7/16/2010 / by Alex
Perry Farrell remembers Lady Gaga's 2007 set at Lollapalooza, a sweaty, Saturday-afternoon affair that saw the then-brunet, yet-to-conquer-the-globe Gaga parade around in little more than a disco-ball bra and thigh-high stockings. He was impressed, but needless to say, he never thought he'd see the day she'd be headlining the fest.

"I remember ... she's got dark-brown hair, she's in a bikini, and she's wearing thigh-highs and she's sweating, because she was on at around 3 o'clock," Farrell told MTV Radio. "Her music was cool, her show was kind of cool, but now, the production of her music, the people she's surrounded herself with, the development of her stage show ... it's something that, when I think about Lollapalooza, in that gorgeous setting of [Chicago's] Grant Park, with the amazing buildings all around us, lit up, I see her and her show as being a centerpiece to the evening."

Yes, from side-stage curiosity to mainstage must-see, Gaga has come a long way in three short years, and Farrell — who's already said that Lollapalooza will spend six figures to accommodate her massive Monster Ball stage — sees it as his obligation to help her continue on that climb. But he's hoping the Lolla crowds won't just focus on her stage show. After all, her music is pretty great too.

"Her presentation is so overwhelming that some may overlook the music ... but the truth is, her music, to me, is right where music should be. It's on the cutting edge, but it's [also] in the crosshairs of where every musician is aiming these days," he said. "She's this hybrid of Yoko Ono, sort of the Plastic Ono Band meets Madonna meets Elton John. She's this beautiful crossing of those things [that] every musician is looking to find. Everyone's looking for that sound, and I think she really hits it."

And though he realizes that not all Lolla fans are necessarily "little monsters," he also hopes they'll be won over by her set. After all, that's sort of what Lollapalooza has been doing since it first started back in 1991: introducing kids to new artists, new scenes and, most importantly, new sounds.

"We're going to help her deliver it, just the way we did in 1991, when people didn't go to rap concerts because they might be considered very dangerous," he said. "[Back then,] a lot of those kids who went to Lollapalooza might not have seen Ice-T, but then, there he was. Same with Ice Cube. And that's one of the things I guess I could say I pride myself in: I'm able to bring music that people are very curious about, and once they meet this music, they'll really dig it."
Credit: Vh1.Com