Chicago 2016 Gets In On Lollapalooza

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Jul 21, 2009 2:40PM

Now that this year's (excellent) Pitchfork Fest is behind us, it's time to turn our attention to that fest's bigger brother, Lollapalooza. A week or so back, when the schedules and map of the festival grounds were released, something caught our eye: gone from the South end was the AT&T stage and in its place is the Chicago 2016 stage. That gave us a big "hmmmmmm" moment, but then we rolled our eyes and moved along. After all, the bid had a large set-up at last year's fest, too. Other media outlets have jumped on the sponsorship, including Jim DeRogatis at the Sun-Times and NBC 5. Of course, Chicago 2016 is not a corporate sponsor of the event so it seems like a "goodwill gesture" on promoter C3's part as Chicago 2016 spokesman Patrick Sandusky told DeRo. Ah! But wait, there's more. Sandusky himself also said:

"[C3] came to us with the opportunity, and we think it's a great way to reach thousands and thousands of people with just a general message about the bid. They've certainly been helpful and allowed us to do that. They actually were the executive producers of the dinner when the IOC [International Olympic Committee] was in town, when we had Buddy Guy and Koko Taylor."

While Sandusky said no partnership has been discussed, don't be surprised if C3 winds up playing a big hand in the 2016 presentation should the city win the Olympics. Meanwhile, will people even notice or care? It's doubtful. And, really, for most city-dwellers, the Olympic 2016 logo and bid attempt is beginning to blur into the background with so much other city-related noise. Just for fun, though, bands playing the 2016 stage include our pals Hey Champ, political activist punk rockers Rise Against, pro-cannabis activist Snoop Dogg, and headlining acts Depeche Mode, Tool, and The Killers.