Lollapalooza and Lance Armstrong

Did you know that this year's Lollapalooza might not be happening if not for bicycle-superstarLance Armstrong? What? you ask. Well, Jim Derogaitis explains it all in his Sun Times profile of the masterminds behind this year's Lollapalooza, the two Charlies from Austin: Charles Attal of Charles Attal Presents and Charlie Jones of Capital Sports. Jones was a small-time promoter who rose to prominence on the Austin scene after putting together a large celebration for Lance Armstrong's 1999 Tour de France victory, and in 2002 he came together with Charles Attal to produce the now reknowned Austin City Limits festival. While it is an interesting story, it is ultimately sad to know that two people who amount to little more than "suits" who are taking the helm of some beloved musical institutions without any true curatorial love or care besides making big profits.

In a marked contrast to many concert promoters, Jones and Attal do not come across as enthusiastic or even particularly knowledgeable music fans: In a dozen conversations with this reporter over the last two years, neither has ever been the first to bring up a band or album he's excited about.

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"These guys are real go-getters, really ambitious, and they want to be the biggest concert promoters in the world," Austin journalist Corcoran said in an interview. "Lollapalooza was a huge brand that had failed. They saw that, and they wanted to do something national -- something really big to break out of Texas and prove what they could do -- and they just followed the model of what they did with the ACL Fest."

Launched by former Jane's Addiction frontman Perry Farrell in 1991, Lollapalooza started as a traveling day-long festival epitomizing the alternative-rock era. It grew as Farrell partnered with the Hollywood-based William Morris Agency, but petered out when the alternative scene waned in 1998. Revived in similar form in 2003, it fell apart again in 2004. Music-business insiders thought it was dead for good -- until Capital Sports bought a controlling interest from William Morris, which maintains a stake, and Farrell, who was convinced to stay on as a spokesman and consultant after the two Charlies wined, dined and flew him to Europe to watch the Tour de France.

Check out the rest of the article here.