Lollapalooza – my first real music festival! I don’t count the earlier Monsters Of Rock since that was all one stage, no community areas, etc. The lineups read like a Who’s Who of Alt Rock during the early years of Lollapalooza. This particular year it was headlined by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, along with Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Ice Cube, Ministry, Rage Against The Machine, Stone Temple Pilots and many others listed in full below. Grunge was taking over and Soundgarden and Pearl Jam were hitting their early stride. All the performances were certainly memorable in spite of being waaaaaay in the back because Mary didn’t want to get into the middle of the muddy hippies. Women.
But aside from the classic musical lineup, the BEST PART of the whole festival was The Jim Rose Circus Sideshow!!! The Amazing Mr. Lifto liked to eat worms, maggots, flies and roaches followed by hanging huge weights from his facial and body piercings. The Torture King’s talent was skewering himself with metal spikes, rails, nails, etc. through his face and body as well as become the conduit for a freakin’ Tesla coil. Jim Rose ate a light bulb with the mic up to his mouth – what an awful sound. And the topper?? Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam drank BILE BEER. What is bile beer you ask? Well, a Jim Rose Circus freak forces 7 feet of clear tubing down his nose and into his gut. The other end of the tubing is attached to a giant clear syringe which is then filled with beer, ketchup and mayonnaise and manually plunged, booster-shot style, into his gut. The mixture is then aspirated back out into the clear syringe looking all medium green and super delicious. And then Eddie drank it. Apparently he and Chris Cornell and Al Jourgensen had competition over who drank more at the various stops on the tour. Eddie won…by QUARTS. Ugh. I also remember Mary gagging and puking her way through the entire show as I stood by laughing my ass off at the insanity of it all.
Main Stage – RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS * MINISTRY * ICE CUBE * SOUNDGARDEN * JESUS AND MARY CHAIN * PEARL JAM * LUSH *
2nd Stage – ARCHIE BELL * ARSON GARDEN * THE AUTHORITY * BASEHEAD * BOO-YAA T.R.I.B.E. * CAFÉ TACUBA * CYPRESS HILL * HOUSE OF PAIN * JIM ROSE CIRCUS * THE LOOK PEOPLE * PORNO FOR PYROS * RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE * SAMBA HELL * SEAM * SEAWEED * SHARKBAIT * SKREW * STONE TEMPLE PILOTS * SWEATY * NIPPLES * TRIBE * TRULY * VULGAR BOATMEN
C³ - Chewie's Concert Chronicles 
Phenomenal remembrance of that event. I was there as asoon to be 16 year old who was growing up on the north side of Orlando. Thanks for recounting and writing this wonderful memory.
I was there myself. What a great show that I will never forget! We called it the Hurricane concert because it happened right after Hurricane Andrew swept through. Pearl Jam was just coming on the scene. Muddy mosh pits everywhere!
I was 30 and went to babysit my 19 year old nephew. It changed my life, an amazing show. I wish I could go back, and catch what I missed!
Was the main stage for this show the rusty looking, forgotten outdoor stage that remains at the back of the Central Florida Fairgrounds area as of 2021? It’s hard to imagine Lollapalooza in that area! Also, where was the second stage located? Thanks for the interesting post.
Was 16 and one of the most memorable concerts of my life!!!!!