2009 Lollapalooza

Lollapalooza has a long and illustrious history as one of the best rock tours of the century and though it no longer tours, it’s still one of the hottest festivals of the year. Lollapalooza 2009 was no exception, with performances by Depeche Mode, Tool, The Killers, Jane’s Addiction, Kings of Leon, and many, many more. Though the lineup for the 2010 fest has yet to be announced, Coast to Coast already has tickets, and since the fest has been a sell out for the past two years in a row, you should go ahead and secure your tickets now.

The tour has been a launch pad into the realm of super stardom for many of the bands that have participated in the event since its inception in 1991. The first group of bands to embark with Lollapalooza was taking a chance with the maiden tour. Among these brave souls were bands like Nine Inch Nails, Living Color, Jane's Addiction, and the Violent Femmes. These are some of the poster children for the indie-rock scene of the 90s.

The following year even more bands joined the ranks. The main stage featured now legends like the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pearl Jam, and Ice Cube. The tour added a second stage for bands like Stone Temple Pilots, Rage Against the Machine, and Arson Garden. More than twenty bands toured that year to thousands of screaming rock fans. With the success of the first year's tour the Lollapalooza crew decided to ad more dates and more venues to the schedule. Dates extended into September and Canada was added to the trip.

By 1993 and 1994 bands were lining up to be included in the tour. The Smashing Pumpkins and the Beastie Boys were joined by legends like George Clinton and the P-Funk All Stars and Tool. Metallica, Sound Garden, and Rancid drew crowds in 1996 on the main stage. The Ramones even made an appearance.

The tour began to diversify its sound in the late 90s including bands like Ben Folds Five and Soul Coughing. They set up a third stage to feature lesser known indie acts like Moonshake, Lutefisk, and Thirty Ought Six. The Lollapalooza tour took a hiatus between 1997 and 2003, but came back with a killer line-up that brought back hardcore tour fans in no time. The 2003 return of Lollapalooza featured A Perfect Circle, The Donnas, Jurassic 5, and Incubus. The 2004 tour was announced to feature Sonic Youth, Modest Mouse, the Pixies, The Flaming Lips, Wilco, and Polyphonic Spree as well as many others.

Like many large concert tours, Lollapalooza offers sideline entertainment for the crowds milling around between stages and performances. Performance artists roam the concert grounds performing guerilla theatre as part of the mass game dubbed MindField. Outrageous behavior and outrageous costumes are the standard. In 2004 Lollapalooza staff also came up with the idea for Night Bloom, an after party series where concert goers and artists can mix and mingle to wind down the days activities. The Night Bloom parties feature cool-down areas as well as dance parties with DJ talent from all over the world.

Like the bands featured in the concert tour, Lollapalooza prides itself on innovation. A new feature in 2004 is the Solar Sound Stage. Audiences are invited to attend performances at the portable stage that is fitted with solar panels and runs completely on sustainable energy sources from the earth. As you can imagine, one performance can sap lots of juice from the power grid with its speakers, amps, monitors, and mics, but the Solar Sound Stage uses only solar energy to power all the musical essentials. The Solar Sound Stage continues Lollapalooza's tradition of introducing the world not only to great music but also unconventional notions of art, technology, and culture.