After the end of the year best of lists are done for and the holidays are over, it's the season for rampant speculation about who is playing what festival. The fun rumors this year include
Metallica and Led Zeppelin at Bonnaroo and
My Bloody Valentine at Coachella. Here at Ohmpark, we heart festivals and will be keeping you informed on all of these developments. Here are the fests I'm looking forward to:
Langerado (March 6-9, 2008) [Big Cypress, FL]Langerado typically marks the beginning of the festival season. This south Florida fest has followed the Bonnaroo trajectory and broadened its line-up over the last few years beyond the pure jamband roots it started with, but is much smaller, beginning as a one day fest with 3500 attendance in 2003, to it's first year with three full days and 15,000 attendees in 2007. This year, they've upped the ante again expanding to four days and moving to Big Cypress Indian Reservation, the site of
Phish's legendary New Years Eve 1999 shows. The 2008 line-up is their best yet:
Thursday March 6th Les Claypool - Dark Star Orchestra - Perpetual Groove - the New Deal - Busdriver - Phix - Golem - That 1 Guy - Awesome New Republic - the PostmarksFriday March 7th Beastie Boys - 311 - The Roots - G. Love & Special Sauce - Umphrey's McGee - Built to Spill - Mickey Hart Band - The Wailers - Ozomatli - !!! - Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars - Indigenous - Sam Bush - The Walkmen - Vampire Weekend - Brett Dennen - The Spam Allstars - matt pond PA - Bassnectar - American Babies - Earl Greyhound - the Dynamites - The Heavy Pets - Backyard Tire Fire - School of Rock All-StarsSaturday March 8th R.E.M. - Matisyahu - Thievery Corporation - Ben Folds - Medeski, Scofield, Martin & Wood - The Disco Biscuits - Robert Randolph & the Family Band - Citizen Cope - Antibalas - Ghostland Observatory - Arrested Development - Benevento Russo Duo - State Radio - Dr. Dog - the New Mastersounds - the Bad Plus - the Avett Brothers - Railroad Earth - Yard Dogs Road Show - Blitzen Trapper - Pelican - Dan Deacon - RAQ - Pnuma Trio - the Wood Brothers - Trevor Hall - American BangSunday March 9th Phil Lesh & Friends - Ani DiFranco - Gov't Mule - Keller Williams - funky Meters - The National - of Montreal - Minus the Bear - Martin Sexton - Grace Potter & the Nocturnals - Blind Melon - Ryan Shaw - Felice Brothers - Shout Out Louds - Josh Ritter - the Lee Boys - Will Hoge - Steel Train - Pete Francis - Balkan Beat Box - Jonah Smith
Also, they have just recently added
Dead Confederate and a late night
Sound Tribe Sector Nine set.
The Low-down: A small camping fest with a top tier hippy-friendly line-up in the middle of a swamp. They seem to have distributed the best acts evenly across each day and I've heard lots of good things about this one. What's not to like?
Chance I go: 90% I've never been to Langerado before so with a line-up this good, I have to go.
Langerado WebsiteLive Music Blog did
great coverage of it last year.
South By Southwest (March 7-16, 2008) [Ausitn, TX]Dating as far back as 1987, this is the US's most important showcase for small acts to get hot. Every hipster on Earth heads to the biggest hipster town for a convention-style festival. They have yet to reveal a full line-up for the music portion, but notable names they have confirmed are
The Breeders and
Thurston Moore and minimalist composer
Steve Reich. But who's on the line-up is entirely irrelevant for an event like this that is centered around discovering new acts you've never heard of before.
The Low-down: The blogoshpere is dominated by SXSW in March and everyone is looking to see what's hot. It's like the X-Games of "battle of the bands" rolled into a city-wide party.
Chance I Go: 90% Another fest I've always wanted to go to, but never got the chance. I'm hoping to hook up with some ATL band and go into total coverage mode (if you're a band going to SXSW from ATL, give us a holla).
South By Southwest WebsiteKeep up to date on all things SXSW
here.
