 Next Article | Previous Article | |
| Back |
by Seth Rogovoy
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass., July 4, 1996 -- It's never happened before, and depending on how things go, it may never happen again.
Never has a rock concert -- or, arguably, any pop-cultural event -- of the magnitude of next Tuesday's Lollapalooza '96, at Green Mountain Racetrack, just north of Williamstown in Pownal, Vt., taken place so close to the Berkshires.
With only a few notable exceptions, rock fans have historically had to travel an hour or more in any direction to participate in any of the major concerts or events that occur each summer. Now, in a twist that has some locals scratching their heads with fear or amazement, over 25,000 rock fans -- possibly up to 40,000 -- are expected to arrive from all over New England to take part in the only Lollapalooza festival this summer north of New York City and east of Syracuse.
In other words, the No. 1 concert event of the summer in New England is happening right in our own back yard.
Since 1991, Lollapalooza has been an annual event, a sort of Woodstock for the slacker generation, a travelling festival showcasing the music and culture of alternative-rock. The brain child of Perry Farrell, founder of the influential band Jane's Addiction and currently leader of Porno For Pyros, the multi-media, multiple- stage, rock 'n' roll circus was modeled after such European events as the Reading Festival in England, where audiences are annually treated to a broad array of bands and non-musical performances and exhibitions in festival-type settings.
In its first five years, Lollapalooza showcased a mix of top alternative bands and up-and-comers including Red Hot Chili Peppers, Beastie Boys, Smashing Pumpkins, Luscious Jackson, The Breeders, Ice Cube, Pearl Jam and A Tribe Called Quest. When Metallica was announced as this year's headliner, eyebrows were raised at the prospect of these second-generation, Grammy-winning, heavy-metal pioneers invading alt-rock turf, leading to charges that the entire festival had sold out to heavy-metal and hard-rock.
In fact, when you take into account the bands on the Second Stage, the festival's lineup, while perhaps not as diverse or experimental as in previous years, boasts a broad array of musical styles. If you're going, be sure to catch some of the lesser-known bands on the Second Stage.
What follows are snapshot glimpses of the bands, with their scheduled performance times in parentheses.
METALLICA
With the group's latest album, "Load," Metallica has struck out into new territory, both visually -- they've traded the shoulder- length tresses for a more sporty, European-style look a la U2 -- and sonically -- the album features more melodic material and even some pedal-steel guitar. But Metallica was never a typical, heavy-metal "hair band." It has always been an independent-minded entity -- albeit one playing a harsh, dark style of riff-dominated thrash-metal -- whose songs stressed themes like anti-militarism and the struggle of the individual against group conformity. (9:30)
SOUNDGARDEN
Soundgarden has often been lumped in with other Seattle-based bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam, but the group predates those and has always played a harder style more rooted in classic heavy metal like Led Zeppelin. The quartet is fronted by the charismatic Chris Cornell on vocals and guitar, and on its newest album, "Down On the Upside," the band pushes its uniquely-styled, progressive hard-rock to new extremes. (8)
WU-TANG CLAN
New to Lollapalooza this year is a rotating lineup of special guests, including such diverse performers as country legend Waylon Jennings, new-wave techno-rockers Devo, dream-rockers Cocteau Twins, pop-rockers Cheap Trick and furious-rockers Rage Against the Machine. The Pownal date features the gritty, Staten Island, N.Y.-based, hip- hop posse Wu-Tang Clan, who as a group and as solo performers The Genius, Ol' Dirty Bastard and Method Man have revolutionized rap in the '90s. (6:45)
RANCID With their multi-colored mohawks making them look like something out of London 1977, the members of California's Rancid play a vintage brand of retro-punk, recalling such classic, politically-minded, punk-rock avatars as the Clash and the Damned. The group evolved out of the late-'80s punk-ska outfit Operation Ivy, and for Lollapalooza it is bringing along a horn-section to help out on some of the hyperkinetic, Jamaican-based dance tunes. (4:35)
SHAOLIN KUNG FU OF CHINA
According to a Lollapalooza press release, this group of monks from the Shaolin Monastery in China is part of a martial-arts tradition dating back 1,300 years, which they will demonstrate on the Main Stage.Curiously though, the name "Shaolin" is often used as a synonym for Staten Island by the rappers in Wu-Tang Clan. A cosmic coincidence or a p.r. ploy? We'll know for sure on July 9. (3:45)
