Five performances you can't miss at Lollapalooza 2015 this Saturday August 1st – other than Metallica!

The sun may well and truly have set on Friday in Australia, but in a few hours, it’ll be rising over the city of Chicago and thus heralding the first day of Lollapalooza 2015. Grant Park in Chi-town will be turned into a hive of music for three days and nights, with thousands upon thousands set to stream through the gates to witness the likes of Paul McCartney, Florence + The Machine and more perform. Recently we gave your our picks for five artists you can’t miss on Friday’s program, and now we cast our attention to Saturday, to be headlined by a little band named Metallica

Catfish and the Bottlemen

Sadly, the Welsh band had to cancel their July tour of Australia, which cancelled out both headline appearances and Splendour in the Grass and a visit to Japan. Their US run of shows have remained unaffected (as of now), so we’re keen to see how they go – hopefully they’ll be back to the kick ass quality of performance we recently saw them at over in Austin during SXSW.

12.45pm on the Samsung Galaxy Stage

Zella Day

Another artist the AU came by while in Austin for SXSW, Zella Day has been making her presence known all over the place – 2015 has been going incredibly well for the 20 year old from Phoenix. A talented songwriter and an enthralling live performer, Zella has proven that her list of influences range wide, from country tones to some great electronic production too. Debut album Kicker was a great introduction to an artist with a lot of potential and Lollapalooza this weekend is no doubt going to introduce her to thousands more fans.

1.50pm on the Pepsi Stage

Hermitude

From the Blue Mountains, all the way to the Pepsi Stage, Hermitude will be taking Dark Night, Sweet Light to a ravenous American crowd, hungry for that enticing Australian flavour. Much in the same way the likes of Flume, Courtney Barnett and Vance Joy did at the festival last year, Hermitude have a reputation that has well preceded them in this area of the world and are sure to pull the numbers. Scoring a 4pm slot on Saturday afternoon means the duo have the shot at getting punters well warmed up for the night ahead and as we well know over here, they’re well equipped to get the job done.

4pm on the Pepsi Stage

The Tallest Man on Earth

Swedish songwriter Kristian Matsson aka The Tallest Man on Earth is acclaimed the world over for his on stage charm and impressive catalogue of folk tunes. 2015’s Dark Bird is Home has gone down extremely well, not only marking the first record by The Tallest Man on Earth to feature a full band on every track, but in demonstrating Matsson’s talent as a multi-instrumentalist and lyricist once more.

4.45pm on the Bud Light stage

Elle King

Elle’s debut album, Love Stuff, was only released in February, but it wasted no time in working its way into the minds and iTunes libraries of many through the US and beyond. The LA-born, New York-based artist has been working solidly on establishing a reputation for herself as a talent to note, for her fusion of alt-rock, country, pop and blues has stood out amongst the other female pop artists currently emerging out of the US east coast. Having supported the likes of Of Monsters and Men and Michael Kiwanuka in recent years and making a great impression at SXSW this year, King is bound to do great things at Lolla this weekend.

5.40pm on the BMI Stage

Regular tickets are sold out to the festival, but some of the above bands are playing night shows during the festival at venues throughout the city. VIP 3-Day Passes and Travel Packages are still available at http://www.lollapalooza.com/ticket. To find out more about the event, the night shows, live streaming of the event and more, head here: http://www.lollapalooza.com/. The festival runs from Friday, July 31st until Sunday, August 2nd. The AU will be on ground all weekend to bring you live and exclusive coverage!

Larry Heath

Founding Editor and Publisher of the AU review. Currently based in Toronto, Canada. You can follow him on Twitter @larry_heath or on Instagram @larryheath.