella kicks off its first of two weekends in just a few days, which means that festival season has officially begun. And ever since Lollapalooza put away its touring circus format in favor of shacking up for one huge weekend in Chicago’s Grant Park, it has become the cornerstone of the summer concert calendar.

The past few Lollapalooza lineups have followed some sort of theme. Last year was the year that dance music got much bigger (deadmau5 was one of the main stage headliners), while 2010 was the year of pop (featuring Lady Gaga and a host of other nods to the bubbly mainstream). This year’s collection of bands doesn’t seem to have much of a tether, though it could be the loudest lineup in recent memory (or at least since that year that Metallica headlined). The sorta reunited Black Sabbath headline (drummer Bill Ward remains on the sidelines), along with the Black Keys, Jack White, At the Drive-In, Florence + the Machine, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Other highlights include the Shins, Justice, Passion Pit, Sigur Ros, Frank Ocean, Delta Spirit, and the reunited Afghan Whigs. The undercard also consists of about-to-break acts like Alabama Shakes, Gary Clark, Jr., the Growlers, the Jezabels, LP, Bear in Heaven, and Michael Kiwanuka. They’ve even got that ridiculous band that won that Rolling Stone contest, the band with the number one song in the country, at least one former American Idol contestant, and Franz Ferdinand (who are still a band, it turns out).

Since Lollapalooza Perry Farrell is gaga for hot beats, there’s also a pretty awesome round-up of people from the dance world booked on his personal stage, including Calvin Harris and Santigold. Check out the complete list of performers below. READ FULL STORY »