2013 Line-up2013 Line-up2013 Line-up
Log In Log OutWere you at Lolla 1995?
We want to hear from you — share your best Lolla story below!
Share your story
Hitchhiking for Music
In 1995 one of my all time favorite groups were to be playing at Lolla in Toronto. Cypress Hill. Lolla happened to be taking ... More
won tickets for great woods
Which was a great thing because at the time I was a very poor art student in Boston. My friend Betsey and I drove out for the ... More
5 College friends road trippin'
As I had don 2 years prior, myself and 5 friends tag team driving from boise to Mt View, CA's Shoreline amphetheater for &... More
Scored FREE VIP passes! Sweet!
This Lolla was awesome! I lived for rock & roll and fashion back then! So much fun! I still remember the gigantic skate shorts & sports bra I wore to the show. I even had a friend put my somewhat short, florescent red hair up into something like 50 tiny ponytails, Hellraiser''s Pinhead style! Too funny! You wouldn't catch me out in public in sports bra now! Sonic Youth kicked some major booty during their set! I was in music heaven! But, the highlight of the event, for me, happened while my then boyfriend & I were watching Redman on one of the side stages. We were just hanging out in the grass when some random cat walks up to us and hands us two pieces of paper. He said he was leaving and we looked like we could use these more than anyone else and then he took off. ???? We looked at the papers and realized they were two passes to get into the backstage picnic area! Score! We went in and were super nervous and excited like some school girls! We ended up meeting Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon, plus, even got to meet their daughter CoCo who only 1 at the time and just learning to walk! What an awesome experience the whole event turned out to be. I don't know why that guy gave us his passes, but I owe him many thanks, that was one of the most awesome shows I've ever been to (seeing Jane's live tops everything!) ;)
SECURITY?
I was asked by a friend of mine to do security for lollapalooza for the July show at Great Woods in Mansfield, MA...... as you might tell it took me all of 1/2 a second to say holy shit yes I will do it!! What an opportunity and what an awesome freakin show it was. Cypress Hill was so killer especially when they rolled out the huge bong on stage. Tree was on Second stage at some point. Courtney Love well, she was a bitch and I remember here fighting with some of the crowd during one of her songs. About 3/4 of the way through the show my friend and I who were filling in for Security made our way to the front of the crowd which was easy with the security shirts and all and then since it didn't seem like we were needed that much we ended up taking our security shirts off then we blended in with the crowd and enjoyed the rest of the show front row & for the bubble too. oh and I remember that year of lollapalooza was the great turf wars at great woods, sod was flying from every direction and the show stopped a couple of times (maybe during the bosstones?) due to the "uprooting" experience of all the clowns in the field. This had to be the best event I've ever been to. It was pretty hot too, I remember the misting tents that everyone went into and I think there were hoses being sprayed over the crowd too which was much needed. WTF great woods, why are they such haters?? what's was soo bad about some grass getting ripped up and some small fires LMAO!
Randalls Island NYC
Never smoked more pot than I did at this show haha. Haggled with a guy for some sweet ass sunglasses. Bought a huge blunt from some African American girl for 5 bucks. Got seriously muddy in the mosh pit listening to Hole. Courtney Love screamed at the bouncers to spray water on us because it was so hot lol,.. she was wasted. Beck rocked the hoooouse! Elastica was amazing on second stage. This was a defining year culturally... I feel honored to have been a part of it. Wouldn't trade if for anything!
Hitching to alt fest in the desert
In the summer of 1995 I was working in Idaho, and two European women helped me craft a sign Lollapalooza or bust. I arrived at the Gorge after getting some rides with some really weird and interesting people. The landscape of the gorge at George, Washington is incredible. A massive amphitheater set against the backdrop of the Columbia river gorge, in the middle of nowhere in dry, dusty Eastern Washington. The highlights of the show, besides all the crazy weird audience members, was the stunning quality and quantity of the music. I remember Cyprus Hill just tearing it up onstage; their crazy hip hop alternative sounds. Another act that just mesmorized me was the Jesus Lizard- their psychotic, vocal growling musical act. Hole also ripped the stage up- I remember Courtney Love's trashy look but I wasn't that familiar with her music before this show- it was awesome. The closing act, Sonic Youth was just mesmerizing. I also checked out artists on the second stage including Mike Watt, Yo la Tengo, and Coolio. Easily one of the best concerts if not the best I've ever been to. After the show I got a ride back to Oregon with my dad who was coming from Seattle back to Eugene where I went to school
11 year old at lollapalooza
I was 11 years old when my mom took me to Lollapalooza 95. We slept in her beat up old datsun the day before and the night of the show. This was at the Gorge in Washington so we had to camp. Driving from home wasn't an option. My mom was really excited to see Hole and Cypress hill (My mom loves weed). I was most excited about Beck. A few sets before Beck came on stage I saw this guy walking around the festival with a hoody on and being followed around by a bunch of people. I got a glimps of his face and it was Beck Hansen! I introduced myself and he was very nice and quiet. I still see alot of live music. I just got back from Sasquatch. My mom is still the same she is kinda a hippie. I have changed alot, I am all grown up and have a great career and family. But my mom raised me to always make time for live music and all other forms of art. I will never forget all the concerts she brought me to especially lollapalooza 95
1995
LADIES TAKE THE LEAD AT LOLLA
Boundary-busting art-rockers Sonic Youth headline the 29 dates of Lollapalooza 1995. In a nod to the tragic events of 1994, Kurt Cobain’s widow Courtney Love’s band Hole joined the tour along with breakout Latino hip-hoppers Cypress Hill.
