SUMMER FESTIVAL ROUND-UP!

So summer is here, and the festival season kicked off last week with Wakarusa in Lawrence, Kansas. Wakarusa featured 80/35 headliners The Flaming Lips, along with appearances from Emmylou Harris, Ben Folds, Cake, Keller Williams, State Radio, and Omaha tap-dancing standouts Tilly and the Wall.
However, Wakarusa is old news. Today I’m spending a little time discussing a few of the lesser known North American Festivals, as I’m sure everyone is just about sick of hearing about Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, and the two week long Summerfest.

Rothbury: July 3-6, Rothbury, Mich.: $245 4-Day Pass (Single Day Tickets Unavailable)
Rothbury is a 4-day festival in Michigan highlighting some of the country’s best music from a wide variety of genres. With a line-up of 85+ artists, some of the notables are: Dave Matthews Band, John Mayer, 311, Snoop Dogg, Modest Mouse, Michael Franti, Rodrigo Y Gabriela, Black Keys, Yonder Mountain String Band, Of Montreal, Dresden Dolls, Atmosphere, Secret Machines, and Ingrid Michaelson.

Pitchfork: July 18-20, Chicago, Illi.: $65 3-Day Pass ($30 Single Day)
The Pitchfork Music Festival is the brainchild of alt and indie music’s most reliable music source, Pitchfork Media. The 3 day festival’s line-up includes 41 bands, ranging from big names like Vampire Weekend to up-and-comer (and SCOPE favorite) Bon Iver. Some notable performers: The Hold Steady, Vampire Weekend, Fleet Foxes, Spoon, Dinosaur Jr, M. Ward, and Bon Iver.

PS… there’s a Public Enemy reunion scheduled to go down. Flavor Flaaaaav!

Mile High: July 19-20, Denver, Col.: $150 2-Day Pass ($85 Single Day)
Mile High (see what they did there?) is a jam band fan’s dream. It features some of the best bands to nod your head to. However, Mile High is beginning to attempt to reach a wider audience than the smoking population of the west half the country, bringing in artists like John Mayer and OneRepublic. Some notables: Dave Matthews Band, John Mayer, Jason Mraz, Citizen Cope, Gavin DeGraw, State Radio, OAR, Michael Franti, Spoon, moe., Lupe Fiasco, Andrew Bird, Black Crowes, OneRepublic, Rodrigo Y Gabriela, Flobots, and another 80/35 headliner The Roots.

10,000 Lakes: July 23-26, Detroit Lakes, Minn.: $130 4-Day Pass (Single Day Tickets Unavailable)
Staying with the the jam band flavor of Mile High is Minnesota’s 10,000 Lakes festival. The festival runs for four days in the end of July, and though the festival lacks a wide variety of big names, the shows are guaranteed not to disappoint those in attendance, with an intimate venue and good jammin’ music: The Flaming Lips, Michael Franti, Leftover Salmon, Slightly Stoopid, George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic, Dark Star Orchestra, Wookiefoot, and Lotus.

Pemberton: July 25-27, Pemberton, Brit. Col.: $260 3-Day Pass (Single Day Tickets Unavailable)
Canada was beginning to feel left out of the music scene, while the ‘big brother down under’ rocked out to some amazing festivals. This year, they looked to put a stop to it with the Pemberton Music Festival. The line-up is one of the best you’ll see this year, and well worth the high price of admission: Nine Inch Nails, Coldplay, Tom Petty, Jay-Z, Death Cab for Cutie, Interpol, Wolfmother, Metric, Secret Machines, Minus the Bear, My Morning Jacket, Flaming Lips, N*E*R*D, Vampire Weekend, Matisyahu, and the always fantastic Crystal Method running a DJ set.

All Points West: August 8-10, Jersey City, NJ: $258 3-Day Pass ($89 Single Day)
Something that the NE has been missing for years is a go-to summer festival. The New York area is one of the best scenes in the world for up-and-coming rock and hip-hop acts, but for some reason, they’ve been missing out on a summer festival to represent the talent of the area. This year, however, APW does not disappoint: Radiohead, Kings of Leon, Jack Johnson, Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals, New Pornographers, Michael Franti, Girl Talk, Duffy, Andrew Bird, Grizzly Bear, Metric, The Roots, Black Angels, K’Naan, Cat Power, Secret Machines, Rogue Wave, and the latin guitar playing gods Rodrigo Y Gabriela.

