Big American Music festivals

Welcome to Festival Outlook, a new supplemental column that will provide more in-depth analysis for the rumors found on Consequence of Sound’s Festival Outlook. In this installment, Michael Roffman and Frank Mojica break down this year’s top 10 festivals so far and discuss the pros and cons for each lineup. You can think of it as Sports Center for festivalgoers.

Michael Roffman (MR): Now that Lollapalooza’s announcement is behind us, it’s time we start sorting out this year’s top lineups. So, what we have below is our first collection of power rankings based on a number of votes from our small festival committee. We took into consideration a series of items, specifically each festival’s headliners, rare gets, undercards, eclecticism, and location.

The term “power rankings” means these are subject to change. Headliners might fizzle on-stage — after all, we haven’t seen OutKast perform in almost a decade — and lineups might shift around, as we saw two weekends ago at Ultra Music Festival. It should be noted that this list also includes festivals that have already past us this year (e.g. Tomorrow Never Knows, SXSW). With that in mind, expect this to evolve throughout the year.

Now that we’ve parsed out the details, Frank, what do you have to say about festivals this year? I think right now it really boils down to Bonnaroo and Governors Ball. Both have an incredibly diverse lineup in addition to some wild gets. We have Kanye West’s return to the farm, a potentially pre-hiatus gig from The Strokes (in their hometown, no less), and an exhaustive undercard that should make for some of this year’s worse conflicts. But hey, what catches your eye?

Frank Mojica (FM): I feel that most of the major players (and some of the smaller festivals) each have a few acts that make me wish I could attend, rather than one fest completely dominating. Coachella has always been the place to catch reunions, but that isn’t as true anymore. So far, in regards to domestic festivals, Slint and Slowdive are only appearing at Forecastle and Pitchfork, respectively, and Cibo Matto and Failure are frustratingly absent from Coachella and everywhere else. However, they still have first dibs on OutKast, and even though The Knife and Friends doing Sparkle Motion isn’t nearly as enticing as the Silent Shout show was, it’s still The Knife and many of us have been waiting far too long to see them.

Governors Ball has OutKast as well, plus Damon Albarn, and the always brilliant Janelle Monáe (“Call the Law”, anyone?). Bonnaroo has both of those, as well as Elton John. His set is not something to be underestimated. Just think of all the hits and potential for grand singalongs. And, of course, Lionel Richie and the return of Yeezus H. Christ.

I saw St. Vincent twice recently, and that next-level performance will be difficult, if not impossible, to top. Unfortunately, she’s absent from most festivals this summer. One fest that really stands out to me is NXNE because both she and Swans are playing. Annie Clark contributed vocals to their new album, so there is a possibility for a live collaboration that likely won’t be seen elsewhere.

MR: Well, Governors Ball already unveiled their day-to-day lineup and I have to say… it’s a weird collection of slices. The whole thing works out like an American’s trip to the buffet. Big plate on Friday with Outkast, Phoenix, and TV on the Radio, while seconds just pile everything on just in case: Jack White, The Strokes, Skrillex, Spoon. Wow. These two days by comparison make Sunday look like the scraps, what with Vampire Weekend, Axwell, Foster the People, and Interpol? Hopefully, Bonnaroo evenly distributes things. Then again, Sunday — our wonderful day of our wonderful Lord and Savior — is typically light for some festivals.

Frank, you make a valid point about Bonnaroo and its guarantees. I’m one to really put stock into headliners and they have a series of sure-fire winners. You won’t walk away disappointed from Kanye West (I hope), Elton John, Lionel Richie, and, of course, Jack White. Whereas, who knows how The Strokes, or OutKast, or even TV on the Radio will fare. Given Julian Casablancas’ erratic performances at SXSW, what might become of his original outfit?

My one condition with St. Vincent — and I found her recent live performance thrilling — is that it’s also incredibly calculated. So, if you’ve caught her on tour, odds are you’ve seen her through and through. And what’s more, at a festival, you’re going to get even less. I will say that a potential collaboration on-stage with Swans does add some stock to NXNE.