Whether you want to pack your bags for a major festival or just see who’s making music in your own back yard, summer is the time to ditch academia for the far-more-interesting world of rock ‘n’ roll.
Here’s all the information you’ll need this summer for the most promising (and not-so-promising) imminent performances.
And yes: Hot Hot Heat is playing this summer. So the headline isn’t a total misnomer.
Pitchfork Music Festival
Pack a windbreaker, because Chicago is the place to be if you want an inexpensive but utterly fantastic summer music festival. The Pitchfork Music Festival is perhaps your best bet if you’re looking for flea market-shoppin’ indie kids who spent all their money on button-making machines; the festival is $15 for a Friday pass and $25 for a Saturday or Sunday pass. The headlining acts this year are splendid: Sonic Youth, GZA/ Genius and Splint on Friday; Yoko Ono, Cat Power and Clipse on Saturday; The New Pornographers; Stephen Malkmus and De La Soul on Sunday. Other groups on Saturday and Sunday to get worked up about include Grizzly Bear, Girl Talk, Of Montreal and recent Whitman performers Menomena. I think if I could go to any festival all summer, this would be the one. First of all, Yoko Ono is vastly under-appreciated. Her latest release “I Am A Witch” was one of the best albums of the year, featuring mixes by such eclectic artists as Peaches and the Apples in Stereo. Second, the non-headlining acts are probably some of the most phenomenal that this summer will see. The Ponys, The Twilight Sad and Deerhunter particularly excite me. Chicago is also one of the downright awesome-est cities in the known universe. If you go, be sure to check out the Chicago Diner: THE best vegan restaurant in the United States; and go to one of the legendary improv shows the city offers. Besides music, the festival offers tents and activities from WLUW radio station (apparently it’s an enormous record fair) and DEPART-ment, which offers all hand-crafted goods from all over the country. Plus, I’ve really been getting into Sonic Youth lately and you should too.
DATE: Friday, July 13, Saturday, July 14 and Sunday, July 15.
WHERE: Chicago, Illinois
TICKETS: Friday Single Day passes are $15. Saturday or Sunday Single Day passes are $25. A limited number of weekend packages are available as follows: Friday, Saturday and Sunday three-day passes are $45 Saturday and Sunday two-day passes are $35.
WEB: pitchforkmusicfestival.com
Sasquatch Festival
You needn’t go farther than the Columbia River Gorge for a solid music festival: Sasquatch offers West-coast hippies a musical outlet with headlining acts Bjork, the Arcade Fire, Sarah Silverman, the Beastie Boys and Interpol. Honestly, I kind of hate Sasquatch. All those poser kids who want to be into music go and they get their parents to put up the cash to send them. And they all wear Birkenstocks. I think they’re annoying and that’s because 1) I’m a music snob and 2) I go to Whitman, so I get bored of the Sasquatch attendee “type.” Furthermore, the lead acts this year aren’t really that great. They’re pretty overblown, in my opinion. I raised these concerns to my friend Andrew Hall. “But Andrew,” I protested, “Sasquatch really isn’t that great.” “But Bjork!” He said. And he had a good point. “Good point,” I said. “But do you really need to see Bjork?” And of course Andrew did need to see Bjork because who doesn’t need to see Bjork? So I said, “Do you really want to see Bjork while standing next to a bunch of kids in Birkenstocks?” Andrew replied, “I have this one friend who wears Birkenstocks. His name is Chris. Sometimes I stand next to him. Then he says, ‘Why are you standing next to me?’ And I say, ‘I don’t really know.'” And that was that. So to recap: Go to Sasquatch if you wear Birkenstocks or you really, really have to see Bjork. Or, if you’re like me and you get a huge hard-on for Sarah Silverman, that might be a reason to go. Also performing (and definitely worth seeing if you have the cash): M.I.A., Neko Case, The Hold Steady, Grizzly Bear, Electrelane, the Two Gallants, Mirah, the Blow, the Polyphonic Spree, Spoon, Blackalicious, The Dandy Warhols, Patrick Wolf, Michael Showalter, The Helio Sequence and Minus The Bear.
DATE: Saturday, May 26 and Sunday, May 27.
