Lollapalooza officially announced its 2009 lineup yesterday. And according to Billboard here’s what festival founder Perry Farrell had to say about live music meeting our need to escape.
“At Lollapalooza, we’re selling more tickets than ever,” Farrell told Reuters. “People need an even bigger excuse to escape more than ever and there is no better escape than going to a festival and just tripping and taking in music.”
Farrell might be right from an emotional sense.
But with Coachella wrapping up this past weekend and considering this Billboard story from a few weeks back (for which Lolla promoters C3 Presents and Farrell declined comment), there’s still a lot to be said about the impact of the financial state of economy on the summer music festival season as Bonnaroo, Rothbury and other festivals wait to see if fan’s finances will determine their festival’s success.
I know I was excited to scan the Lollapalooza lineup today, which features several bands I’ve been waiting to see, and I’ve had a lot fun and done my fair share of escaping at and reflecting on the last three (06, 07, 08) Lollapalooza’s. But we’ll have to wait and see if Farrell is right, or if he’s just bubbling over with hopeful hype about his own festival.
What do you think?
Will our love for live music bend a knee to limited financial resources, or will our emotional need to escape become priceless and overide the reality of tight budgets and a struggling economy?
What are your plans for escaping to summer music festivals?