RAMONES
It all began, arguably, just four years after the Beatles broke up, when in 1974, Joey, Johnny, Dee Dee and Tommy Ramone first plugged in and cranked out their two-minute blasts of pure energy, inventing what became "punk-rock." A few years later the Ramones toured England, where they inspired musicians to form bands like the Sex Pistols and the Clash. It wasn't until almost 20 years later, however, with the rise of "alternative-rock," that the Ramones' influence -- if not its own sound -- was felt at the top of the record charts. They say this is their farewell tour, although they've said that many times before. In any case, it's totally fitting that they should be on this bill.(5:35)
SCREAMING TREES
Probably the most innovative of the bands to come out of the influential Seattle scene of the early-'90s, Screaming Trees combines its "grunge" rock with a rootsy, psychedelic sensibility drawn from late Beatles albums. Thus, on the group's excellent new album, "Dust," sitar, Mellotron, cello, harmonium, djembe and Hammond B-3 organ are heard beside the requisite fuzzy guitars. Singer Mark Lanegan boasts one of the great rock 'n' roll voices, sort of a cross between Tom Petty and Eddie Vedder, and ballads like "Sworn and Broken" and "Traveler" could be vintage Kinks material. (2:50)
PSYCHOTICA
Don't feel bad that you've never heard of this band. Psychotica is a totally new invention of lead singer Patrick Briggs, a sort of '90s cross between Iggy Pop and David Bowie from his Ziggy Stardust period. The New York sextet revives vintage glimmer-rock, replete with that genre's exotic theatricality and sexual ambiguity, which Briggs plays up to the hilt. (2)
CORNERSHOP
This English group is led by Tjinder Singh, who has created a unique fusion of Punjabi folk and religious music from his Indian background with Western pop, the result which isn't so much a new world music as it is the soundtrack to an imagined, 21st-century, cosmopolitan, urban capital anywhere on Earth. See this week's PopCorner elsewhere in this issue for more on Cornershop, including an interview with Singh.(2:50)
BETH HART BAND
Singer/songwriter Beth Hart fronts this Los Angeles quartet which has just released its debut album, "Immortal." The group plays a muscular-style of classic, arena-style rock, with Hart's vocals sounding like a cross between Melissa Etheridge and Janis Joplin. (7:30)
RUBY
The name Ruby is really just a front for singer/songwriter Lesley Rankine, ex- of Silverfish and Pigface. On her new album, "Salt Peter," the British Rankine plays a dark, experimental fusion of industrial music and hip-hop, sometimes called "trip-hop," a sort of cross between Nine Inch Nails and Bjork. Occasionally violent and outrageous imagery emerges from the opaquely mixed samples and electronics that comprise Ruby's soundscapes. (4)
YOU AM I
This Australian rock trio led by singer/songwriter Tim Rogers is heavily influenced by the Minneapolis sound of the late-'80s as exemplified by the Replacements and Husker Du. The group has released two albums, "Hi Fi Way" and "Sound As Ever," the latter produced by Sonic Youth's Lee Ranaldo. (1:40)
BEN FOLDS FIVE This gloriously poppy piano-bass-drums trio hails from Chapel Hill, N.C. In catchy, infectious songs that give voice to the losers and outcasts of the world, singer/pianist Ben Folds combines influences ranging from Squeeze to Billy Joel, Boomtown Rats, Elton John, George Gershwin and Todd Rundgren, sometimes all in the same song. The group is also noted for its wacky cover tunes, including Liz Phair songs, "Video Killed The Radio Star" and "Hava Nagilah." (5:10)
GIRLS AGAINST BOYS
This New York City-based quartet, formerly based in Washington, D.C., plays a riff- and rhythm-based blend of industrial hardcore, a pounding groove over which lead singer Scott McCloud intones in his insinuating, throaty rasp. The group is often compared to Jesus Lizard, Afghan Whigs and The Fall. (6:20)
LUTEFISK (3:25)
MOONSHAKE (4:35)
CHUNE (5:45)
SHAOLIN MONKS (6:40)
Lollapalooza '96 comes to Green Mountain Racetrack in Pownal, Vt. on Tuesday, July 9. Parking lots officially open at 10 and gates officially open at noon. Music is scheduled to begin at 2 and end at 11.Alcohol and drugs are forbidden on the grounds. The track is located on Route 7 just north of the Massachusetts-Vermont border. Tickets are available from Ticketmaster outlets or by calling (413) 733-2500. No overnight parking, camping or vending will be permitted on the premises. Further information is available at the official Lollapalooza web site.
[This article originally appeared in the Berkshire Eagle on July 4, 1996. Copyright Seth Rogovoy 1996. All rights reserved.]
| Next Article | Previous Article | |
| Back |
