Prodigy, the Chemical Brothers, the Orb and Orbital are already confirmed for this summer's Organic package tour, which aims to bring live electronica to the American masses for the first time. Underworld and Meat Beat Manifesto are also expected to join the rave-style festival, which will hit four cities in July and reconvene in September for a full-scale 20-city tour.
Like the Monsters of Rock tour in the '80s and Lollapalooza in the '90s, the Organic tour will expose fans to a particular genre's brightest stars. Though none of the groups on the bill have enjoyed commercial success in the U.S., Prodigy and the Chemical Brothers have become MTV Buzz Bin darlings, and their mix of techno and dance music is viewed by the music industry as the next big thing. The tour has its roots in last summer's one-day Organic festival, which took place in San Bernadino National Forest and included many of the same acts.
"Whether it's at a convention center or an outdoor place like we did last year in the valley, the tour is not going to be like a typical festival or concert where all the production is right on the stage," says Philip Blaine, one of the tour's organizers. "The layout we're designing now will create a 360-degree environment instead of everything just plopped on the stage. It's going to be a club atmosphere and the audience will be part of the event as well -- it will be very interactive."
With the touring industry in a slump for the past several years, many are hoping Organic will provide a successful alternative to such regular summer offerings as Lollapalooza, H.O.R.D.E. and the Vans Warped tour.
"Its obviously somewhat of an experiment to see how deep the audience is for techno music," says Gary Bongiovanni, editor-in-chief of the concert industry trade magazine Pollstar Magazine. "Given the record sales, one would expect that offering fans something they are after is certainly a plus -- especially if it's something different than the normal fare."
Expect the Chemical Brothers and Prodigy, who have begun to bridge the gap between techno and rock, to give the tour the in-your-face firepower it will need to appeal to a mass audience. Both groups will release new albums in the months before the tour -- the Chemical Brothers on April 8 and Prodigy on June 3.