Wanee (April 2007) [Live Oak, FL]A small, spring hippy-fest not too far from the ATL. They have yet to release official dates for next year or a line-up, but last year's two-day installment was entirely jamband anchored featuring most notably
Gov't Mule, Derek Trucks Band, and
Keller Williams. Details should be coming soon for next year's event.
The Low-down: Small scale hippy-fests are always a fun time, but if you're reading Ohmpark regularly, I doubt you're gonna find too much music there for progressive tastes.
Chance I Go: 25% With all the other awesome fests going on in the spring, i may not have the cash to do this, but I would like to.
Wanee Website Coachella (April 25-27, 2008) [Indio, CA]Back When
Pearl Jam was fighting Ticketmaster, they did a show with
Tool in 1993 at the Empire Polo Club, east of Los Angeles in the desert in need of a large-scale venue that Ticketmaster didn't have exclusive rights to. Six years later, the first ever Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival took place in the same spot. The first event occurred just three months after the disastrous Woodstock '99 fest, and the promoters were not allowed to offer camping because of that. The inaugural 2-day event saw approximately 25,000 attendees and was a financial failure. The fest struggled to return for a one-day event in April of 2001 and almost fell apart completely before
Jane's Addiction reunited to be the headliner and made the second installment a resounding success. The festival has grown since, to its pinnacle last year with
Rage Against The Machine's reunion to 100,000 people. Legendary band reunions have been a large part of Coachella's history and helped propel it to one of the two most important festivals of this decade. I was lucky enough to attend in 2004 and in 2005 and both years were amazing experiences. One yearly tradition leading up to the line-up announcement extends beyond just rumored line-ups, as fake Coachella posters are circulated across the Internet. Here's my favourite one so far this year:
I Don't Say Evasion, I Say Avoision! is keeping you up-to-date on all the confirmations and rumors
here:
Current list of Coachella 2008 confirmations
Confirmed (allegedly):
The Breeders pitchfork
Dwight Yoakam official myspace
Heidi Vogel & The Cinematic Orchestra: official myspace
Autolux (email from Autolux)
The Verve Cat Dirt Sez (they broke the news on Scar Jo and Friday set times this year so they are trustworthy)
Death Cab for Cutie UCLA Campus Events person found out when trying to book them for a free show on campus
Austin TV Cuchara Sonica
VHS or Beta The Scenestar
Rabbit in the Moon (allegedly confirmed Coachella at Street Scene)
Significantly probable:
Caribou (playing Costa Mesa on April 24th)
A Tribe Called Quest A&M Entertainment states they are available for a 2008 world tour, and unspecified festival headliners are available for 150-800k and you know ATCQ is one of them
My Bloody Valentine (previously confirmed by The Daily Swarm, Entertainment Weekly but debunked by pitchfork and billboard so who knows)
Portishead (iffy "confirmations" from The Daily Swarm and Spin)
Animal Collective Pitchfork quotes that they will "perhaps [play] at least one show in April in the USA."
The Magnetic Fields (touring again for the first time in a hundred years)
Battles (touring next spring, playing Langerado, major buzz band of 2007, etc)
Weezer (new terrible album to be released April 22)
Swervedriver Billboard (doing reunion tour in the spring, Coachella specifically mentioned as possible)
Mogwai touring US in the spring (with stated festival preference, and Coachella is the only major US festival in the spring, besides Langerado, but that lineup has already been announced)
The Chemical Brothers messageboard post
More rumors:
R.E.M. Product Shop NYC
Screaming Trees (ditto)
The White Stripes (ditto)
Pulp (seen them on a couple blogs, heard something is planned for the 30th anniversary next year, and this would be the best surprise in Coachella history, but I unfortunately doubt this will happen)
Blur
Sasha & Digweed
Feist
Joanna Newsom
Deltron 3030
No Doubt
Definitely will NOT be there:
Radiohead Coachella board mod and Goldenvoice employee said so on the board
The Smiths
The Cure (playing the Hollywood Bowl a month later)
Led Zeppelin (wayyyy too big, but rumor has it that Bonnaroo is trying/tried to book them)
The Prodigy (previously listed on label's (Cooking Vinyl USA) myspace but removed with an official debunking statement)
Turbonegro (removed from Cooking VInyl USA's myspace as well, but quietly, so maybe there's still a chance?)
