When Pavement ruined Lollapalooza
Pavement - "Slow Century" DVD - West Virginia, Lollapalooza 1994
Waxing about Malkmus reminded me of being too young and dumb to check out Pavement play Lollapalooza in 1994 and led me to this nugget of hilarity from the band's "Slow Century" DVD (Matador). It then got me thinking about how radically different things are these days at music festivals. Its a complete 180. Pavement was routinely ignored (my 15 y/o self - guilty) during their stint as headliner in '94, to the point where things got a bit ugly in West Virginia. Safe to say leaving the stage to a chorus of boos, flying mud, and reciprocating with flipped birds and dropping trout is not ideal.
So what's changed since? Fourteen years later and the festival circuit in America is as healthy as ever. The model certainly changed, traveling festivals replaced by anchored regional events. But at what point do things unwittingly revert to a facsimile of Lollapalooza's original failed model? Tons of bands do the "festival circuit" and exclusivity of acts is getting harder and harder for festival promoters in such a crowded market. Survival of the fittest? Could be a dangerous way to weed out the losers, considering it's tantamount to cannibalization. Geography will come into play in a big way for some organizers. Pitchfork, Lollapalooza, and Coachella have distinct advantages being in or near Chicago and Los Angeles, respectively. Only time will tell, but the music industry as a whole doesn't exactly have the best record with success these days. Now I'm getting bummed out.
Pavement - "Slow Century" DVD - West Virginia, Lollapalooza 1994
Waxing about Malkmus reminded me of being too young and dumb to check out Pavement play Lollapalooza in 1994 and led me to this nugget of hilarity from the band's "Slow Century" DVD (Matador). It then got me thinking about how radically different things are these days at music festivals. Its a complete 180. Pavement was routinely ignored (my 15 y/o self - guilty) during their stint as headliner in '94, to the point where things got a bit ugly in West Virginia. Safe to say leaving the stage to a chorus of boos, flying mud, and reciprocating with flipped birds and dropping trout is not ideal.
So what's changed since? Fourteen years later and the festival circuit in America is as healthy as ever. The model certainly changed, traveling festivals replaced by anchored regional events. But at what point do things unwittingly revert to a facsimile of Lollapalooza's original failed model? Tons of bands do the "festival circuit" and exclusivity of acts is getting harder and harder for festival promoters in such a crowded market. Survival of the fittest? Could be a dangerous way to weed out the losers, considering it's tantamount to cannibalization. Geography will come into play in a big way for some organizers. Pitchfork, Lollapalooza, and Coachella have distinct advantages being in or near Chicago and Los Angeles, respectively. Only time will tell, but the music industry as a whole doesn't exactly have the best record with success these days. Now I'm getting bummed out.