Lollapalooza in the 21st Century

Last year I went to Lollapalooza. Remember Lollapalooza? The Perry Farrell creation, featuring tons of bands, food and clothing vendors, and a bunch of kids smelling of patchouli who claimed to want to make a difference but probably really just wanted to get high?

Most people thought that the festival ended some time in the '90s, but last year it came back in a slightly different form. Instead of a concert tour criss-crossing the country, it was confined to a two-day festival in Chicago's Grant Park. And it was really, really good. In many ways the band list made me feel like it was 1994 all over again: Dinosaur Jr, Sonic Youth, Liz Phair. Hell, the fact that Billy Idol was playing made me feel like it was 1984 all over again. But there were also a number of newer bands: Death Cab for Cutie, The Arcade Fire, The Killers and my college classmates in The Bravery. The entire concert felt a lot smaller than the previous Lollapalooza I had attended in 1995--there weren't really any arts and crafts being sold, I couldn't find any hippie-esque clothing and the bathrooms were really, really clean. But those aren't necessarily bad things. Being smaller meant that it didn't take an hour to trudge through a bunch of people and kiosks before getting to the exit--it was actually really easy to leave the venue to do a little shopping on Michigan Avenue and then return for more music. The only negative part of the entire concert was the record 103 degree heat we had to sit through during the second day.

It looks like the concert was so successful they are doing it all again, still in Grant Park, but this year with a three-day stay. It looks like the lineup will again feature a mix of bands from today and the 1990s--Kanye West, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Flaming Lips, Thievery Corporation, Blues Traveler and Queens of the Stone Age make for an interesting mix of music (and Death Cab and Sonic Youth will both be making a return engagement).

But what I think is potentially most interesting about this year's concert is a contest called called Lollapalooza Last Band Standing. It's an online battle of the bands, where different acts submit tracks online and then fans vote on who is best. The last band standing gets a slot at the concert. This has the potential to be interesting--I think I'll try to keep up with this and listen to some of the songs. And I am definitely considering attending this year's event--after all, it has music, the sun and Chicago. What else does one really need?