Well even though summer dragged its feet in getting here this year, we’re undisputedly in the midst of that warmest of seasons, which means one thing for music fans: Festivals.
Festivals represent almost everything that is good about live music – a wide variety of genres, open air concerts, congregations of rabid fans, exposure to unheard acts, good value for your dollar, and the chance to potentially make out with a stranger even though you haven’t showered in days. Sure, festivals have their downfalls – crowds, expensive foods, hot sun, STDs – but the pros outweigh the cons in almost every case.
From their bloody genesis in Roman times, Festivals have evolved steadily to their current state – an excuse to go hang out in a field/gorge/park for three days. Also, the only reason you’d ever want to visit Manchester, Tennessee. The packing list is simple for these festivals – clothes you don’t care about, sunscreen, and a water bottle will pretty much cover 95% of your needs. The advice is simple as well: plan your show schedule in advance, don’t worry about sleeping, and jump in the mudpit. Just go with it.
So in the vein of keeping it simple, here is a quick and dirty rundown of the big festivals (both past and present) of 2009. I left some out – sorry Bumbershoot, Tanglewood, Telluride, Bumbleride, and Lilith Fair – don’t shoot me. I also went through and stripped away all the surroundings to give you the important stats: Arbitrarily Chosen (by me) “Big Names” and “Smaller But Mighty Names”, as well as the official tagline (not true) of the Festival. I hope you find it handy.
Coachella –April 17-19th, Indio, CA
Big Names: M.I.A., Paul McCartney, The Cure, The Killers
Smaller But Mighty Names: Antony and the Johnsons, N.A.S.A., Peter Bjorn and John, Lupe Fiasco
Tagline: “An anagram for ‘Cacao Hell’. Coincidence? You decide.”
Sasquatch! – May 23-25, George, WA
Big Names: Kings of Leon, Jane’s Addiction, Nine Inch Nails
Smaller But Mighty Names: Passion Pit, Blitzen Trapper, The Dodos, Of Montreal
Tagline: “The festival named after the smelly guy standing next to you during the Ben Harper set.”
Bonarroo – June 11-14, Manchester, TN
Big Names: Phish, Beastie Boys, Wilco, Snoop Dogg
Smaller But Mighty Names: Dirty Projectors, Girl Talk, Phoenix, Béla Fleck
Tagline: “We put the hip in Hippie AND Hipster.”
Glastonbury – June 24-28, Glastonbury, UK
Big Names: Bruce Springsteen, Lily Allen, Regina Spektor, Lady Gaga, Franz Ferdinand, etc. etc.
Smaller But Mighty Names: The Ting Tings, Dizzee Rascal, Bon Iver, The Streets, etc. etc.
Tagline: “This festival is massive. And full of kindly British people.”
Pitchfork – July 17-19, Chicago, IL
Big Names: Grizzly Bear, Yo La Tengo, The Flaming Lips, The Walkmen
Smaller But Mighty Names: Yeasayer, DOOM, Matt and Kim, Japandroids
Tagline: “It was better before everyone knew about it. Now it’s a 7.8.”
All Points West – July 31-August 2, Jersey City, NJ
Big Names: Jay-Z, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Coldplay, Arctic Monkeys
Smaller But Mighty Names: La Roux, The Cool Kids, Gogol Bordello, Flying Lotus
Tagline: “We missed the boat not calling this ‘All Points Westival.’
Underage Festival – August 2, Victoria Park, UK
Big Names: Santigold, Patrick Wolf, Mystery Jets, Ladyhawke
Smaller But Mighty Names: The XX, Metronomy, Marina and the Diamonds, Micachu and the Shapes
Tagline: “Free temporary X tattoos on your hands!”
Lollapalooza – August 7-9, Chicago, IL
Big Names: Vampire Weekend, The Killers, The Decemberists, TV On The Radio
Smaller But Mighty Names: Andrew Bird, Ra Ra Riot, Atmosphere, Heartless Bastards
Tagline: “The Original Not-A-Real-Word Festival.”
Warped Tour – All Summer, Everywhere
Big Names: Bad Religion, Flogging Molly, NOFX, Less Than Jake, Anti-Flag
Smaller But Mighty Names: Streetlight Manifesto, Cobra Starship, 3OH!3
Tagline: “Only know three chords? Come on down!”
Bestival – September 11-12, Isle of Wight, UK
Big Names: Massive Attack, Kraftwerk, Fleet Foxes, MGMT
Smaller But Mighty Names: Mika, Klaxons, Friendly Fires, Diplo
Tagline: “Get it? Because we’re the Best, and we’re a Festival.”
Monolith – September 12-13, Red Rocks Ampitheatre, CO
Big Names: Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Phoenix, DOOM, The Walkmen
Smaller But Mighty Names: Harlem Shakes, OK GO, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Cymbals Eat Guitars
Tagline: “This Red Rocks festival, held at Red Rocks, is an excellent venue to see music played at Red Rocks. Also, it’s held in the spectacular Red Rocks Ampitheatre. Red Rocks.”
ATP NY – September 11-13, Monticello, NY
Big Names: The Flaming Lips, Animal Collective, Sufjan Stevens, Iron and Wine
Smaller But Mighty Names: Atlas Sound, Crystal Castles, Deerhunter, David Cross
Tagline: OMG. ATP. LATFH.
Tags: The Thinking Man
Lollapalooza definitely had one of the best linesup this year…if only I could’ve gone to enjoy the lineup. Check this out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pw3QFkEDGdM Fuse’s highlights special show on this Saturday at 9pm…its all ive got!!
And Rothbury – The dead? SCI? that festie was outahand
WHAT ABOUT ACL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Austin City Limits is by all means a summer festival, but it got moved to October because IT’S STILL SUMMER here in Texas… And come on, Beastie Boys, Dave Mathews Band, KOL, Passion Pit, Girl Talk, Grizly Bear, Bon Iver, Phoenix, Andrew Bird, Ghostland Observatory… the line up is beyond Good!
well, now, you also seemed to leave out a tiny little shindig called austin city limits festival.
i’d like to think it’s a bit more substantial than lilith fair
)
lmao!
“It was better before everyone knew about it. Now it’s a 7.8.”
Hilarious.
I like the article though for Coachella I fail to see how Lupe Fiasco is a smaller name than M.I.A.
The taglines for Pitchfork and Warped were hilarious.
san diego’s street scene is a pretty decent summer festival.