all had in common was an edginess that made them
relevant to audiences who were growing increasingly
dissatisfied with the standard Top 40 music that
dominated the industry. As a result, rappers and
rock artists alike found Lollapalooza to be a venue in
which they could perform to the largest number of
receptive fans.
The festival was not only for established acts to
connect or reconnect with a youthful contingent but
also for new bands, giving them the opportunity to
build a fan base. Most notably, Rage Against the Ma-
chine, which had been heard in few places outside of
the West Coast prior to Lollapalooza 1992, gained a
much higher profile after the tour. The band earned
a great deal of radio play as result of festivalgoers
from around the United States responding posi-
tively to the music.
In terms of genres, although hip-hop and techno
acts were definitely a part of Lollapalooza, the festi-
val itself was characterized and earned a reputation
as a grunge, alternative rock show. Each year from
1991 to 1997, grunge acts figured prominently, al-
though in 1991 and 1992 hip-hop acts from Ice-T
and Body Count to Cypress Hill to Arrested Develop-
ment and others were major draws to the festival.
The tone of Lollapalooza in the 1990’s was set by
bands such as Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tool, Stone
Temple Pilots, Violent Femmes, and Jane’s Addic-
tion.
One of the successes of Lollapalooza was that lis-
teners of nonstandard pop music finally found a mu-
sic event that related to them. It not only encapsu-
lated what they listened to but also reflected how
they lived and what they believed in, especially with
regard to the environmental issues. By the 1990’s,
MTV had begun to limit alternative music to a late
Sunday night show called120 Minutes; music fans
who had grown up watching the network might have
felt disappointed by its inability or unwillingness to
continue showing cutting-edge music in prime time.
Without the vehicle for edginess upon which they
had relied for years, the generation who had grown
up on MTV turned to a live music festival to be their
avenue of musical expression.Other Attractions and Discontent Because Lolla-
palooza was a lifestyle festival, there was more than
just music present at the touring shows. Nonmusical
acts also helped Lollapalooza differentiate itself
from other festivals. Lollapalooza festivals included
virtual reality games, a circus sideshow, tattoo and
piercing booths, folk vendors who sold everyday
items made of hemp, information
kiosks where concertgoers could
learn about environmental and po-
litical concerns, and, perhaps most
telling and symbolic of all, a televi-
sion-smashing area.
Before the Internet, concert-
goers had to physically purchase
tickets from Ticketmaster outlets,
sometimes spending multiple days
in front of outlets while waiting for
Lollapalooza tickets to go on sale.
When ticket and concession prices
rose, so did fans’ impatience. After
the first couple of tours, reports of
violence and mayhem began to be
reported from the festival. It is un-
clear what the cause of the unrest
was—a mix of displeasure at the
prices or simply an outpouring of
unrest that was present in the target
demographic for the festival. The
festival’s run in the 1990’s ended in
1997, with a mix of new and for-526 Lollapalooza The Nineties in America
Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam performs at Lollapalooza 1992.(Hulton Archive/Getty
Images)