North Coast Music Festival looks to dethrone Lollapalooza for midwest festival king
It might be a bit of a stretch to crown a new ‘midwest festival king’ since Lollapalooza has quickly become one of the biggest shows out there, but North Coast has a lineup that should satisfy a range of EDM listeners. Pretty Lights, Axwell, Steve Angello, Steve Aoki, Excision, Alesso, Mord Fustang are some of the announced names in the first wave. The festival takes place over Labor Day weekend, August 31st to September 2nd, which is also the same dates as Electric Zoo. Tickets for the three days are only $110 for general admission and $350 for VIP. If you can’t make it to New York, Chicago seems like the next best option — until Vegas puts out a Labor Day Weekend schedule that is.
I don’t know about saying Lollapalooza ‘has quickly become one of the biggest shows out there’. Lollapalooza has been going since 1992 and since it’s first year with Chicago as it’s home base has consistently drawn half a million in attendance. Perry Farrell, the man whose vision gave birth to the fest has been supporting EDM for all 8 years it’s been here in Chi with the stage dedicated to Electronic gaining in focus and scale with every passing year. C3 the promotions company behind the festival has been putting energy into giving EDM support for at least 5 years and has done a bang up job of leading the pack when it comes to formatting as opposed to following the trends by booking only arena fillers. North Coast has a great lineup, no question, but the capacity of their venue is 20,000 with no room to grow. Apples to blueberries, if you ask me.
yeah, but North Coast is only in its 3rd year and they’re only getting bigger. It’s grown faster than most festivals do in 6 years.
Interesting, I didn’t know that. But if a festival can always switch venues!
Are you freaken kidding me? Give DJS an option of doing this or Ezoo? Ezoo is like the only decent festival in tri state area let alone the best electronic festival. Thank god A-trak and Boys Noize are at Ezoo. Hopefully Diplo can join them too and Armin.
There’s a HUGE different between the size of venues of North Coast and Lolla. Grant Park, where Lolla is held, takes up the majority of its 319 acres, but it makes it more intimate for North Coast. I’ll be at every festival in Chicago this summer, aside from Pitchfork & Jazz Fest, as they all have their own unique identity.
The Two Newcomers; Spring Awakening & Wavefront:Both of these are 100% EDM festivalsSpring Awakening- covers a lot of big name dubstep (Datsik, Flux Pavilion), house (Afrojack, R3hab), Moombahton (Dillon Francis), trance acts (Arty, Ferry Corsten, Markus Schulz), with the addition of legends Carl Cox & Green Velvet as well. This festival covers all the genre’s and caters to most crowds. It is also being put on by React Presents, who also does booking (and shares ownership) with The Mid.Wavefront- Has a lot more of an underground feel with Art Department, James Murphy, Erick Morillo, but also throws in some big names like Sasha, Boys Noize, Chris Lake, and Duck Sauce. As excited as I am for Spring Awakening, I am equally excited for Wavefront given the decidedly different feel from any other festival in Chicago. This event is being put on by the same people that are behind Spybar in Chicago. Plus, it’s on the beach.The “Old Guard”; Lolla & North Coast:Lolla:Obviously the oldest festival since it has been around since ’92. I have been to Lollapalooza 3 of the last 4 years, my first year DJ AM headlined Saturday night of Perrys tent. Lolla has always been a favorite of mine for a few reasons, 1. It’s my birthday weekend ever year, 2. It’s in Chicago, on the lake in the summer, 3. The diversity of the lineup. My first year I saw Rage Against The Machine, Radiohead, Kanye, and DJ AM all headline lolla, and each night was awesome in its own right. There is a noticably larger amount of EDM acts this year, than there was even 3 years ago when Diplo, LA Riots, Boys Noize & Deadmau5 played, and it’s been fun to watch it grow. Lollapalooza is an extremely diverse and huge festival which puts it into the realm of Coachella & Bonnaroo. Lolla is always sure to hit a lot of different genre’s even within the EDM realm, and they successfully do it this year too.North Coast:I haven’t been to North Coast, but I have been there for the after parties. I believe last year there were only 4 stages, and the park is much smaller. Every year NCMF has been in existance it has incorporated EDM as a large part of its talent with Boys Noize & others 2 years ago, Major Lazer & Wolfgang Gartner last year, and now Axwell, Angello, Aoki, Pretty Lights this year. Much like Lolla, North Coast hits a lot of different genres, but on a much smaller and more intimate scale. I don’t foresee North Coast taking the reigns from Lollapalooza any time soon, but offers a similiar experience on a smaller scale for a more budget friendly price.Comparing these festivals isn’t fair to any of them because they are all great festivals that appeal to every price range, size, and type of EDM you are into. I will be interested to see how the two new comers fare against the two that are established, but given Chicago’s house scene and history, I don’t foresee any of them failing anytime soon.