One of the most awaited festivals of the year is just around the corner for the brazilians: Lollapalooza is a world phenomenon, having its first edition in 1991 in Chicago, USA. It’s well known for being one of the only festivals to reunite some of the best indie artists around the world, as well as a few pop and rock bands, and also DJs. Beyond the USA, nowadays, Chile, Brazil, Argentina, Germany, and France are the other countries to bring the event to life.
This year, Lollapalooza Brazil will happen from March 23rd to March 25th, being its second edition as a 3-day festival in the country. Many of the headliners are already in the hearts of the brazilians, such as Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pearl Jam, Imagine Dragons, Lana Del Rey and The Killers. But what about the not-so-known artists?
Having that in mind, here are 8 artists you must get to know right now from Lollapalooza Brazil 2018’s lineup:
#1 – Vanguart
Vanguart is a brazilian indie rock band formed in 2002, as a solo act by Helio Flanders, the vocalist. It was only in the year of 2005 that Vanguart was really consolidated as a 5-piece band, participating in many independent festivals to put their music out to the world.
Image Source: vanguart.com.br
In July 2007, they released their debut self-titled album, bringing them much more success than they expected. Four years later, in 2011, the band released their second album featuring 13 brand new tracks. As time went by, Vanguart made their name in Brazil with a unique identity that only a few indie brazilian bands have had the chance to do so.
Their songs, such as “Meu Sol”, “Mi Vida Eres Tu”, “Nessa Cidade” and “Semáforo”, are filled with passion and they’ll be able to touch you in the most beautiful way. The band is one of the first bands scheduled to play at Lollapalooza Brazil, in the first day of the festival, on March 23rd (Friday), 1:40PM at the Onix stage.
#2 – Oh Wonder
Oh Wonder is an alternative-pop duo consisting of Josephine Vander Gucht and Anthony West. They formed the band by accident, because both of them didn’t plan to make music for a living. It all started when the duo started writing, producing and mixing their own soft and catchy songs, releasing one every month in late 2014.
Image Source: IMDb
What was supposed to be just a hobby culminated in a debut self-titled album, with all of the songs they had previously released and two unreleased tracks. Their touring career began just one week before the debut album came out, playing sold out shows in London, Paris, New York and Los Angeles.
In 2017, Oh Wonder released their sophomore album, Ultralife. The album’s lead and title track “Ultralife” is one of their biggest hits, along with “Without You”, “Drive”, “Live Wire”, “Lose It” and “All We Do”, conquering fans around the world with their soft vocals and impeccable tones. The duo is scheduled to play on the first day of Lollapalooza Brazil, on March 23rd (Friday), 4:20PM at the AXE stage.
#3 – Royal Blood
Royal Blood are an English rock duo, composed by Mike Kerr and Ben Thatcher. Formed in 2013, it wasn’t easy to get where they are today: initially, it was almost impossible to find a place to play at, and that’s why the duo started playing a lot of open-mic nights with acoustic singer-songwriters, to “start from somewhere”.
Image Source: IMDb
After joining the same management company as Arctic Monkeys, things started to go only up for Kerr and Thatcher: they released their self-titled debut album on August 2014, and it was certified as the fastest-selling British rock debut album in three years in the UK, which includes hits like “Little Monster,” “Out Of The Black” and “Figure It Out”.
Just 2 years after struggling to find a single place to sing, Royal Blood gained so much recognition that it took them to big events such as Coachella and Rock In Rio, two of the biggest musical festivals in the world. Almost one year ago, they released their second album “How Did We Get So Dark?”, reminding fans why their sound is so unique and why it takes the rock genre to a whole other level. Royal Blood is scheduled to play on the first day of Lollapalooza Brazil, on March 23rd (Friday), 5:25PM at the Onix stage.
#4 – Tash Sultana
Tash Sultana is a 22-year old singer and songwriter, described as a “one-woman band”. She started just like many other big names in music: posting videos of herself performing on the internet. She’s been going places by herself with her multi-instrumental ability, which has opened unimaginable doors for a young woman in nowadays’ music industry.
Image Source: Michael Amico
Her first EP was released in September 2016, including her catchy and biggest hit “Jungle” and others like “Synergy” and the title track to the extended play, “Notion”. Her hard work towards making her own music by herself earned her multiple sold out shows and having her name included in festivals lineups, like Lollapalooza Brazil 2018, in which Tash is scheduled to play on its second day, March 24th (Saturday), 2:10PM at the AXE stage, and you won’t want to miss it.
