Rock the Bells has essentially been the hip hop festival since its inception in 2004: when you begin your history as an event with one of Wu Tang Clan’s final performances featuring Ol Dirty Bastard, you can’t really help it. Since then, the festival has spread in both influence and locations, boasting an impressive lineup each – and every – year.

Sadly, this year the festival has shrunk locations to three, two of which are in California. Regardless, the cast of those set to appear is impressive as always. As per the norm, yesterday’s acts are performing albums in their entirety, perhaps most exciting are Method Man & Redman performing Blackout!. Also worthy of immediate attention are Missy Elliott & Timbaland, as well as Dipset, reuniting and Bone Thugs-n-Harmony performing E. 1999 Eternal. Other legends set to appear include Nas, Ice Cube, DJ Quik, Slick Rick, Prodigy, Too $hort, RZA, and even Salt-n-Pepa. Also big news is Hit Squad forming together as one, with EPMD, the afore-mentioned Redman, Das EFX, Keith Murray, K-Solo and DJ Scratch all present. Basically, it’s as big as ever.

However, somewhat more surprising is this year’s heavier inclusion of artists very much in the now. Indie kids will rejoice over Atmosphere, A$AP Rocky, Kendrick Lamar, Schoolboy Q and Ab-Soul. Then there’s some bigger names, Kid Cudi, J. Cole, Wiz Khalifa, Yelawolf, Lupe Fiasco, and even (and most disappointingly) Mac Miller. Frankly, some might balk at some of the newer faces, but it will work in the festival’s favor, beyond the increased sales, where else can you get such an odd, motley crew of rap power players?

8/18 San Bernardino, CA – NOS Events Center
8/25 Mountain View, CA – Shoreline Amphitheatre
9/1 Holmdel, NJ – PNC Bank Arts Center

Seattle’s big festival has revealed its lineup for the year. Taking place September 1st to the 3rd, tickets come with a price tag more reasonable (only $110 for the entire weekend) than many, admittedly larger, counterparts. Of course, this isn’t to say Bumbershoot hasn’t amassed a noteworthy list of performers.

Among the acts set to appear are M83, Jane’s Addiction, Passion Pit, Mudhoney, M. Ward, Low, The Vaselines, The Jayhawks, and (sigh) Skrillex. Even Tony Bennett is set to perform.

These acts will more or less serve as headliners, backed by an impressive supporting cast, including Why?, Yelawolf, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Ty Segall, Big Sean, Fujiya & Miyagi, Blitzen Trapper, Mac Miller, Oberhofer, and Keane. Visit the festival’s official site for tickets and the entire lineup.

D’Angelo may still be the reigning king of soul, but he’s been breaking music lovers hearts for years with his time away from music, not to mention a few personal struggles. Then, early this year, he began performing a few shows in Europe. The music world, quite rightly, freaked out. Now, for Americans, the real excitement can begin.

The crooner is set to appear at the Essence Music Festival, in New Orleans. This marks D’Angelo’s first American performance in ten years. That’s no small event. Essence, July 6-8th boasts many other artists, including Aretha Franklin, Charlie Wilson, Mary J. Blige, Estelle, Eve, Trey Songz, and Keyshia Cole. The legend’s third album is also rumored to be approaching, and one can only hope this means more U.S. shows in the future.

As a resident, this writer has long felt a new, exciting festival should be placed in the ever-growing Southern metropolis of Atlanta. I (and thousands of Atlanta residents) am getting my wish. C3, the promoters behind festivals such as Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits, alongside MCP are combining their strength to hold a new festival in the city, this September, from the 28-29th.

The festival shall take place along the Chattahoochee River, the former site of MCP’s Echo Project festival. While the two day limitation clearly suggests the festival will start out on the somewhat smaller side, it will boast multiple stages, a beer garden guided by local breweries, an arts center, and even extreme sports demonstrations. Attendees will be able to camp, a must for many true festival enthusiasts.

Look out for more information, including the lineup, within the next few weeks. With any luck, Atlanta, and music lovers in general, has a bright new musical tradition to look forward to.

