Package Tours Making a Comeback : Promoters are putting together multi-act bills in response to economic hard times and the scarcity of superstar rock acts.

Remember the package rock shows of the ‘50s and ‘60s?

They’re back.

With a slow economy and a dearth of superstar acts taking to the road this summer--Guns N’ Roses and Sting top a very short list--concert promoters are responding by putting together multi-act bills. Among the national tours:

* The “Lollapalooza” tour featuring Jane’s Addiction, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Living Colour, Ice-T, Nine Inch Nails, BH Surfers and the Rollins Band. It’s due July 20 at Southwestern College’s Devore Stadium in San Diego and July 21, 23 and 24 at the Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre.

* The hard-rock “Clash of the Titans” tour bringing together Megadeth, Anthrax and Slayer. It played the San Diego Sports Arena on May 24 and Pacific Amphitheatre on May 25 as part of a 50-city jaunt ending July 14 in Miami.

* The “Gathering of the Tribes” tour starring country-rocker Steve Earle, rappers EPMD and Yo-Yo, funk-rockers Fishbone, alternative-rockers Primus and British singer-songwriter John Wesley Harding. It’ll be at Pacific Amphitheatre next Saturday.

* A “Tune In, Turn On, Burn Out” rock ‘n’ rap tour bringing together rappers Public Enemy with rockers Sisters of Mercy, Gang of Four and Warrior Soul. The 19-city itinerary includes a Aug. 5 stop at the Pacific Amphitheatre.

“We’ve seen a number of cases in the last 18 months where so-called headliners come out with unknown support acts and fall on their faces,” said Moss Jacobs, general manager of Avalon Attractions, which is producing the “Lollapalooza” shows in Southern California.

“The hard-rock and metal acts do the best job of going out with strong support acts, like Skid Row opening for Guns N’ Roses this summer,” he said. “There seems to be an understanding among up-and-coming bands that you have to be support for some time before stepping up to the headliner role in big shows. We’ve seen a number of alternative bands not pay attention to this and suffer.”

Sisters of Mercy leader Andrew Eldritch--whose band fits into the alternative category--makes no bones about the fact that his band could not have played big facilities in the U.S. this summer without strong support.

“We wanted to play bigger places like we do in Europe,” he said. “So we looked around to see who was available (to build a bigger show around), and lo and behold Public Enemy was available.”

To Eldritch, the package tour concept not only gives the bands a chance to be seen by more fans than they could draw on their own, but also gives some of them--as in Public Enemy’s case--the chance to reach beyond the group’s normal demographics.

“Public Enemy could put together their own rap package tour that would play to packed houses, where people love them already,” the English rocker said. “By going out with a hard-line techno-based rock band like us, Public Enemy can reach people who have never seen them live. And we get to make the point (with the total lineup) that rock doesn’t have to be Spandex, perms and stupidity.”

Some of the these new tours aim for more than music. Both the “Tribes” and “Lollapalooza” packages offer a socio-cultural “festival” atmosphere including special food booths, craft exhibits and community awareness information stands.

“You’re getting five headliners plus,” said Perry Farrell, leader of Jane’s Addiction, a band that could have done well on the big-venue circuit without the extra attractions. “I just can’t see doing conventional huge rock shows for the simple fact that they’re boring to me.”

Mark Geiger, an agent with the Los Angeles-based Triad booking firm that represents the “Lollapalooza” tour, said package shows also make sense economically for many of the acts--a situation made possible by the proliferation of 10,000-20,000-seat amphitheaters in the past decade.

“These sheds derive so much income from parking, ticket surcharge, the concessions and merchandising that they can make money with only 5,000 people,” Geiger said. “So if an artist can sell out the (2,300-seat) Wiltern they can make somewhere between $15,000 and $20,000. But if you put together two acts that each could sell out the Wiltern and take them to (15,000-seat) Irvine Meadows and call it a package, now the guarantee is $50,000-75,000 total, so they’re making twice as much each. They sacrifice the sell-out and the buzz, but they make considerably more money.”

Are these packages the way of the future? After all, next year is already looking like a hot concert market, with Dire Straits, U2 and perhaps Bruce Springsteen all expected to return to the road after long absences.

“I think the public will still be interested in packages like these,” said Jacobs. “We’ve seen in years when the superstars are on the road people will go to see them, but still go to other shows. People who are concertgoers get caught up in seeing all the great music out there.”

Hound Doggin’: The songwriting team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller--who penned “Hound Dog,” “Jailhouse Rock” and many other rock ‘n’ roll classics--were honored Thursday with the fifth American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers’ Founders Award in a gala ceremony at the Hollywood Palladium.

Performing Leiber-Stoller songs during the event were Dion (“Ruby Baby” and “Drip Drop”), the Coasters (“Searchin’,” “Yakety Yak” and “Young Blood”), Peggy Lee (“I’m a Woman,” “Is That All There Is?”) and jazz/blues singer Ernie Andrews (“Kansas City”). The show was attended by more than 400 music industry figures, including Sammy Cahn, Hal David and David Byrne.