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Ian Astbury has always claimed that his "A Gathering of the Tribes" show was ripped off when Perry created Lollapalooza, and there were rumors that Perry actually went to the 10/7/1990 AGotT show near Los Angeles - but I'm not sure any of those rumors were ever substantiated. Anyone have any info on that?

I'd previously thought it was impossible for this to have happened, even w/ the JA show on 10/7 being canceled. Perry certainly had enough time to get from London after the 10/5 show to LA in time to make it to the show, but it would have been nearly impossible for him to have gotten to Belgium in time for JA's 10/8 show - and once we confirmed that date, it made the AGotT scenario seem like hearsay. However, it sounds like JA's 10/8 show was canceled as well - and the extra 24hrs would have allowed Perry to fly back in time for Jane's 10/9 show in Paris. It would have been a little crazy, but certainly doable.

So that begs the question, did Perry really fake being sick and cancel two JA shows in Europe and fly to LA to go to the A Gathering of the Tribes show?

Don't know about what Perry did, but what I do know is that I went to the 10-07-1990 show in Amsterdam and that it was cancelled only half an hour prior to the show. The first band already played before they annpounced the cancellation. I spoke to Dave and Eric who were present at the venue. They said Perry was "sick". Rumour was he had an overdose. Dave and Eric denied that. Just fever. I figure that since the promotor waited so long before they cancelled the show that it was because they maybe hoped Perry would get a little better and would be able to do the show. From what I could make up of things I had the idea that Perry was being sick somewhere in a hotelroom in Amsterdam that night. Also I think it's very unlikely Perry would fly out tot LA for such an event whilst not knowing what it was (GOTT was the first right) and dissapointing european promotors and fans. De Melkweg (the venue was sold out). Big dissapointment that night, but they made things up a short time later.

Hope it helps.

That's always been my feeling - the idea of flying from Europe to LA and back that quickly just seems a bit ludicrous to me. This is just one of those old rumors that I'd like to either confirm or finally put to rest.

Whether he was there or not doesn't change the merits of Astbury's charges against Perry. These shows were huge in the area and Perry was undoubtedly aware of them.

tvrec wrote:Whether he was there or not doesn't change the merits of Astbury's charges against Perry. These shows were huge in the area and Perry was undoubtedly aware of them.

I dunno, I kinda think Astbury's head is up his ass about it and is mostly jealous that Perry was just more successful with the concept. Roskilde, Reading and Glastonbury had been around for years before either Lolla or AGotT. Hell, even Woodstock and Altamont can be cited as influences. The biggest difference was that Lolla took the idea on tour across the US as opposed to a single event/events.

I don't think that Perry directly took Ian's idea. At the same time, there is no way that Perry was unaware of GofTT. It, along with Reading and others, informed Perry's thinking about the Lolla festival. Particularly striking, though, is that the guys moved in similar circles at the time and both events--GofTT and Lolla--aimed to bring diversified acts together. That's not really something events like Reading were doing at the time.

And of course Ian's jealous, too. Who wouldn't rather have incredible financial and social success than be a fading memory (the festival)?