It’s been 25 years since Perry Farrell of Jane’s Addiction had a brilliant idea and made it come to life.
In 1991, the idea of bringing together many non-mainstream acts under one touring festival was something fresh. Crowds responded and Lollapalooza became the touring lynch-pin of an exploding new scene of ‘alternative’ music.
But it didn’t take long for the industry to figure out how to cash in on the new trends, and before you could say ‘Hot Topic’, the alternative became the mainstream, and the mainstream became lame.
As the nineties wore on, one could almost chart the decline along the lines of the bands that were booked each year as headliners, finally jumping the shark by booking Metallica in 1996. Metallica in 1986… THAT would have been cutting edge. Mid-nineties Metallica were going through an identity crisis, just like the rest of the music world. Tour founder Farrell quit Lollapalooza in protest.
One more tour in 1997 with The Prodigy and The Orb tried to paint the coming electronic wave as the new ‘alternative’… but kids just weren’t buying it and the tour called it quits.
In 2003, a newly reformed Jane’s Addiction found a focused Perry Farrell willing to step back in and bring his creation back to life. A marginally successful 30 city tour didn’t quite jump start the tour as expected, and lagging 2004 ticket sales caused the Lollapalooza camp to come up with a new strategy.
2005 saw the tour held in a single venue, Grant Park, Chicago, IL over two-days with a focus on an even greater variety of acts. Subsequent repeating the same formula has established the yearly event as one of the premiere festivals of the year.
2016 marks the 25th anniversary of the tour and will be celebrated by a four-day event July 28th-July31st.
Notable headlining acts: Jane’s Addiction, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Radiohead, LCD Sound System, Die Antwoord, and pop star Ellie Goulding.
Four day passes have all sold out, but single day passes are still available. Get on it if you want to attend this historic event.
