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Goths, gays, punks and surfers: behind the wild rise of Lollapalooza

The story of the music festival is brought to life in a new docuseries that takes viewers from Rage Against the Machine to Chance the Rapper

A chunk of the first episode is devoted to what Living Colour founder Vernon Reid calls “the kids of hippie divorce”, the latchkey gen Xers who turned out for the barnstorming festival each year to drink, drug and otherwise work out their frustrations to what their parents might charitably describe as “noise”. And yet: during the festival’s 90s-era infancy, Lollapalooza not only helped guide the underground “alternative” music scene into the mainstream; it would convert many in that frustrated young crowd into registered voters, environmental activists and first amendment defenders on site. Even though I haven’t attended the festival nor do I make a point of seeking out alternative music, the documentary was a reminder of how I had absorbed via osmosis – through the alt radio station that was home to the city’s biggest shock jock, through the high school friends who made the pilgrimage.

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