Non Excerpted
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.
Gee, I wonder why it failed to draw people. Maybe they should have brought in Micheal Moore and Al Frankin since they are such popular entertainers and their projects are doing so well
And the Pixies already done played it this year (May 1st and 2nd).
Last year's Loozer festival aped the band list from last year's Coachella festival as well.
Radiohead
Pixies
Sparta
the (International) Noise Conspiracy
Heiroglyphics
Kinky
the Sounds
Section Quartet
The Cure
Flaming Lips
AIR
Belle & Sebastian
Thursday
Muse
Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra
Saul Williams
Thelonious Monster
MF Doom
Kool Keith
Living Legends
Eyedea & Ablilities
the Rapture
Desert Sessions
Death Cab for Cutie
Trail of the Dead
the Stills
Howie Day
DIOS
Le Tigre
Basement Jaxx
BRMC
Bright Eyes
Cursive
Atmosphere
Broken Social Scene
Pretty Girls Make Graves
Kraftwerk
Mark Farina
Laurent Garnier
Sander Kleinenberg
Danny Howells
Seb Fontaine
Peretz
DJ Icon
Paul Van Dyke
Ferry Corsten
Crystal Method
Adam Freeland
2 many DJ's
Donald Glaude
Peretz
Hybrid
Electric Six
Mindless Self Indulgence
Stereolab
Moving Units
Black Keys
Junior Senior
Stellastar*
Sahara Hotnights
Erase Errata
Ash
Mogwai
Sleepy Jackson
Dizzee Rascal
Cooper Temple Clause
the Thrills
Elefant
Home Town Hero
Whitestarr
Phantom Planet
Da Lata
Boozoo Bajou
LCD Soundsystem
Savath & Savalas
Beck
Q and not U
the Evens
Juana Molina
Sidestepper
Danger Mouse
Prefuse 73
Sage Francis
the Killers
Saul Williams
Section Quartet
Supernatural