CHICAGO -- Moms press strollers through throngs of bare-chested, tattooed twentysomethings. Dads in khakis dole out fruit drinks while guys sporting mohawks and ripped jeans sip beer. And the grade-schoolers cheer as loudly as the hard-core metalheads.
Welcome to the new face of music festivals, where everyone from kids in diapers to retirees comes for the same reason: to sway out.
"I was overly young for Woodstock. I didn't really start passing to concerts until my youngest word was honest-to-god enough," aforesaid Dory Schramm of Alamo, Calif., world Health Organization attended this year's Lollapalooza festival in Chicago with her hubby and their 19- and 16-year-old sons, along with other crime syndicate members, including 8- and 10-year-old nieces.
When it began 17 age ago, Lollapalooza was a traveling alternative music fete that drew a decidedly young crowd to learn hard rock, punk and hip-hop bands.
It has evolved into a three-day destination that features alike music and still draws young adults, but more and more caters to all ages.
And that's just fine with Lollapalooza founder Perry Farrell, former lead isaac M. Singer of the now-defunct nineties alternative rock band Jane's Addiction.
"I am about 50 years old, and I surely don't want to be condemned. I don't want to be looked upon as some kind of used-up dude," said Farrell, a father of deuce-ace.
"We created this picture, we merit to be there, we belong in that location."
Farrell says the festival is evolving naturally -- many of those wHO attended the original shows keep advent back, often with their young children in towage or tagging along with their sr. kids.
That might explain why there now is an entire area devoted to kids, called Kidzapalooza; this year, it included performances by such well-known rockers as Farrell, Slash from Guns N' Roses and Jeff Tweedy from Wilco.
"I think it's pretty noteworthy that I get to see people that are below 9 showing up at our festival, and then people in their 50s display up at our festival, and they all seem to value and enjoy the music across the board," Farrell said. "Nobody's going, 'Wow what the hell's going on here?' "
It's the same at early music festivals, organizers say.
The changes at Lollapalooza mirror those that already were occurrence at Texas' Austin City Limits Music Festival, said Brooke Alexander, marketing handler for C3, which helps produce both festivals.
"I think our partners have always pretty much stood by the fact that we're . . . a family fete," she aforesaid. "Obviously Lollapalooza for the last four years hasn't been like Lollapalooza of the early '90s."
Austin -- this year's festival is in September -- caters to an age range of 25 to 38 with more divers food and VIP offers that damage out many younger people, Alexander said, adding: "We are a company of 25 to 38 as well, and we know what we were going away to require to go do if we were going to pay the money.
"Turns out, that's who come to our festivals too."
And then there ar the kids. About 5% of those attending Lollapalooza, for instance, bring their children, Alexander said.
She said the company did not marketplace to a specific eld range, "only we e'er keep in mind that it's getting a little older, and that's identical interesting, especially for Lollapalooza."
Rick Farman, co-owner of Superfly Productions, which puts on Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival in San Francisco, among others, said euphony festivals had always tested to get in big audiences through diverse programing.
For exercise, at the Outside Lands Festival, Tom Petty testament draw an older crowd. The future night, Jack Johnson testament bring in younger folk.
"There's for sure some thought that goes into how do we make the event as broad as possible," he said.
Kristi Chuckel, marketing and populace relations managing director of Summerfest in Milwaukee, said that several age ago organizers began stage setting up a stage only for "classical rock."
More info
