Lollapalooza is easily one of the most iconic celebrations of music, in American pop culture. Founded back in ’91, the festival has consistently featured the best international talent the world has to offer, hands down.
And with the 10th edition of the festival being held this weekend, we thought it would be an ideal time for some lolla-education.Β Here are 10 things you did not know about the festival.
1. Lollapalooza was founded by Jane’s Addiction’s vocalist, after hearing the word ‘Lollapalooza’ in a movie.
Yup. A Three Stooges movie to be precise. The vocalist (Perry Ferrell) went on to trademark the term “Lollapalooza”.
2. The festival ended in 1997 because of bad ticket sales, but was later revived in 2003.
Resurrected and HOW!
Lolla was originally touring festival, but has now found a permanent home in Grant Park, Chicago since 2005. The festival has even branched out internationally to Chile and Brazil.
3. A Lollapalooza reference featured on the Simpsons.
Remember what we said about it being an important part of American Pop Culture?
4. Nirvana never got to perform at Lollapalooza, as Kurt Cobain died the week the band was supposed to headline the festival in 1994.
Their performance was cancelled, but the festival continued with headliners like The Smashing Pumpkins and Greenday. Courtney Love (Cobain’s widow) came onstage toΒ discuss her husband’s death.
5. Rage Against The Machine Protested Censorship by performing BUTT NAKED.
Back in 93, when the censorship and “Parental Advisory” stickers were forced on albums with explicit lyriis, RATM saw fit to protest the ridiculous censorship. Always a step ahead of their punk rock contemporaries, they stood butt-naked with black tape over their mouths and PMRC writted across their chest. A silent ‘fuck you’ to the censorship board, if you will.
6. Daft Punk’s Pyramid wowed people at Lolla (2007)
Ten years agoΒ Daft PunkΒ descended on the festival as mysterious masked robots, who had no credibility in the United States. Apart from a bit of buzz surrounding them regarding their performance at Coachella in 2006, these guys were literal nobodies. Until they dropped ‘Robot Rock’ at Lollapalooza 2007 – strobe lights, wacked-out costumes & a pyramid stage were all they needed to turn the mainstage into a real rave, the first of it’s kind at Lollapalooza.
7. Β Lollapalooza makes it’s artists sign a Radius Clause.
A radius clause refers to a contract banned artists to perform within a certain radius of the venue, for a period of time before and after the festival.Β Lollapaloozaβs clause reportedly prohibits performers from having concerts within 300 miles of Chicago for the six months leading up to the festival, and the three months following. This clause ensures that fans will be craving bands and will be we willing to cough up the dough to buy pricey passes.
8. Pop Queen Lady Gaga had the Most Punk Rock Moment at Lolla, 2007
A few hours before her mainstage performance in 2010, she hijacked Semi-precious Weapons’s sets by jumping on stage, banging cymbals and crowd-surfing.
9. Three Vocalists drank Bile Beer
Vile doesn’t even begin to explain it. During a mash up of some mainstage rockers – Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell drank the contents of another vocalist’s stomach. YUCK.
(Photo Courtesy)
10. Lolla will be CASHLESS this year.
Starting this year, Lolla is making the festival experience a tad bit easier by incorporating radio frequency identification (RFID) chips into their wrists bands, something no other festival has tried before. This means you can basically pay for your grub, booze and general stuff by swiping your wristband. This definitely will spare you the trouble of carrying a stack of cash around the festival. The band is pin code equipped, just in case of wristband theft.
