The next generation?

At any rate, Tool took the stage and played what was undoubtedly the best show of Lollapalooza. Maynard James Keenan, Tool's androgynous lead singer, appeared in a white mask, his head shaved save for a long Chinese-style pigtail, and wearing a bustier with prosthetic breasts. Who says nothing's shocking? As dusk set in, the video screens around the stage ignited with amazing visuals. The sound was incredibly full, encompassing even the farthest reaches of the outdoor complex, while up front the intensity of Tool's lengthy, gut-wrenching songs from ®nima was nearly overwhelming.

At this point, the feeling begins to set in of having gorged yourself on an entertainment buffet to the point of bursting. "A wafer-thin mint? It's only a tiny little thin one." Absolute exhaustion comes along with a feeling of being totally wired--information overload--and there's another band yet to come.

Just when you think Tool has drained every last drop of energy from your body, an angel appears on stage, topless, smoking a cigarette. She exhales, folds up her wings, and Orbital kicks in. Suddenly, almost a full 10 hours after your arrival, Lollapalooza magically transforms into the largest outdoor rave you've ever seen in your life. Kids who were grooving to Tool's sledgehammer energy just moments before are now dancing with abandon to techno music.

It's a sign of the times. The new generation is taking over, and anything goes. Some might say Lollapalooza is dead. And they may be right. Like Jane's Addiction, it was never meant to last forever. But there's a new generation out there, and like every generation before them, they'll find some way to congregate and go wild.

Lollapalooza or no Lollapalooza. With or without Perry Farrell. Whether or not they even remember him.

Lollapalooza comes to Dallas Saturday, August 2, at Starplex.