30 years ago… Lollapalooza comes to town!
An memorable mix of music and mud.
The revamped festival came to Kansas City on June 27, 1996.
Image by Vishnu R Nair from Unsplash
On this day thirty years ago, I experienced Lollapalooza. Longview Lake in south Kansas City was the revamped tour’s first stop. The 1996 festival featured Metallica as the headliner and was also infused with Punk. My friend and I arrived at midday and found a parking spot along Raytown Road, about a mile and half away from the entrance. We joined what would be around 25,000 fellow festival goers.
These festival goers from Burlington, Kansas brought the energy and the Natty Light!
Source: YouTube TVBoneyard
It was a hot, humid day. Recent rains left multiple mud pits and swampy swales all across the grounds. That being said, the venue and carnival attractions created a more authentic festival atmosphere. Most importantly, I was fortunate to see some legendary bands and a few newer acts, like Rancid.
I was super stoked to experience a Ramones show live and in-person. Joey and the gang tore through 21 songs in less than an hour. No break, no rest; 1, 2, 3, 4 and on to the next one, all under the hot afternoon sun...
“Music can facilitate an unspoken bond across humanity, despite our otherwise cultural, language, and daily differences.” - Anthony Woodard
Excerpt from MTV Brazil’s Lollapalooza Special (1996).
Source: YouTube Bellini´s Treasure Chest
Next on my list was Soundgarden. They were the day’s main attraction for me. Just as they did two years before with “Black Hole Sun,” this iconic band provided the song that most defined my Summer of ‘96 and return to college, “Pretty Noose”.
By the time this song blared from the loudspeakers, I had made my way deep into the mayhem, amongst all of the crowd surfers and sunburned flesh. The band was supporting their most recent release, Down on the Upside. The music on this album was notably less heavy and dark than the group's preceding albums and featured the band experimenting with new sounds. Soundgarden’s set was impressive, but I noticed some tension and Chris seemed somewhat frustrated. Perhaps, I was projecting a little…
Source: YouTube Revoltmetal420
The headliners took to the stage shortly after dark. Feeling fairly dehydrated and exhausted, I decided to plant myself on a slight hill overlooking the show. Unfortunately, the swampy environment was the perfect breeding ground for hordes of chiggers and mosquitoes which made a feast of my lower extremities and torso (it took two weeks to recover). Like Soundgarden, Metallica was also supporting their most recent release, Load. For this album, they strayed from their Thrash Metal roots in favor of a Hard Rock sound. The band members were influenced by non-Metal artists during the writing process. Load was a commercial success, topping the charts in over 15 countries and spending four consecutive weeks at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart. Today, when I hear “Until It Sleeps,” I immediately think of my time at Lollapalooza.
Source: YouTube themetallicastuff
While their latest release was great, Master of Puppets will probably always be my favorite Metallica album. Like millions of my fellow fans, I consider the title track to be the band’s magnum opus. It is the band's most played song live. I have seen Metallica in concert twice, including two years before during my Summer at Sandstone. However, each time they played a shortened version of this masterwork. All in all, I enjoyed my day at Lollapalooza ‘96. It was a memorable mix of music and mud.
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