A shot of Adrenaline.(DV / Rock Concert)

When Lollapalooza first appeared on the music scene in 1991, it was a groundbreaking event that introduced the music world to the concept of the touring, multi-band summer music festival. Not surprisingly, when Lollapalooza returned this season after a six-year hiatus, it again struck an innovative note, this time through the use of digital video technology that turned a traditionally passive concert experience into an interactive affair.

More than just a concert, Lollapalooza is an all-day event at which the attendees can watch multiple bands per form on two different stages or can wander around the grounds, which are packed with activities, performers, and an assortment of vendor booths. The vision for creating an interactive concert experience originated with Perry Ferrell, the front man for the group Jane's Addiction and the founder of the original Lollapalooza.

"Integrating music, technology, and lifestyle into an interactive entertainment experience has been Ferrell's vision for years," says Michael Abrams, managing director of Lollapalooza. And the return of Lollapalooza provided him with the perfect venue.

A video game pavilion, for instance, gave concert-goers a chance to test their computer gaining skills, or they could use their mobile phones to enter contests and respond to trivia questions displayed on large Lighthouse LED screens near the main concert stage as well as on the "Lollatron" screens in a central location on the festival grounds. Occasionally, fans could even dial up to vote on which songs they wanted the bands to play,

The most impressive display of inter activity, however, was achieved through an innovative application of video. Indeed, most musical groups today utilize large screens positioned around the stage to show IMAG (image magnification) video, which consists primarily of close-up shots of the band and the audience. The feeds are live, from the cameras directly to the screens. On occasion, a concert also will feature projected pre-produced video. These are segments that are edited prior to the event and played at certain times during the show.

At Lollapalnoza, Ferrell and Abrams used both applications, in addition to a third, which required them to film, edit, and broadcast the resulting video in near. real time. Specifically, their goal was to film candid video footage of the crowds and edit the material into polished segments for display in short "newsreels," in effect, enabling the concert-goers to truly become part of the show.

One of the people brought in to help make this vision a reality was Paul Harb, a video producer and owner of Long Beach Multimedia in Long Beach, California. Harb, who joined the project about two weeks before the start of the festival, admits that he was skeptical when he first heard the plan. "I think a lot of us walked out of that initial meeting with our jaws open, wondering how we were going to do this," he recalls. "Everybody appeared to have their own concerns, but for me, it was about the schedule. Getting these [segments] up in that short amount of time would be difficult, especially when so many other variables necessary to make it happen were out of my control."