VDaft Punk, Stooges, MMJ Join Pearl Jam At Lollapalooza  

VDaft Punk, the Stooges, My Morning Jacket, Muse, Modest Mouse, Interpol, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Ben Harper and Snow Patrol are among the top acts joining previously announced headliner Pearl Jam at this year's Lollapalooza, to be held Aug. 3-5 in Chicago's Grant Park. The Roots, Patti Smith, Kings Of Leon, the Black Keys and Spoon are also on the bill.

Lollapalooza comes near the end of the busy festival season, following Coachella and Bonnaroo. It is also being held the same weekend as the V Festival in Baltimore, which will feature the Police, Smashing Pumpkins and the Beastie Boys.

"The thing we can't do is look at everybody else, because you start copying other festivals. But you have to stay current with what is happening in the music business," says Charles Attal, president of Charles Attal Presents (with Capital Sports & Entertainment) and talent buyer for Lollapalooza. "We always book from the bottom up. You can't go chasing headliners first, because you wind up chasing your tail."

Attal admits he's spent several years chasing Pearl Jam, who have not played an American festival in nearly a decade. The group largely stopped performing in general admission venues after the tragedy at Denmark's Roskilde Festival in 2000, when nine fans were killed in a crowd surge during Pearl Jam's set.

"My partners and I flew down to Monterrey, Mexico, to see the band and their crew has come to Lollapalooza to see what it was all about," Attal says. "They checked out the operation to make sure it was safe, and I think the amount of trust we've built up over the last few years led them to say yes."

Attal says he is particularly excited about My Morning Jacket, who he calls "his favorite band right now. Muse is also exploding. They just played the Forum in Los Angeles and sold it out."

Lollapalooza attendees have previously complained about the distance between one end of the Grant Park venue and the other, but Attal says there are no plans to revamp the positioning of the nine stages this year. "I walked it 50 times last year and had a blast doing it," he says. "There are so many cool things in the middle of it. There's also always a place you can go sit down in the shade and take a break."

In a new innovation this year, Lollapalooza tickets are all-inclusive, with no extra fees or surcharges. "We listened to the fans who were tired of buying tickets they thought cost $150 but wound up being $180 when you add on this, this and this," he says. "We're simplifying the process for people and making it more fan-friendly."