Foo Fighters (will be touring Australia at the time)
The Low-down: Coachella is such a unique experience and the line-ups are consistently one of the year's best. The desert weather can be daunting, especially if you decide to camp, but Coachella is something i think everyone who likes fests should do at least once.
Chance I Go: 70% Last year i had paid for a hotel room in the desert before the thing sold out too fast for me to get a ticket, so with the money involved to do Coachella there's certainly possibilities it could fall through for me, but I really want to go.
Coachella WebsiteBonnaroo (June 12-15, 2008) [Manchester, TN]Bonnaroo is my biggest holiday of the year. It is the one event that I look forward to most each year. You can read my 'roo stories
here or read my review of last year
here. Bonnaroo's success has helped usher in a golden day of music festivals in the US and has been ATL's only somewhat local constant pinnacle music event since it started in 2002. The fest, which began primarily as a super jamband fest, has diversified its line-ups and embraced the indie/alt rock world more and more each year. I'm very interested to see what the line-up looks like this year. The rumors
currently:
-Pearl Jam
-My Morning Jacket (Pollstar had listed them for the Friday the 13th, but took it down the next day)
-Pat Green (This is the first artist Pollstar has posted under "Bonnaroo")
-Led Zeppelin and Metallica- Superfly has denied that either one of these bands are headlining the festival in 08.
-Robert Plant and Alison Krauss - The Tennessean reports that the duo will play Bonnaroo in 08.
-B.B. King - According to his offical tour dates he is playing Bonnaroo in 08.
Pearl Jam has been a band that Bonnaroo's promoters have had on their wishlist for a long time. So, I would anticipate this would be the year that happens. Last year, though, the popular rumors which seemed most probable, including
Pearl Jam, turned out to be completely wrong, so there's really no telling until the end of January/beginning of February. Personally I'm pulling for returns from
Radiohead and
The Mars Volta, but that's only wishful thinking at this point.
The Low-down: The 'roo is no longer the extreme "no rules, greatest party on Earth" it started out to be, but it still remains an extremely important barometer of where music is and at 80,000 or so other folks, it is still one hell of a fest.
Chances I Go: 99.9% I've been every year and I don't plan on stopping anytime soon.
Bonnaroo WebsitePitchfork (Summer 2008) [Chicago, IL]After sponsoring the now defunct Intonation Fest in Chicago in 2005, Pitchfork Media created its own fest in 2006 bringing 35,000 to a small city park in Chicago. Last year it sold out to a crowd of approximately 47,000 highlighted by ATP's "Don't Look Back" series bringing
Sonic Youth,
Slint, and
GZA to play their seminal albums live. The urban, non-camping 3 day fest I attended last year was a very chill atmosphere, with maybe the best vendor setup of any festival I have been to, including a vinyl mall and a hand bill mall. With what was arguably the best line-up of last year, the only weakness this fest had was terrible sound problems all weekend. Check our coverage from last year:
The Low-down: My expectations for Pitchfork this year is that they will again have one of the best line-ups and they will fix the sound problems they had last year. If they can accomplish both of those, this is a mandatory fest.
Chances I Go: 80% I loved it last year, so I will probably go again.
Pitchfork WebsiteLollapalooza (August 1-3, 2008) [Chicago, IL]In the 1990's Lollapalooza was king of the touring fest model that flourished at that time. Run by
Jane's Addiction's
Perry Farrell, the event became as an important icon to its time in music as Woodstock did to its own time. As the grunge movement waned, and violent precursors to what happened at the Woodstock '94 and '99 began to happen at Lollapalooza shows,
Perry Farrell handed over the reigns to do other things, and the fest didn't last very long after that. In 2003, the newly reunited
Jane's Addiction headlined a revived Lollapalooza tour which I caught when it came to Lakewood. In 2004, Lollapalooza headlined by
Morrissey and
Sonic Youth failed to sell enough tickets fast enough and was cancelled very soon after being announced.
