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http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,14359,00.html
Lollapalooza 2004: R.I.P.
by Josh Grossberg
Jun 22, 2004, 12:00 PM PT
Let's just call it Lollapa-loser.
Not even a stellar lineup--Morrissey, the Flaming Lips, Sonic Youth, the String Cheese Incident, Wilco and a reunited Pixies--couldn't save this summer's Lollapalooza festival, which has been deep-sixed due to poor ticket sales just three weeks before its launch.
Organizers made the announcement on the fest's official Website, lollapalooza.com, blaming "competitive ticket prices" and a weak summer touring season as the reasons for the cancellation.
"I'm in utter disbelief that a concert of this stature, with the most exciting lineup I've seen in years did not galvanize ticket sales," tour cofounder Marc Geiger says in a statement.
Taking the bad news especially hard was Lollapalooza cofounder Perry Farrell, whose band, Jane's Addiction, headlined the inaugural fest back in 1991 as well as last year's edition, which revived the traveling carnival after a five-year layoff.
"My heart aches along with the bands and all of our employees, whose hard work developed one of the most exciting and important tours that this nation was to see. My heart is broken," says Farrell.
The 31-date, 16-city trek was supposed to kick off July 14 at White River amphitheater in Auburn, Washington.
Organizers had intended this year's outing to be the most ambitious yet--a two-day jamboree with an eclectic rotating roster that would have seen the likes of PJ Harvey, the Polyphonic Spree, Sound Tribe Sector 9, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Modest Mouse, Danger Mouse, Le Tigre and Elbow at various venues, along with the requisite body-art booths, ethnic food stands and progressive political stumping (this year's second stage was supposed to be powered by hydrogen fuel cells).
Fans who've already bought tickets will be issued refunds.
Geiger says the demise of Gen-X's signature touring festival can be chalked up to soft sales across the board, even though promoters tried to make Lollapalooza affordable by offering reserved seating at $49.50 per day, lawn tickets at $29.50 per day and a special two-day lawn package at $50. Those prices are a relative steal in today's concert market, where acts like Madonna, the Rolling Stones and the Eagles, routinely charge hundreds of dollars for stand-alone gigs.
"I'm surprised that given the great bands and the reduced ticket prices that we didn't have enough sales to sustain the tour," says Geiger. "Concert promoters across the country are facing similar problems. Many summer tours are experiencing weak ticket sales."
That's a far cry from Lollapalooza's glorious grungy days, when the road show's main stage played host to such bands as Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pearl Jam, Beck, Nirvana, Sinead O'Connor, Metallica, Snoop Dogg, the Smashing Pumpkins and the Beastie Boys, making it the hot ticket of summer.
But with poor sales plaguing last year's installment and now scuttling this year's, we may have seen the last of Lollapalooza.
Never went to a lollipop tour. I did go to a H.O.R.D.E. tour with Blues Traveler, Big Head Todd and The Monsters, Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies and Jimmy Cliff. In Santa Fe, 1994 I think it was.
I think my brother and I were the only two people who weren't smokin weed.