In the past few years, governmental bodies in Jalisco have been mulling over the possibility of bringing the Kraken-like music festival known as Lollapalooza to Guadalajara.
Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you feel about this type of sprawling, high decibel event, state government fathers have decided to put a kibosh on the proceedings, citing mounting costs and the rising value of the dollar.
The festival, created in 1991 by Jane’s Addiction lead singer Perry Farrell, was for many years after its founding the gold standard for large music festivals. Now, they’re a dime-a-dozen, with shinier festivals sprouting up every week. However, for many music fans Lollapalooza will always be the alpha and omega of multi-stage aural entertainment; from the festivals inception its roster of talent represented a musical plurality hitherto unheard of for a large commercial music festival, with new wave/post-punk groups rubbing shoulders with hard core hip-hop crews and industrial metal bands.
Last December, state governor Aristoteles Sandoval seemed breathlessly enthusiastic about the proposition of the state capital hosting such an internationally known extravaganza, claiming it would cement the city’s reputation on the world stage as a center of innovation. Meanwhile, Jalisco congresswoman Kehila Ku opined that the monies destined for the project would be better spent on fostering cultural projects around the state of Jalisco.
While the latter position won out where it concerns Lollapalooza, state secretary of culture Enrique Ramos Flores promises that music fans can look forward to a similar – but most likely less ambitious – festival in April or March of next year.