Lollapalooza

Lollapalooza is an American music festival featuring alternative rock, rap, and punk rock bands, dance and comedy performances, and craft booths. Organized in 1991 by Perry Farrell, singer for the band Jane's Addiction, Lollapalooza ran annually until 1997, and was revived in 2003. The festival encapsulated American youth culture for the 1990s much as Woodstock did for the 1960s; Lollapalooza Generation is sometimes used as a synonym for Generation X.

Overview

Perry Farrell conceived of the Lollapalooza festival in 1990 as a farewell tour for Jane's Addiction. The name Lollapalooza means "something outstanding or unusual"; Farrell heard the word in a Three Stooges short film and liked the sound.

During the Summer of 1990 "The Gathering of The Tribes" festival was a successful collaboration between legendary concert promoter Bill Graham and Ian Astbury - lead singer to the band "The Cult". This festival played only two dates, both in California. The concerts were held in San Jose and Los Angeles. This festival set the mold of a mix of diverse musical acts and a progressive/alternative marketplace.

The musical acts signed to perform at the festival included: Iggy Pop, Soundgarden, Queen Latifah, The Cramps, The Indigo Girls, Lenny Kravitz, Joan Baez, Steve Jones(of Sex Pistols fame), and Public Enemy.

Perry Ferrell attended the Los Angeles concert and decided the time was right for a national version of such a diverse touring festival

Unlike previous music festivals such as Woodstock, The Gathering of The Tribes, or the US Festival, which were one-time events held in one venue, Lollapalooza was a touring show—a modern-day Chautauqua—that travelled across the United States and Canada. Instead of drawing music enthusiasts from around the country to one spot, Lollapalooza came to them -- bringing West Coast and East Coast underground culture to cities in the heartland. Because of this, many more people saw, and participated in, Lollapalooza than had been to any previous music festival. It was an important vehicle for disseminating the alternative music of the period.

The 1991 lineup was also daringly eclectic, drawing in headliners from rap such as Ice-T as well as industrial music such as Nine Inch Nails. Crossing popular music's rigidly-drawn genre lines gave the festival an air of independence from corporate rock.

Another key concept behind Lollapalooza was the inclusion of non-musical features. Performers like the Jim Rose Circus, an alternative freak show, or the Shaolin Monks stretched the boundaries of traditional rock culture. There was a tent for display of art pieces, virtual reality games, and information tables for political and environmental non-profit groups. Lollapalooza's charter was not just a super-star rock jam -- it was a cultural festival, albeit for the newly-formed 1990s counterculture.

After 1991, the festival included a second stage (and, in 1996, a third stage) for up-and-coming bands or local acts. It began a churning effect for alternative music -- as underground bands broke through to the mainstream, they drew listeners to Lollapalooza, who would then see the next generation of underground bands on the second stage. Many of the bands that played second stage at Lollapalooza later had more widespread commercial success.

Success and decline

The explosion of grunge music in the early 1990s propelled Lollapalooza forward; the 1992 and 1993 festivals leaned heavily on grunge acts. Punk rock standbys like mosh pits and crowd surfing became part of the canon of the concerts. These years saw great increases in the participatory nature of the event. Booths for open-microphone readings and oratory, television-smashing pits, jungle-gyms and group-musical pieces, and tattooing and piercing parlors made the event seem more like a county fair than a concert.

In 1994 the side stage premiered many important and legendary poetry acts including Jeffrey McDaniel, Chris Stroffolino, David Baratier, and others.

1994 was the high-water-mark of the grunge era and a year of tragedy for the Lollapalooza. Nirvana, the Aberdeen, Washington band that had kicked off grunge's breakthrough into mainstream music, was scheduled to headline the festival, but Kurt Cobain declined the invitation. He died shortly thereafter. (The Smashing Pumpkins headlined instead.) Cobain's widow Courtney Love made surprise guest appearances at several shows (usually taking time given to her by Pumpkins vocalist Billy Corgan), speaking to the crowds about the loss. Increasing numbers of accidents and unruly fans at the shows were beginning to erode the feeling of community.

