LOLLAPALOOZA 2004 CANCELS
ALL DATES

This year’s Morrissey-headlined Lollapalooza touring festival has been cancelled. Despite some critics calling the lineup the best since Lollapalooza got its start in 1991, slow ticket sales, described by one insider as “terrible,” forced the scrubbing of all 16 scheduled dates.

The two-day fest, which was also to feature Sonic Youth, PJ Harvey, The Flaming Lips and a re-united Pixies, fell victim to what organizers characterized in a statement as “the weak economic state of this year’s summer touring season. As summer kicks in, only a handful of touring acts seem to be able to pull in big numbers of fans (see 6/3 story).

The decision to pull the plug was made this morning, according to the organizers’ statement, which appears on the Lollapalooza website. “It is with the utmost regret that due to poor ticket sales across the board, the Lollapalooza 2004 tour has been cancelled,” the statement reads. “This morning, tour organizers and concert promoters, faced with several million dollars of losses, made the very tough decision to pull the tour.”

Said Lollapalooza founder Perry Ferrel, "My heart aches along with the bands, and all of our employees, whose hard work developed one of the most exciting and important tours that this nation was to see. My heart is broken."

Added co-founder/William Morris agent Marc Geiger, "I am in utter disbelief that a concert of this stature, with the most exciting lineup I've seen in years, did not galvanize ticket sales. I'm surprised that given the great bands and the reduced ticket prices that we didn't have enough sales to sustain the tour. Concert promoters across the country are facing similar problems. Many summer tours are experiencing weak ticket sales."

HOB Concerts Executive VP Alex Hodges observed, "In real terms, it's been a tough summer. Ticket sales have been mixed and often inexplicably soft. There are a number of contributing factors, and, as a result, many tours have been cut back, rerouted or cancelled."

Thos who did buy tickets to the fest, which was to kick off July 14 in Auburn, Washington, will be given full refunds, organizers say.