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* According to Jim DeRogatis, the Illinois attorney general is issuing subpoenas and investigating the festival’s sponsors to see if they are violating anti-trust laws. The probe stems from Lolla’s “radius clauses” in musicians’ contracts. Some of those clauses prohibit the acts from playing within a 300-mile radius of Chicago for six months before and after their Lollapalooza shows…
Many local Chicago club owners and independent concert promoters have said that these radius clauses are decimating the local music community and significantly hurting their business for much of the year, and that they constitute unfair, anti-competitive practices. Lollapalooza promoters respond that the clauses are standard practice in the concert industry, and that they waive them for any artist who asks to be excused from their requirements. […]
The difference with Lollapalooza’s radius clauses is that they are some of the longest and most extensive in the business, and they affect a huge number of acts, since there are more than 120 bands performing at the mega-concert. And, unlike a concert with two or three bands on the bill, Lollapalooza does not rely on any one headliner to sell tickets. In fact, promoters consistently trumpet the sheer volume of acts and wealth of different experiences offered in Grant Park as the main draw.
NBC5’s blogger makes a good point…
That means if you love a little band like The Dodos and want to see them in Chicago, you can’t pay $20 for a night at the Double Door — you have to buy a $90 one-day pass to Lollapalooza. […]
“During the summers now, you’re lucky if you have a couple of shows, and you’re just picking up the leftovers that couldn’t get into any of the festivals,” one club booker told DeRogatis.
* As always in Chicago, Lolla obtained a foothold through political connections…
With a handful of notable exceptions, such as a performance by Radiohead in Grant Park’s Hutchinson Field promoted by Chicago-based Jam Productions in 2001, city officials were reluctant to allow for-profit rock concerts in the lakefront park. The Park District notoriously blocked performances by the Smashing Pumpkins, the survivors of the Grateful Dead, and other bands throughout the ’90s.
The Park District’s attitude changed in 2005 when it was presented with a proposal by C3 to reinvent Lollapalooza as a Chicago-based “destination festival” generating more than $1 million a year for parks improvements. All licenses and permits for Lollapalooza are taken out not in the name of C3, but by the non-profit Parkways Foundation, an organization headquartered inside the Park District’s offices.
In 2006, Lollapalooza signed a contract with the city to continue bringing Lollapalooza to Grant Park for five years. For that deal, C3 was represented by attorney Mark Vanecko, a nephew of Mayor Richard Daley.
posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Jun 25, 10 @ 12:01 pm
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Man, I remember when it was about the music, lol.
This is interesting, in that Daley has been a big backer of the event.
Comment by wordslinger Friday, Jun 25, 10 @ 12:12 pm
Meet the new Boss. Same as the old Boss.
Comment by Anonymous Friday, Jun 25, 10 @ 12:24 pm
strange that our atty general is the one suing; it would seem that there are pluses (revenue to city) and minuses (club owners) within Illinois to this deal. But Wisconsin and Indiana ought to be upset.
Comment by Robert Friday, Jun 25, 10 @ 12:24 pm
Gosh, of all the things that need investigating, I’m sure glad Lisa is prioritizing Lollapalooza.
Meanwhile, that unconstitutional budget… no time for that.
Comment by John Bambenek Friday, Jun 25, 10 @ 12:33 pm
I’m surprised it’s not Milwaukee, Indianapolis and Detroit that aren’t raising antitrust issues - 300 miles blocks them too and Lolapalooza isn’t really a viable option (yes, I was once young and drove hundreds of miles to see favorite bands — Birmingham is the farthest I’ve bone — but ykwim…)
Comment by lake county democrat Friday, Jun 25, 10 @ 12:39 pm
Wow, I’m not sure if it’s illegal, but that’s definitely some hardball negotiating from Lollapalooza which pretends to be some kind of pro-Hippie, anti-Establishment fest.
“Meet the new Boss. Same as the old Boss” is absolutely right.