Other ladies loomed large in Lolla’s 1995 tour, too. Riding a wave of music industry buzz, the Brit-rock bombshells in Elastica replaced Sinead O’Connor, who was forced to pull out from the festival due to pregnancy. And over at the second stage fans could catch punk rock godmother Patti Smith and a young Blonde Redhead.
Even as the age of Alternative was coming to an end and musical tastes were changing with the advent of the Internet and an influx of new, independent artists, Lollapalooza ‘95 garnered critical praise for its balance of new talent and old. Did we mention that Beck – about to blow minds with the release of Odelay – rocked the main stage?
Festival highlight
A WHOLE LOTTA LOVE
Courtney Love’s interesting behavior generated some memorable stories from the stable of artists. Specifically with Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore, who razzed her for riding a limo to certain dates on the tour, (something Love maintained only happened once) and Bikini Kill’s Kathleen Hanna, who ended up in a backstage boxing match with the famously eccentric chanteuse.
Culturally Speaking
- Braveheart wins five Academy Awards.
- Coolio's Gangsta's Paradise wins the Grammy for Best Solo Rap Performance.
- Sony launches the PlayStation.
- Pyschic Friends Network infomercials rule the late-night airwaves.
- Need showtimes? Call Moviefone!
- The Oklahoma City bombing rocks America.
- Amazon.com launches online.
- Will Ferrell joins the cast of Saturday Night Live.
tour stops + dates
- 07/04/1995 – Gorge Amphitheatre, George, WA
- 07/05/1995 – Thunderbird Stadium, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC
- 07/08/1995 – Fiddlers Green Amphitheatre, Greenwood Village, CO
- 07/10/1995 – Sandstone Amphitheater, Bonner Springs, KS
- 07/11/1995 – Riverport Amphitheatre, Maryland Heights, MO
- 07/12/1995 – Deer Creek Music Center, Noblesville, IN
- 07/14/1995 – Polaris Amphitheater, Columbus, OH
- 07/15/1995 – World Music Theater, Tinley Park, IL
- 07/18/1995 – Riverbend Music Center, Cincinnati, OH
- 07/19/1995 – Pine Knob Amphitheatre, Clarkston, MI
- 07/20/1995 – Pine Knob Amphitheatre, Clarkston, MI
- 07/22/1995 – Blossom Music Center, Cuyahoga Falls, OH
- 07/23/1995 – Molson Park, Barrie, ON
- 07/25/1995 – Great Woods, Mansfield, MA
- 07/26/1995 – Meadows Music Theater, Hartford, CT
- 07/28/1995 – Downing Stadium at Randall’s Island, New York, NY
- 07/29/1995 – Downing Stadium at Randall’s Island, New York, NY
- 07/30/1995 – Sony-Blockbuster Music Entertainment Centre, Camden, NJ
- 07/31/1995 – Starlake Amphitheater, Burgettstown, PA
- 08/03/1995 – Charles Town Races, Charles Town, WV
- 08/05/1995 – Lakewood Amphitheater, Atlanta, GA
- 08/06/1995 – Walnut Creek Amphitheater, Raleigh, NC
- 08/09/1995 – Southpark Meadows, Austin, TX
- 08/10/1995 – Starplex Amphitheatre, Dallas, TX
- 08/12/1995 – Desert Sky Pavilion, Phoenix, AZ
- 08/14/1995 – Irvine Meadows Amphitheater, Irvine, CA
- 08/15/1995 – Irvine Meadows Amphitheater, Irvine, CA
- 08/16/1995 – Cal Expo Center, Sacramento, CA
- 08/18/1995 – Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View, CA
- SONIC YOUTH
- Hole
- Cypress Hill
- PAVEMENT
- SINEAD O'CONNOR
- Elastica
- Moby
- Superchunk
- Beck
- Jesus Lizard
- The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
- Blonde Redhead
- Blowhole
- Brainiac
- Built To Spill
- The Coctails
- coolio
- The Dambuilders
- Dirty Three
- Doo Rag
- The Geraldine Fibbers
- Helium
- Hum
- Incredibly Strange Wrestling
- Laika
- Mike Watt
- Overpass
- Patti Smith
- The Pharcyde
- Pork Queen
- Possum Dixon
- Poster Children
- PSYCHOTICA
- Redman
- The Roots
- Sabalon Glitz
- St. Johnny
- Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments
- Tuscadero
- Versus
- Yo La Tengo
- The Zeros
- Spring Heeled Jack
- ARIEL
