#77 - music festivals aplenty

i've always wanted to go to a big outdoor music festival. there are many. i went to last year's musicfest NW in portland, which had a ton of great performers. i got a wristband and saw spoon, helio sequence, the brunettes, and the thermals among others. it was great because i could go see any of a hundred bands with that wristband, and it was in my city. right on! that was back in september. now that the weather is warming up, so are music festivals. here is a short but sweet rundown. this is another "if i were rich..." thing. i'd go to them all! i love music!

south by southwest (SXSW) - austin, texas - march 7-16
it's all about music here. bands, films and conferences. there are bands from everywhere (over a thousand!) and they play everywhere. there are a ton of venues and it's a week of music. i looked through the lineups and didn't recognize many bands, mostly cause there were so many! but last year they had aesop rock, badly drawn boy, vashti bunyan, kings of leon, moe, ozomatli, and tokyo police club.

kokua festival - honolulu, hawaii - april 19-20
okay well the tickets are sold out and i can't come back again in 2 months but this is a good one. jack johnson, paula fuga, mason jennings, go jimmy go (part of them played at my h.s. grad party!) and dave matthews (i'm not a fan). it's gonna be at the shell and benefits hawaii environmental education programs. it's put together by jack johnson and i went to the first one awhile back, was good stuff. introduced me to michael franti & spearhead!

coachella - indio, california - april 25-27
three day music festival, outdoors in the desert. started in 1993 as a boycott of ticketmaster. has become bigger every year, and featured RHCP and rage against the machine last year. this years lineup includes jack johnson, the verve, the raconteurs, portishead, kraftwerk, death cab for cutie, love and rockets, my morning jacket, fatboy slim, tegan & sara, stephen malkmus & the jicks and gogol bordello. i don't know about the desert though.

sasquatch - the gorge, washington - memorial day weekend
i haven't yet been to the gorge, but hear it's awesome. big lawn, camping, great music. last year i was really close to going but couldn't find anyone with enough money. this year's lineup includes cold war kids, REM, the cure, death cab for cutie, modest mouse, built to spill, rodrigo y gabriela, michael franti & spearhead (WHOO!), okkervil river, and the new pornographers with of course a ton more. i'm VERY interested in going to this one.

bonnarroo - manchester, tennessee - june 15-18
they've got music, cinema and comedy. what else more could you want? well a lineup that includes pearl jam, metallica, jack johnson, kanye west, chris rock, iron & wine, death cab for cutie, alison krauss, the raconteurs, sigur ros, ben folds, and mason jennings! sounds awesome, except tennessee is not too much.

lollapalooza - grant park, chicago - august 1-3
lollapalooza used to be a touring festival but now is held in illinois. they've got rock, alternative, hip hop and punk bands featured, as well as dance and comedy. the 2008 lineup isn't yet set but last year they featured pearl jam, daft punk, ben harper, muse, iggy & the stooges, modest mouse, interpol, my morning jacket, amy winehouse and snow patrol. quite a nice lineup i'd say. it'll be interesting who's on it this year.

bumbershoot - seattle, washington - labor day weekend
last year featured andrew bird, crowded house, colin hay, devotchka, fergie, floater, gym class heroes, janeane garafolo, joss stone, panic! at the disco, and the shins, plus a lot more! it's been going on since 1980 and has become one of the biggest music & art festivals around.

austin city limits - austin, texas - september 26-28
this has become one of the biggests music festivals and features multiple stages and genres. last years lineup included bob dylan, bjork, the killers, wilco, arcade fire, muse, my morning jacket, queens of the stone age, regina spektor, kaiser chiefs, bloc party, arctic monkeys and damien rice. a lot of big names and a lot of bands i want to see.

so right now i'm thinking sasquatch or bonnarroo, definitely lots of bands i want to see at each, camping, good venues. sasquatch obviously would be a better choice since it's closer and within driving distance...but i wanna see mason jennings again! of course he'll come back to portland and i'm not sure a big music festival is the best place to see him. if i don't make it to either one i'll definitely go to bumbershoot this year. i can't wait!