Comment by just sayin' Friday, Jun 25, 10 @ 12:39 pm
Indeed! Lisa Madigan’s time would be better spent investigating the Hacker Network™
Comment by UIUCAlum Friday, Jun 25, 10 @ 12:40 pm
Hmmm, I went to a concert at the Chicago Theatre last year during Lolla, and the opening act there was also playing at Lolla.
Comment by Anon Friday, Jun 25, 10 @ 12:45 pm
Pay to play with a beat
Comment by Belle Friday, Jun 25, 10 @ 12:53 pm
Tell the bands not to sign the contract. It is their choice.
Ickey Renrut
Comment by Wumpus Friday, Jun 25, 10 @ 12:55 pm
As NBC5 points out, a “radius” clause banning Lolla groups from playing within 300 miles of Chicago for 6 months before AND after the festival would keep them out of not just the Chicago area but also away from Milwaukee, Detroit, Indy, possibly St. Louis, as well as major university towns like Madison, Chambana, Iowa City, Ann Arbor, etc., for a full year! That seems ludicrous to me.
If Lolla organizers waive this clause upon request as they say, does it, ahem, cost anything to do so?
Comment by Secret Square Friday, Jun 25, 10 @ 1:00 pm
How the heck can this be legal? This organization is literally trying to screw over EVERY band in this area forcing them to leave the midwest so they can make a living. Really why do they care where they play? What’s so special about this Lolla festival that they have to hog every band for themselves? Yeah sue their butts off and make them pay up for all the finanical losses they’ve heaped on these bands.
Comment by Segatari Friday, Jun 25, 10 @ 1:03 pm
Keep in mind the Lolla folks also control the Austin City Limits festival, several venues in Austin, and Soldier Field, so they have other hammers to punish bands as well. Don’t play ball with one, don’t get to play with the others…
Comment by A Naughty Moose Friday, Jun 25, 10 @ 1:08 pm
So, basically, all those music fans from all over the midwest are basically forking over some kind of hidden Daley Tax when they come to the festival. And, then, there are the rest of us, trying to figure out how we can get our piece of the action. That’s why many citizens keep voting for these people. Working on their campaigns, donating their hard earned bucks. Hoping to get an audience with the Don. How can we stop it? I wonder if maybe I should move to state with less corruption. Like Louisiana.
Comment by dupage dan Friday, Jun 25, 10 @ 1:08 pm
At the risk of pedantry, is Ms. Madigan investigating Lollapalooza’s sponsors or is she actually investigating Lollapalooza’s promoters?
– MrJM
Comment by MrJM Friday, Jun 25, 10 @ 1:15 pm
I know, I know you are going to tell me it is apples vs oranges but seriously…
2 federal investigations on our last 2 governors and a budget that the Speaker of the House admits is unbalanced and hence violates the constitution and she is investigating lollapalooza, cribs and making sure we don’t buy counterfeit blackhawks tickets.
the view sure is good from the cheap seats, ain’t it…
Comment by Easy Friday, Jun 25, 10 @ 1:28 pm
Yup, Easy. That’s what Lisa Madigan has always been about. Compare her work to the states where there are real AG’s.
Comment by Anonymous Friday, Jun 25, 10 @ 1:35 pm
WXRT is sponsoring several post-Lollapalooza aftershows with several of the bands playing Lolla including one of my favorite bands, Blitzen Trapper. BT is playing Milwaukee and Indy the weeks before the show and Iowa City the week afterwards. So the “out clause” apparently is pretty easy to get out of.
Comment by Jake from Elwood Friday, Jun 25, 10 @ 1:46 pm
While she’s at it, the Attorney General should look into whether Lollapolooza violates Grant Park’s Montgomery Ward protections, which specifically prohibit charging admission to events in Grant Park.
That’ll get their attention.
Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Friday, Jun 25, 10 @ 2:09 pm
Man I just hate it when the bands I download free get screwed!
