A Festival For the Rest of Y'All

Summer is quickly approaching and with it comes more music festivals than you can shake a stick at. Chicago is home to festivals of all shapes and sizes, from street fairs hosting a bunch of music, to the stages at Taste of Chicago, to huge festivals like Pitchfork and Lollapalooza. Traveling festivals like the Vans Warped Tour and Lilith Fair will be swinging by nearby suburbs on their tours around the country.

Out of these, Lollapalooza is the largest, both in size and in stature. With 3 days, 91 bands and 34 DJs, and hundreds of thousands of attendees, it is a force to be reckoned with. Bands and artists who play Lolla have the chance to up their fame level and reach out to people who may have never heard their music before. I'm sorry, let me amend that - male bands and artists will have the chance to reach out to new fans. Because, much like last year, Lollapalooza is heavy on the dudes and light on the ladies. Of the 91 bands, 70 are all male and only 21 are female artists or bands with at least 1 female member. Of the 34 DJs, 30 are male and 4 are female.

With numbers like these, one would guess that there just aren't that many women involved in music. Perhaps they are stuck at home, churning the butter and making babies. But that just isn't the case. There are plenty of women, both musicians and DJs, to pick from. In 2010, the music industry is still an old boys club, and its biggest party of the summer, Lollapalooza, is a prime example of how rocking out with your co*k out still reigns supreme.

At least this summer we see the return of Lilith Fair. Started in the 1990s as an answer to male dominated summer tours, the need for an all female event is just as crucial today as it was then. And with an incredibly diverse touring lineup - depending on the city you could see folk, indie, pop, country, hip hop and soul all in one day - Lilith Fair is a refreshing answer to the phallocentric, hipster heavy festivals elsewhere.