Yearly Archives: 2006

I attended my first Lollapalooza in 1992, back when it was still a touring show, at Riverport Amphitheatre (now UMB Bank Pavilion) in St. Louis. In only it’s second year, Lollapalooza was already a force to be reckoned with. The main stage acts included the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ministry, Ice Cube, Soundgarden, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Pearl Jam, Lush, Temple of the Dog, and the Rollins Band, and the second stage had the likes of Porno for Pyros, Cypress Hill, Seam, Stone Temple Pilots, and Rage Against the Machine. While the lineup was stellar, Lollapalooza wasn’t just about the music, it was about the culture at the time. You could could completely ignore the music and explore a variety of art installations, visit with people who wanted to save the environment, or just sit back and watch the freaks, in both the festival crowd and in the Jim Rose Circus.

After Perry Farrell left Lollapalooza, the festival gradually ran out of steam and sustaining a traveling tour had become a money-losing proposition. Even after Farrell rejoined the tour, the 2004 tour was cancelled when nobody bought tickets. After seeing the success that destination festivals like Bonaroo and Coachella were experiencing, Farrell relaunched the Lollaplooza last year as a two-day festival in Chicago’s Grant Park.

I’m guessing most folks’ familiarity with Jesus and Mary Chain boils down to one of three places. “Just Like Honey” at the ending of Lost in Translation, “Snakedriver” in the 1994 film The Crow, or “Sometimes Always”, a duet with Mazzy Star’s Hope Sandoval off of 1994’s Stoned & Dethroned.

Well for me, the Jesus and Mary Chain was a band that I gradually drifted toward in high school as I began to venture outside the boundaries of jean jackets, camaros, and classic rock. Looking back, it seems a logical progression as I was listening to my parents’ Beach Boys records at the same time as I was checking out David Bowie and the Velvet Underground.

Ashland and Sabina, Ohio are separated by about 135 miles of Interstate 71. Almost equidistant from Columbus, the two towns are both penturban communities whose musicians are producing surprisingly urbane sounds. If you are from Central Ohio and you want to form a band, there seems to be an unwritten rule that you use the word “Bel” somewhere in your name. Case in point, the Sabina-born Gran Bel Fisher and the Ashland-based Bel Auburn.