An oral history of Lollapalooza '95

August 15, 2015 4:53 AM

Alternative nation’s last stand: Lollapalooza 1995, an oral history (WPost)
posted by OmieWise (31 comments total)

You used to be about the sociology, man!
posted by thelonius at 5:12 AM on August 15, 2015 [1 favorite]

And then there was the 1997 lineup; in Toronto it was held at Canada's Wonderland, which is maaaaaybe not the best venue for acts like Orbital and (oh, 1997) Korn.
posted by The Card Cheat at 5:22 AM on August 15, 2015

They interviewed Sonic Youth and Cypress Hill, but they didn't interview Peter Frampton or that guy who would take a cannonball in the gut?
posted by entropicamericana at 7:19 AM on August 15, 2015 [24 favorites]

Card Cheat: I dunno, I saw a lot of great/alternative shows at Canada's Wonderland: Ramones, Sisters of Mercy, Peter Murphy, Blondie, Gang of Four, among others...
posted by DrLickies at 7:22 AM on August 15, 2015 [2 favorites]

Really? I stand corrected. Never saw a concert there.
posted by The Card Cheat at 7:47 AM on August 15, 2015

I saw a lot of great/alternative shows at Canada's Wonderland: Ramones, Sisters of Mercy, Peter Murphy, Blondie, Gang of Four, among others...

This is me, being jealous.
posted by Mezentian at 7:59 AM on August 15, 2015 [2 favorites]

I suppose we can't make this a thread about how The Ramones played Canada's Wonderland...
posted by Gin and Comics at 8:04 AM on August 15, 2015 [1 favorite]

I did Toronto the year Living Color and Body Count (and the seriously late and weird Butthole Surfers) played. I guess that was a single stage event. On a whim, some friends and I showed up for the tail end of the one with the RHCP.

While having the peppers close out was great, you could see the difference between those. Something changed. We changed.

Now I'm dead inside and don't care about bands, but that first one was a real gathering of the tribes.
posted by clvrmnky at 8:05 AM on August 15, 2015 [2 favorites]

I was a vendor for the South, Southwest, & California legs of Lollapalooza 95. Loved starting the day with Beck in the morning & ending with Sonic Youth every night. One of the many weird moments that summer was hearing some local Austin dj on the second stage making fun of "hippies" for being sad about the death of Jerry Garcia that day. Then Thurston or Kim (can't remember which) said some nice things about Jerry that night which made me feel better. Crazy summer. There was a lot of Courtney drama & Hole always put on a hell of a show. Large portions of the crowd didn't even stay for Sonic Youth but they were great too.
posted by lurkElongtime at 8:18 AM on August 15, 2015 [8 favorites]

I was dying to go to the '95 one, but was pretty much unemployed that summer.
posted by The Card Cheat at 8:22 AM on August 15, 2015

weird to read about this one being "not about the platinum artists" or whatever. Beck went platinum that same summer and was certainly already gold, Cypress Hill was double platinum the previous year, and Hole was multi-platinum in 95, too. It's not like this was the year of the scrappy underdog or something. I mean, yeah the Beastie Boys were at the year before but they were fuckin amazing and ATCQ joined them on stage and P-Funk was there and L7 and the Breeders and I guess point taken the Smashing Pumpkins sounded awful live at least in Barrie but still.
posted by Hoopo at 8:46 AM on August 15, 2015 [4 favorites]

I was at the '94 Barrie show, too...the Pumpkins sounded fine to me, but I wasn't really capable of being objective about that band at the time. The highlight of the day for me was seeing Flaming Lips (who I'd never even heard of) on the second stage.
posted by The Card Cheat at 9:37 AM on August 15, 2015 [3 favorites]

That 1991 TO show was my first ever concert! It definitely felt like a moment (beyond "holy smokes I am at a real concert and there are some holy smokes here") - set the bar way too high for shows after that. I was there for Siouxie, Jane's, NIN, and the Femmes, but there was no disappointment at any time. Even when I got elbowed in the mosh pit for Rollins (which I took as a badge of induction into something or other) and was defended by some nice young punk (which affirmed my belief in the good taste = good people connection).
posted by cotton dress sock at 10:03 AM on August 15, 2015 [2 favorites]

I've been trying to recall who it was that said some nice things on stage about Jerry Garcia that Lollapalooza 95 night in Austin & now I'm pretty sure it wasn't Kim or Thurston Moore, it was Courtney Love. She had a little rant about how he had influenced everyone there whether they knew it or not. My memory sucks.
posted by lurkElongtime at 10:24 AM on August 15, 2015 [1 favorite]

I went to the first one in St.Paul, MN. Janes Addiction, NIN, Butthole Surfers, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Rollins Band, Living Colour, Body Count.

It was the last Lallapalooza lineup I really cared enough to see.
posted by DieHipsterDie at 10:40 AM on August 15, 2015

I miss my mid-twenties.
posted by 4ster at 10:57 AM on August 15, 2015 [5 favorites]

I was also at the 91 Toronto show! Saw the Ramones the night before (or the night before that, it's a bit hazy now) then spotted Joey Ramone hanging out with Ice-T backstage at Lolla. I enjoyed the 1992 show in Barrie (I have fond memories of Molson Park from cfny Canada Day shows) but after that my interest waned. I'm not a big festival person, I guess.
posted by atropos at 11:10 AM on August 15, 2015 [1 favorite]

I saw Iggy Pop at Canada's Wonderland in 1994 (I think?). Pissing down rain, 60 people in the audience, Iggy invited everyone on stage. Bit of a Spinal Tap moment, but still pretty awesome.


