Lollapalooza 2004 was cancelled today.
The music festival which began in 1991 was just weeks away from its first series of shows when it was cancelled due to a lack of ticket sales.
In a statement on the official site, Lollapalooza founder and Jane's Addiction frontman Perry Farrell blamed "the general health of the touring industry" for the decision.
Lollapalooza which had a successful run of shows last summer after a five year lay-off had featured some of music's biggest acts since its inception. Jane's Addiction, Smashing Pumpkins, Beastie Boys, and Wu Tang Clan are just a handful of the performers that have toured as part of the festival.
This years line-up was to feature Morrissey, Sonic Youth, Wilco, The Flaming Lips, and one of my new favorite bands The Von Bondies. It looks like it was a promising line-up, so I'm not entirely sure what went wrong where, but with ticket sales flat across the board the promoters had no choice but to cancel.
Is the general climate of the touring industry to blame, or is there something else going on? Maybe music fans are just less likely to part with their hard earned cash to see maybe one or two bands that they really dig on an otherwise bloated tour? Or perhaps the line-up didn't feature enough "big name" acts?
Whatever the reason, I feel bad for the bands that were involved and more importantly the fans that were looking forward to the show. Who knows? This years Lollapalooza might have been one music fans first concert. I can sympathize with the disappointment that they are probably feeling right now.
2 comments:
I don't know, maybe I'm an old gleep or something, but that surely does not sound like a line-up worthy of festival status. Also, maybe the younger generation of rock fans is not as into seeing live shows as I was 15 years ago. They have sex parties to go to that I never had.
BTW - The Kill Bill game is way cool!
I have to disagree with ya, T. Although I am not a fan of most of the bands, the full line-up (listed on the official site) def' had enough talented bands to define it as a festival.
I think you're on target though with your assessment. The youth of today doesn't seem to be passionate about anything really, and with the advent of those sex parties you mentioned, why would they care about music anyway? If I was getting BJs at 15 I sure wouldn't...
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