It seems like every city is trying to have 'the next SXSW' (QRO recap) - an indie music industry festival spread across venues to promote local acts & rope in out-of-town ones, like Austin's famed one: Cincinnatti's Midpoint, San Francisco's Noise Pop, Las Vegas' immediately preceding Neon Reverb, Toronto's honestly imitating North-by-Northeast, Brooklyn's small sophomore Northside (QRO recap), or Los Angeles' current Sunset Strip (QRO recap) & upcoming new Culture Collide (QRO Festival Guide). But, other than New York's almost-as-old CMJ (QRO recap), the best out there has to be from 'the next Austin' - Portland, Oregon's Music Fest NW. Like the getting-bigger-every-year Sasquatch! Music Festival (QRO recap) just to the north at the start of the summer, MFNW has been building every year, with a great line-up of Pacific Northwest locals & those from farther afield, to close out the summer of 2010:
Los Angeles' famed Sunset Strip played host to a three-day music festival, August 26th-28th. Days One & Two had concerts taking place at venues along the Strip, with Day Three shutting down the iconic piece of pavement for an epic end.
Say hello to the first-ever Neon Marshmallow Fest, a
brand new four-day festival in Chicago at the Viaduct Theater, August
19th-22nd.Two stages, more than
90 bands, and $2.50 PBRs: a veritable bloodbath of electronica, digital
grind-core, and uncategorizable noise.If you've heard of more than half of these bands, than you're probably
playing in the festival.If you've
heard of them all, you're probably organizing the festival.QRO jumps into the melee with eyes wide
shut!
The act of the soft spoken elegance of Montreal's Parc Jean
Drapeau all but fading, to make way for the shredding, punk rock stylings of
Shane Murphy, was only the first in a weekend-long series of entirely ironic,
mostly enjoyable surprises.Thankfully for music fans, the sheer magnitude of Osheaga's line-up,
Saturday, July 31st & Sunday, August 1st, ensured that nothing put a damper
on the city's biggest celebration of indie, although there were a few
interesting moments along the way.
There are thousands of festivals in Europe, particularly
in the summer time, but none quite like the Haldern Pop festival, in the Lower
Rhine of Germany.In it's 27th
year, you'd think the word would spread a little more - because this festival
is something more than special.Spectacularly set on country grounds in the Rees-Haldern area, not too
far from the Dutch border, thousands flock to witness the spectacular shows put
on some of the worlds greatest artists - notably Beirut, Mumford and Sons and
closers The National this year, alongside up and coming rising stars from
around the globe.A festival that
sells out almost instantly, it's not just the punters who return year after year,
but the bands, such is the magical atmosphere.Set alongside a lake, amongst the greenest grass, despite
the big names - past bands have included Muse, Franz Ferdinand, Kelis - this
festival is renowned for its cozy atmosphere, with only a maximum capacity of
around 5,000 - which aims to stay that way - much to the delight and merriment
to any who have experienced the Haldern magic.
HARD Summer finally happened Saturday, August 7th in L.A.'s
State Historic Park.After the
HARD LA date on July 17th was cancelled, many disappointed fans had to wait to
get their HARD fix, and they had to be content with a new lineup of
headliners.Official reasons for
the cancellation and rescheduling are unknown, but some suspect that it was
partly due to poor ticket sales and LA County's recent establishment of a rave
safety task force in response to the most recent Electric Daisy Carnival, where
many were hospitalized and one fifteen year old girl died.HARD LA's promoter, Gary Richards,
a.k.a. Destructo, spoke to the L.A. Times
saying, "We do not allow raves.Raves have a stigma attached to them."The definition of ‘rave' is, of course, totally unclear, and
even at this concert, the onstage LED screen at a certain time asked, "Is this
a rave?"
The fifth annual Pitchfork Festival, held in Union Park,
Chicago, turned into a three-day heat-fest, testing the resolve and endurance
of indie rock fans who had been driven there by the promise of seeing and
hearing quite a few of indie's top acts, with some rap thrown in for
seasoning.Some fans decided not
to attend all day but instead half a day of Saturday and Sunday because of the
heat.Three-day tickets sold out
in about a week, and all three days of single tickets sold out as well.At times the stage choices offered a
battle of options that ranged between pop, rap, chill and
alternative/fusion.The heat made
water and shade become valuable properties, as were cigarettes by Sunday.However, food and water were reasonably
priced, so no one was going around really deprived of necessities.
The Village Voice's
Siren Music Festival somehow celebrated its tenth anniversary."Somehow" because ever since
redevelopment plans were announced for its home of Coney Island at the southern
side of Brooklyn, every year has been ‘the last Siren ever’, going back to at
least 2007 (QRO Siren 2007 recap), but also 2008 (QRO Siren
2008 recap) & last year (QRO
Siren 2009 recap).Yet it's come back every year, and by
2010, the cloud seemed to have been lifted.
In celebration of its continued longevity, Siren did
something new: look back to the past, by booking acts with connections to
Sirens gone by.Still, the
festival is about new music, and while the line-up was a little headliner-light
& Brooklyn-heavy, it was one of the better line-ups of the past few years
(okay, no ‘Broken Social Scene/Stephen Malkmus/Ra Ra Riot/Annuals & more’
of 2008, but beat the tar out of 2009's sub-par performers), for another wild
Siren on Saturday, July 17th:
Thousands
came out to Governors Island (QRO venue review) for HARD NYC, an eight-hour
festival showcasing some of the most talked about up and comers and biggest
names in dance.With several
events and festivals under their belt on the west coast, HARD NYC is one of the
first major forays in bringing dance and techno to the east coast by organizers
HARD.