(I bet you were expecting a post about Bay to Breakers, huh?)
Tis the season for festivals!
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| Health & Harmony 2010 |
Yes, I realize I’m a little late on this one, what with Coachella and Bamboozle already done and over-with. In my quest for the best festival of the year (and my options among venues in San Francisco, Austin, and Chicago) I’ve compiled a spreadsheet (yes, I said spreadsheet. I'm extremely organized when it comes to the most unnecessary shit) containing all the bands I give a shit about playing at all the festivals anyone gives a shit about in the continental US. I even included Coachella and Bamboozle for comparative fun. It seems to me (out of the festivals that announced their line-ups already) those in Chicago or Manchester, TN areas are the most fortunately located. Of course if I were to consider Milwaukee, I’m 99.99% sure Summerfest will, once again, host the largest amount of attendees at any given festival this year, what with their KILLER line-ups and 2 whole weeks of festivities.
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| my spreadsheet of festivals |
Is this all gibberish to you? I assure you, you’re not alone. Up until about an hour ago, I was under the impression that Coachella, Sasquatch, Outsidelands, SXSW, Austin City Limits and Lollapalooza were the only large-scale music festivals in the US. Goodness, I was sorely mistaken. How many of these have you never heard of before?
All Good Festival
Austin City Limits
Bamboozle
Bonnaroo
Bumbershoot
Coachella
Health & Harmony
LA Rising
Lollapalooza
Musikfest
North Coast
Outside Lands
Rocklahoma
Sasquatch
Summerfest
Sunset Strip
Treasure Island
Voodoo Experience
Wanderlust (California)
Wanderlust (Vermont)
How do they come up with all those names? There are plenty more, but those were the most, shall we say Coachella-esque of them all? Who knows if that makes any sense... So I went through each festival listed above and have selected a few winners: Bonnaroo, Summerfest, LA Rising, Lollapalooza, and North Coast. In stead of talking about the ones I’m disappointed in (Health & Harmony, ACL, Wanderlust), let’s stay positive and glorify the ones that make me consider finding myself a sugar-daddy to finance my musical rendezvous. I shall list my highlights in alphabetical order by priority (mine, of course) 1, 2, and 3. Skip to the bottom for my notes, if yall give a crap :)
Bonnaroo
June 9th-12th
Manchester, Tennessee
The Black Keys
Buffalo Springfield
Florence + the Machine
Gogol Bordello
Grace Potter & the Nocturnals
Lewis Black
Mumford & Sons
Ratatat
Atmosphere
Eminem
LilWayne
Pretty Lights
Amos Lee
Arcade Fire
Beats Antique
Black Uhuru
Chiddy Bang
Cold War Kids
Neon Trees
NOFX
Portugal. The Man
Primus
Robyn
Scissor Sisters
The Strokes
+more
Summerfest
June 29-July 10th (closed July 4th)
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Florence + The Machine
Goo Goo Dolls
Maroon 5
311
Britney Spears
Buckcherry
Dropkick Murphys
George Clinton
Katy Perry
Kid Rock
Meat Loaf
Alkaline Trio
Amos Lee
Ben Harper
Blue Oyster Cult
Cage the Elephant
De La Soul
Def Leppard
Finger Eleven
Fuel
Hollywood Undead
Kanye West & Kid Cudi
Los Lonely Boys
Michael Franti
Michelle Branch
Neon Trees
Owl City
Panic! at the Disco
Parachute
Rise Against
Sara Bareilles
Sick Puppies
Stephan Marley
Styx
Sugarland
Switchfoot
Taking Back Sunday
The Bravery
The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
Third Eye Blind
Toby Keith
+lots and lots more
July 30th
Los Angeles, California
Rage Against the Machine
Muse
Lauryn Hill
Rise Against
Immortal Technique
Lollapalooza
August 5th-7th
Chicago, Illinois
Deadmau5
Grace Potter & the Nocturnals
Lykke Li
Muse
Nas & Damian Marley
Ratatat
The Pretty Reckless
Atmosphere
Coldplay
Eminem
Flogging Molly
Foo Fighters
Kid Cudi
Manchester Orchestra
Pretty Lights
The Kills
Beats Antique
Cage the Elephant
Cee Lo Green
Cold War Kids
Crystal Castles
Death from Above 1979
OK GO
Portugal. The Man
+more
North Coast
(line-up not fully announced yet)
(line-up not fully announced yet)
September 2nd-4th
Chicago, Illinois
Deadmau5
Gogol Bordello
Ratatat
Daft Punk
David Guetta
Fatboy Slim
Pretty Lights
Steve Aoki
Chemical Brothers
Common
Major Lazer
Of Montreal
It has become evident that my biggest goals this year (aside from ending world hunger) are to see The Black Keys, Gogol Bordello, and Rage Against the Machine. I’ve obviously got my favorites that keep popping up at almost every festival around this year (City & Colour, anyone? Dallas is making his rounds!), and it’s also come to my attention that there are a shit-ton of artists and bands that I have never heard of but should scope, mostly because I keep seeing their names on every festival line-up as well. Who is Skrillex? Best Coast? There were a few other bands I’m taking a mental notes of just because they have glorious names: Rad Bromance, Reptar, Disciples of Christ, The Durdens, Hot Buttered Rum, Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad, Dangermuffin, G. Love & Special Sauce, Surgeons in Heat.
Summerfest has by far the longest list of bands I’ve ever given a shit about, a ton being from my Middle School days: Third Eye Blind, Britney Spears, Dropkick Murphys, Meat Loaf, etc. This would probably be my best and only excuse to ever want to be in Milwaukee, which I’m sure is why they’re so keen on keeping up this festival year after year. I haven’t done enough research into it to find out how it all began, but I do know that it consistently has been the largest music event in the states by attendance. Am I the only one that didn’t know it existed before today?
Bonnaroo has the largest concentration of bands I’ve been passionate about over the past year or so: Bassnectar, The Black Keys, Buffalo Springfield!!!, Florence + the Machine, Gogol Bordello, Grace Potter & the Nocturnals, Lewis Black (one of my favorite comedians), Mumford & Sons, and Ratatat. Man, if Rage Against the Machine were doing this festival, I’d make the trip to Tennessee for this in a heartbeat. I’d still consider it if I weren’t signing up for classes in Austin during the same weekend.
In conclusion, I probably should be moving to Chicago in stead of Austin, judging by the combination of line-ups at Lollapalooza and North Coast (and the fact that they call themselves the friggen North Coast makes me chuckle).
Enjoy your Summer of Music, errbody!
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| Health & Harmony 2010 |
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