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LESS MUSIC
Lollapalooza 2004, RIP
BY MATT ASHARE
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Last Saturday, at 10 a.m., tickets went on sale for what appeared to be one of the summer’s hottest tours, a reinvigorated, expanded Lollapalooza that promised not one, but two days (August 14 and 15) of fun in the Tweeter Center sun. But in a shocking reminder of the music industry’s ailing health, festival organizers announced the cancellation of the entire Lollapalooza 2004 tour just three days later. "Even with what has been touted as the best line-up since its inception in 1991," the Tea Party Concerts/ClearChannel press release stated, "with such eclectic and respected artists as Morrissey, Sonic Youth, PJ Harvey, and the Flaming Lips, among others, and the most competitive ticket prices in the marketplace for a tour this size, it was not enough to counter the weak economic state of this year’s summer touring season. Therefore, it is with the utmost regret that due to poor ticket sales across the board, the Lollapalooza 2004 tour has been cancelled." Indeed, with Perry Farrell back producing the tour with Lollapalooza co-founder Marc Geiger, this year’s line-up was remarkably strong. Morrissey, Sonic Youth, Modest Mouse, Le Tigre, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, and the Von Bondies had signed on as main-stage acts for the festival’s more alt-rock-leaning first day, which would also have featured PJ Harvey on select dates. And, in what marked an ambitious attempt to diversify Lollapalooza’s musical palette, the jam band String Cheese Incident were set to headline day two with the Flaming Lips, Gomez, the Polyphonic Spree, and TV on the Radio. The reunited Pixies, along with Wilco, Michael Franti and Spearhead, and Basement Jaxx were to have played select day-two dates. Apparently, it was all too good to be true. As Geiger told ClearChannel, "I am in utter disbelief that a concert of this stature, with the most exciting line-up I’ve seen in years, did not galvanize ticket sales.... Concert promoters across the country are facing similar problems. Many summer tours are experiencing weak ticket sales." In a statement posted on the festival’s Web site, Farrell too concluded that Lollapalooza’s situation is a reflection of larger problems in the concert business: "Our plight is a true indication of the general health of the touring industry and it is across musical genres."
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