Highs--and Lows--of ‘Lollapalooza’ : Pop music: The touring experience rejuvenates Chili Peppers, while Jesus and Mary Chain have second thoughts.

Spend a while chatting with a Red Hot Chili Pepper about life on the “Lollapalooza ‘92” tour, which begins a three-day stop today at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre, and you get the penthouse view: The vista could hardly be more panoramic, or the accommodations more satisfactory.

Then pay a conversational visit to one of the principals in the Jesus and Mary Chain, and you find that even this eight-week, sold-out, alternative-rock juggernaut, the hottest concert ticket of the summer, has its basement lodgings.

Flea, the Chili Peppers’ antic but articulate bassist, is in the penthouse these days. His band is headlining the seven-act bill (“Lollapalooza” also features Lush, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Ice Cube and Ministry), the tour exposure has helped vault its album “Blood Sugar Sex Magik” into the Top 10, and the Chili Peppers’ new guitarist, Arik Marshall, has worked out fine on his first tour with the band.

“Lollapalooza” has also invigorated Flea’s formerly flagging enthusiasm for touring. And, as a player who loves to jam in new settings, the opportunities for onstage and backstage cross-band collaboration present this Flea with a kennelful of appealing possibilities.

“I’d say it was probably the most fun tour I’ve ever been on,” the bassist said over the phone last week from New Orleans. “It’s a community moving from town to town. There’s a lot of people to hang out with and everybody gets along with everybody. If you had asked me about touring three months ago, I’d say I hated it and was sick of it and never wanted to do it again. Now, I get there sometimes six hours before we play, which is extremely unlike me.”

It’s hard even for friendly communities to live in perfect comity. Flea admits that there have been a couple of small altercations behind the scenes at “Lollapalooza.”

“But dude, it’s cool. . . . “ he noted. “On the whole, I’ve had more peace of mind and been more relaxed than on any other tour. I think this is a great gig, and I’m proud of what we’ve done.”

While Flea buzzes with enthusiasm, one can imagine the postcards that William Reid, guitarist of the Jesus and Mary Chain, might be scribbling for the folks back home in Great Britain: “Having an awful time; wish people would stop having lunch while we try to play. Also have discovered how Dracula must feel after sun-up.”

“It becomes pretty oppressive going on at 3 or 4, and the sun is in your eyes,” Reid said from New Orleans. “Some places have been great, but some of the shows have been awful, where people haven’t even looked at the band, or are walking about buying hot dogs or popcorn. Also, it’s not really our audience. I think because Pearl Jam and the Chili Peppers have sold 5 million records between them, 90% of the people come to see them. Playing to 10 empty rows at the front--that can be very off-putting, very discouraging.”

Media exposure, and the chance to play to a huge audience in North America were inducements enough for the Jesus and Mary Chain to warily try its luck in the sunshine, Reid said.

“We’ve been a cult band for too long, and nobody wants to be a cult band. ‘Lollapalooza’ was a challenge, a huge challenge, something you may feel uncomfortable with, but you have to take something on.”

Taking the challenge doesn’t seem to have paid off, Reid said. “I doubt this will propel us further.”

The Jesus and Mary Chain is the one band on the tour that hasn’t interacted musically with any of its counterparts, Reid said. “As people, we’re probably fairly awkward and maybe a bit . . . not aloof, but I don’t think we’re as sociable as we’d like to be. I’m not a jammer.”

Setting aside his own band’s problems, Reid said, “Lollapalooza” should be considered a success, and an indicator that the mass rock audience is embracing more adventurous music.

“Just because we get (irritated), that’s just us. As a tour, just about everything is going right.”