Coachella boasts of being one of America’s biggest festivals, if not the biggest, and now, they once again have the numbers to back it up. Around 70,000 people attended last year, a previous record, which – according to NBC LA – was broken this year with attendance numbering between 80,000 and 85,000, each day of the festival. This is more than 20,000 more people than in 2009 – no wonder people have been saying “too big to fail.”

Although there’s only one announced date taking place in America, at the Outside Lands Festival, Grandaddy has shared a small number of performance dates, mostly focusing on Europe. With any luck the tour will expand as the band embarks on it, check back for any updates.

08-10 San Francisco, CA: Outside Lands
08-25 Pully, Switzerland: For Noise Festival
08-26 Paris, France: Rock En Seine
08-29 Manchester, England: Ritz
08-30 Glasgow, Scotland: ABC
09-02 Salisbury, England: End of the Road Festival
09-04 London, England: Shepherd’s Bush Empire

North by Northeast, essentially the Canadian SXSW, has revealed the majority of its lineup. While more artists will be announced in the coming weeks, we now know that amongst the 600+ bands that will perform, the headliners are The Flaming Lips, Ghostface Killah & Raekwon, and Bad Religion. A strong supporting cast includes The Men, Killer Mike, of Montreal, Action Bronson, Matthew Good and Bleached.

Of course, the media festival will also include films and interactive panels. Tickets, and information about all these things, are available on NXNE’s offical site.

Other artists scheduled to perform include:

Unknown Mortal Orchestra
Purity Ring
Porcelain Raft
Ceremony
Friends
The Death Set
Reigning Sound
Oberhofer
Bass Drum of Death
Young Magic
Hollerado
The Black Belles
Plants and Animals
Rival Schools
2:54
Yamantaka//Sonic Titan
Doldrums
Violens
Exit Music
Grass Widow
DZ Deathrays
Jonathan Toubin
Odonis Odonis
Art vs. Scence

Looking at the names mentioned in the headline of this post, you’d think San Francisco’s Outside Lands Festival is a 6 day festival, as each of those acts could easily headline a day. Alas no, Outside Lands is only 3 days, so this lineup is already stacked, and you’ve only seen 6 names from it!

Before we tell you the rest, we should tell you a little about Outside Lands. Outside Lands is a festival held in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, this year on the dates of August 10-12. This is the 5th year of the festival, and not only is the music lineup incredible, but there’ll also be a quality array of foods and wines on offer. As someone who attended last year, I can tell you that this is one of the finest festivals in the country.

The rest of the lineup is below. Tickets go on sale on Thursday at noon at sfoutsidelands.com
(more…)

Sasquatch has released its full schedule. So how are the conflicts? Compared to many festivals, they’re incredibly kind. However, there will still be some tough decisions for attendees: on Friday, Girl Talk, Explosions in the Sky, and Beats Antique all somewhat overlap. Sunday is likely the most brutal, with The Walkmen and Beirut overlapping a bit, as well as Bon Iver being in near direct oppostion of James Murphy’s set.

This last decision may be the hardest for many, so a bit of advice: Murphy will be DJ’ing, spinning his favorite records. Not that this won’t be exciting, but when this writer attended the same event at last year’s Moogfest, many in the audience were expecting a James Murphy show, so just be aware of what you’ll be seeing.

Sasquatch is from May 25th-28th, with tickets sold out, but with this smaller festival having a more exciting lineup than many of the majors, perhaps it’s worth looking at Stubhub for those without passes.

When we reported on Dr. Dre’s plans to feature a reanimated Nate Dogg, in the form of a hologram, this writer joked about the idea of a 2Pac appearance – I hardly thought it could really happen, with all the red tape surrounding any decision regarding Shakur’s legacy. Well, it seems just that is set to occur, as L.A. radio station KROQ confirms, with Pac’s image set to appear for a rendition of “California Love”.

Weird, huh? The concert is also said to boast Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, Warren G, Kurupt, Daz Dillinger, and even fellow weed connoisseur Wiz Khalifa, according to Rolling Stone. This should be more than huge, can it live up to the hype?