A Frat Music Festival With Good Intentions ⋆

I went to Lollapalooza at Lake Fairfax Park in Reston, VA, on August 14, 1992, and I used to be floored by the chance to see so many superior performers in a single place. Take a look at this lineup… Ice Dice, Jesus and Mary Chain, Lush, Ministry, Pearl Jam, Crimson Scorching Chili Peppers, and Soundgarden.

However that wasn’t all. Along with numerous acts on the aspect stage, we had been handled to an unannounced efficiency by Temple of the Canine! In the course of the Pearl Jam set, Chris Cornell joined them for a fully kick-ass model of “Starvation Strike.”

The expertise had my head spinning, and I questioned if we may do one thing related, however on a a lot smaller scale, on the College of Maryland. For the reason that Lollapalooza title was so massive on the time, and our fraternity glided by PiKA (Pi Kappa Alpha), we went with the title PIKAPALOOZA.

The worth of the Lollapalooza ticket included a donation to charity; I made a decision to do the identical and make our occasion a profit for SOME (So Others May Eat), based mostly in Washington, DC.

I can’t keep in mind what we charged, however I feel it was both a few cans of meals or a couple of {dollars} to attend the entire pageant. These had been in style bands that had performed at our fraternity home earlier than, however this time there could be an even bigger crowd in our car parking zone.

There have been the acts that day…

Sean & Dave
Black Sheep
Faceplant
Sorry About Your Daughter
Avogadro’s Quantity
The Unworld
Lazy Suzan

I bought a bunch of sponsors to assist cowl prices, and the bands donated their time for the great trigger. It was an thrilling occasion to placed on shortly earlier than I graduated.

One of many sponsors I introduced on was New Edge and Past, run by a man named Cosmic Dot. I don’t know what they did or how I even met him, however he was a enjoyable character who helped make the day occur.

Certainly one of my favourite acts that day was Sorry About Your Daughter, and their badass rendition of Prince’s “Purple Rain.”

PIKAPALOOZA went off with out a hitch, and we gathered loads of canned items to deliver over to SOME. There have been massive crowds dancing, singing, ingesting, and smiling. General, it was a implausible occasion, and I used to be wanting ahead to different PiKAs taking on for future editions.

Within the days earlier than I graduated, I went all the way down to the fraternity basement for one thing, and after I opened the door to our boiler room, I noticed packing containers and packing containers of meals we had collected to donate. Whoever was going to drive it over to SOME by no means did.

I didn’t have a automobile or driver’s license, and with the semester wrapping up, I wasn’t capable of finding a volunteer to drive the meals into DC. After that, I bought caught up with transferring out, attempting to get a job, and all of that, and the meals simply sat there unused. That a part of PIKAPALOOZA sucks, but it surely was a great day in any other case.