In its final years, Lollapalooza began to lose its focus. Farrell, who had been the soul of the festival, quit the organization to concentrate on his new festival project, ENIT; most of his financial interest was sold to the William Morris Agency. Ideas and musical genres that had been edgy and risque at the beginning of the 1990s were now mainstream or passe. Many fans also saw the addition of Metallica in 1996 as going against the practice of featuring "non-mainstream" artists. Efforts were made to keep the festival relevant; including more eclectic acts such as country superstar Waylon Jennings and emphasizing more heavily electronica groups like The Prodigy. By 1997, however, the Lollapalooza concept had run out of steam, and in 1998 failed efforts to find a headliner willing to do the show rang the deathknell for the festival tour.

Revival and rebirth

In 2003, however, Farrell reconvened Jane's Addiction and scheduled a new tour. The festival schedule included venues in 30 cities through July and August. The 2003 tour achieved only marginal success with many fans staying away because of high ticket prices and heavy corporate sponsorship. Another tour scheduled for 2004 was canceled in June due to weak ticket sales across the country.

Farrell partnered with Capital Sports & Entertainment, which co-owns and produces the Austin City Limits Music Festival, to produce Lolla and co-own the Lollapalooza brand. CSE -- along with Charles Attal Presents -- resurrected Lollapalooza as a two-day destination festival 2005 in Grant Park, Chicago, with an even greater variety of performers (70 acts on five stages) than that of the touring festival. The festival was generally successful, attracting over 65,000 attendees, despite a 104 degree Sunday heat wave. (Only 3 people were hospitialized for heat related illness.) It will return to Chicago from August 4-6, 2006.

Lollapalooza lineups by year

Several of the artists, including Green Day and Cypress Hill, skipped at least one Lollapalooza tour date in order to appear at Woodstock '94 instead.

1995

Main Stage: Sonic Youth, Hole, Cypress Hill, Pavement, Sinéad O'Connor (first few shows; bowed out due to pregnancy), Elastica (replaced O'Connor, as did Moby for a few shows), Beck, The Jesus Lizard, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

Side Stage: Coolio, Doo Rag, Possum Dixon, Poster Children, Yo La Tengo, Brainiac, The Coctails, The Geraldine Fibbers, The Dambuilders, Laika, The Pharcyde, Tuscadero, Built to Spill, Helium, Redman, St. Johnny, Dirty Three, Mike Watt, Versus, Hum, Blonde Redhead, The Roots, Blowhole, The Zeros, Pork Queen, Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments, Sabalon Glitz, Psychotica, Patti Smith, Overpass, Moby, Superchunk, Beck (acoustic, generally)

1996

Main Stage: Metallica, Soundgarden, Cocteau Twins, Waylon Jennings, Cheap Trick, Violent Femmes, The Tea Party, Wu Tang Clan, Steve Earle, Devo, The Ramones, Rancid, Shaolin Monks, Screaming Trees, Psychotica

Side Stage: Beth Hart Band, Girls Against Boys, Ben Folds Five, Ruby, Cornershop, You Am I, Soul Coughing, Sponge, The Melvins, Satchel, Jonny Polonsky, Fireside Ass Dildo

Indie Stage: Chune, Moonshake, Lutefisk, Capsize 7, The Cows, Long Fin Killie, Thirty Ought Six, Varnaline, Crumb

1997

Main Stage: Orbital, Devo, The Prodigy, The Orb, Tool, Snoop Doggy Dogg, Tricky, KoЯn, James, Julian and Damian Marley and the Uprising Band, Eels, Failure

Side Stage: Summercamp, Artificial Joy Club, Jeremy Toback, Radish, Old 97's, Inch, Porno for Pyros, The Pugs, Lost Boyz, Agnes Gooch, Demolition Dollrods, Skeleton Key, Molly McGuire, Orbit

2003

Main Stage: Jane's Addiction, Audioslave, Incubus, Queens of the Stone Age (7/5-8/13), A Perfect Circle (8/15-8/23), Jurassic 5, The Donnas, The Distillers, Rooney

