The Nineties End All Over Again

There was a time when I would have greeted news of a Lollapalooza cancellation with the mocking indifference we used to bring to all things back in the 20th century's terminal decade. And to have touted the new tour lineup, a walker brigade featuring Morrissey, Sonic Youth, The Flaming Lips, and the reunited Pixies, would have been merely to speak of the past and its phantoms. But truly a cultural moment has passed, or more likely been fulfilled, when the alt.rock fans of Generation X, listless and underachieving to the last, can't even muster enough interest to keep Perry Farrell's barge afloat. Is there to be no second act for the icons of the nineties? No last-minute Perot/Stockdale ticket in '04? A boy's will is the wind's will, and the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts. Lamar(!), Donna Tartt, Kriss Kross, Lorena Bobbitt, Felix Trinidad, Jaye Davidson—we shall not see your like again.