With the recent announcement of the lineup for the Coachella Music Festival in Indio California we now have the looming barrage of other festival lineup leaks, rumours, expectations, and surprises to tantalize our wet-ed appetites for sound. From coast to coast to coast to coast there are hundreds of different music festivals for all ages, sizes, tastes, and budgets. The killer lineup of Coachella had me giving serious thought to somehow making ends meet in order to make this always well reviewed and attended fest a must for this year. Unfortunately, in the midst of my trying to see where I could squeeze enough pennies I saw an announcement on twitter : Tickets are sold out for Coachella 2011. Now, that doesn't mean it won't be possible to still get a ticket. There will definitely be some available on aftermarket sights such as Craig'slist, Ebay, and Kijiji but reliability of such sources can be called into question. The aftermarket cost can skyrocket. A confirmed seller could very well sell out last moment to a higher local offer. Or in a worst case scenario (but all too possible), you could receive your ticket in the mail, do your happy dance, gather all your gear and make your costly travels waaaaay down south all the way to the middle of the desert in the mountains of Cali only to discover as you present your ticket that it is a phony, a fake, a worthless piece of shit! This immediately got me to seeing about other large festivals to attend.
2 years ago I hit up the Sasquatch festival held at the picturesque gorge in Washington State. Well documented highlights of that festival included seeing Nine Inch Nails playing with the setting sun and gorge behind them ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNOV4sVRbQs ), followed by Jane's Addiction ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_dQvVor5qg ) and the viral video of my buddy (and then roommate) Colin the Dancing Man rocking it out to Santigold ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GA8z7f7a2Pk this vid still gives me goosebumps). Other features that year included seeing Tv on the Radio, Animal Collective, Bon Iver, Of Montreal, Explosions in the Sky, Gogol Bordello, The Avett Bros, M83, Gaslight Anthem, Chromeo, Deadmou5, Sun Kil Moon, Airoborne Toxic Event, St Vincent, Passion Pit, Black Moth Super Rainbow, Ra Ra Riot, The Knux, The Submarines, and Mt St Helens Vietnam Band, to name but a few.
The official lineup will be announced on February 6th but in the meantime I am excited by the expected list of : The Foo Fighters (confirmed), Das Rascist, Fitz and the Tantrums, Foster the People, Neon Indian, Sleigh Bells, Twin Shadow, and Wolf Parade. Now if only Yeasayer can be added to that list....
Other large fests which have garnered rave reviews and have been a hit with friends include bonnaroo ( http://festival-outlook.consequenceofsound.net/fests/view/357/bonnaroo-music-and-arts-festival ) and of course the former traveling tour of Lollapalooza ( http://festival-outlook.consequenceofsound.net/fests/view/336/lollapalooza ). So far the only added tasty treats for Bonnaroo are (rumours only at this point) Man Man (who thoroughly impressed me at the Calgary Folk Fest last year : http://aneegadole.blogspot.com/2011/01/bestworst-of-2010.html ) and Mumford and Sons. Over at Lolla the rumourmill has Janes possibly playing amongst others.
So, I sit with baited breath, eagerly anticipating official announcements and reading as many rumour sites as possible to try to plan out where in North America I am going to go spend a weekend amidst a plethora of musical talents, sweaty stinky fans, and untrustworthy gut wrenching food. I can't wait to return to my nirvana!
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