Lollapalooza canceled over weak ticket sales

The Lollapalooza music festival tour has been canceled because of poor ticket sales, according to its Web site. The tour, featuring Morrissey, Sonic Youth, and the Flaming Lips, had been set to begin July 14 in Auburn, Wash., and continue through August, including stops in Toronto, New York, Atlanta, and Dallas. Tour organizers and concert promoters, "faced with several million dollars of losses, made the very tough decision to pull the tour," the Web site said Tuesday. The Web site said there had been "poor ticket sales across the board." "My heart aches along with the bands, and all of our employees, whose hard work developed one of the most exciting and important tours that this nation was to see," festival cofounder Perry Farrell said in a statement. "My heart is broken." The two-day traveling music festival that began in 1991 took a hiatus in 1997 and returned last year. "In real terms, it's been a tough summer," said Alex Hodges, executive vice president of HOB Concerts. "Ticket sales have been mixed and often inexplicably soft. There are a number of contributing factors, and, as a result, many tours have been cut back, rerouted, or canceled." Ticket holders will be given full refunds, the Web site said. (AP)