by Seth Rogovoy
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass., June 20, 1996 -- While waiting for July 9th to
roll around -- that's when Lollapalooza '96 rolls into the Green
Mountain Race Track in nearby Pownal, Vt., for those of you who've
been sleeping for the last two weeks -- you might want to check out
info about the festival and the bands, including some sound samples,
that are publicly available on the Internet and the World Wide Web.
A good starting place is the Official Lollapalooza '96 home page. The page features tour info and dates, links to most of official home pages for the bands, a complete history of the festival, and an on-line ticket service.
Even better than the official site, however, is the Unofficial Lollapalooza home page. This site is chock full of juicy stuff: a complete history of past festivals and lots of rumors about this year's festival, updated almost daily.
You can get a lot of information about bands on the 'net, from home pages on the Web and by hooking up with other fans on discussion groups. Soundgarden is officially located at http://www.imusic.com/soundgarden, but don't miss the best unofficial Soundgarden page at http://www.sgi.net/soundgarden, where you'll also find an active mailing list. Soundgarden also has its own Usenet discussion group, alt.music.soundgarden.
The Ramones have an official site at http://www.radioactive.net/BANDS/RAMONES/index.html. A SUNY-Albany student is putting together an excellent unofficial Ramones page at http://www.albany.edu/~orrin/ramones.html. The Ramones also have a dedicated discussion group at alt.music.ramones.
Special guests Wu-Tang Clan have a strong presence on the Web, with many unofficial pages and a electronic newsletter. Begin at John Book's excellent "U-WU" home page, and from there you will find all things WU on the Web.
It's easy to find pages for the top bands like Metallica and Soundgarden, but it takes a little digging to find some of the lesser known groups with hard-to-find albums. Some of these pages even include video and sound clips.
The official site for Girls Against Boys, which will be appearing on the Second Stage, is at http://www.southern.com/southern/band/GIRLS/index.html. A great place to start for information about Ben Folds Five, also on the Second Stage, is at http://oeonline.com/~maynard/bff. There's a mailing list devoted to the Chapel Hill, N.C., trio, too, which you can join be sending a request to Frank Maynard at maynard@oeonline.com.
Find out about David Byrne's favorite Lollapalooza artists, Cornershop -- he signed them to his record label, Luaka Bop -- by visiting the group's Web site at http://www.maires.co.uk/nw2n/corner/corner1.html.
It's been a lot of fun lately eavesdropping on Metallica fans on the discussion group alt.rock-n-roll.metal.metallica ripping their favorite band to shreds over the group's new album, "Load," which has been widely greeted as a sellout by many of the band's longtime fans.
Happy surfing!
Spotlight
On the heels of last year's conceptual masterpiece, "Work the Dumb Oracle," by his band, Drywall, singer/songwriter Stan Ridgway -- best known as the visionary behind the electronic new- wave outfit Wall of Voodoo -- has surprised fans with a new solo work, "Black Diamond" (Birdcage), his most personal and intimate effort to date. The minimalist, spare and mostly acoustic album shows a warm, human side to the arch, techno-rock artist. "Gone the Distance" is the missing link between Kurt Cobain and Neil Young. "Luther Played Guitar" further explores Ridgway's fascination with Johnny Cash (long before alternative types caught onto him, Ridgway was touting the Man in Black back in 1984 with his eerie rendition of "Ring of Fire"). A rendition of Bob Dylan's elliptical "As I Went Out One Morning" is all the more revealing for its straightforwardness. Ridgway hasn't fully dropped his noirish personae nor his jaded portraits of urban sleaze on "Black Diamond" -- he just brings them that much closer to his listeners. Catch Ridgway in a rare live appearance with his five-piece band playing tunes from all aspects of his career, including Wall of Voodoo, at the Iron Horse in Northampton on Tuesday, June 25 at 7. Check out his great web site at http://www.primenet.com/~drywall.
Backstage bits
When last heard from, Lenox native Kristen Gray was singing backup for ex-Eurythmics star Dave Stewart. More recently, Gray has been seen on the B.E.T. network performing with Lucky Peterson -- she also sings on the first two tracks of Peterson's new album, "Lifetime." You can also catch Gray singing on "Sloppy Seconds" on "The Awesome Power of a Fully Operational Mothership," the new album by funkmaster George Clinton....
Both times that Black 47 has performed at the Night Shift Cafe in North Adams, frontman Larry Kirwan has been one of the last people to leave the club. Unlike most stars who rush out as soon as the last song is over, Kirwan has been seen mingling with fans after his shows. It's a tribute both to Kirwan, who is just a really great guy, and the Night Shift, which invites that sort of performer-audience interaction....
Speaking of the Night Shift, although there are plenty of chairs and bleachers spread around the venue for people to take a load off, we don't quite understand the propensity of some to just sit and watch, especially when it's a rock show. While no one should feel required to dance, neither should a club act be treated like a TV show. Rock 'n' roll is a participatory medium....
While it's great to be getting Second Stage bands like Cornershop and Ben Folds Five on the leg of Lollapalooza that's coming to Pownal, it's too bad we'll be missing Soul Coughing -- led by Simon's Rock graduate M. Doughty -- which will be joining the tour on its second half later in the summer....
We couldn't make a stronger endorsement for the triple-bill of singer/songwriters at the Iron Horse on Monday, June 24, when James McMurtry, Jim Infantino and Fred Eaglesmith -- three of the best at what they do -- perform starting at 7....
The folks at Tea Party Concerts can say whatever they like about how hard they're trying, but the fact is as of now there's only Peter, Paul and Mary and James Taylor coming to Tanglewood this summer, and dozens of pop acts coming to Great Woods....
(This column originally appeared in the Berkshire Eagle on June 20, 1996. Copyright Seth Rogovoy 1996. All rights reserved.)
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