Lollapalooza co-founders look toward the future as coronavirus upends live music industry

Creators of the long-running Lollapalooza concert festival have offered mixed reactions about the live music industry eventually rebounding from the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Perry Farrell, a rock singer who launched the festival in 1991, said in an interview out Friday he believes “live music will weather the storm because it’s all about adapting.”

“Live music will endure,” he told British music magazine Kerrang while promoting his upcoming box set retrospective announced this week, “Perry Farrell – The Glitz; The Glamour.”

Marc Geiger, a music executive who also helped start Lolla, indicated during a separate discussion that it will likely be a while before the industry returns to normal, however.

“The whole thing is a s–t show,” Mr. Geiger said on The Bob Lefsetz Podcast, adding he believes festivals are unlikely to take place again until 2022.

“My instinct is that’s going to take a while because super-spreader events — sports, shows, festivals, classrooms — ain’t going to do too well while the virus is this present,” Mr. Geiger, 57, said during an episode released Thursday. “So my instinct is the world has a very long, forced timeout.”

Countless events across the globe including concerts have been postponed or canceled due to the continuing worldwide outbreak of COVID-19, the highly contagious disease caused by the coronavirus, which has infected more than 13 million people and killed over 590,000 since being brought to the attention of the World Health Organization on New Year’s Eve.

Public health officials have yet to find a cure or vaccine for COVID-19 nearly seven months later, casting doubt on the likelihood of large public gatherings from resuming soon.

Mr. Farrell started Lollapalooza in 1991 as a farewell tour for his band, Jane’s Addiction. It continued without the group as an annual touring music festival throughout most of the decade, and in recent years it has been held only in Chicago and a few cities abroad.

The annual Lollapalooza festival usually scheduled for August in Chicago’s Grant Park was canceled last month because of the coronavirus, and the international Lollapalooza festivals set for Chile, Argentina and Brazil have been rescheduled for later this year.

Mr. Farrell remains involved with Lollapalooza while Mr. Geiger is not. The latter joined the William Morris Endeavor as a talent agent in 2003 but left the firm last month.