The Summer’s Top Five Music Festivals

I’m a fan of lists. For no good reason I love hearing the best, worst, most likely to, or things you’d bring onto a desert island. It’s less about what’s on the list than it is about the process of deciding what makes it and what doesn’t. I swear I could spend hours debating whether or not “The Wall” is better than “Dark Side of the Moon” or if I could actually put “Hangin’ Tough” above the magic and majesty of “Face the Music on my list of Top 5 Pink Floyd and/or New Kids on the Block albums.

So … without further or prior ado … here’s my list of the summer’s top 5 music festivals:

1. Nateva Music & Camping Festival — Oxford, ME  (7/2 – 7/4)

Deep in the woods of Maine, the hippies/hopefuls/herbalists gather to witness what the Grateful Dead and/or organic chemistry hath wrought. Further (Weir/Lesh), George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic, and a whole host of others make for a phenomenal weekend. My money’s on the Ryan Montbleau Band. Total underdogs on the huge summer festival circuit, but great musicians all. Funny too.

Sunset Junction Arts and Music Street Festival – Silverlake, CA (8/21-8/22)

So you take a huge intersection in Silverlake, CA just east of Hollywood. You add a huge amount of local vendors and supporters, book insane musicians, and just let the locals have their way with you. Welcome to Sunset Junction — 30 years strong, and the definition of righteous cool. This year’s lineup includes everyone from The Ohio Players (!) to Shiny Toy Guns, Fishbone, and Mayer Hawthorne. It’s a very cool, very local, and non-poser type event. I have fond memories of seeing Social Distortion there a few years back followed by a hazy recollection of a night at Akbar. But I digress….

Bumbershoot – Seattle, WA (9/4 – 9/6)

Technically, it’s still summer in early September. And Bumbershoot’s lineup blows make me seriously wonder what kind of powers their bookers have. I challenge anyone to create a more diverse, yet insanely harmonious, lineup.  Everyone from Bob Dylan to Drake. My pick for band of the festival: Delorean.

Note: I mentioned Seattle and didn’t make a single Starbucks reference. Not bad, huh?

Levon Helm’s Midnight Ramble – Woodstock, NY (Various summer nights)

This is on my MUST do list. Levon Helm (of The Band) invites folks into his home, and into his barn, and puts on a show. Special guests abound, and it’s considered to be one of the most reaffirming, recharging, re-energizing performances you’ll ever get to see. Technically, it’s not a festival, but still … it deserves a mighty mention.

Montreal (June/July)

Between June and July, Montreal hosts both their Comedy Festival -and- their Jazz Festival. I’m not gonna say which one is better, but I’m impressed by a city that can pull off both and serve poutine without a hint of irony. Enjoy some of North Americas best adult entertainers, have a Labatt’s, and laugh/groove ’til you can’t handle the hipness.

And yeah, I didn’t mention Bonnaroo or Coachella. So there.