After the awesomeness of SXSW, WMC and Coachella, we’re going to get the shakes without more music stages to swarm. Luckily the season of mosh pits and overpriced merchandise has only begun, and we’ve rounded up the loudest, sweatiest, most talent-laden festivals for your aural pleasure, plus our unprofessional analyses of how many miles each festival warrants traveling.
Bonnaroo
When: June 12-15
Where: Nashville, TN
Who: Kanye, Death Cab, Chris Rock, Cat Power, MIA, Broken Social Scene, Widespread Panic, Iron & Wine
Worth: Bonnaroo is as much about the experience of piling into pick-up trucks and hosing down topless girls as it is about the music. If that’s your schtick, it doesn’t matter which artists are showing up as long as the line-up is passably appealing.
More info: www.bonnaroo.com
Movement: Detroit Electronic Music Festival
When: May 24-26
Where: Detroit
Who: Diesel Boy, Derrick May, Moby, Josh Wink, Richie Hawtin, Carl Craig
Worth: The definitive hub for all techno-heads and ravers of the world, and worth a long haul from all over the country. This is what frequent flyer miles are for.
Tickets: www.wantickets.com/EventDetail.aspx?e_id=38838
More info: www.myspace.com/detroitmusicfest
New Orleans Jazz Festival
When: April 25-27, May 1-4
Where: The Big Easy
Who: Buckwheat Zydeco, Sheryl Crow, Al Green, Billy Joel, Keyshia Cole, Tim McGraw, Elvis Costello [first weekend]; Marcia Ball, Stevie Wonder, Randy Newman, O.A.R., Widespread Panic, Diana Krall, The Roots, Chick Corea [second weekend]
Worth: Aside from stoner-favorites O.A.R. and Widespread Panic, this venerable list appeals to our more mature (re: dated) tastes. Green and Costello are the first weekend’s
bright spots, while Wonder carries the second weekend all
by his lonesome. A respectable road trip for jazz fans in the
Gulf states, but otherwise this festival seems engineered for hip parents.
More info: www.nojazzfest.com
Sasquatch Music Festival
When: May 24-26
Where: George, Washington
Who: REM, Modest Mouse, MIA, Death Cab, The New Pornographers, Beirut, The Cure, Okkervil River, Built to Spill, Mars Volta, The National, Flight of the Concords, Tim Meadows, Horatio Sanz, Matt Besser, Upright Citizens Brigade
Worth: 500 miles by Hybrid. If everyone took the time to witness Michael Stipe jerk around on stage, there’d be no wars. Sasquatch’s blend of old favorites and new talents justifies some serious hauling to a teensy town in the Pacific Northwest. Bonuses: the Gorge amphitheater is a magnificent beast of a venue, and the entire festival has
been certified as carbon neutral for the environment.
More info: www.sasquatchfestival.com
Wakarusa
When: June 5-8
Where: Lawrence, Kansas
Who: Flaming Lips, Blackalicious, STS9, CAKE, Galactic, Ozomatli
Worth: Chicago has been the catch-all Midwestern venue for years, but its far-north location makes traveling from the Great Plains a great pain. While the majority of this line-up appears elsewhere, Midwesterners finally have a conveniently located festival that shouldn’t take more than a half-day trip.
More info: www.wakarusa.com
Popped! Philadelphia Music Festival
When: June 20-22
Where: Philly
Who: Vampire Weekend, Mates of State
Worth: Local excursion for East Coasters, but no more. We are going to be so sick of Vampire Weekend by the time June rolls around.
More info: www.poppedphiladelphia.org
Essence Music Festival
When: July 4-6
Where: New Orleans, LA
Who: Kanye, Rihanna, LL Cool J, Jill Scott, Chris Rock, Mary J. Blige
Worth: A hip-hop and R&B festival in post-Katrina New Orleans is a message of strength and solidarity worth honoring with your attendance, but it doesn’t hurt that these are the giants and future giants of American culture.
More info: www.essence.com/essence/emf
Pitchfork Music Festival
When: July 18-20, 2008
Where: Chicago, IL
Who: Public Enemy, Animal Collective, Vampire Weekend, The Dodos, Les Savy Fav, Spoon, M. Ward, The Apples in Stereo
Worth: There’s no Woodstock for this generation, per se, but this might be as close as we get. Say what you will about the snarky online music journal who hosts this Valhalla of music festivals: they at least know how to sign up all the nearly-famous bands whose tickets will cost thrice as much and
be held in tiny churches (we’re looking at you, Arcade Fire)
in another four years.
More info: www.pitchforkmusicfestival.com
Rock the Bells
When and Where: Starting July 19th in Chicago, moves through Toronto, Boston, New York, Miami, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and ends on August 23rd in Denver.
Who: A Tribe Called Quest, Nas, Pharcyde, Mos Def, De La Soul, Spank Rock, Rakim, Method Man
Worth: Lucky bicoastal residents won’t have to travel more than 150 miles anyways, but that line-up justifies a bona fide road trip for serious hip-hop fans all over the country.
More info: www.rockthebells.net
Lollapalooza
When: August 1-3
Where: Chicago, IL
Who: Radiohead, RATM, NIN, Kanye, Wilco, Gnarls Barkley, The Raconteurs
Worth: Maybe if you’re a serious Radiohead or Kanye fan, but this line-up is bloated with has-beens (what has Trent Reznor been up to recently? Exactly.) and the smaller names are popping up at other festivals. Save your gas money and air miles for the buzz-worthy secondary bands at the Pitchfork Music Festival.
More info: www.lollapalooza.com
All Points West
When: August 8-10
Where: Jersey City, NJ
Who: Radiohead, CSS, Girl Talk, TNP, Grizzly Bear, The Go! Team
Worth: A half-day bus trip at best. CSS, New Pornographers and Radiohead are appearing in festivals all over the country, so it’s not worth the hassle unless you’re nearby.
More info: www.apwfestival.com
Virgin Mobile Festival
When: August 9-10
Where: Baltimore, MD
Who: Foo Fighters, Stone Temple Pilots, Nine Inch Nails, Kanye, Chromeo, Wilco, Lil Wayne
Worth: The landmark reunion of STP alone makes this trip worth a plane ticket splurge. This musical pantheon of top-grossing classic artists that will draw everyone from hipsters to hip-hop heads.
More info: www.virginmobilefestival.com
Austin City Limits
When: September 26-28
Where: Austin, TX
Who: Foo Fighters, David Byrne, The Mars Volta, Erykah Badu, NERD, G. Love and the Special Sauce, Neko Case, Yeasayer
Worth: The poor man’s SXSW, but by the time South By’s little sibling rolls around six months after the March Madness, every music-hungry Texan youth will be rarin’ to mob the stage. Worth trucking it if you’re within a day’s drive.
More info: www.aclfestival.com