So maybe Coachella's booking rules aren't so egregious after all
This blog post will begin after the following thank-you note:
Dear Chicago,
Pop & Hiss would like to thank you for again putting our West Coast life into perspective. The recent reporting on Vocalo.org and the Chicago Tribune has reminded music fans here in L.A. that our annual Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival may indeed appear to be downright altruistic in comparison with your annual waterfront party, Lollapalooza.
XoXo,
Pop & Hiss
And now for the blog post:
Political and business dealings always seem more in interesting in Chicago. In fact, interesting probably isn't the right word for the Windy City, which has blessed the world with a string of head-scratching characters and shady deals, ranging from William Hale Thompson's pro-booze and pro-gangster mayorship during Prohibition to the continued cartoonish buffoonery of the always "golden" Blago.
And now Chicago's rock media elites, Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot, are reporting that Illinois Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan is conducting an antitrust investigation of Lollapalooza promoters for enforcing particularly strenuous radius clauses into their contracts. All major festivals, including our desert dance bonanza, Coachella, insist on radius clauses, which prevent an artist from performing in the market in the weeks and months leading up to the event.
Yet do Lollapalooza's rules go too far? DeRogatis broke the story on the festival, which is co-owned by the William Morris Endeavor agency and Texas-based C3 Presents, and he wrote, "Sources have said that the most extreme of these clauses stretch from six months before Lollapalooza to three months after it, and that they encompass a 300-mile radius -- which would include concert markets as far away as Milwaukee, Madison, Iowa City, Detroit, and Indianapolis."
And here we in L.A. simply thought that Lolla's biggest offense was an $850 VIP "lounge pass."