Virgin Mobile Festival: August 9-10, Baltimore, Mar.: Prices TBD
Another great festival on the East Coast this summer is the Virgin Mobile Festival. Expect prices to be fairly high, as what this lacks in a clever name, it makes up for in a talented line-up: Jack Johnson, Kanye West, Citizen Cope, Lupe Fiasco, Duffy, Foo Fighters, Wilco, Rodrigo Y Gabriela, Chuck Berry, KT Tunstall, Offspring, Bloc Party, Cat Power, Lil’ Wayne, Taking Back Sunday, Iggy Pop & the Stooges, Black Keys, Paramore, Moby, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Andrew Bird, and SCOPE alum Bob Dylan.

Outside Lands: August 22-24, San Francisco, Cali.: $226 3-Day Pass (Single Day Tickets Unavailable)
This is probably my favorite festival of the summer. You can bet I’m disappointed I’ll already be back in Iowa City when it begins on the 22nd of August in San Francisco. The line-up this year is pretty sick as far as ‘indie-hipster’ line-ups go, and that’s exactly who this festival caters to: Radiohead, Beck, Black Keys, Cold War Kids, Tom Petty, Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals, Primus, Steve Winwood, Lupe Fiasco, M. Ward, Devendra Banhart, Two Gallants, Jack Johnson, Wilco, Widespread Panic, Rodrigo Y Gabriela, Broken Social Scene, Andrew Bird, The Cool Kids, Bon Iver, Drive-By Truckers and probably the coolest hip-hop artist on the planet, K’Naan.

Bumbleshoot: August 30-September 1, Seattle, Wash.: $80-100 3-Day Pass ($35-40 Single Day)
The concert deal of the summer, in the alternative rock capital of the world: Bumbleshoot. It’s no wonder this festival (which is actually the best kept secret of the Seattle area) draws over 2,000,000 concert goers a year. The line-up this year has some local favorites, along with some of the nation’s biggest acts: Anti-Flag, Black Keys, Band of Horses, Bedouin Soundclash, Beck, Estelle, Dan Deacon, Fall of Troy, Ingrid Michaelson, Jakob Dylan, Lucinda Williams, Keyshia Cole, M. Ward, Minus the Bear, Neko Case, Paramore, Ryan Bingham, T.I., and the recently reunited Stone Temple Pilots.

Monolith: September 13-14, Red Rocks, Col.: $110 2-Day Pass ($60 Single Day)
So one of the country’s most beautiful and historic concert venues, the Red Rocks Amphitheatre, is hosting one of the most hipster festivals I’ve ever seen. The concert is full of bands that are up-and-coming, and it will be the concert that in 3 years, everyone will wish they went to. Here’s a small part of the 70 band line-up: Vampire Weekend, Neko Case, Fratellis, KaiserCartel, TV on the Radio, Band of Horses, Tokyo Police Club, The Kills, Tilly and the Wall, SCOPE alums and Los Angeles radio mainstays Atmosphere and the French DJ duo Justice.

Austin City Limits: September 26-28, Austin, Tex.: $170 3-Day Pass (Single Day Tickets Unavailable)
An epic line-up, a low price of admission, some amazing venues, and a great party town all add up to the perfect ending to a wonderful festival season. Over 130 bands will take the stage over the course of three days in Austin, Texas. With a line-up like this, I’m already considering a trip to Austin in late September: Foo Fighters, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, Beck, John Fogerty, Raconteurs, Mars Volta, Gnarls Barkley, Conor Oberst, N*E*R*D, Erykah Badu, Tegan and Sara, Iron and Wine, G. Love and the Special Sauce, Neko Case, Band of Horses, Black Keys, Jacob Dylan, Okkervil River, Hot Chip, Vampire Weekend, Slightly Stoopid, Blues Traveler, Drive-By Truckers, Yonder Mountain String Band, Flyleaf, Jenny Lewis, Ingrid Michaelson, MGMT, Fratellis, M. Ward, Mason Jennings, The Kills, Louis XIV, and SCOPE alum Ryan Bingham.