Comment by VanillaMan Friday, Jun 25, 10 @ 2:27 pm
Lucky me! This does not affect me. I pretty much ignore rock and (though not the roots of rock, blues - I like Bobby Blue Bland) - although I curiously can get a rock tune and lyric after hearing it only once. Rock is simplistic, kinda like a jingle. Complex and subtle compositions, like those Satie and Mahler, I didn’t appreciate it until my teens and a few broken-heart romances. I love classical, opera, folk, world-music like Miriam Makeba, Jobim, Brel, Piaf, Nana Mouskouri, Melina Mouscouri (Never On A Sunday), Maria Callas. Show tunes, jazz, and swing.
I really dislike the rock-zombie, the un-LADY-like-GAGA. She’s a featured act at Lolla this year. Ugh. I think she’s a marginal talent that should have kept her act at gay bathhouses. Baby-Ka-Ka lacks the originality of Bowie, she lacks the multifariousness of Madonna, she lacks the compassion of Lauper, she lacks the zany humor of Bette Midler.
I almost got sucked in with “The Big Pink”, thinking that they were somehow connected to Dylan and The Band’s house in Woodstock, The Big Pink. Perhaps Robbie Robertson Jr.? I’d be cookoo to pay $90 to see Gaga. Gaga-me with a spoon.
Comment by HatShopGirl Friday, Jun 25, 10 @ 2:37 pm
Aren’t anti-trust laws under federal jurisdiction? Why is the State’s lawyer investigating federal laws?
Comment by duck duck goose Friday, Jun 25, 10 @ 2:45 pm
DDG, there are both State and Federal anti-trust statutes
Comment by Anon Friday, Jun 25, 10 @ 3:18 pm
Easy…and the second she opens an investigation into some state official is the second someone complains she’s getting rid of the opposition for her run for [insert whatever office] or helping Daddy in some way. She can’t win either way. For my money, as long as Patrick Fitzgerald is around, I’d rather she focus on consumer issues, etc and let him handle corruption.
Comment by Edison Parker Friday, Jun 25, 10 @ 3:28 pm
You guys picking on Lisa Madigan are missing the point. The AG investigates all kinds of business practices year round. The Lollapalooza thing does not mean no other work is being done, and it is not in any sense a “priority”.
Please name the other state AGs that are markedly superior to Madigan and let the debate begin.
Comment by DuPage Dave Friday, Jun 25, 10 @ 3:43 pm
DuPage Dave,
The problem with the idea that who’s the best AA be debated that we are talking about Illinois here. Historically, the AA office, along with the SoS office are stepping stones to the gov mansion. The history of corruption that is rampant in this state don’t leave many office holders without significant problems. Besides, I don’t compare one person to another. I look at an individual on their own merits. LM certainly is not incompetent but one does have to be concerned about the scope of her reach when she is under the shadow of her father - fair or not.
Comment by dupage dan Friday, Jun 25, 10 @ 4:33 pm
Wow Lisa is doing a great job, the Ill constitution states that the budget must be balanced every year. We have not had a balanced budget while Lisa has been Attorney General yet not a pep out of her. Taxpayers of Ill. get screwed every year and all Lisa does is look for photo ops at nursing homes and payday loan stores.
Comment by Fed up Friday, Jun 25, 10 @ 4:36 pm
Well, I think this move is smarter than her move to try to get Blago declared mentally unfit for government service….
Comment by Leroy Friday, Jun 25, 10 @ 4:50 pm
well, if it gets into the tim mitchell administration at the Park
District it will be interesting.
Comment by Amalia Friday, Jun 25, 10 @ 4:58 pm
I had forgotten about that Vanecko’s success with the city. There are two Vaneckos who have parlayed their familial connections into nice paydays. Am I missing any?
Comment by Independent Friday, Jun 25, 10 @ 5:46 pm
=== Historically, the AA office, along with the SoS office are stepping stones to the gov mansion. ===
Refresh my memory…who’s been elected Governor from the Attorney General’s office?
Comment by Anonymous Saturday, Jun 26, 10 @ 11:30 am
When is she going to investigate Tickemaster using confidential information of their clients and giving it to LiveNation so that they can directly compete with them.
This merger is the biggest problem in music - not Lolla.
Comment by DuPage Moderate Saturday, Jun 26, 10 @ 1:19 pm