Lollapalooza Lives!

They're taking the lull out of Lollapalooza.

After a five-year layoff, the seminal alternarock festival is set to take to the road again, kicking off its 29-date 2003 North American tour on July 3 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. And in a flashback to its inaugural trek in 1991, Jane's Addiction will be the headliner.

The legendary Los Angeles rockers led by singer Perry Farrell, a Lollapalooza cofounder, will be joined on the bill by Audioslave--the supergroup teaming former Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell with members of Rage Against the Machine--as well as Queens of the Stone Age, Incubus, Jurassic 5, the Donnas and, for a few dates, A Perfect Circle.

Acts slated for the Second Stage include punk outfit the Distillers, alterna-metalheads Cave In, neo-Southern rockers Kings of Leon, indie popsters Rooney, garage band Mooney Suzuki, British dance-rock alchemists the Music, headbanging trio Burning Brides, underground hip-hopster Pharoahe Monch, progressive rockers 30 Seconds to Mars and the exotic Bellydance Superstars.

And for Lolla's S&M set, Jackass madman Steve-O will also shock and awe festivalgoers with his patented don't-try-this-at-home pranks.

"Lollapalooza's mission is to be great and wonderful, to speak to people and speak for the Earth, and to embody music's power to bring people together," says Farrell. "It was created to share the bountiful gifts that our culture holds, and now it's returning to enjoy its permanent place in that culture."

Right. All that and hemp socks, too.

Aside from the music, the fest will bring back its traditional diverse array of foods, videogame contests, interactive high-tech gizmos and eclectic art. Farrell & Co. plan to continue their predilection for offering cutting edge entertainment by adding an interactive gaming experience to the mix.

Fans will be able to participate in competitions and treasure hunts via their cell phones to win prizes--including an X-box and a chance to go backstage and meet the bands.

For those politically conscious festivalgoers, Lollapalooza will give table space to a range of progressive causes and differing world views, including alternative energies.

Farrell founded Lollapalooza in 1991. In its gloriously grungy days, its main stage featured the up-and-coming likes of Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden, along with Beck, the Beastie Boys, Metallica, Snoop Dogg, Korn, Smashing Pumpkins, Hole, Sinead O'Connor and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Lollapalooza created the template of the summer touring fests and launched dozens of knock-offs, including Ozzfest, the Vans Warped Tour, H.O.R.D.E., Smokin' Grooves, Lilith Fair and Area One. Spin magazine named Lollapalooza the number one "tour that changed the world."

Ultimately, though, it was a victim of its own success. The upstart fests leeched away fans and ticket sales dwindled in the late '90s. The proliferation of similar summer packages also made it difficult to line up headliners. When Jane's Addiction couldn't commit to the 1998 edition, and no suitable subs could be rounded up in time, the organizers scrapped the tour. It had been sidelined until this year--back with Farrell's latest iteration of Jane's on board.

The jury's out on whether the long hiatus will hinder the fest or stoke new interest, says Gary Bongiovanni, editor of the concert trade Pollstar.

"Probably the biggest question is how much value does the Lollapalooza name stil carry? When you go away that long and your significant fan base is young kids and teenagers, will the kids who replaced them have any knowledge of the brand name?"

But, he adds, "The talent line up certainly looks good."

Another wildcard for the tour's success, says Bongiovanni, will be the performance of the new Jane's Addiction album. The revamped band says it plans to showcase new material from the upcoming Hypersonic, the band's first studio release since 1990's classic Ritual De Lo Habitual, which is scheduled to hit stores on July 22.

Jane's recently signed a new deal with Capitol Records and, as a warm up to this summer's Lollapalooza, is scheduled to play a series of small venues in the coming weeks.

"We've got a lot of work cut out for us," Farrell tells Billboard. "We're going from zero to mach 8!"

Here's a rundown of Lollapalooza 2003 tour dates. More info, including ticket availability, is online at www.lollapalooza.com.

July 3--Ionia County Fairgrounds, Grand Rapids, Michigan July 5--Verizon Wireless Music Center, Indianapolis July 8--Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, Kansas City July 9--UMB Bank Pavillion, St. Louis July 11--Marcus Amphitheater, Milwaukee July 12--Tweeter Center, Chicago July 13--Germain Amphitheater, Columbus, Ohio July 16--Riverbend Music Center, Cincinnati July 18--DTE Energy Music Theater, Detroit July 19--Post-Gazette Pavilion, Pittsburgh July 20--Blossom Music Center, Cleveland July 23--PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel, New Jersey July 25--Tweeter Center, Boston July 26--Vernon Downs Raceway, Syracuse July 27--Tweeter Center at the Waterfront, Philadelphia July 30--Jones Beach Amphitheater, New York August 1--Nissan Pavilion, Washington, D.C. August 3--Hi Fi Buys Amphitheater, Atlanta August 5--Sound Advice Amphitheater, West Palm Beach, Florida August 8--Smirnoff Music Center, Dallas August 9--Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, San Antonio August 10--Cynthia W. Mitchell Pavilion, Houston August 12--Journal Pavilion, Albuquerque August 13--Fiddlers Green Amphitheater, Denver August 15--Cricket Pavilion, Phoenix August 16--Hyundai Pavilion at Glen Helen, Los Angeles August 19--Shoreline Amphitheater, San Francisco August 21--USANA Amphitheater, Salt Lake City August 23--White River Amphitheater, Seattle