Festivals

Ed. note: This is one part of The MUSE’s retrospective of the semester that was and look ahead to the summer that will be.

Best Buzz Lineup- Pitchfork Music Festival, Chicago, IL, July 15-17

Pitchfork Festival stills brings it with some of the best up and coming bands in music. Rap teens OFWGKTA will bring their insane live show, a cross between a hardcore and hip-hop set, to Chicago this summer. Joining them and others is James Blake, set to perform his minimal electronic post-dubstep sounds. With other acts including Boston’s own tUnE-yArDs and How To Dress Well, this is definitely the fest to go to if you want to see what’s new in music. More established indie acts such as Animal Collective, TV on The Radio and Fleet Foxes will headline each day, respectivelym making this one of the best and buzziest lineups of the summer. Bring your American Spirits to this one.

Best Festival to Drink a Latte with Jeff Tweedy – Solid Sound Festival, North Adams, MA, June 24-26

Ever wonder what your favorite bands are listening to? Well, Wilco is giving fans an insight into this by curating the Solid Sound Festival again this year. There is no other lineup that could sensibly have both Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth fame and the Levon Helm Band as headliners. Of course, when you think of Wilco this makes total sense. Other acts include noise popper Sic Alps and the curators themselves, who will perform two sets over the weekend. Mass MoCA plays host to the event which is sure to be filled with Dad-Rock experts and Wayfarer donned hipsters.

Best Value Festival- Northside Fest Brooklyn, NY, June  16-19/ Newport Folk Festival Newport, RI, July 30-31

Sick of spending $200+ dollars on a destination festival? These two festivals provide a gaggle of great bands for a more reasonable price. For 60-80 dollars, you can get a badge to Brooklyn’s Northside Festival. The event takes place at venues across the New York borough and brings both up and coming artists as well as more established indie stalwarts. This year, a reunited Guided By Voices tops the bill with bands like Beirut, Surfer Blood and Twin Sister filling out the top lines. The set that is not to be missed this year is Deervana which will see rockers Deer Tick play an entire set of Nirvana tunes.

Newport Folk Festival also provides a reasonably priced yet totally satisfying lineup to this year’s festival season. The history drenched fest will bring acoustic and electric sets from The Decemberists, Elvis Costello, M. Ward and The Felice Brothers along with plenty of other folk and rock artists. Not to miss is the Gogol Bordello acoustic set. The gypsy-punk icons, known for their raucous live shows, are stripping down, but will almost certainly still bring the fervor they always do live.

Best Festival for Hip-Hop Heads and Indie Music Lovers – The Roots Picnic, Philadelphia, PA, June 4

The Roots have done an excellent job as the house band for “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon” but this gig has prevented them from any extensive touring. Don’t miss your chance to see them as they curate the fourth Roots Picnic. In addition to the Philly crew, the lineup includes a reunited Dismembermant Plan, Grammy winner Esperanza Spaulding, Man Man and Wiz Khalifa. But the big grab is Nas who will preform songs from his catalog with The Roots as his backing band. Pretty cool stuff. And if there is a lull in the day, you can always go and grab a cheesesteak.

Best Anniversary Lineup – Sasquatch! Music Festival, George, WA, May 27-30

Both Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza are celebrating big anniversaries this year, but the Pacific Northwest Sasquatch! Festival takes the cake on best anniversary lineup. Celebrating its 10th year at the Gorge Amphitheater, Sasquatch! has headliners Foo Fighters, Death Cab for Cutie, Modest Mouse, Wilco and The Flaming Lips. Filling out with a variety of acts from Bright Eyes to Robyn to Wolf Parade (their last show before a major hiatus) and a reunited Death From Above 1979, Sasquatch! has both the rarities and festival mainstays that make up a great lineup. Regrettably, the event is already sold out but if you can manage to get a ticket this is the one to go to this summer.