Publication: The Orange County Register
Date: August, 1997
Transcribed by
Will W. (GENNOCIDEXX@aol.com)
Will W. (GENNOCIDEXX@aol.com)
page: S-4 title: THE PARTY'S OVER author: Ben Wener (Contributor's note:This is basically an article which negatively reviews pretty much all of Lollapalooza (the August 8th show at which i was at), and especially Tool and what Mr.Keenan had to say about Lollapalooza, and pretty much blamed Tool for: haveing such a sucky set, and for Lolla sucking so much...he must not have been watching the same show as I) There was no applause, no onslaught of approving screams, mostly just unenthusiastic murmuring and a smattering of chuckels when it was said. "This is probably rhe closest thing to an alternative festival Lollapaloozahas ever been," declared Tool frontman Maynard James Keenean, all dolled up in smeared lipstick and fake bosoms (don't ask) during his band's expertly executed but terminally dull set at the festival's stop at Blockbuster Pavillion on Friday. Keenan must have been confusing his own old-hat lyrical message of nonconformity with that of the festival- which is no message at all. If he thinks the best musical alternative for 1997 is ahaphazard grab bag of firmly established artists (Tool, Jam es, Snoop Doggy Dogg) trifles on their way to nowhere (Failure, Julian and Damien Marley), one national sensation (elctro-giants Prodigy) and one true pioneer (trip-hop wonder Tricky) -- well, he sure hasn't been paying much attention to what's really happening in music these days. Certainly Lollapalooza hasn't been about being an alternative for years. Nor has it ever been about cohesive portrait of popular music. It's about marketing, moneymaking and shameless self-promotion, and (as far as the kids are concerned) partying bi g-time. And, occasionaly, some great tunes. Nothing else. So it's not really fair to pick on the Tool master. It's not his fault that Lollapalooza, in its seventh year. It's not (all) his fault that the closest thing to an alternative this year was on the se cond stage (again) but that its lineup was nearly as uninspired as that of the main stage. It's not his fault that the voices in this outing were predominantly male (again), the sight of females reduced to back-up singers and scantily clad dancers. But it is his band's fault as permanent headliners--Prodigy closed the show, but it's only on the tour for a few weeks--for not demanding a sharper bill of more adventurous. (Even Metallica had the brains to insist that the now-defunct Soundgarden, a n established but often mesmerizing live act, be added to last year's lineup to save it from ruin.) And it is his fault for turning in an enormously bombastic set of sonic nonsense that would have been more at home at Ozzfest or the Monsters of Rock tour of the '80s. Though not exactly wallowing in bad-metal excess-- for one, guitarist Adam Jones i s a gifted and intuitive melodicist, if also the sole saving grace of the bands sound-- Tool's 80-minute mystical mishmash was a terribly one-dimensional creation (even with an excellent overhauling of Led Zepplin's "No Quarter") that wore out its welcome quickly.
Posted to t.d.n: 08/12/97 05:03:20