WHERE: Columbia River Gorge Amphitheatre
TICKETS: $65 (plus $1 charity) per day until May 21, when the price goes up to $75 per day.
CONTACT: [email protected]
WEB: sasquatchfestival.com
Bonnaroo
This is a big festival. I mean, it’s really big. It’s four days, four stages and big name upon big name upon big name. It’s also in Tennessee, which means you have to do some trekking to get there, but if you’re looking for a place to blow your wad (literally and figuratively), this might be just the spot. Performing this year are so-famous-they’re-cliché acts like the Police, Tool, the White Stripes, Ben Harper, Widespread Panic, the Flaming Lips and the Decemberists. I think the reason to go to a festival like this is to go and say you survived. In 2007, Bonnaroo is the closest you’ll come to a rock-centered, bourgeois Woodstock you can get. Worth catching, too, will be the Little Ones, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Apollo Sunshine and Regina Spektor. On the other hand, RX Bandits will be there. So … that might be a reason to miss the show.
DATE: June 14 to 17.
WHERE: Manchester, Tennessee
TICKETS: Four day passes will be sold at a limited special rate of $184.50 each. There is a limited allotment at this price. When the first allotment is sold out, ticket price will increase to $199.50 and then again to $214.50.
WEB: bonnaroo.com
Summerfest
The Web site says Summerfest is “The World’s Largest Music Festival.” I guess that’s possible. Summerfest isn’t really that much to write home about, unless you really, really like mainstream radio. The show is long (June 28 to July 8 ) and it’s so cheap ’cause it’s heavily commercialized and about a zillion people show up (there are terrifying pictures of this on the Web). The acts are so-so. Middle school flashback-inducing headliners include the Violent Femmes, Def Leopard with Styx and Foreigner, Blue Oyster Cult, The Fray, OK Go, the Goo Goo Dolls, Sister Hazel, Built to Spill, Heart, John Mayer with Ben Folds, Tool, Bon Jovi, Peter Frampton and Papa Roach. Really brings you back, huh? Especially Sister Hazel. I mean, whatever happened to Sister Hazel? Oh, that’s right. They booked a show at Summerfest. I think I’d go to see “Weird Al” Yankovich (I’ve seen him three times before and he is hands down the best performer in modern America) and B. B. King (obviously). The festival also boasts that they will have “All four original members of Asia.” Hot damn. All four original members of Asia? What are those? China, Japan, Korea and India? Clearly counterbalancing the rare wonderful aspects of the festival will be undeniably shitty bands like Augustana (you know… “I think I’m going to Boston… I think I’ll start a new life… I’m really, really boring”), Blue October (more boring) and the All American Rejects (downright laughable.) You can get cheaper beer from the Apex and just turn on Walla Walla’s 98.3 FM (The Key) to get the same experience. Trust me.
DATE: June 28 to July 8
WHERE: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
TICKETS: Evening and weekend adult admission tickets purchased at the gate will be $15. Children’s and Senior’s tickets are $3. Advance ticket sales are $14 available through Ticketmaster now through June 15, 2007. Two Day Passes are $20 now through March 31, 2007. $23 from April 1 through June 15, 2007.
WEB: summerfest.com
And in Portland and Seattle…
The Bad Plus
May 18, Dimitrious Jazz Alley, Seattle
The latest release from the Bad Plus is SO GOOD. They’re this awesome jazz outfit that has found just the right fusion of jazz, blues and rock ‘n’ roll. For instance: on this one they cover David Bowie and Tears for Fears. Like I said: Awesome.
RJD2
May 18, Neumo’s, Seattle
Do not pass up an opportunity to see RJD2. It’s an experience worth having: Trust me. This is the original and unequivocated cut-and-paste hip-hop that evokes, well, everything and it is absolutely the best there is.
Hot Hot Heat
May 20, WaMu Theatre, Seattle
I honestly only put this in here because it’s summer and the band is called Hot Hot Heat.
Brandi Carlyle
June 1, Moore Theatre, Seattle
Brandi Carlyle has been making waves lately for her soulful, original vocals mixed with a passion that channels female folk stars of the ’60s. It’s a kind of Janis Joplin meets Joan Baez kind of sound, which is pleasing and surprising. Plus, she does a great cover of “Hallelujia” by Leonard Coen.
