Lolla’s three-day schedule is now online!

This year all three days have dual headliners, which for the most part works…emphasis on for the most part. Friday August 7 has Depeche Mode going up against Kings Of Leon and Sunday August 9 offers Jane’s Addiction versus The Killers in apparent no-brainers.

But it’s Saturday August 8 that really seems most divisive. While arguably not as bad as last year’s Rage v. Wilco or NIN v. Kanye debate, The Beastie Boys will go head to head with Tool pitting two acts from Lollapalooza’s heyday against each other. But I’m fairly certain the edge goes to the Beasties seeing how they are still relevant and have a new album due in September. Tool on the other hand haven’t done anything of signifigance since Lateralus…sorry 10,000 Days fans but it’s true.

In addition to releasing the schdule, single day tickets are now on sale as well as three-day passes here. Get them while you can. Last year became a bit of a clusterfuck when tickets acutally sold out for the first time in recent memory. Still with this year’s line-up maybe the demand won’t be as high, which is okay with me because that means a less crowded Grant Park.

Lollapalooza announced a new spin (sorry) to their annual Last Band Standing contest by making it a DJ remix competition pitting Chicago against the World.

The first stage of the contest takes place between June 3 and  June 25 when remixes of 10 minutes or less can be submitted in either the Chicago or the World category. On July 2, the top 25 from each group will be announced, and then the semifinal round will take place between July 6 and July 20. The Top two vote-getters from Chicago and the World categories will advance to the finals.

The final round will take place at the Double Door on August 5. The top four finalists will receive a Dell Studio 15 laptop loaded  with Ableton Live 8 for use at the finals. They will have from 8am to 4pm to a new remix on their new laptops to be performed and voted on at the club that night. The audience will vote on the runner-up while the grand prize winner will be chosen by an industry judging panel.

Those that enter are being encouraged to utilize MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and any other platforms to self promote and rack up votes.

Along with the laptop, the winner and runner-up will each receive $1,000, an artist pass and guest pass to the entire festival, an opening slot on Perry Ferrell’s stage, promotion on the Lollapalooza.com and partner sites, and four nights at a hotel in Chicago.

Additional artists performing at the festival set for August 7-9 in Grant Park were also announced and include: Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears, Gringo Starr, KE$SHA, Esser, Neon Hitch, Dirty Sweet, Mike’s Pawn Shop, April Smith, Band of Skulls, Diplo, DJ Mel, and Prophit. Tickets are on sale now.

According to Time Out Chicago’s music blog, The Flaming Lips have done a 180 and will be a part of Pitchfork Fest’s inaugural “Write The Night” series, which allows ticket holders to vote on the set list for participating bands.

There was massive buzz when Pitchfork originally announced The Flaming Lips as the Sunday July 19 headliner because it reported the band would be taking fan requests. Then no less than a day later, that announcement was redacted and Pitchfork issued an apology. Well it looks like the band has warmed to the thought of playing some of their older, weirder material. From TOC:

Coyne stated, “The Lips are more than glad to be part of ‘Write the Night’. They will do their best to accommodate the wildest and most obscure of requests—covers included.”

Other bands scheduled to take part in “Write The Night” at Pitchfork 2009 will all perform on Friday July 17 and include Yo La Tengo, Built To Spill, The Jesus Lizard and Tortoise.

Pitchfork Music Festival AGAIN announced MORE additions to their already stellar line-up.  Beirut, MC DOOM, Frightened Rabbit, DJ/Rupture, Lindstrøm, Mae Shi, Ponytail, and Chicago’s own Dianogah make up the latest installment. Those snarky bastards seem hell bent on putting on an all-killer-no-filler festival July 17-19 at Union Park.

And if you’re still not convinced you want to spend 3 days in the oppressive Midwest summer heat because your favorite band hasn’t been listed yet, sit tight, this latest announcement concluded with this gem, “Plus: There are still many more bands to come. ”

Tickets for the 2009 Pitchfork Music Festival are on sale now.

Andrew Bird and Poi Dog Pondering are among the Chicago musicians slated to perform at the Austin City Limits Festival. Also performing are Sonic Youth who kick off their summer tour in Chicago on June 28. The three day event is set for October 2 – 4 at Zilker Park in Austin, TX. Headlining are festival main stage staples Pearl Jam, Dave Matthews Band, Beastie Boys and current RollingStone coverboys Kings of Leon. The latter two can also be caught headlining this year’s Lollapalooza. The rest of the line-up is available here, it’s really a shame Daniel Johnston is getting such a low billing in the Devil Town.

So if you can’t make it to Lollapalooza but want to catch a bunch of the same acts, head down to Austin this fall.

Early bird tickets have sold out, but regular three-day passes for $185 are on sale now.

The popular Taste of Randolph Street summertime extravaganza announced the top acts for the three-day event.

Philly based Dr. Dog will take the stage to close out the performances on Friday June 19.  Tinted Windows, the eclectic quartet featuring former Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha, singer Taylor Hanson of Hanson, Fountains of Wayne bassist Adam Schlesinger, and Bun E. Carlos of Cheap Trick will play Saturday, June 20. The festival will be capped off Sunday, June 21 with a set from Brooklyn based The Hold Steady.  Many more acts will be announced in the coming weeks.

The event is free but has a suggested donation of $10, which benefits the West Loop Community Organization.

No better way to brighten your morning than with the Lollapalooza 2009 lineup alongside your cheerios! Great timing on Lolla’s part because today is a nasty, nasty day in Chi-town. Anywho, here’s who you’ll be seeing this August 7-9 in Grant Park: