Hey, it's Empire's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbong. The music festival economy is a bit

in flux these days, particularly small ones, whether we're talking about experimental music festivals

in the desert or the bluegrass festival by me, a bunch of them have had to cancel because

it just didn't make dollars and cents.

But the big ones are still around, and one of the biggest is Lollapalooza, which started in 1991

and had a massive impact on rock music, music festivals, and popular culture at large.

Richard Beanstock and Tom Bojure are two music writers behind a new oral history of

Lalapalooza titled Lollapalooza, the uncensored story of alternative rock's wildest festival.

And in this interview with Empire's A. Martinez, yeah, they talk about the wacky hijinks that

happened on stage, but also about the kind of idealistic vision at the root of the festival.

That's ahead.

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understand why distant events matter here at home. Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or

wherever you get your podcasts. In the early 1990s, American rock music was just beginning to emerge

from the hair metal era. And one of the most influential bands to lead the transition was Jane's Addiction.

Just as Jane's Addiction was starting to gain traction, though, the constantly feuding band announced their final tour in 1991.

Frontman Perry Farrell invited some of his favorite bands to hit the road with them, and he called the traveling music show Lollapalooza, and it was chaos right from the start.

They come out on stage the first night, and the two principal members, Perry Farrell and Dave Navarro, start brawling on stage.

That's Richard Beanstock. He's one of the editors of a new oral history of Lollapalooza.

Tom Beauxhour is the co-editor.

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