SUMMER FESTIVAL WRAP-UP

It was a cruel, cruel summer for music fans around the globe who were forced to attend mammoth outdoor festivals packed with wildly disparate lineups (Girl Talk, Duffy and Jack Johnson at All Points West?). If you missed out on heat stroke, long lines to the bathroom and Kanye West tantrums, the WSN music staff will try to paint a word picture for you.

Bonnaroo
June 12 to 15
Manchester, Tenn.

Looking down from atop the Bonnaroo Ferris Wheel over 700 scorched acres of Tennessee farmland, there were a few more neon dots moving about than usual. As this year’s festival added acts like MGMT, Sigur Rós and !!! to its lineup, the hipster count certainly burgeoned. Though Kanye West’s glow-in-the dark show was hindered by the rising sun after set construction pushed the start time back to well after 4 a.m., attendees had ample opportunity to break out their latest dance moves at Chromeo and MSTRKRFT. Meanwhile, crowds rushed the stage during M.I.A.’s performance after she announced it was her last show ever, adding, “I’m glad I’m spending it with all my hippies!” Though some of those hippies and their jam-rocking friends complained about the skinny-jeaned invaders, they were appeased by traditional guitar acts like Pearl Jam, Metallica and Willie Nelson. And, come concert close, the sparring groups made peace at Shakedown Alley, where the rolls, doses and ’shrooms put everyone in high enough spirits to strip down and enjoy the Bonnaroo-sanctioned activities in harmony. After all, body paint has no labels.  

— Laura Kuhn 


Glastonbury
June 27 to 29
Somerset, England

Dilapidated tents and mud-encrusted Wellington boots once again filled the grounds of Glastonbury, the three-day festival in Somerset, England. At the top of the bill were The Verve, The Kings of Leon and Jay-Z, the first rap artist to ever headline. Oasis’ Noel Gallagher stirred up controversy when he told the BBC, “I’m not having hip-hop at Glastonbury. It’s wrong.” Jay-Z had the final word though, opening his performance by strapping on a guitar and mocking his way through Oasis’ “Wonderwall.”    

Other notables included Afro-indie darlings Vampire Weekend, the psychedelic Brooklyn duo MGMT and a surprise performance by The Last Shadow Puppets, the side project of Arctic Monkeys’ Alex Turner. During that performance, Jack White came onto the stage, playing three songs with Turner. People who missed this musical spectacle were perhaps lucky enough to catch Kate Moss do an impromptu performance of “I’m Too Sexy” in the SingSong karaoke tent.  

— Vanessa Vallon


Pitchfork Music Festival
July 18 to 20
Chicago, Ill.

Most summer music festivals are zoos, but Pitchfork stands out as a mellow oasis. The event was marked by rows of local artists’ booths, Whole Foods produce, stoners sitting in weed circles, impromptu hula-hoop gatherings and sweatbands reading “loser” as far as the eye could see. During Vampire Weekend’s set, two men who had rolled themselves in mud threatened to get fellow audience members dirty if they were not allowed to pass. Large debates ensued over whether The Hold Steady is great or crappy, but everyone agreed that Animal Collective was going to kick ass, and they did. The only downside was that, as one employee pointed out, the thin line between indie kid and yuppie poser was crossed many more times than some of the snobbier attendees would have liked.

— Annie Lesser


Flow Festival
Aug. 15 to 17
Helsinki, Finland

Finland probably isn’t your first stop for music festivals, but in the summertime, it should be. Festivals abound, but the best is the Flow Festival at Suvilahti in Helsinki. This year’s lineup included The Roots, Kings of Convenience, Crystal Castles, CSS, Cut Copy, Múm and eclectic Finnish acts like Astrid Swan, 22-Pistepirkko and TV OFF. The environment of a Finnish festival is like none other. You walk from stage to stage, tent to warehouse, picking up a beer on the way while stubbing out your last cigarette. Normal enough, but then you find yourself in a corner of the festival where a sauna sits quaintly next to a tented DJ set and Finnish men in towels (or less) dance and drink. A cafe nearby churns out meatballs and mashed potatoes, and then it’s time to see the next band. Finland!  

— Emilia Brock


Lollapalooza
Aug. 1 to 3  
Chicago, Ill.

Never has the combination of severe dehydration, omnipresent mosh-pits and a million sweaty bodies been such a fulfilling experience. With eight stages and over 100 bands, Lollapalooza, which took place in Chicago’s Grant Park, was well worth the hefty $190 price tag. There was never a void of good music; if anything, festival-goers had to sacrifice attending an amazing show like The Black Keys in order to secure spots for another mind-blowing act, such as Radiohead. Spank Rock had the entire crowd repeating the catchy hook of “Ain’t Nothing But A Hoochie Mama,” and Lupe Fiasco’s live collaboration with Matthew Santos on “Superstar” made the second day unforgettable. For a line-up that boasted heavy-hitters like Kanye West and Rage Against The Machine as well as lesser known bands like Yeasayer and MGMT, Lollapalooza was the perfect last blaze of Chicago’s summer inferno.

— Khushbu Shah


Siren Festival  
July 19
Coney Island, N.Y.

The blistering sun couldn’t wilt the eighth annual Siren Festival. Like the event’s curator, The Village Voice, Siren was a colorful intersection of culture, obscurity and a hint of rebellion. Unfortunately, the concert’s location, Coney Island, is being threatened. Real estate interests seek to replace the ramshackle amusement park with high-priced condos, a fact lamented by headliner Kevin Drew of Broken Social Scene. Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks shared the top bill, although by most estimates, they commanded only a fraction of the audience. BSS’s loose, collective mentality was mirrored on a smaller scale by Islands and Ra Ra Riot but not all was peaceful. Times New Viking seared with feedback and punkish vocals, while These Are Powers took an avant garde route to their rock. If nothing else, Siren was electric.

— Roland Li


Detroit Electronic Music Festival  
May 24 to 26
Detroit, Mich.

The E in DEMF stands for several things to its die-hard patrons: the ever-present Ecstasy, its attendant energy and the intended acronymic meaning, electronica. Set against the backdrop of the Detroit River and the Windsor skyline just beyond, the 9-year-old Detroit Electronic Music Festival continues to produce an intensity paralleled by no other American music festival. With underage substance abusers, over-the-hill music ravers and all those in between, the crowd at the weekend bash exceeded 75,000, surpassing the venue’s 40,000 capacity. This year’s three-day trippy-psychedelic dance fest included techno icon Benny Bennasi, hip-hop hipsters The Cool Kids and the unforgettable Moby. Techno legends tore up the Vitamin Water stage, including local prodigy DBX, Theo Parrish, Juan Atkins and Derrick Mays. First-timer Girl Talk closed the festival Sunday night, spreading one big chaotic wave of dance throughout the crowd. Sunburnt, dehydrated and deaf, DEMF-goers left more than satisfied.

— Emily Thomas