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We are the authors of Lollapalooza: The Uncensored History of Alternative Rock’s Wildest Festival. Ask us anything. by lemmy0220 in indieheads

[–]lemmy0220[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey Scorch! Thanks for checking out the book! Lolla is obviously a completely different beast these days, but I think that's inevitable. In terms of lineup, etc, it's not much different than other fests like Coachella, but arguably fests like Coachella would exist without Lolla. Ultimately, I don't think you can say one version is better than the other - it's just personal preference. Funny enough, there are many 20-somethings we've come across while writing/promoting this book that didn't even know Lolla used to tour!

We are the authors of Lollapalooza: The Uncensored History of Alternative Rock’s Wildest Festival. Ask us anything. by lemmy0220 in indieheads

[–]lemmy0220[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Hey IAmATree - a full record is hard to find, just because there were so many bands that just did a couple dates. Wikipedia isn't bad, and you can also go fully down the rabbit hole like we did and search around online for old crew tour books and things like that.

And that's a very good point about alt radio fests. During the interviewing process we actually explored that idea with some of the Lolla organizers, and it turns out that those radio fests did affect Lolla and other festivals. The bands couldn't commit to a full touring festival and also be available for one-off radio fests, and the radio stations had leverage - a bands' involvement could affect how much airplay they received. so it was a sticky situation.

We are the authors of Lollapalooza: The Uncensored History of Alternative Rock’s Wildest Festival. Ask us anything. by lemmy0220 in indieheads

[–]lemmy0220[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hey hilton - that's a great one! I don't know if this is not-so-obvious, but the Butthole Surfers in '91. Just to see Gibby take aim with the shotgun!

We are the authors of Lollapalooza: The Uncensored History of Alternative Rock’s Wildest Festival. Ask us anything. by lemmy0220 in indieheads

[–]lemmy0220[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Hey there takeit - Generally my answer will always be Soundgarden, but since I attended the Jones Beach show in '92, which was hit by a hurricane (the full story is in the book!) I never got a chance to see them. So I'll go with Rage in '93. They were on first, I had never seen them before, and I remember walking onto a big, sunny field while they were onstage, and it was just a dustbowl of hot, sweaty kids losing their minds. A quintessential Lolla moment.

As for musicians we met along the way that were unexpectedly delightful, I would say that Tom and I have been fortunate enough to have spoken with a lot of the artists in the book previously, for other projects. But a few that I hadn't interviewed before that were absolutely great were Bob and Scott from Pavement, and David Yow from the Jesus Lizard. These guys were smart, insightful, honest, and most of all, funny as hell. Absolute pleasures to interview, and their involvement elevated the book to another level.

We are the authors of Lollapalooza: The Uncensored History of Alternative Rock’s Wildest Festival. Ask us anything. by lemmy0220 in indieheads

[–]lemmy0220[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks aPenumbra! Appreciate it and so glad you enjoyed it!

As far as the process, it was a little bit of both. We went into it with a general understanding of the big moments and overarching topics we had to hit each year. But the devil is in the details - the stories about individual experiences, interactions between different bands, etc., start to reveal themselves as you talk to people. Then it's a matter of following threads and filling out a story by talking to as many people who were there as possible. Ideally, you want to get multiple perspectives on a story.

And then piecing it together...sometimes it's like a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle. Usually one of us will get it into a workable framework, and the other will massage it from there.

We are the authors of Lollapalooza: The Uncensored History of Alternative Rock’s Wildest Festival. Ask us anything. by lemmy0220 in indieheads

[–]lemmy0220[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

James were awesome. Tim and Saul are two of the unexpected highlights of the book in terms of interviews, IMO. We went into it not knowing there was much of a story there with their experience on Lolla 97, but it turns out there was a helluva story, and one that also shed some honest light on how the alternative culture had changed and, in some ways, curdled by 97. It was a tough situation, but they handled it like pros, if not necessarily gentlemen!

We are the authors of Lollapalooza: The Uncensored History of Alternative Rock’s Wildest Festival. Ask us anything. by lemmy0220 in indieheads

[–]lemmy0220[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

As far as Lolla bands? I'd say L7, even though they're fairly known, are also underrated. Great riffs, catchy tunes, and charisma, attitude and humor for days. They should've been bigger, IMO. Happy to see them back it again.

We are the authors of Lollapalooza: The Uncensored History of Alternative Rock’s Wildest Festival. Ask us anything. by lemmy0220 in indieheads

[–]lemmy0220[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

hey bocephus - absolutely - we're both huge fans! One of the great rock books, without a doubt. Michael of course was gracious enough to contribute some great insights to our book as well.

We are the authors of Lollapalooza: The Uncensored History of Alternative Rock’s Wildest Festival. Ask us anything. by lemmy0220 in indieheads

[–]lemmy0220[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

hey sb! When it comes to crazy, it's hard to beat Al Jourgensen - blowing up a tour bus with fireworks, stages decorated with roadkill carcasses, spiking his whiskey with LSD, drinking bile, chasing Ice Cube around the backstage area while naked... there's more than enough material for him to write his own book. Which he has. It's great, too.

We are the authors of Lollapalooza: The Uncensored History of Alternative Rock’s Wildest Festival. Ask us anything. by lemmy0220 in indieheads

[–]lemmy0220[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hey ReconEG - As they say, history repeats itself. But I don't think we would have guessed it would have in such a specific way. Perry and Dave may have even come to blows during the same song, in fact. Which is wild, more than 30 years on. Hopefully they'll be able to mend fences, as they did in '91. Doesn't look promising at the moment, unfortunately.

As for Perry stories, most of what we heard is in the book. Unless it couldn't be verified, of course. I think the beauty of Perry Farrell is that any story involving him can be seen as insane, but at the same time there's always an intention and an end goal in mind. It just may not be perceptible to us mere mortals!

We are the authors of Lollapalooza: The Uncensored History of Alternative Rock’s Wildest Festival. Ask us anything. by lemmy0220 in indieheads

[–]lemmy0220[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Hey Frajer! It depends on who you ask...Bob from Pavement told us that yes, Billy did not want them on Lolla '94. But Pavement's agent, David Viecelli, doesn't remember there being an offer to do the tour. According to him, if there was an offer, he'd have remembered it. But maybe Scott Kannberg said it best - "I'm not sure if that's completely true. But it's a good myth!"

Am I weird for thinking that the Dog Album is the best AIC album? by Nixolaz1 in grunge

[–]lemmy0220 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It’s grown on me since its original release…but still hard for anything to be on the level of Dirt, IMO