Perry vowed to bring Lollapalooza back again, and decided to adopt the Bonnaroo/Coachella model that had come to be such large successes at the time and settled down Lollapalooza to Grant Park in Chicago for a one-off event in 2005. The model proved a success for Lolla drawing 65,000 people. I went in 2006 up and really loved it.
The Low-down: With
Perry Farrell involved you know its gonna be cool, this particular urban setting is ideal for a large, non-camping fest, and the line-ups have been steadily top tier.
Chances I Go: 40% Chicago is an expensive city to visit, so i may have to choose between this and Pitchfork, and my inital inclination is to choose Pitchfork, but if the line-up is hot enough, I'll make the trek twice.
Lollapalooza WebsiteACLFest (September 26-28, 2008) [Austin, TX]Austin City Limits Music Festival began in 2002, the same year as Bonnaroo, and has emerged as a top-tier American fest, maybe the premier urban, non-camping fest in the US. Last year's line-up included
Bjork, Wilco, Arade Fire, Muse My Morning Jacket, Queens Of The Stone Age, Bloc Party, The Decmeberists, and
Yo La Tengo. I've heard good things about it but have yet to go to one.
The Low-down: It should be a great line-up and a fun big fest with 65,000 people.
Chances I Go: 60% Another fest I haven't been to means I need to go.
ACLFest WebsiteThe Echo Project (Fall 2008) [Atlanta, GA]Seemingly out of nowhere The Echo Project emerged for the first time ever a few months ago just Outside The Perimeter. The Jamband heavy, but diverse line-up brought out a great, small crowd under 10,000. By the accounts I've heard, it was not very successful financially, but the promoters have maintained that it will return next year. I had a blast, and you can read about my experience
here. Also, much better pictures
here.
The low-down: I would expect it to be really fun again next year, but I hope they get someone who knows indie music a little better to choose that part of the line-up (give me a holla ;) ), because i think diehard hippies have a hard time discerning what's good (not
The Killers). Also, they need to promote it properly this year if they want it to be financially successful.
Chances I Go: 98% So much fun and it's right here in the ATL, why wouldn't I go?
The Echo Project WebsiteVoodoo (October 24-26, 2008) [New Orleans, LA]Dating back to 1999, this mega-big urban, noncamping fest is the New Orleans version of Atlanta's old Music Midtown, held every year on Halloween weekend. In 2005 it had to be held simultaneously in two different states because of Hurricane Katrina, but when it returned to its regular spot of City Park in 2006 it bounced back with 93,000 attendance. This year with
Rage Against The Machine,
The Smashing Pumpkins, and
Wilco headlining, it blew up even larger to a ridiculous 150,000+. Check our coverage:
The Low-down: A solid fest who's line-ups tend to be a little less than top tier because of the mainstream crowd it aims at, but the bonus is you are in a city like New Orleans to party.
Chances I Go: 25% I've been to this twice, so it's about time for me to go to Vegoose for the first time.
Voodoo WebsiteVegoose (October 2008) [Las Vegas, NV]This non-camping spinoff of Bonnaroo began its annual Halloween weekend event in 2005. Last year notable acts fromm the line-up included
Rage Against The Machine, Blonde Redhead, Battles, Mastodon, Muse, Queens Of The Stone Age, and
Ghostface Killah. The line-ups tend to be even a little less jambandy than Bonnaroo's, and with late night sets in a city like Las Vegas, you know its gonna be a crazy time.
The Low-down: With the folks running Bonnaroo doing this, you're in good hands. The line-ups are small, but high quality. Last year attendance was around 40,000.
Chances I Go: 55% A fest and a city i've never experienced means most likely it is the time to go.
Vegoose WebsiteLabels: ACLFest, Bonnaroo, Coachella, Langerado, Lollapalooza, Pitchfork Fest, SXSW, The Echo Project, Vegoose, Voodoo Fest, Wanee Fest
