Post-Punk H.O.R.D.E.

In the attitude-conscious world of summer pop-music festivals, the H.O.R.D.E. tour has always been stamped as Lollapalooza’s uncool cousin, a big, friendly, white-man’s-blues affair that attracted jam bands and Deadheads.

All of that is changing. In this season’s crush of package tours, as Lollapalooza loses ground to such newcomers as the Lilith Fair and Warped, H.O.R.D.E. is veering away from its comfortable old identity and vying for bands on the cutting edge.

In its sixth year, the 30-date festival--which comes to Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre today--has embraced groups with a post-punk flavor: from the saxophone-driven mood-rockers Morphine and piano-based pop eclectics Ben Folds Five to the hot-jazz revisionists Squirrel Nut Zippers and avant-punks Primus. Even Beck will step in to play a few dates later in the summer. Though headliners Neil Young & Crazy Horse have been known to suspend their share of notes, H.O.R.D.E. isn’t just about long jams anymore.

Primus’ leader Les Claypool needed some convincing before he joined H.O.R.D.E.’s caravan. “My perception of it was an older, leftover Grateful Dead crowd or something,” says the singer and bassist. “Then they came back with [the current lineup] and we said, ‘That sounds like a good tour to be on.’ ”

“People have classified it as a hippie tour,” admits H.O.R.D.E. marketing director Jim Lewi. “Lollapalooza was the alternative tour, and we were the hippie tour. But we just try to get good bands. We’ve never been a flavor-of-the-month tour.”

Lewi says that the element that unifies this year’s wide variety of acts is an ability to connect with a concert crowd. “The spirit is just great live music.”

H.O.R.D.E., which stands for Horizons of Rock Developing Everywhere, was founded in 1992 by John Popper, singer and harmonica player for the New York-based rock band Blues Traveler. The group, immersed in its own tour, will be absent from H.O.R.D.E. for the first time, though it will pop in on a few dates. The bill also includes Soul Coughing, Widespread Panic, Kula Shaker, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Leftover Salmon and Big Head Todd & the Monsters.

Gary Bongiovanni, editor in chief of Pollstar, a trade magazine that tracks the concert industry, thinks that the presence of a big-draw headliner is a bigger change for H.O.R.D.E. than its new embrace of alternative acts.

“This year they have a true headliner,” he says. “It’s kind of like the Neil Young tour instead of just an aggregation of acts.” Still, Bongiovanni doesn’t predict instant success: “The only other model to look at would be last year’s Lollapalooza tour, which became the Metallica tour, and that didn’t perform as well as people had expected.”

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Indeed, H.O.R.D.E., which had carved out a cozy niche for itself, is risking its old audience with the more adventurous bill. Last year, with headliners Rusted Root, Lenny Kravitz and the Dave Matthews Band, it provided fierce competition for Lollapalooza. In contrast, this year’s initial ticket sales have been disappointing. Only about half the tickets for the Irvine show have been sold.

“I’d like to be selling better,” says Lewi, perpetually hopeful of a big walk-up gate on the day of the festival. “Are our ticket sales as bad as others? No. Are we going to come out smelling like a rose? I think so.”

H.O.R.D.E. this year is offering a computer “videowall,” affording fans a chance to chat with band members resting backstage. A Lionel Trains switching yard was brought to the festival with electric train buff Young’s encouragement. Col. Bruce Hampton will oversee the Workshop Stage, where artists come together for spontaneous, free-for-all jams.

“The whole idea of H.O.R.D.E. is kindness,” Lewi says. “Everything we’re doing is for more interactivity. So many things this year are designed for people to be part of the show and not just at the show. . . . We bring a human element.”

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H.O.R.D.E. critics, however, complain that the human element is decidedly white and male. Only one woman, Squirrel Nut Zippers singer Katharine Whalen, will take part. “That’s no fault of ours,” Lewi counters. “All of the major female acts we went after are doing Lilith. . . . Festival competition made it hard to get black or female acts on H.O.R.D.E.”

The festival may be lacking true diversity, but everyone is hoping that one defining aspect of the tour--its down-to-earth friendliness--will remain intact.

“To me what sets the H.O.R.D.E. Festival apart is that it’s just basically bands that write good songs and play well, and that’s the primary criteria,” says Glen Phillips, singer and guitarist of Santa Barbara’s collegiate folk-rock band Toad the Wet Sprocket.

“I know people who’ve been on the tour and said that there was a lack of cattiness, a generally relaxed feeling. I get around people that are cool and I start feeling like a high school nerd again. I don’t think I’ll be having too many panic attacks on this tour.”

BE THERE

The H.O.R.D.E. Festival, with Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Primus, Big Head Todd & the Monsters, Morphine, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Squirrel Nut Zippers and others, today at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre, 8800 Irvine Center Drive, 4 p.m., $27 and $17. (714) 855-4515.