ENIT
From Jane's Addiction Wiki
ENIT, short for "Earth-Knit", was the second traveling music festival conceived and executed by Perry Farrell. However, unlike his previous effort with Lollapalooza, ENIT ultimately was a failure.
By the end of 1995, Perry felt that Lollapalooza had lost its way, become too commercial and was neglecting many of the principles it was founded on. ENIT was designed to return to the conceptual roots that Perry dreamed up for Lollapalooza. It was also designed to be a "spiritual alternative" to the growing number of traveling summer festivals. There was a heavier focus on local, obscure, and independent music and thoughts of nature. Perry wanted the concerts to concluded by an all night rave, with the festival culminating in a morning tree planting ceremony. During this ceremony, concert attendees would plant trees together as a way of giving back to the planet.
1996 Tour
The original 1996 ENIT festival tour was set to kick off on August 9th at, The Meadow in Columbus, OH and continue into September. Fourteen dates were announced and tickets began to go on sale. Most concerts were to go from 4pm to 6am the following morning, however due to curfews, six dates were called "Enit Concerts" where all the announced bands would perform, but there would be no all night rave nor a tree planting ceremony in the morning.
The ENIT press release is as follows:
THE ENIT FESTIVAL 1996 Date City Venue On-sale Aug. 9 - Cleveland, OH, The Meadow, July 19 Aug. 11 - Raleigh, NC, Walnut Creek, July 15* Aug. 13 - Long Island, NY, Jones Beach, TBA* Aug. 14 - Washington D.C., TBA, TBA Aug. 15 - Pittsburgh, PA, Starlake, July 20 Aug. 17 - New Jersey, Garden State, July 13 Aug. 18 - Philadelphia, PA, E-Center, July 26* Aug. 20 - Boston/Providence Great Woods, July 13* Aug. 21 - Hartford, CT, The Meadows, TBA* Aug. 23 - Detroit, MI, Pine Knob, TBA Aug. 25 - Denver, CO, Mountain Top, TBA Aug. 28 - Portland, OR, Timber Bowl, TBA* Aug. 30 - San Francisco, CA Calaveras County, TBA Sept. 1 - Los Angeles, CA, Bear Mountain, TBA * = Enit Concert, which means you get the same line-up, but there's a curfew, so it won't be able to go till 6am, like the rest, which are 4pm till 6am. ENTERTAINMENT: Porno For Pryos Love & Rockets Black Grape Lady Miss Kier Meat Beat Manifesto The Orb Pharcyde Buju Banton Sun Ra Arkestra The Flying Neutrinos Rebirth Brass Band DEE JAYS: Afrika Bambaata Andrew Weatherall Kool Herc Mr. Oz Joelectronic Tommy Tunes Three Gonzo DJ Monk SLH 1 FESTIVAL ATTRACTIONS: Communal Meal ticket with admission Local Micro Breweries and Exotic wines Sunrise Yoga Happy Hour Nature and tree-planting happening with Treepeople
After this announcement, logistical problems began plaguing the planned festival. Some concerts were rescheduled while others were canceled entirely. One of the largest logistical problems were the planned tree planting ceremonies, as most venues were not equipped for such a thing. By July 26, 1996, ENIT was down to seven dates. In the end, only four concerts took place:
- 08/17/1996 - Garden State Arts Center, Holmdel, NJ
- 08/18/1996 - Blockbuster Camden Entertainment Center, Camden, NJ
- 08/20/1996 - Great Woods, Boston, MA
- 08/24/1996 - Snow Valley Ski Resort, Big Bear, CA
With all the show rescheduling and cancellations, ENIT received a lot of bad press. Many fans felt burned by the entire experience and Perry reportedly lost $1 million of his own money on the failed tour.
1997 Concert
Perry resurrected the ENIT concept for one final show in 1997, headlined by Jane's Addiction. That show took place on November 22, 1997 at the Bill Graham Civic Center, in San Francisco, CA. Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters, Funky Tekno Tribe, Goldie also performed. The traveling digital film festival RESFest was also part of the show.
