In the summer of ’91, the Lollapalooza music festival was born. What started as a farewell tour for the band Jane’s Addiction rose from the underground to launch a cultural movement and change music forever.
Michael John Warren, veteran filmmaker behind acclaimed story-driven documentaries and innovative concert films, brings a deft understanding of music and culture to his Sundance Film Festival debut, Lolla: The Story of Lollapalooza. The untethered energy of 1990s American youth counterculture finds focus in roiling mosh pits, raging to artists like Jane’s Addiction, Nine Inch Nails, Pearl Jam, and Sonic Youth, and gaining exposure to social activism, political art, and alternative circuses. A wealth of archival footage from audience and band perspectives leads to an immersive experience akin to the festival itself, touching on behind-the-scenes machinations as much as the impact of music previously out of reach to its listeners.—DC