Bonnaroo announced today that it is teaming up with the Cablevision-owned Fuse TV for a three-year partnership to bring the Tennessee-based festival on air. Cablevision also owns the New York Knicks, but judging by its lineup, there's no way that Bonnaroo is going to suck that bad.
Listening Post tackled Lollapalooza a few entries back, so I figured why not fillyou in on who to see at the rest of the summer fests coming our way?
Plus, now that the Bonnaroo and Monolith music mammoths have fresh newsto report, there's no time like the present.
Usual festival groupies like Kanye West and Jack Johnson are making the rounds, and the sometimes utterly hated
Metallica are joining them for Bonnaroo. On the other hand, the mighty Pearl Jam is headlining, LedZep wailer Robert Plant will mash his vocals with jazzer Alison Krauss,
and Primus genius Les Claypool will hold his own sort of bass-centric court. The diamonds,
however, are in the deep: Don't miss Canada's Broken Social Scene,
legendary smart-ass David Cross (Update: David Cross, pictured, has canceled his Bonnaroo appearance), hip-hop originals The Coupand Jurassic 5's Chali 2na, as well as salsa-hoppers Ozomatli – agalvanizing live act that will be tough to beat.
And for the sheer sake of their names, one is almost required to check outLez Zeppelin and Bombadil, so named for J.R.R. Tolkien's inventedforest spirit from The Fellowship of the Ring, Tom Bombadil. One suspects that latter set could feature some seriously glaucoma-curing products.
As for Monolith, that Red Rocks, Colorado-based music fest announced 22 new artists on Monday, including a few notables to check out, like hip-hop weirdos Atmosphere, Denver's own Devotchka and even dance mashers (and Ricky Gervais fans) Does It Offend You, Yeah?
Others not to miss include the captivating Neko Case, the very loud Silversun Pickups and A Place to Bury Strangers, skewed poppers Blitzen Trapper and Pop Levi, as well as the one and only Del Tha Funkee Homosapien. (Any Gorillaz or Deltron 3030 heads in the house?)
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On the band name tip, you can't go wrong with Airborne Toxic Event. Any band that has read Don DeLillo's classic White Noise, much less named their group after its hovering ecological disaster, is a must-see in our book. Have your own suggestions for summer festival shows? Let everybody know in the comments section.
Photo: Sub Pop
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