Lollapalooza began its third year in Vancouver on June 18, 1993, after wildly successful tours in the previous two years. While Lollapalooza has made Chicago its home base since 2010, its original touring formula was influential for other festivals like Warped Tour. In 1993, the festival included more grunge and hard rock headliners, but would eventually become a staple for the growing 90s indie rock scene.
The main stage was headlined by established 80s bands Alice in Chains, Primus, Dinosaur Jr., Fishbone, Arrested Development, and Front 242. Additionally, Babes in Toyland joined the main stage from June 18 to July 13.
Tool had just released their debut studio album, Undertow, that year, and for the first half of Lollapalooza, they performed on the side stage. On July 16, however, they moved to the main stage. Similarly, Rage Against the Machine had released their debut self-titled album in 1992. They took the main stage throughout the tour, but a protest on stage in Philly had the crowd rioting.
Rage Against the Machine Use Lollapalooza To Make a Statement That Just Pissed Fans Off Instead
On July 18, Lollapalooza stopped in Philadelphia to play a show at the former site of JFK Stadium, which had been demolished the year before. Here, Rage Against the Machine turned their scheduled performance into a protest of the Parents’ Music Resource Center.
The PMRC formed in 1985 in response to obscene and explicit lyrics in popular music. Spearheaded by Tipper Gore, its legal efforts resulted in the RIAA introducing the Parental Advisory: Explicit Content sticker. The PMRC also faced severe backlash from artists who called the committee out for censorship and infringement of constitutional rights.
Animosity toward the committee continued into the 90s, leading many artists to respond through their music. In 1993, Rage Against the Machine used Lollapalooza to protest the censorship of their single “Killing in the Name”. The band came out on stage completely naked with only duct tape over their mouths and the letters “PMRC” written across their chests. Tom Morello and Tim Commerford leaned their guitars against the amps to create droning feedback. Then, they stood there for their entire 14-minute set.
“When we walked out on stage, people loved it, they were cheering,” Commerford recalled in 2015. “But little did they know, we weren’t planning on playing a note. After 10 minutes of standing there naked, what started as cheers turned into bottle throwing. People were just bummed out. We were hauled off by the police.”
Despite the riotous fans, Commerford added, “That was a special moment.” To make up for their unexpected protest, however, Rage Against the Machine came back later and played a free show for the disappointed fans.
The post On This Day in 1993, Lollapalooza Kicked off Third Year That Would See a Band Hauled off Stage by Police Exactly One Month Later appeared first on VICE.
