The Summer’s Top Five Music Festivals
I’m a fan of lists. For no good reason I love hearing the best, worst, most likely to, or things you’d bring onto a desert island. It’s less about what’s on the list than it is about the process of deciding what makes it and what doesn’t. I swear I could spend hours debating whether or not “The Wall” is better than “Dark Side of the Moon” or if I could actually put “Hangin’ Tough” above the magic and majesty of “Face the Music on my list of Top 5 Pink Floyd and/or New Kids on the Block albums.
So … without further or prior ado … here’s my list of the summer’s top 5 music festivals:
1. Nateva Music & Camping Festival – Oxford, ME (7/2 – 7/4)
Deep in the woods of Maine, the hippies/hopefuls/herbalists gather to witness what the Grateful Dead and/or organic chemistry hath wrought. Further (Weir/Lesh), George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic, and a whole host of others make for a phenomenal weekend. My money’s on the Ryan Montbleau Band. Total underdogs on the huge summer festival circuit, but great musicians all. Funny too.
Sunset Junction Arts and Music Street Festival – Silverlake, CA (8/21-8/22)
So you take a huge intersection in Silverlake, CA just east of Hollywood. You add a huge amount of local vendors and supporters, book insane musicians, and just let the locals have their way with you. Welcome to Sunset Junction — 30 years strong, and the definition of righteous cool. This year’s lineup includes everyone from The Ohio Players (!) to Shiny Toy Guns, Fishbone, and Mayer Hawthorne. It’s a very cool, very local, and non-poser type event. I have fond memories of seeing Social Distortion there a few years back followed by a hazy recollection of a night at Akbar. But I digress….
Bumbershoot – Seattle, WA (9/4 – 9/6)
Technically, it’s still summer in early September. And Bumbershoot’s lineup blows make me seriously wonder what kind of powers their bookers have. I challenge anyone to create a more diverse, yet insanely harmonious, lineup. Everyone from Bob Dylan to Drake. My pick for band of the festival: Delorean.
Note: I mentioned Seattle and didn’t make a single Starbucks reference. Not bad, huh?
Levon Helm’s Midnight Ramble - Woodstock, NY (Various summer nights)
This is on my MUST do list. Levon Helm (of The Band) invites folks into his home, and into his barn, and puts on a show. Special guests abound, and it’s considered to be one of the most reaffirming, recharging, re-energizing performances you’ll ever get to see. Technically, it’s not a festival, but still … it deserves a mighty mention.
Montreal (June/July)
Between June and July, Montreal hosts both their Comedy Festival -and- their Jazz Festival. I’m not gonna say which one is better, but I’m impressed by a city that can pull off both and serve poutine without a hint of irony. Enjoy some of North Americas best adult entertainers, have a Labatt’s, and laugh/groove ’til you can’t handle the hipness.
And yeah, I didn’t mention Bonnaroo or Coachella. So there.
Agh. Not that I like being a spelling/grammar cop, but it’s not “adieu”. If you spell it that way, you’re saying, “Without further goodbye”.
It should be “ado”, as in, “Much Ado About Nothing”.
(My apologies. It just bugged me.)
Great blog!
Y’know … I used to make a lot of typos and nobody noticed. I guess this means more people are paying attention
Much appreciated and fixed …
–Scott