Side Stage: Steve-O, Burning Brides, Cave In, Kings Of Leon, Hierosonic, 30 Seconds To Mars, The Music, Mooney Suzuki, Fingertight, MC Supernatural, Boysetsfire, Billy Talent, Campfire Girls

2004 ^*

This tour was cancelled due to low ticket sales; the following acts were scheduled: Morrissey, PJ Harvey, Sonic Youth, The Killers, The Flaming Lips, The Von Bondies, String Cheese Incident, Modest Mouse, Le Tigre, Gomez, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Danger Mouse, Polyphonic Spree, Broken Social Scene, The Datsuns, Bumblebeez 81, The Secret Machines, Brayndead Freakshow, Sound Tribe Sector 9, Elbow, Wheat, The Coup, Wolf Eyes

2005

Location: Grant Park, Chicago

SBC West Stage
Saturday: Weezer, Primus, Cake, Liz Phair, M83
Sunday: Widespread Panic, Drive-By Truckers, Dinosaur Jr., The Ponys.

SBC East Stage
Saturday: Pixies, Billy Idol, Dashboard Confessional, ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, The (International) Noise Conspiracy
Sunday: The Killers, The Arcade Fire, The Satellite Party, Kasabian, OK Go.

Budweiser Select Stage
Saturday: Digable Planets, The Black Keys, The Bravery, Kaiser Chiefs, The Warlocks
Sunday: Death Cab for Cutie, Spoon, Brayndead Freakshow, Ben Kweller, Louis XIV, Saul Williams.

Parkways Stage
Saturday: The Walkmen, Blonde Redhead, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Ambulance LTD, The Redwalls
Sunday: The Dandy Warhols, G Love & Special Sauce, Tegan and Sara, Blue Merle, The Changes.

Planet Stage
Saturday: Mark Farina, Z-Trip, B-Boy Breakdown Royale, Mash Up Circus, DJ Muggs, VHS or Beta, The Dead 60's, Hard-Fi
Sunday: Derrick Carter, Sound Tribe Sector 9, Soulive, Los Amigos Invisibles, DeSol, Cathedrals.

Kidapalooza
Saturday: Gwendolyn & the Good Time Gang, Daddy a Go Go, The Candy Band, Peter Distefano and Perry Farrell
Sunday: The Candy Band, Gwendolyn & the Good Time Gang, Saul Williams and Ladybug of Digable Planets (performing an impromptu set), Daddy a Go Go, Ella Jenkins.

2006

Location: Grant Park, Chicago(artists listed from earliest to latest set times)

Dates: August 4-6

AT&T Stage
Friday: The Subways, Panic! at the Disco, Umphrey's McGee, The Raconteurs, Ween
Saturday:Living Things, Coheed and Cambria, Gnarls Barkley, Common, Kanye West
Sunday: Sparta, Ben Kweller, Matisyahu, Queens of the Stone Age, Red Hot Chili Peppers

Budlight Stage
Friday: Blue October, Eels, Ryan Adams, My Morning Jacket, Death Cab For Cutie
Saturday: Nada Surf formerly Wolf Mother but the two switched spots, Built to Spill, Sonic Youth, The Flaming Lips, Manu Chao
Sunday: The Redwalls, Nickel Creek, The Shins, Wilco

adidas-Champ Stage
Friday: Deadboy & the Elephantmen, Aqualung, Stars, Iron & Wine, Sleater-Kinney (Second to last show before "indefinite hiatus")
Saturday: Matt Costa, Feist, Calexico, The Dresden Dolls, Thievery Corporation
Sunday: TBD formely Jim Noir, The Frames, Andrew Bird, Poi Dog Pondering, Blues Traveler

Q101 Stage
Friday: Sound Team, Editors, Cursive, The Secret Machines, The Violent Femmes
Saturday: Last Band Standing Grand Prize Winner TBA, Be Your Own Pet, The Go! Team,Wolfmother formerly Nada Surf (now playing on the Budlight Stage on Saturday), The Smoking Popes, The New Pornographers
Sunday: Boy Kill Boy, The Hold Steady 30 Seconds to Mars formerly Hard-Fi, She Wants Revenge, Broken Social Scene

