LOLLAPA-LOSER?
A critical look inside the rise and fall of Lollapalooza 2004
By Jason Korenkiewicz

In a statement last week via the Lollapalooza website, festival founder Perry Farrell explained his emotions and rationale for the cancellation of Lollapalooza 2004, "You can imagine the dismay I share at this moment with the artists and musicians who were looking forward to the tour. Lollapalooza could no longer see fit to continue this year. Our plight is a true indication of the general health of the touring industry and it is across musical genres."

The New York Times followed with a story that substantiated Farrell's statements concerning a weak summer touring market. The article stated that after tax day (15 April 2004) touring revenues began a slow descent culminating with last week's Lollapalooza announcement. On paper Lollapalooza 2004 looked to be the most anticipated offering of the festival in a decade. The event was to traverse North America hitting sixteen cities with an unprecedented two-day bill in all but one town. Acts confirmed for the entire tour included marquee names like Morrissey, Sonic Youth, PJ Harvey, Modest Mouse, String Cheese Incident, Michael Franti and Spearhead, and the Flaming Lips. In addition Wilco and Pixies had been added for select dates. Tour organizers indicated in their statements that the only dates experiencing strong ticket sales were the two dates featuring a reunited Pixies, one of which would be their first New York City show since the early '90s. While Farrell's comments ring true and the organizers lowered prices to allow for a wider appeal ($30 to $50 depending on location), one has to wonder if there were other options for the tour organizers that could have been used to prevent this unfortunate end.

FOR THE REST OF THIS STORY VISIT:
http://www.popmatters.com/music/features/040629-lollapaloser.shtml