It's been a while since my last Lollapalooza show. 1995 was the year. Bosstones, Sonic Youth, Cypress Hill, Pavement are some of the notables amongst many others. Man, that sounds good to say and yes, despite their rather limited vocal range, the passion and intensity of these bands was/is always there.
As the 30s and adulthood surfaced and then slipped away, the 40s arrived with little fanfare, and even fewer concerts. Hey, the desire still remains but opportunities appear far less frequently. Entire weekends spent with very few worries at "music festivals" seem incredibly distant, more appealing yet highly unlikely. England had Glastonbury, the south has Bonnaroo, the west has Coachella and the northeast has All Points West but Perry Farrell, Jim Rose and his freak show of a circus called Lollapalooza was the place to be...Sonic Youth, Cypress Hill, Rage Against the Machine and Jane's Addiction (or just Perry) seemed to always be there. This year's bill looks good but..
While only claiming stake to three of the shows (and none of the recent incarnation), I dearly appreciate Perry Farrell's attempt to pull this all together. The 1995 show in Quonset, RI was especially entertaining for me. After a 5 hour, 50 mile drive, interspersed with tailgating and socializing directly on Route 95S (L7 missed their set due to "traffic"), a 6 hour sun-drenched, beer-baked, dust-infested chaos of "dancing" to the Beastie Boys, George Clinton, et al, we fought through a crowd of about 77k to desperately reach the front of the stage for the Smashing Pumpkins set. What a surprise then to discover my mate's feeling of "claustrophobia" and the need "get away from people" as we retreated to the back and nearly out of sight of the Pumpkins.
Having seen the Pumpkins a few times live and never feeling anything but slight disappointment, I guess I didn't miss that much. Hey, two of the best shows I've ever attended came out of the blue with little or no expectations. Vasco Da Gama and Concussion Ensemble, both side projects for other better known Boston bands in the 80s/90s (Zulus, Laurie Geltman Project) took me away from Landsdowne Street and Mass Ave respectively and brought me to another place. Unfortunately, I think VDG played maybe one other show and it's difficult to find any audio or video history of them. Concussion Ensemble, formerly reunited on a yearly basis and played shows at the Middle East and similar smaller clubs in Boston is out of service, or at minimum, out of my sphere of life. I managed to find a youtube video and posted on the sidebar for your enjoyment.
Hey, a little Birdie informed me that the Pixies have reformed and again are touring both the east and west coast with original band members Frank Black (aka Black Francis), Kim Deal and Joey Santiago. Ever since the first time I heard Kim Deal strum the first base chord and whisper on Gigantic, "And this I know, His teeth as white as snow," I was hooked. Doolitlle, clearly one of the most influential indie albums of all time, still is probably my favorite album of all time. My 2008 yearbook quote would definitely be from their classic Wave of Mutilation:
"cease to resist, giving my goodbye
drive my car into the ocean
you'll think i'm dead, but i sail away
on a wave of mutilation
a wave
wave
i've kissed mermaids, rode the el nino
walked the sand with the crustaceans
could find my way to mariana
on a wave of mutilation,"
Out, BC
