If I had a round trip ticket to Seattle, I'd be spending Memorial Day weekend at the Sasquatch Festival, where the lineup is the tightest, pound for pound, of any of the summer music festivals. That's despite the fact that M.I.A. has cancelled, due to visa problems. Bjork, Spoon, the Beastie Boys, Arcade Fire, Spoon, Neko Case (that's her), Ozomatli, Bad Brains, Electrelane, plus Sarah Silverman hosting. It's pretty choice. Plus, the Gorge, the central Washington amphitheatre near the Columbia River, looks pretty spectacular.
Oh well, there's always next year. It's important to have goals. And there are lots of other enticing lineups coming up around the country. Back in the 90s when Lollapalooza and Lilith Fair were touring entities, the traveling carnivals came to you. Now the concert industry has figured out that it's cheaper to park a festival in one place - like this weekend's Jam on the River - and let the fans foot the travel expenses.
The next big one is Bonnaroo, from June 14-17 in Manchester, Tennessee. There are lots of jam bands I've got no interest in seeing - are you there, Ratdog? - but the upside looks rather amazing. The Police, White Stripes, Ornette Coleman, Dr. Dog, Wilco, Flaming Lips, Lily Allen, the Roots, Mavis Staples, Feist, the Philadelphia Experiment, Gogol Bordello, DJ Shadow, Ralph Stanley, the list goes on. Hmm. Maybe a trip to Tennessee is in order.
Another big kahuna is Live Earth, on July 7 at Giants Stadium. Hopefully, Al Gore won't be singing. The lineup reads like a sharper, brighter take on the Live 8 bill in Philadelphia two years ago: Kelly Clarkson, Kanye West, the Police, Akon, Sheryl Crow, Alicia Keyes, etc. Though the London line-up, looks equally good.
Rock the Bells is far and away the hip hop event of the season, with the reunited Rage Against the Machine, the Wu Tang Clan, the Roots again, Public Enemy, Mos Def, Erykah Badu, Mr. Lif, and more. It's July 28 and 29 at Randall's Island in New York City.
Other cool ones: The Montreal Jazz Festival is an excellent excuse to head north. It runs from June 28 to July 7, and this year's expansive definition of jazz includes Bob Dylan, Keith Jarrett, Joshua Redman and Toumani Diabate. The Essence Music Festival comes back to New Orleans for the first time since Katrina hit for three days of R & B and hip hop headliners, with Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, Ludacris, Robin Thicke, Common and Ciara from July 5-7.
And the Pitchfork Festival from July 13-15 in Chicago is an indie hipsters paradise, and it's the only one with Fujiya & Miyagi (see below), De La Soul (see above) and Yoko Ono. Plus, Sonic Youth playing Daydream Nation in it's entirety.
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