Pressing Forward.

What Vibe Will Plano's Suburbia Music Festival Seek? A Free Press Summer Fest-Like One.

Earlier this week, a somewhat clandestine update appeared on the Facebook and Twitter pages of Live Nation's planned Suburbia Music Festival in Plano. Posted the social media team behind the two-day affair that's set to make its debut this May: “Quick update. The final touches are being put on the line-up. We'll be releasing more information very soon. Are you ready?”

Hmm. Tough to say.

To date, not much has been revealed about Suburbia's plans. Like, at all.

All we really know about it: It's happening in the massive Dallas suburb's 800-acre Oak Point Park and Nature Preserve; Plano government officials spent some $625,000 to make sure it happens; and, to a degree, it would appear as if the festival represents something of a larger sea change taking place behind the scenes at events promotion conglomerate Live Nation, which hasn't traditionally shown anywhere near as much of an interest in the festival circuit as its competition has.

So, for sure, questions still abound.

But answers are now finally coming to the surface — and not a moment too soon, either, as the festival, for which organizers anticipate some 20,000 attendees per day in the first year, is only five months off from its coming-out.

Sources involved in Suburbia are now ready to confirm a few things: For one thing, they say that the name “Suburbia” is itself a more self-aware moniker than perhaps previously perceived. It's very much a tongue-in-cheek name, they ensure — something implied, they say, by the fest's somewhat hokey, Jetsons-inspired logo, and something that will be further revealed, they swear, once the initial lineup is revealed later this month (along with ticket information and actual confirmed dates for the festival, naturally).

In other words: A bill solely consisting of suburban rock icons isn't the aim at Suburbia. Rather, sources point more toward the annual, 2009-launched Free Press Summer Fest in Houston for an indication of what's likely to come. That smartly booked affair in Houston has built a strong reputation over the years for its lineup combinations of modest headliners (Weezer, The Flaming Lips, The Avett Brothers, Snoop Dogg, The Postal Service), up-and-comers (Kid Sister, Ra Ra Riot, Milo Greene, Kitty Pryde, The Men) and locals.

It's a reassuring reveal, to be sure — even if, to this point, that reassurance remains largely speculative as we await the bill's formal announcement in the coming weeks.

Still, it's something. And that's better than nothing, we suppose.

Cover photo of the planned Suburbia site via the festival's Twitter page.