Me at Lollapalooza in 1993.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 11:34 AM on August 15, 2015

Kim Clarke Champniss, is that you?
posted by i_have_a_computer at 12:24 PM on August 15, 2015

No, I'm the guy who looks like the bass player for Screaming Trees.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 12:33 PM on August 15, 2015 [2 favorites]

I went to the 1994 show at the Starplex in Dallas. When the Beasties played, the lawn eploded into the largest mosh pit I have ever seen. I now regret going to check out the side stage bands when Tribe was on the main stage. I never had another chance to see Tribe and they are now one of my favorite bands.
posted by Benway at 1:13 PM on August 15, 2015 [1 favorite]

I was on 'shrooms at the '94 show in Barrie!

It was weird that Nick Cave was playing at 2 in the afternoon, but then the 'shrooms started to kick in right about when the chimes go off in "Red Right Hand," which was pretty intense...man.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 2:27 PM on August 15, 2015 [2 favorites]

I'd love to see an oral history of the '96 tour, the one with actual shaolin monks and scene stalwarts like Scream Trees and Violent Femmes opening up for Sound Garden and Metallica
posted by thecjm at 3:48 PM on August 15, 2015

Yikes... 20 years! I was at the '95 Lollapalooza show at Barrie. Sadly I think it says something about me that I have nearly no memory of the actual music (Dirty Three & Mike Watt were on a side stage? Really?). Miscellaneous memories which remain include my girlfriend's friend hiding booze in a can of Pringles and me have a LONG conversation with a Krishna Consciousness dude.
posted by Ashwagandha at 5:35 PM on August 15, 2015

Pfft. Everybody knows the greatest rock concert was the US Festival. Y'know, by that guy from Apple Computer?
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 7:19 PM on August 15, 2015 [1 favorite]

I feel that '93 had the best lineup: Primus, ALice in chains, Tool, Rage Against The Machine, Babes in Toyland, Arrested Development, Fishbone. That's a stacked lineup.
posted by Jaymzifer at 8:05 PM on August 15, 2015 [2 favorites]

I was just too young to catch the 'Palooza Train (went to my first concert in December 95, but it would be a couple years until I had the means to get a ride to the outdoor shows in the summer) so I remember hanging off my older stepbrother's every word when he came back from them. But yeah, that 93 lineup is the one I still look back on wistfully. Even though I've since managed to see pretty much all those bands, the thought of seeing them in their prime one after another on a hot summers day, likely high on shrooms, makes me weep.

So, I continue to live vicariously.
posted by mannequito at 1:39 AM on August 16, 2015

Dallas '94 as well. I was on the lawn to the right of center when the Beastie Boys started playing and not only the explosion of moshing but also the surge of people rushing into the reserved seating area. I had mosh pit envy for those that got close to the stage, 'cause a 5'1" ballerina wasn't about to risk her toes or worse but oooohhh my inner badass riot grrl wanted so badly to join in the stomping games instead of watching specks from afar on the lawn.

Fast forward about 5 years and The Beastie Boys come to Rome. Tickets were pretty cheap and I'm anticipating another concert viewed from afar. Imagine my surprise when I walk into a venue that's only slightly larger than a high school gymnasium and not even at capacity. You bet your ass I shoved myself as far to the front as I could.
posted by romakimmy at 12:44 PM on August 16, 2015

One of my best friends saw Public Enemy open for the Beasties (or maybe the other way around) in 1989 at a club in Berlin that he said probably fit 500 people, tops. I've seen a few good shows in my time, but nothing like that.
posted by The Card Cheat at 1:19 PM on August 17, 2015 [1 favorite]

I feel that '93 had the best lineup: Primus, ALice in chains, Tool, Rage Against The Machine, Babes in Toyland, Arrested Development, Fishbone

It was really good that year. Strangely I don't remember Alice in Chains at all. Tool was on the second stage and they were as good as always. It would have been Undertow-era, so before they went all prog. Primus had a neat stage show with audience members walking up on this platform on the side of the stage that had lights facing upwards, so that you'd have giant big-head shadows cast on the surfaces at either end of the stage. And Les did that weird stomp of his the whole time. Dinosaur Jr was there too, they sounded quite exactly like they did on record which is pretty uncommon in my experience.

Fishbone though...holy shit. Probably never would have gone to a Fishbone show before, but I am glad I did. The mosh pit for Swim was like nothing I've ever seen before or since. Super fun band live.
posted by Hoopo at 10:08 AM on August 18, 2015

Card Cheat, I saw PE a couple of times -- once opening for U2 -- but the best time was in a floating night club with maybe 200 other people in 1991.

In Jackson, Mississippi of all places. Chuck D pronounced us all "off beat jumpin' motherfuckers," which is really something I should have printed on cards.
posted by uberchet at 2:58 PM on August 19, 2015