Lollapalooza docuseries in the works
Paramount+ has greenlit a new music docuseries exploring the history of Lollapalooza festival.
The three-part Lolla: The Story of Lollapalooza series is being produced by MTV Entertainment Studios and FunMeter, in partnership with C3 Presents, and will chronicle the relationship between the festival and its founder Perry Farrell, and the evolution of “the now global cultural phenomenon”.
“When Lolla was launched in 1991, the concert industry felt like a boring car ride that was running out of gas,” says Farrell. “We pumped new life into the live music experience and set the foundation for the youth’s counter culture to become important and exciting again. Now more than three decades young, I am happy to have this opportunity to give people an inside look at the festival’s contribution to music history.”
No date has yet been set for the series, which will be directed by Michael John Warren, whose past music projects include Jay-Z’s Fade to Black, Nicki Minaj’s My Time Now and My Time Again, and Drake’s Better Than Good Enough.
“It’s an honour to be entrusted to tell the true story of one of the most astonishing cultural touchstones in the last half-century”
“As a naive teenager trapped in the doldrums of Suburbia, USA, I attended the first-ever Lollapalooza, and it totally blew my mind,” adds Warren. “It was dangerous, beautiful and instantly widened my perspective. So, it’s an honour to be entrusted to tell the true story of one of the most astonishing cultural touchstones in the last half-century.”
The project will be the first major festival documentary since the three-part Trainwreck: Woodstock ’99, which premiered on Netflix last summer and revisited the events around the festival’s ill-fated 1999 revival.
Lollapalooza launched in Chicago in 1991 and has gone on to expand to Chile, Brazil, Germany, France, Sweden and most recently India.
The debut edition of Lollapalooza India was held last weekend at Mahalaxmi Racecourse Lawns in Mumbai and drew 60,000 fans over two days. The event saw performances from local and international artists including Imagine Dragons, The Strokes, AP Dhillon, Cigarettes After Sex, Divine, the F16s, Jackson Wang, Imanbek, Greta Van Fleet, The Wombats, and Diplo.
The next Lollapalooza US is slated for Grant Park, Chicago from 3-6 August.
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Lollapalooza India to debut in 2023
Lollapalooza has announced it is expanding to India, with the inaugural edition set for Mumbai from 28-29 January 2023.
Lollapalooza India will showcase both global stars and local talent and will mark the first time the event has been held in Asia.
Offering two days of music across four stages as well as culinary selections, art and fashion, line-up and ticket information will be released soon.
“The music of India is transcendental, it draws our spirits East,” says Lollapalooza founder Perry Farrell. “Lollapalooza is an instrument for unity, peace, and education utilising the universal languages of music and art to find common ground.”
Lollapalooza India is being produced by Farrell, WME, C3 Presents and India’s BookMyShow, and means the brand has now grown to eight countries on four continents, including editions in the US, Chile, Brazil, Argentina, Germany, France and Sweden.
“We are excited to introduce fans to an entirely new festival experience”
“Lollapalooza has always been about exploring boundaries, musically and geographically,” says C3 Presents partner Charlie Walker. “We are excited to introduce fans to an entirely new festival experience that has been a significant rite of passage for millions of music fans around the world for more than three decades.”
BookMyShow is owned and operated by Big Tree Entertainment and is described as “India’s leading entertainment destination”. The company has brought international stars such as U2, Ed Sheeran, Coldplay and Justin Bieber to the market over the past few years.
“BookMyShow is proud to bring Lollapalooza to India – making it the eighth country and the fourth continent to do so,” says the firm’s founder and CEO Ashish Hemrajani. “With a mix of some stellar Indian talent and global artists coming together on the same stage, we expect nothing short of magic.”
Launched in 2007, BookMyShow has evolved from an online ticketing platform for movies to end-to-end management of live entertainment events including concerts, theatrical productions and sport.
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J-Hope set for historic Lollapalooza headline slot
BTS member J-Hope is set to make history by headlining the final night of Lollapalooza 2022 in Chicago’s Grant Park on 31 July.
The performance will see the rapper become the first South Korean artist to ever headline a main stage at a major US music festival.
In addition, K-pop band Tomorrow X Together will make their US festival debut with a performance at the event on 30 July. Both acts are represented by Seoul-headquartered entertainment company BigHit Music.
“Lolla is the place where all music genres live in harmony”
“I’m happy to welcome J-Hope and Tomorrow X Together into the Lollapalooza family,” says Lollapalooza founder Perry Farrell. “These artists have been given great gifts in communication. Their global audience speak different languages but possess an intense passion for their music.
“Lolla is the place where all music genres live in harmony. These are the superstars of the global phenomenon of K-Pop, and we are so excited to have them at this year’s festival.”
Doja Cat had originally been due to close this year’s Lollapalooza, which runs from 28-31 July, but withdrew last month due to throat problems. The four-day line-up will feature more than 170 artists performing across nine stages, including Metallica, Lil Baby, Dua Lipa, Machine Gun Kelly, Glass Animals, J Cole, Kygo, Big Sean, Idles, Green Day, Jane’s Addiction, The Kid Laroi and Charli XCX.
Lollapalooza, which celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2021, is produced by Farrell, WME and C3 Presents.
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