Perry Ferrell and Lolla: The Story of Lollapalooza Filmmakers Discuss Docuseries at Sundance 2024

Most of us know what Lollapalooza is - a four-day festival that attracts enormous numbers to celebrate music, with huge lineups ranging across different genres. Nowadays, we see artists like Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar, Green Day, Tove Lo. Over 30 years since the festival’s conception, however, few of us know its origins or even its cultural impact. In Michael John Warren’s Sundance Film Festival debut, the filmmaker’s three-part docuseries, Lolla: The Story of Lollapalooza provides an immersive look at the genesis of this counterculture phenomenon.
The docuseries, which will premiere on Paramount+, takes its audience back to 1991 when Lollapalooza was formed as a farewell tour for Jane’s Addiction. Co-founder and Jane’s Addiction frontman, Perry Ferrell, had a big hand in organizing the summer-long tour that focused on music from the fringes of mainstream culture. Ultimately, this event altered the trajectory of the music scene in the ‘90s. In fact, the ebb and flow of Lollapalooza is nearly synonymous with the popularity of alternative rock. Warren’s series uses actual archival footage and interviews with the bands for behind-the-scenes recounts to highlight the influence of Lollapalooza, politically and within the music industry.
Director Warren, and producers Farrell, Brian Lazarte, and James Lee Hernandez joined Collider’s Steve Weintraub in our Media Studio, sponsored by Film.io, to talk about the importance of music throughout the generations. Farrell shares his own experiences growing up with music, how meaningful Lollapalooza's outreach still is to him to this day, and some of his favorite line-ups. They also discuss why now is the perfect time to tell this story with the world, how the turbulence of the '90s that spurred the creation of Lollapalooza mirrors today's world, and why it's so important to look back at the generations that came before.
#Lollapalooza #LollaTheStoryofLollapalooza #PerryFerrell
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[@GrootsieTheDog]

In he post modern world I’m skeptical about the power of art and art movements to really change society. On the contrary, it often adds to the upheaval and class division and resentments. Much of art is commercial art or, on the other side of the spectrum, art that is mostly separate from the rest of society and imainly accessible to the art world elite or those studying art and culture in the university. Very few make any money except those on the very top (like Perry). As for the 90s music scene, there was a lot of drinking and drug use and I don’t remember it being particularly all that politically focused. Art certainly makes the world a more beautiful and less tedious place, but even art movements like we saw in the 50s and 60s, they eventually just get gobbled up by mainstream society and capitalism and packaged in a commercial to sell a product or a tv show and nothing much underneath the surface really changes. I think more people care about the NFL than they do about the latest great piece of art - unless it has commercial value and is accessible to the mainstream. Art is more like a lot of great books of philosophy, it’s mostly going to be sitting on a shelve in a library for a few people to pick up but it’s impact , no matter how profound, will be minimal. Most people are just living lives, working, having kids, etc. like we always have since the start of human civilization.