Mirah
June 8, Aladdin Theatre, Portland
This is totally un-P.C. of me, but when I first saw Mirah perform I thought she was chubby. And that disappointed me. I think that’s because her voice is so small and fragile I just assumed she would be too. She is, however, a wonderful performer and very well-dressed.
CSS
June 8, Doug Fir Lounge, Portland
Oh. My. God. If you haven’t yet had the pleasure of discovering the too-cute-for-words Brazilian chick electro-dance band, you are soooo missing out. Lyrically, this band is phenomenal (that is, when they’re not singing in Portugese, which is awesome for its own reason). For instance, they have a song called “Meeting Paris Hilton” which basically consists of the words, “I went to the bitch. The bitch was so hot. She came to me and said, ‘Do you like the beach, bitch?'” It’s rad. Plus, in concert, they have sick dance moves. That they ask you to participate in.
The Wrens
June 9, Crocodile Cafe, Seattle
The Wrens are by far one of the best bands of the ’90s, but because of problems with their label, they had trouble releasing albums until very recently. “Meadowland,” released in 2003, was a solid record that got the band back on the map and now they’re finally back on track touring and making sweet, sweet music.
Laura Viers
June 9, Aladdin Theatre, Portland
Viers has released a really mature album within the last month. If you weren’t sure before, she is definitely a rising force in indie pop music.
Hot Chip
June 11, Wonder Ballroom, Portland
Hot Chip had one of the most talked-about albums of last year, fusing mellow electronica with dance pop. It’s a unique sound which makes for a fantastic show. There will be much dancing and lots of cute boys in Converse Sneakers. Plus, the Wonder is a great venue, with ample room to move.
Blue Scholars
June 14, Music Millenium, Portland
You may remember this startlingly talented rap outfit from a performance last spring at Whitman. They were awesome, weren’t they? They totally blew your socks off. So take the opportunity to enjoy a free CD release concert at this hip independent record store.
Grizzly Bear
June 25, Crystal Ballroom, Portland
What began as a home-recording experiment for Bostonian Edward Droste grew into one of the biggest things to hit college radio airways in years. They sound like Animal Collective meets Sufjan Stevens, so no wonder they’re so popular.
M. Ward
June 30, Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, Portland
Definitely take this opportunity to seethe stunning Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall (stare up at the beautiful ceilings; marvel at the lovely sculptures and lounge chairs) and one of the most talented guitarists in modern music perform. M. Ward is a musician’s musician and you’ll be in shock when you see how fast his fingers can move (and how well he can whistle!)
Lifesavas
June 30, Doug Fir Lounge, Portland
Portland favorites Lifesavas pretty much revolutionized indie hip-hop for the City of Roses. They’re eclectic and quirky and really, really good performers. They did a rap cover of an Elliott Smith song for last years “To: Elliot Love: Portland.” Need I say more?
The Two Gallants
July 2, Roseland, Portland
There is no better way to anticipate the 4th of July than to go see this sometimes-political always-beautiful alternative folk band perform. I can’t get through a blurb about the Two Gallants without saying that my boyfriend worships (seriously: worships) them for their intricate-yet-simple lead guitar parts and heartbreaking, spellbinding lyrics. This stuff will absolutely blow you out of the water. Do yourself a favor and get a ticket.
Kelly Clarkson
July 11, Rose Garden, Portland
Seriously you guys. Kelly Clarkson has kind of started to rock. I mean, we knew she was going places from the beginning, but could any of us really have imagined? This reminds me of the time I went to see Avril Lavigne because my friend’s dad had won tickets. And that was about the best show I’ve ever been to in my life. There’s just something about tweenage girls in eye makeup, overpriced T-shirts and angsty pop princesses that is really inviting.
American Idol in Concert
July 28, Rose Garden, Portland
Sanjaya will be there.
Old Crow Medicine Show
August 17, Oregon Zoo, Portland
Okay, okay, I know what you’re thinking: They only show suck concerts at the zoo. And that’s sort of true. But actually, Old Crow Medicine Show is great if you’re itching for a little modern bluegrass music. They definitely have street cred. Think the Avett Brothers meet Blackalicious. Sort of..