#5 – Louis The Child
Louis the Child is a DJ and production duo, consisting of Robby Hauldren and Freddy Kennett. They started out their career by playing at small venues between 2013 and 2014, and only gaining more popularity in 2015 with the release of their single “It’s Strange”, which featured on the worldwide-known game FIFA 16, and reaching big names such as Taylor Swift, who added the track to one of her public playlists.
Image Source: Instagram
Since then, many doors have been opened for the duo, playing in big concerts such as Ultra Music Festival, Electric Zoo New York and Lollapalooza. This year, they’re coming to Brazil to bring their electronic happiness through songs featured in their two EPs, with hits such as “Weekend” featuring Icona Pop, and “Fire”.
Robby and Freddy are brave enough to challenge pop’s formula, mixing different sound effects and bringing a futuristic vibe to their sound. You won’t want to miss Louis the Child, who are scheduled to play in the second day of Lollapalooza Brazil, March 24th (Saturday), 3:45PM at the Perry’s by Doritos’ stage.
#6 – Milky Chance
Milky Chance is a german folk group consisting of Clemens Rehbein, Philipp Dausch and Antonio Greger. Having low expectations for the release of their first single “Stolen Dance”, back in 2013, the trio was surprised to see how it got millions of views in just a few days after its release, becoming a big success in the UK.
Image Source: IMDb
In the same year, their debut album “Sadnecessary” peaked to number 14 in Germany, and it charted at #17 in Billboard 200 chart, proving the group’s start was, literally, only the beginning to a brilliant career.
As they were on tour between 2014 and 2016, it was finally time to release a sophomore album by 2017: that’s when “Blossom” came to life with big hits, such as “Bad Things” featuring Izzy Bizu, “Cocoon” and the title track “Blossom”, expanding the group’s sound and bringing their creative power to a whole other level. Milky Chance is scheduled to play in the last day of Lollapalooza, March 25th (Sunday), 2:10PM at the Budweiser stage.
#7 – The Neighbourhood
The NBHD, as they’re also rendered as, is an american indie-rock band formed in 2011. They started their career by releasing an EP called “I’m Sorry…”, coming out in May 2012, which includes their biggest hit until now, “Sweater Weather” (if you have never heard this one, where do you live?!).
Image Source: IMDb
7 months later, the second EP “Thank You” came out, and it was only 4 months after that when their first full-length album “I Love You.” was released, debuting at number 39 on Billboard 200 album chart. Then, the band toured around the USA, Europe and Russia, winning a legion of fans attracted to their black-and-white aesthetic, as seen throughout music, artwork, and videos, and their unique way of making heavy words sound melancholically beautiful.
In late 2014, the band released a mixtape called #000000 & #FFFFFF (black-and-white in color codes), collaborating with respectable hip hop artists, such as French Montana in “#icanteven” and G-Eazy in “When I Get Back”. Their second album “Wiped Out!” was released in August 2015, which included some of their rock/rhythm & blues hits “R.I.P. 2 My Youth”, “Cry Baby” and “Prey” in it.
Finally, 2 years later, in September 2017, The Neighbourhood released another EP called “HARD”, with 5 brand new tracks, followed by “to imagine”, another EP released 4 months later, with another 5 new tracks. Just a couple of weeks before Lollapalooza happens, The Neighbourhood they released their third full-length self-titled album, which includes some of the songs from “HARD” and “to imagine”, such as “Scary Love”, “Sadderdaze” and “Stuck With Me” plus some unreleased tracks. The band is definitely a must-see in the festival, and they’re scheduled to play on its last day, on March 25th (Sunday), 4:10PM at the Budweiser stage.
#8 – Khalid
Khalid is a (believe it or not) 19-year-old R&B singer and songwriter. Since the start of his career not so long ago, the singer has gone places beyond the expected, selling out every venue on his 21-city “Location Tour” in early 2017, which happened a couple of months before the release of his debut studio album, “American Teen”, released exactly a year ago, on March 3, 2017.
Image Souce: CBS/Alfredo Gonzalez
The work features hit singles such as “Young, Dumb & Broke”, “Location” and the album’s title track “American Teen”. Besides his own solo songs, Khalid has been collaborating with some respectable artists, such as Fifth Harmony member Normani Kordei, in “Love Lies” for the soundtrack of “Love, Simon”, Swae Lee in “The Way” for the soundtrack of the Marvel movie “Black Panther”, and his highest charting single until now, “1-800-273-8255”, with Logic and Alessia Cara.
This last one peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100. The teen’s talent is completely undeniable, turning real life’s issues into beautiful melodies, bringing awareness to many of these problems and making a difference in the world. Khalid is scheduled to play on Lollapalooza Brazil’s last day (Sunday), 5:15PM at the Onix stage.