CHICAGO -- "They don't grow groups like they used to," Lollapalooza co-founder and creative mastermind Perry Farrell told us backstage on Saturday about the current musical climate. Kings of Leon may be a new-found exception, but Farrell said we’re stuck in a period where musical acts never seem to make it to the coveted headliner status, which makes his job all that much harder every summer. Luckily, for him, he’s got plenty of big name trailblazers to choose from, including his own Jane’s Addiction, who will return to the fest with their original lineup on Sunday night for the first time since the inaugural fest way back in 1991.

With scenes built around niche music the latest trend - how does Lollapalooza's head-honcho program a festival in today’s environment?

"You have to be thinking in the future, thinking in the past and thinking in the present,” he said, standing in front of a giant inflatable jumpy set up outside his trailer for his kids. “We have to mix in new groups with the classic groups. It's more important today to be (more) widespread on your musical taste than ever before … you have to go back deep into your treasure chest of knowledge and musical vocabulary.”

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Jane's Addiction frontman, Lollapalooza founder and flash mob enthusiast Perry Farrell has been in the business of rock music for over 20 years. In addition to Jane's, he has also fronted the supremely underrated Porno for Pyros and has worked on a number of other collaborative projects. He was the first person to provide a high-profile stage for many of alternative music's elite (including Nine Inch Nails and Pearl Jam) and basically invented the idea of the touring festival that was later copied by Warped, Ozzfest, Lilith Fair and a half-dozen others. But despite the fact that he's the guy who sang "Ocean Size" and introduced the world to Dave Navarro (which, in turn, gave us "Till Death Do Us Part: Carmen & Dave"), Farrell's greatest legacy is probably normalizing the idea of taking any word and putting "-palooza" behind it.

I'm neither a linguist, an etymologist or an anthropologist, but when Farrell first introduced the word "Lollapalooza" into the lexicon during the first tour in 1991, he not only opened up the use of the word (which generally describes any sort of vaguely chaotic gathering) but he also inspired variations. CNN referred to last year's presidential race as "Campaign-apalooza" dozens of times a day, and though it looks stupid in print, it sounded something like normal on TV. In my home town, our first recycling program was called "Recycle-palooza." A basic search for the term "palooza" turns up events like "Pet-A-Palooza" and "Polar-palooza." All of this seems perfectly normal, which in turn seems utterly insane. Shockingly, the word isn't in the dictionary, despite the fact that it gets used far more often than Homer Simpson's frustrated grunt.

So here's to you and your 'Palooza, Perry. MTV News will be on the ground blogging and tweeting live from Grant Park in Chicago all weekend. In the meantime, enjoy the video for Porno for Pyros' "Tahitian Moon."

Perry Farrell does it to us every year. Yes, his brainchild Lollapalooza is one of the best rock deals for the money every summer, with more than 100 bands playing right on the Chicago lakefront in beautiful Grant Park. But whoever maps out the schedule grid must be a masochist, because this year's lineup has more than its share of conflicts that are going to force some serious musical Sophie's choices. I have already begun stewing over the ones that are trying to break my heart.

Friday is not so bad. Yes, I'd like to see White Lies, but I'll probably choose Jersey punk outfit the Gaslight Anthem. And as much as I've always wanted to check out nutso electronic duo Crystal Castles, by evening I'll probably need to be soothed by the dulcet tones of Fleet Foxes. The headliner spot is an easy one for me, since I just caught Kings of Leon but haven't seen Depeche Mode in six years, and I know their show will have a bit more flash than the Followill brothers' more straight-ahead set.
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TMZ-land officially arrived at Lollapalooza Saturday afternoon – and you have Mr. Lolla himself, Perry Farrell to thank for it.

A mid-afternoon set at the dance tent Perry’s by Farrell and a “special guest” took on a whole different meaning when that guest was revealed to be none other than Samantha Ronson, accompanied to the endless fascination of all, by her ubiquitous gal pal, Lindsay Lohan. When we arrived to an already packed dance tent, were escorted into a predictably cluster f--- of a backstage area, under a searing afternoon sun, and got even more of a celeb eyefull than we were expecting. There was Perry on stage, in a glittery black and white number, spinning and pumping up the crowd for his ‘guest DJ.’ There was LiLo, hanging with a friend and trying not to pay attention to the fact that everyone in the area was looking at her. There was Samantha, waiting to go on. And then there was the even better known member of the Ronson family, DJ and uber producer brother Mark, an attention magnet himself. And to throw a certifiable rock god into the mix, there was the man himself, Slash -- yet another surprise guest for Perry to spring on the crowd.

Soon it was showtime for Sam – decked out in an Average White Band t-shirt and a fedora, she spun a 15 minute set heavy on “upbeat” tunes at Perry’s request, she told me, and with a healthy dose of ‘80’s. “Yeah, so I included some Foreigner,” she said, “some Depeche Mode, some Hot Chip. I tried to mix it up.

“I’m just psyched to see Slash,” Sam said of first Lolla experience, “Perry and Slash, I’ve never been to Lollapalooza, and after this I don’t think I need to go to another.” Samantha’s in and out of Chicago – she has to be back in LA tonight – but Mark is hanging all weekend, checking out a ton of favorites -- from Black Keys and Radiohead yesterday to Rage tonight -- and then playing his own set tomorrow night, on one of the festival’s biggest stages.

In our house, the first pancake is always the one you toss. Day one of Lollapalooza is kind of like that first pancake. You spend half the day getting your bearings, trying to figure out where the Citi Stage is and wandering around among the shady groves that make Grant Park one of the most unusual, and crash out-friendly festival grounds around. Invariably you miss half the set by the band you were really psyched about, or, if you’re one of the unlucky ones who didn’t get here right at noon, you wait in a gigantic line that snaked almost a mile down street to get in for the sold out first day.

Go behind the scenes with Gil and see some exclusive video, after the jump!
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· Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, Broken Social Scene, and Times New Viking are set to headline this summer’s Siren Festival in NY.

· Vampire Weekend, Kid Sister, and Santogold are among the acts playing for free at Central Park SummerStage in NY this summer.

· Perry Farrell’s Kidzapalooza, the kid-friendly companion fest to Chicago’s Lollapalooza, will debut at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles this summer. Farrell and others will perform.

· When not inspiring mediocre covers of classic songs on “American Idol,” Neil Diamond has apparently been planning a "secret" show of his latest tunes for his MySpace “friends” at NY’s The Bitter End. It’s tonight.

· Jane's Addiction performed together for the first time in 17 years last night to close out the NME Awards in LA.

· Madonna fans in the US will get to hear Hard Candy when it premieres exclusively on MySpace tomorrow, four days before the album officially hits stores. If they haven't already heard enough of it online, that is.

· The always well-behaved Steve-O, who says he's "been clean for 44 days," is pleading not guilty to felony cocaine possession.

· Amy Winehouse has been accused of assaulting a man after another long night out. This is after three reports of her beating on people after drinking -- including an alleged head-butting incident.

Now that Scott Weiland’s reunion with the Stone Temple Pilots is finally official, what’s next for Velvet Revolver, the band the singer was booted from just last week? Already, guitarist Slash has promised a third record from VR, and he even said in a recent interview with Rolling Stone that the band's got a few fellas in mind to take over behind the mike. Slash even admitted that, as recently as last month, the band auditioned at least one hopeful -- right around the time that rumors of the band’s split started gaining speed.

So, who do we think would work well with Velvet Revolver? Here’s a couple of possible hopefuls the band should consider, after the jump... Read more...