Charles Merriam, unsuccessful mayoral candidate in 1911
Sure, it's in reference to twenties-era Chicago, a time of organized crime and big boss politics. But it seems this mindframe has seeped its way into the music industry, particularly in a very large Chicago-based festival. Yesterday C3, the organizers of Lollapalooza, were subpoenaed for potentially violating anti-trust laws by putting radius clauses in the contracts of festival performers. Radius clauses keep performers from playing in nearby venues for a period of time, some claiming those from the Lolla contracts extending six months outside the festival. So as to not dirty good names too early, I'll avoid outright dissing the organizers just yet. But if this is the case, it illustrates the pervasion of Live Nation-style control that I thought festivals like Lolla and ACL were free from.
SAD.
On another Chicago-related note, our favorite Chicagoan band Wilco announced the schedule for their Solid Sound Festival, which includes a more fleshed out line-up and a somewhat disappointing announcement that Wilco will not be fulfilling our dreams of doing a three-night extravaganza playing their entire discography a-la My Morning Jacket. Then again, is that really humanly possible? And, we're still really stoked for the whole experience... music, art, scenery, music journalism on our end... is it August yet?
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