For music lovers across the country, the summer is a special time of year. The sun is shining, day drinking becomes much more acceptable, and perhaps most importantly, summer music festivals begin. There are the huge ones (Coachella, Sasquatch, Bonnaroo, All Points West, etc) as well as some smaller festivals (Pitchfork, Rothbury, etc) and too many street festivals and block parties to even mention. But for the kind citizens of Chicago, one festival reigns supreme: Lollapalooza.
(can't beat that view)
Today I'm going to give the hyper-intelligent and knowledge-thirsty readers of this blog a little history lesson on Lollapalooza. From its not-so-humble nationwide tour beginnings to its current three-day Chicago takeover form, I'll trace the history of this musical adventure.
It all started way back in 1991, a year when most of us were still completely obsessed with Nickelodeon. As a matter of fact, Nickelodeon had a banner year in 1991, as Doug, Rugrats AND Ren & Stimpy all premiered. On the movie side of things, Terminator 2, My Girl, and The Silence of the Lambs also all came out that year. Anyway enough historical perspective, back to the story at hand.
So in 1991, Perry Farrell (of Jane's Addiction if you're a complete musical buffoon) decides that there's so much good music around, he should create a traveling festival to showcase regional bands to areas of the country that might not be familiar with them (the festival was also supposed to be a farewell tour for his band). This is a little bit before grunge really took over the music scene, so the headliners for the inaugural tour were Jane's Addiction, NIN, Henry Rollins Band (unclear if his set included slam poetry....BONGGGG), Ice-T, and the Butthole Surfers. The tour only had one stage, and was designed to be a "cultural festival" as much as it was a music festival.
It should be noted at this point that the word "lollapalooza" means: "an extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event; an exceptional example or instance". As Perry Farrell's vision of a massive cultural experience began to grow, the festival started to personify that definition more and more.
After putting round one of the festival in the book, Farrell came back in 1992 facing a rapidly changing musical landscape. Grunge was blowing up, and the festival had to ensure that the style du jour would be represented strongly in the year's tour. The 1992 lineup of course reflected this change, as Pearl Jam and Soundgarden (as well as Temple of the Dog) headlined the tour. Sticking to the 1991 formula, Ice Cube, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Ministry were also added to round out the bill.
1993 was a little bit of a confused year for Lollapalooza. Grunge still carried some weight, and Alice in Chains were billed as the headliner. While people were still getting down with their dirty flannels, a shift was beginning to appear at the festival. Alt-Rock (in all its forms) were making some noise, and as a result bands like Primus and Rage Against the Machine were added to the tour. Tool also made an appearance this year, as did Dinosaur Jr. The tour finished relatively quietly, which would soon appear to be the calm before the storm. SPOILER ALERT: 1994 gets crazy.
Think about 1994. Does anything come to mind? Lorena Bobbitt maybe? How about O.J.? Don't forget about Tonya Harding. Lots of things going on in 1994, including the height of popularity for a little band from Seattle, Nirvana. Of course Perry Farrell HAD to have the band headline Lollapalooza this year, and things seemed like they were really going to come together for the festival. This was set to be the breakout year. The Smashing Pumpkins came on board this year, as did Green Day and the Beastie Boys. Then tragedy hit. Farrell gets a call on April 7th telling him that Nirvana was pulling out of the festival. Kurt Cobain was found dead in his home the very next day. This set a very somber mood for the tour, and Courtney Love spoke to the crowd at every show to remind everyone of Kurt's legacy. Sad times indeed.
From 1995 through 1996, the festival lost a little bit of it's luster. Huge bands still made the tour, including Beck, Metallica, Rancid, Wu-Tang Clan, and The Ramones. Unfortunately, many people felt the festival had lost its touch with the less-than-mainstream audience, and things started to fall apart. In 1996, Perry Farrell decided it was time for him to move on, and dropped out of the festival completely.
1997 marked the last year for Lollapalooza as a real traveling tour. The tour that year had a bit of a weird feel to it, headlined by bands like The Prodigy and Korn. Devo made an appearance on the tour this year, and if I had been half as cool as I am now I totally would have gone just to see them. Alas, I was just an awkward 7th grader with poor musical taste.
Nobody heard a peep about Lollapalooza again until 2003. Perry Farrell decided it was time to get Jane's Addiction back together, and made a strong attempt to revive the festival. Despite his best efforts to get things rolling again, the tour was a total disaster. Nobody showed up, and many people blame high ticket prices as the biggest killer of the tour. 2004 was an even bigger disaster, as the tour was cancelled halfway through due to weak ticket sales. The Killers, Wilco, The Flaming Lips and Modest Mouse were all on board for the tour, but couldn't salvage this train wreck.
Finally in 2005, Farrell teamed up with Capital Sports & Entertainment (who produce Austin City Limits) to totally rebrand the festival. Rather than travel around the country bringing music to everyone they could, the organizers decided to host the festival in beautiful Grant Park in the lovely city of Chicago. If you can't get people to come out and see you in their city, why not make the event a destination? This model proved to be super successful, and leaves us with the Lollapalooza we know and love today.
So, while you're out at Lollapalooza this year, remember the roots of the festival. It took a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to get it to the point where it is today, and hopefully the festival will continue for a great many years. Also, if you don't go see Arctic Monkeys, Tool, Animal Collective, Cold War Kids and TV on the Radio, consider our friendship over.
(special thanks to the one and only Jeff Johnson for the inspiration for this post)
No comments:
Post a Comment