Other Activities May Be A Bit Bizarre And Creative
If you’ve ever been to a Lollapalooza before, you know that the festival isn’t just about music.
There are always other activities as well as arts and crafts and charity booths and exotic food stands to check out during the day.
Most of the non-musical entertainment occurs in the Mindfield. Here, people can gander at eccentric art creations in the Mean Art Tent, catch a quick film in the Film Tent or expand their minds in the Lab.
The Lab: Slated as Lollapalooza’s third stage, it expands on last year’s Revival Tent.
Activities going on throughout the day include a fashion show, poetry readings, U.F.O. and extraterrestrial phenomena presentations, performances by local dance groups and local martial arts groups and CPR demonstrations.
There will also be a mock “American Gladiators” type competition. During this, people will indulge in a Spam eating contest and bob for Baby Ruth candy bars in a toilet bowl.
Personality/spoken-word artist/musician Torment will serve as the Lab’s master of ceremonies. He emceed last year at the Revival Tent - you know, the one dressed in drag.
Once again, by popular demand, Torment will host two talk shows: “Ask Torment” and “Torments’s Love Line.”
“I went out last year with my own preconceived notions that the kids would be mocking and ridiculing, and actually I got quite the opposite reaction from them,” says Torment in a recent phone interview. “They actually opened up to me on a lot of levels and were asking me legitimate questions about legitimate issues.”
During the breaks in the Lab, Torment will be spinning some classic records.
“I’m going to be deejaying during some of the breaks,” he says. “I’m going to be deejaying retro-glitter and punk and new wave stuff, the roots of what the kids are listening to now. I think it’s important that we educate them. We’ll make it Torment Au-go-go.”
The Mean Art Tent: This is the first year for this attraction. The Mean Art Tent exhibits works from artists all over the country. Art ranges from junk yard art to interactive art.
“A lot of it is very urban,” says Torment. “I think the kids in the Midwest are going to find it really interesting because they probably haven’t been exposed to it before.”
The Film Tent: “The film tent I think they will find amazing,” promises Torment.
Featuring bits of Fellinis’ “8 1/2,” William S. Burrough’s “Thanksgiving Day Prayer,” Yoko Ono’s “Rape,” the Film Tent will thrill those with an appetite for the bizarre.
Also, there will be a screening of burgeoning screen writer/director Gregg’s Araki’s “Doom Generation.” The film, a satire on pop culture, features cameos from Perry Farrell (Lollapalooza founder and Porno for Pyros front-man), members of Skinny Puppy, Christopher Knight (Peter) of the “Brady Bunch,” Heidi Fleiss and many others.
xxxx General admission tickets for Lollapalooza Tuesday at The Gorge are $33.10 and are available only at Ticketmaster outlets.