Lollapalooza 2024 according to its director: “That we have alcohol for adults is a positive point”

“Welcome to the experience Lollapalooza “, It was the reception at the entrance to the Fixona enclosure which allowed the presentation of the poster of the 2024 Festival, which for the third year will take place in the Bicentennial Park of Cerrillos, between the 15th, 16th and March 17. The experiment was concentrated in a large room. Projections were possible there to recreate an immersive sensation. They showed images of shows, statements from the founder, Perry Farrell, and of course the event program, presented by director Sebastián de la Barra and producer Jorge Merino.

In its main line, the poster concentrates names like Blink 182 (the first confirmed after its drop for the 2023 edition); the group Arcade Fire who returns to the event with a tribute to their first album, Funeral, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary; singer Sam Smith; the Colombian Feid; and the Americans Limp Bizkit, flagship group of the Nu Metal wave of the end of the 90s and the beginning of the new millennium. They were precisely among the last to join. “We had been chasing him for a while and until we convinced Fred [Durst] and company to join the cartel . It is never easy to close in such a globalized world where there are more and more festivals, there are more and more opportunities for artists to play on all continents. But Lollapalooza, through its history and what it represents, has the soul of bringing together managers and artists. Without a doubt, the South American market is a very vibrant market. “Everyone, all the artists talk about the best audience here in Chile, in Argentina, in Brazil,” says De la Barra. Worship .

This year the poster seems to concentrate more of an adult audience in the headliners, unlike for example the last two with a lot of urban music, particularly Chilean. Was this a planned turning point or did it happen?

Let’s see, every year we try to balance the lineup and different things happen. Each year’s lineup includes rock, electronic, urban, pop, reggae and hip hop. The programming is always eclectic and in 2024, where urban music is important, we didn’t want it to eat up the programming, because Lolla is diverse and must always be true to its essence too, which is rock, especially in the South . America. . I can tell you that there is a lot of push in Chile for Limp Bizkit, as an important artist, that Arcade Fire returns with the 20th anniversary of Funeral, in addition to its hits. But Lolla is diversity, many people will be able to say who is SZA? Wait a few months and you will see how it will appear on the posters of major festivals around the world. Lolla also brings the avant-garde to the present. Feid is also current, in the most Latin pop world. Sam Smith, obviously, an artist who speaks to the LGTBI community, and who in a way is transversal and broadens this diversity of the poster a little more, by only talking about headliners. But Hozier is another artist who will also have a very strong festival presence in North America next year. It grows, it also has great themes. The Offspring, without forgetting a super famous group. In the case of Chencho Corleone, if you see the numbers they have in Chile, he is also a great brutal artist.

But at the festival, the presence of a younger audience is notable….

We do a survey every year and we realize that the presence of very young people is very strong, as well as people between 20 and 30 years old. Therefore, I think the poster highlights this diversity. If you’re young, there are plenty of groups for them too; all electronics, everything urban. I insist, having SZA, having Feid, is also for a younger audience. And when it comes time to see The Offspring, Blink 182 or Limp Bizkit, it’s also nice to know a little of the musical history that those of us who are a little older have experienced. But there is a lot of new music in the last lines of the poster. A lot of very powerful groups, which are the new artists who will later be the headliners. These artists also speak a lot to young audiences.

A detail that drew attention to the poster, especially among social media users, is that Paramore is present in Lolla in Brazil and Estéreo Picnic in Colombia. Why aren’t they in Lolla de Chile?

The truth is that Paramore was never an option and it was at a time in recent weeks where, together with Colombia and Argentina, we made the decision to go for Feid, among all the options we had . The idea is to set a precedent that Lollapalooza, not in Brazil, but in Chile and Argentina, could have a Latin artist closing one of the days for the first time. We feel that this is also something that was missing at the Festival. And even though Paramore spoke very well with Blink, with The Offspring, with Limp Bizkit, in a way, it was like that world. He was also recently at the Arena. We would have loved to have them, without a doubt, but we had to choose.

It was also announced that the show hours would be extended and would close again around 11:30 p.m. as before. Why this decision?

The festival always closed at 11:30 p.m., but due to permit issues, pandemic, adapting to the new location, etc., we went little by little. We therefore made the decision to return to the regular and normal festival, to provide an extra hour in the evening so that the shows on all stages could benefit from having more lights, more screens. Historically, it always closes the main stage. There are two, the Costanera stage and the Banco de Chile, they are the same size and have the same production, the same technique. After the closure of Costanera, in which a headliner will close every day, we are going to have a surprise number that we cannot yet say. Between Friday and Saturday, an electronic artist will close one day and an urban artist another day. This also allows the public to leave in stages, because those who wish to leave after seeing Blink, for example, can go more peacefully and it is easier to get to the metro. And those who wish to stay to listen to this closing artist will find in the staging a number that looks like a headliner.

Before the poster was announced, several rumors were circulating. Among these, which could be Bad Bunny and Pearl Jam. Were they an option or did you negotiate with them?

No, without any.

In addition to the poster, the 2024 edition will include several new experiences focused on the experience . The shaded areas have been enlarged, given that the large esplanade of Cerrillos Park does not have trees. The Alternative Stage will have its own pavilion with 1,600 m2 of shade, as well as more seating and shade areas, drinks bars, food trucks and trailer toilets. Another important measure is that metro service hours are extended until 1:30 a.m.

“This year, it was already possible to extend a little more -De la Barra emphasizes-. And the truth is that in this alliance that we have with Metro, which is undoubtedly a strategic partner of the Festival, we have reached an agreement to extend the schedule a little more and finish at half past one in the morning. We feel that this adds more value to the tranquility of those who are there until the last concert and who want to stay quiet for a few minutes too and not go out with everyone. I think that in this sense this extension speaks to a vision that we have of hoping, as a city, to have in the future a metro like in other capitals of the world, which operates up to three or four in the morning or even all night. This would be the ideal world, but knowing the current dynamics of the city of Santiago, we found it a nice improvement to have it up to an hour and a half away.

During the 2024 edition, two Beer Garden areas will also debut, accessible only to adults with any type of ticket. “As part of the festival experience, and this has always been done by foreigners who live in Chile, the fact that we have alcohol for all audiences, for adults, obviously, is a point super positive. Because there is still a black market for contraband that we monitor on the ground. And on the other hand, there are also people who gather to drink early, before noon, which is not normal either. , It’s not good. So we think it’s best if it’s something that’s accessible to everyone and part of the experience. All these things, the metro timetables, the distribution of toilets, the free water points, the shade, are elements that add to the experience in a young and sparsely treed park. We also want to check the floors, minimize the dust a little bit, we’re working on every aspect of the experience to finally make it a little bit better.

A better sound experience is announced for 2024. In this year’s edition, there were complaints during Billie Eilish’s show because people could not hear well. A while ago you told us that you were considering investing in more sound boxes. Is this where this improvement comes from?

Yes, precisely. The reality is that we do not control the volume of the central sound system of the sound towers, it is controlled by a headliner’s sound engineer. That said, to minimize what happened with Billy Eilish, in which the engineer found that it was the perfect sound for his artist, we are going to put more delay turns, so that people who are more in tune removal have a more consistent sound. on all sides.

This year, in the press sector, there have been many difficulties accessing the Internet, there have also been complaints from people when making purchases. How will this be addressed in the 2024 edition?

For this third year at Cerrillos, we are already working on a different plan. It’s always a big challenge because of the size of the audience, and even if we install repeater antennas from different companies, we have to continue working to be able to solve this problem in a better way for people. There has been a change of supplier, we are making the necessary adjustments to make it work well.