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Lollapalooza: Aug. 7-9
The highlight of the summer music festival season has to be Lollapalooza.
C3 Promotions, the company behind Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits, really knows how to satisfy upwards of 100,000 attendees with a blend of perfect site planning, great scheduling and diverse talent.
Taking place in Chicago's beautiful downtown venue, Grant Park, Lollapalooza features arena-filling headliners Snoop Dogg, Depeche Mode, Tool, Beastie Boys, Kings of Leon and the Killers.
But the true essence of summer music festivals is the middle-tier bands audiences gravitate toward mid-day and Lollapalooza is stacked with great ones. Animal Collective, Vampire Weekend, the Decemberists, Atmosphere, Fleet Foxes, No Age and Passion Pit are sure to excite current fans while recruiting plenty of new ones with their respective sets.
The festival is also site to a rare Midwest performance for Velvet Underground frontman and solo legend Lou Reed. The "Street Hustler" will surely take those in attendance for a walk on the wild side.
Website: www.lollapalooza.com
Rothbury: July 2-5
Michigan's Rothbury music festival has been compared to Bonnaroo and with good reason.
Yet, the hippie minds behind Rothbury tend to be a bit more polished than Bonnaroo's.
With jaw-dropping scenery, camping and VIP packages, and an array of fun and interesting activities planned, the Great Lakes State's festival has already caught up with its more established contemporaries in only its second year.
The festival is headlined by The Dead in its only summer performance for the year, Bob Dylan and his Band, Willie Nelson & Family, Damnian 'Jr. Gong' Marley and Nas, and the Black Crowes.
Middle-tier acts Man Man, the Hold Steady, Cold War Kids and party-starter Girl Talk.
Website: www.rothburyfestival.com
Pitchfork Music Festival: July 17-19
Pitchfork.com, the groundbreaking, semi-elitist indie music "e-zine," had so much fun curating 2005's Intonation music festival that it decided to take over for Intonation and start the Pitchfork ("P4K" to all the trendy kids) music festival.
Since the festival's inception, the online magazine has produced a quality festival in downtown Chicago's Union Park for a fraction of the price its larger counterparts charge. They can do this, of course, by having great relationships with the bands they schedule by mostly being responsible for their popularity and not contracting multi-million-dollar headliners.
Its Write the Night series on the first night allows fans to submit their ideal setlists for the band's playing that day, which are Jesus Lizard, Yo La Tengo, Tortoise and Built to Spill.
The second and third days will feature the likes of the Flaming Lips, Thermals, Pharoahe Monch, Wavves, Black Lips, Yeasayer and DOOM.
Website: www.pitchforkmusicfestival.com
All Points West: July 31 - Aug. 2
All Points West gives music lovers a reason to travel to New Jersey (it's about time there was a reason) as the festival is arguably the hippest of all the summer fests.
Indie kids everywhere are giddy with anticipation over the festival's headlining acts Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Vampire Weekend, Coldplay, MGMT, Beastie Boys. Gogol Bordello and My Bloody Valentine and comedy sets from "30 Rock"'s Judah Friedlander, Arj Barker, Michael Showalter and Todd Barry.
Website: www.apwfestival.com
Moondance Jam: July 15-18
Walker, Minn.'s classic rock festival Moondance Jam is a classic-rock-radio-lover's dream.
Acts range from country songstress Sheryl Crow to metal monoliths Judas Priest to hairbangers Whitesnake and Thin Lizzy to '70s favorites Journey and Yes.
Website: www.moondancejam.com
Solstice: June 21
For those not wishing to travel far, but still take part in the season's festival mania, Mankato's Solstice festival will lure you in with a full day of local and regional acts performing at Land of Memories Park. History Fest, an event where attendees get to interact with expressions of various periods in history, is just one of many artistic endeavors boasted at the 2009 Solstice festival.
Website: www.solsticemankato.com
Nate Brennan is the Reporter variety editor
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