THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 10, 1994 TAG: 9408100043
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SUE SMALLWOOD, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHARLES TOWN, W.VA. LENGTH: Medium: 63 lines
THOUGH MOST of the 25,000 ticket holders were obviously here for the mega-platinum-selling acts, it was the more obscure artists who stole the eclectic Lollapalooza '94 show Monday in Charles Town.
The same traveling show of music, art and technology arrives in Raleigh, N.C., today and Charlotte, N.C., on Thursday.
After competent sets from punky dork-rockers Green Day and the all-female sludge-fest L7, Nick Cave and his six-man band, the Bad Seeds, offered the most dramatic performance of the day. The Australian basso-profundo delivered - with frightening intensity - a clutch of his songs of saints and sinners, including a thundering rendition of ``The Mercy Seat'' and an apocalyptic ``Loverman'' from the new album ``Let Love In.''
Standout percussion featuring a raft of shakers, brushes, chimes and cymbals brilliantly burnished the confrontational guitars and urgent, propulsive keyboards. Cave's eerily sinister, too-brief set left the ``party on'' crowd visibly stunned.
Rap act A Tribe Called Quest's assaultive urban noise incited the first of the day's many infield-sweeping mosh pits. The Breeders, joined by a guest violinist for two songs, mustered a set of their inoffensive pop-rock.
George Clinton and the P-Funk All-Stars, undoubtedly the most entertaining act of the festival, followed. Freaky funk-maestro Clinton - resplendent in a garish flowered mu-mu, high-top sneakers and a cascading, rainbow-tinted ponytail, held court over a throbbing stageful of similarly flamboyant players, including a guitarist in full bridal garb and a spankingly crisp horn section.
Jam-heavy renditions of P-Funk All-Stars classics ``We Want the Funk'' and ``Flashlight,'' possibly the most-sampled songs in history, had the crowd and entire stage security crew in paroxysms of grooving delight.
As the sun began to set, whiny rapping rug-rats The Beastie Boys lured sweaty Lollapaloozers away from the event's myriad other activities - high-tech, interactive playgrounds, vendors offering everything from ethnic cuisine to hair braiding, a spoken word tent and a second stage of lesser-known talent, the best of which were jazzy waif-rockers Stereolab and the Chanting Tibetan Monks.
The Beastie trio kicked off their hourlong performance accompanied only by a deejay and a percussionist, then strapped on guitars midway through for a weighty dose of thrashing rap-core. Current hit ``Sabotage'' was the predictably crowd-pleasing set-closer.
Uber-alternative band Smashing Pumpkins' transcendent psychedelic angst, though intriguing and paired with a glorious light show, failed to hold the attention of many for long.
The throng thinned quickly as Lollapaloozers, anticipating traffic snarls made an early departure. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
DUDLEY BROOKS/Washington Post
Music fans cheer a performance at the Lallapalooza concert in
Charles Town, W.Va.
Aaron Fox was among 40,000 attending Lollapalooza.
by CNB