Liz Phair, Weezer, Pixies on reinvented Lollapalooza bill

 

April 21, 2005

BY JIM DeROGATIS POP MUSIC CRITIC

The Texas-based promoters of the revitalized Lollapalooza, scheduled to be held at Hutchinson Field in Grant Park, won't announce the official lineup until Friday, but several artists already have confirmed that they will be playing the festival on July 23-24.

According to the bands' Web sites and record labels, the acts will include former Chicagoan Liz Phair, alternative-rock heroes Weezer, the jam band Widespread Panic and reunited indie-rock legends the Pixies and Dinosaur Jr., as well as lesser-known artists Tegan and Sara and the Kaiser Chiefs.

Beck, who is touring behind his new album "Guero," and the Kings of Leon, whose song "Molly's Chambers" inspires those giddy, jumping Gen-Y youths in a ubiquitous new car commercial, also are rumored to be performing, although those acts could not be confirmed.

In a departure from Lollapalooza tours of the past, corporate sponsorship will play a role in the newly reconfigured concert, with participants including an online travel agency and a hair-removal product aimed at teenagers, as evidenced by an ad in the new issue of Jane magazine.

"Lollapalooza is back [and] I'll be there with my miniskirt on and no nicks and cuts from a razor thanks to [a popular] depilatory!" Jane writer Miriam Blankenship gushes in an advertisement for a Lollapalooza sweepstakes that also promotes staying at the Hotel Monaco and dining at Frontera Grill.

Lollapalooza founder Perry Farrell, who retains a small stake in the concert, is joining the new owners and promoters, Capital Sports & Entertainment of Austin, Texas, at a news conference Friday morning to announce the full lineup of 70 bands on five stages. They also are expected to give details about ticket sales and prices.

A limited advance offering of 2,000 tickets priced at $35 each sold out on April 7, but the Chicago Park District is expected to approve a capacity of at least 30,000 per day in exchange for Lollapalooza's donation of about $250,000 for park improvements.

 

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