Playstation Stage
Friday: Midlake, Anathallo, Ohmegga Watts, Jeremy Enigk, Lady Sovereign
Saturday: Sa-Ra, Sybris,Oh No! Oh MY!, Lyrics Born, Blackalicious
Sunday: Trevor Hall, The Burden Brothers, Hot Chip, Pepper, Reverend Horton Heat

AMD Stage
Friday: Last Band Standing TBA, Ghostland Observatory formerly the Standard, Husky Rescue,The M's, Mute Math
Satuday:Rainer Maria, Cold War Kids, 30 Seconds to Mars, Particle, Disco Biscuits
Sunday: What Made Milwaukee Famous, Manishevitz, The Benveneto-Russo Duo, The New Amsterdams, Of Montreal

BMI Stage
Friday:Bon Mots, Cameron McGill and What Army, Makeshifte, Kelley Stoltz, John McLaughlin
Saturday:Musical Outfits St. James, Lanz, Elvis Perkins, Kill Hannah
Sunday: Katie Todd Band, Catfish Haven, Manchester Orchestra, Moses Mayfield, Assassins

Mind Field Stage
Friday: Mindfield Activities (Comedy, Gaming, Films, Competition, and Audience Gags, Full Schedule to be Announced soon), Mindfield Electronic Ambush ( DJ Lineup to be announced soon)
Saturday: Mindfield Activities (Comedy, Gaming, Films, Competition, and Audience Gags, Full Schedule to be Announced soon), Mindfield Electronic Ambush ( DJ Lineup to be announced soon)
Sunday: Mindfield Activities (Comedy, Gaming, Films, Competition, and Audience Gags, Full Schedule to be Announced soon), Mindfield Electronic Ambush ( DJ Lineup to be announced soon)

Kidz Stage
Friday:Scribble Monster, Kelly McQuinn and KidTribe, Candy Band, Alvin Ailev Dancing Workshop, Remo Drum Circle, Peter DiStefano, The Blisters
Saturday: Scribble Monster, Kelly Mcquinn and KidTribe,Candy Band, Alvin Ailev Dancing Workshop,Ella Jenkins featuring Asheba,Remo Drum Circle featuring Asheba,Justin Roberts, Peter Distefano Guitar Workshop,Chutzpah, breakdancing with the Brickheadz, Justin Roberts, Remo Drum Circle
Sunday: School of Rock, Kelly McQuinn and KidTribe, Perry Farrell and Peter DiStefano, The Candy Band, Q Brothers and Chutzpah, Asheba, Remo Drum Circle

Note- Mix Master Mike and DJ Rashida were added to the lineup but not schedule yet, presumably these two will be featured on the Mindfield Electronic Ambush Stage.

In the media

-palooza has become a kind of suffix to describe any similar large-scale event, particularly in fiction.

In a 1996 episode of The Simpsons called Homerpalooza, Homer takes Bart and Lisa to an alternative music festival called Hullabalooza. It includes Cypress Hill, Peter Frampton, The Smashing Pumpkins and Sonic Youth.

In a fourth season episode of South Park called "Timmy 2000", Timmy joins the band "Lords of the Underworld" and ends up being a main act in the inpronouncable "Lalapalalapaza" festival, replacing the former headliner Phil Collins, who then tries to dissolve the band. The name of the festival gets more and more exaggerated and elongated to the point of gibberish.

Rock parodist "Weird Al" Yankovic titled his 1993 album Alapalooza, but the cover and other album elements were based less on the concert tour and more on the movie poster for Jurassic Park.

In the Daria episode, "Road Worrier", Daria, Jane, Trent and his friend Jesse are on their way to "Alternapalooza", where Trent and Jesse plan to perform. They never get there, though.

Popular underground pro-wrestling promotion, Extreme Championship Wrestling ^*, held a PPV titled Wrestlepalooza on May 3, 1998.

External links

Lollapalooza in 1992 Takes off with the birth of Grunge (video clip)

United States music festivals | Festivals

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