Revamped Lollapalooza's Wet And Interactive Opening

07/07/2003 3:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
LAUNCH Radio Networks

(7/7/03, 3 p.m. ET) -- Lollapalooza opened in the Indianapolis suburb of Noblesville, Indiana on Saturday (July 5), and the return of the festival after a six-year hiatus was an interactive but wet experience.

The festival, which featured the Donnas, Audioslave, Incubus, Queens Of The Stone Age, and Jane's Addiction among others, was delayed slightly by a huge rainstorm that forced people to run for cover under the pavilion at the Verizon Wireless Music Center.

At 5:00 p.m. central time, it was scorching hot under a clear blue sky. But by 5:25 p.m. the skies were completely dark, and an announcement was made that there would be an hour delay in the show because of a tornado warning. Fans followed directions to huddle under the covered part of the pavilion, and a brief storm then followed. About an hour later, Queens Of The Stone Age came on without fanfare.

Jane's Addiction suffered from technical problems early on, when guitarist Dave Navarro's guitar didn't work through three-quarters of the song "Stop." The band rebounded, however, and went on to play most of their hits.

This year's Lollapalooza is equipped with special interactive activities for fans, so concertgoers can do more than just see bands play live. Jane's Addiction guitarist Navarro talked to LAUNCH about some interactive things going on at or the festival. "We also have the Game Riot which is where we have tons of, 140 X-Box games consoles set up for people to play one another, and as well as people all over the world can play because it's wired as well," Navarro says. "It's online, and you can play other members of bands backstage and what ends up happening is there is a championship at the end of the day which will be broadcast over the main screen on the main stage and those winners can gain access and have a really amazing time. A time that will be better than the people who didn't win."

Unfortunately the storm forced organizers to cancel the conclusion of the Game Riot tournament.

Other notable performances included the Donnas, who surprised many fans with the quality of their performance; and Incubus, who played two new untitled songs in addition to material off their last two albums.

The 24,000-seat Noblesville venue was filled barely to half-capacity, supporting the theory that this summer would be the lowest season on record for concert attendance. Noblesville was originally scheduled as the second stop on the Lollapalooza tour. The original first date was going to be July 3 in Ionia, Michigan, but it was canceled, ostensibly due to staging problems at the venue.

Lollapalooza's next gig is July 8 in Bonner Springs, Kansas.

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