After Lollapalooza went belly-up in 2004, founder Perry Farrell started looking for ways to reinvent the festival. "Part of why Lollapalooza was successful originally was kids knew they weren't going to be jacked up with all the things that come from going to an amphitheater," says Farrell. "By the late Nineties, that experience started to expire. We had to find a new format."
Enter Charles Attal and Charlie Jones, two Texas promoters responsible for the Austin City Limits festival, an affordable two-day event modeled after open-air European-style festivals. "Last year, lots of tours got canceled," says Jones, who is producing this year's Lolla. "But ACL, Bonnaroo and Coachella had record years. The public wants more than just a concert. They want an experience -- a lot of bands for their dollar."
On July 23rd and 24th, the new Lollapalooza will invade Chicago's Grant Park (chosen for its central urban location and beautiful scenery) with five stages and more than sixty bands, including Weezer, the Pixies, the Killers, Widespread Panic, Billy Idol, the Arcade Fire and Dinosaur Jr. Tickets cost fifty dollars a day, and an audience of more than 100,000 is expected.
"You have to create a party," says Farrell. "People know we're the hot ticket to find out what's currently happening and what's going to happen next."
