H. Drew Blackburn
Music Festival Season Is Coming. Here's A List Of The Big Ones Coming To North Texas Soon.
If you've been keeping tabs on our weekly area music news and notes column of late, well, you'd notice that a whole lot of announcements have been popping up for area music festivals lately.
That's because festival season is about to start. And, because we're very helpful, we've compiled a collection of upcoming festivals of note and their bills for your perusal below.
35 Denton, March 11-13, Downtown Denton.
35 Denton is kind of past its glory years. Until today, this year's festival had only named rapper Biz Markie — a guy most people only know for one of his songs — as a headliner. Today, they added soul man Charles Bradley to its offering, which is a nice addition, but still a name that registers way below the weight of past top-line performers from the fest. But, hey, a bunch of good local bands are on the bill, too.
Lineup: *~~, Abacaba, Acid Dad, Alesia Lani, Alsace Carcione, AMFMS, Animal Spirit, AV the Great, Bad Beats, Bashe, Bereah, Bethan, Big Ups, Biz Markie, Birds of Night, Black Pussy, Boat Drinks, Breeze L, The Brevet, Brothers in Law, Brothertiger, Calliope Musicals, Cameron Matthew Ray, Charles Bradley and his Extraordinaires, Chris Welch, Chrome Pony, Claire Morales, Class Actress, Coastgaard, Convoy and the Cattlemen, Cornhole, Cozy Hawks, Crescendo, Crown Larks, Daniel Markham, Danny Diamonds, The Daniel Green Show, Dead Leaf Echo, Decora Poet, The Demigs, The Destroyer, Dim Locator, Dirty Dishes Dixie Witch, Dome Dwellers, Doug Funnie, Dove Hunter, Ebony Tusks, Electric Six, Eliot Sumner, EMUFUCKA. EVVY, Fat Tony, FEE LION, Felt and Fur, The Foreign Resort, Friday Mean, FUNDAMENTAL., Future Self, GAR GAR, The Garden, GOLDENJOY, The Greenhour Residency, Gum, Hares on the Mountain, Heavy Hands, Helen Kelter Skelter, Hikes, Hella Zealous, Holly Macve, Hunny, In Memory of Man, J. Finn, Jas Patrick, Jessie Frye, JKPK, Jonas Martin, Joy Again, Kaela Sinclair, KALO, Keytari, Killamama, Kim Nail and the Fringe, Kinetica Kody Jackson, KUKEN, Leoncarlo, LEV, Love and the Zealous, Lowin, The Madisons, Manantial de Fuego, Marathons and Unicorns, Maxamiliano Calvo, Megafauna, Melissa Ratley, Mother, Mountain Air, Mountain of Smoke, Mountain Song, Music Bear Tony Banks, Mydolls, My Education, My Gold Mask, Nazeem and Spencer Joles, Nervous Curtains, Nightmare Air, Nite, North By North, Northern National, OK Sweetheart, Pansy Moon, Parlour Tricks, Paul Slavens, Pearl Earl, Prism Cloud, Purple, Rat Rios, The Raven Charter, Reagan James, Relick, Repel the Robot, Richard Gilbert, Rodger Delany, Ronnie Heart, RTB2, Scott Danbom, Seres, Shaolin Death Squad, Sheer Mag, Shiny Around the Edges, Shivering Timbers, Shmu, Siamese, The Single Issues, Skagg Phillips, Son of Stan, Stef Chura, SuperSonic, Swandiver, TESHA, Tacocat, TEEN SLUT, Thin Skin, Timothy Jarrod Smith and Hot Coffins, TOMKAT, Ultra Violent Rays, Vaadat Charigim, Vanessa Peters, Vodeo, VVOES, Warren Jackson Hearne, Washer, Well Hung Heart, What Moon Things, White Reaper, Wild Bill, Wild cat Apollo, Will Johnson, William Austin Clay, Wirewings, Wiving.
Spillover, March 18-20, Deep Ellum.
South By South West kind of sucks. Every year, Cancun Spring Break for the Cool Kids takes over downtown Austin and turns it into a hellhole. For nine years now, though, we've been given Spillover as Dallas alternative to heading down south for those shenanigans. Even better, the bands performing at Spillover are always among the best performing at SXSW.
Lineup: Anamanaguchi, The Orwells, Le Butcherettes, Nothing, Broncho, Into It. Over It., Power Trip, Yuck, Diarrhea Planet, DZ Deathrays, The Spits, Shannon and the Clams, White Lung, Alex G, Porches, True Widow, Pure Bathing Culture, L.A. Witch, Creepoid, Self Defense Family, All Dogs, Guantanamo Baywatch, Beverly, Slothrust, The Dirty Nil, Aa (Big A Little a), Culture Abuse, Future Punx, Ezra Furman, Music Band, Whitney, Wildhoney, Your Friend
So What?! Music Festival March 19-20, QuikTrip Park, Grand Prairie.
So What?! is essentially Warped Tour without the touring part, featuring a Who's Who of pop-punk and emo acts. Plus, the two-day deal is also the pinnacle for Dallas crowd-surfing displays year in and year out.
Lineup: New Found Glory, Bayside, Neck Deep, State Champs, Real Friends, Blessthefall, Escape The Fate, Secrets, Knuckle Puck, Citizen, This Wild Life, Emery, Turnover, New Years Day, Have Mercy, 7 Minutes In Heaven, A Will Away, Bad Luck, Capture The Crown, Hotel Books, Like Pacific, Major League, Mariner, Hundredth, Milk Teeth, Movements, Myka Relocate, Outline In Color, Seasons Change, Seaway, Silent Planet, Sorority Noise, Too Close To Touch, Palisades, Picturesque, The Plot In You, Slaves, Conquer Divide, Capsize, Underoath, The Devil Wears Prada, Saosin, Beartooth, The Word Alive, Born Of Osiris, Zao, The Contortionist, I See Stars, Stray From The Path, He Is Legend, Emarosa, Being As An Ocean, '68, Artifex Pereo, Assuming We Survive, Cruel Hand, Currents, Ghost Key, Kingdom Of Giants, Little Envy, Monuments, Rarity, Stolas, The Ongoing Concept, Tides Of Man, Words Like Daggers, Silverstein, Caspian
Old 97s County Fair, April 16, Main Street Garden Park.
This year, the minds behind Homegrown have joined forces with the Old 97s to create the County Fair, which, aside from a bunch of alt-country acts, will also boast a 40-foot Ferris wheel, midway games and fair foods.
Lineup:Old 97s, Drive By Truckers, Lucero, Deer Tick, Justin Townes Earle, Nikki Lane, Brent Best, Madison King
Something Wonderful, April 23, Texas Motor Speedway.
An EDM festival at the Texas Motor Speedway reads as a bit strange. How much do NASCAR and strobe lights intersect? Not exactly sure. But, regardless of how much things make sense, this is happening.
Lineup:TIËSTO, DADA LIFE, Borgore, Markus Schulz, Tritonal, Andrew Bayer, Cookie Monsta, Dyro, Ilan Bluestone, Keys N’ Krates, Milo & Otis, Sam Feldt, TJR, Aryay, Gromo, Illenium, Jason Ross, KhoMha, Liquid Todd, MaRLo, Prince Fox, Surain, Zaxx.
Edgefest, April 30, Toyota Stadium.
If radio stations are good for anything these days, it's their appease-all-types music festivals. To that end, 102.1-FM The Edge throws this annual fest packed with safe and contemporary rock. This year's bill also features a bit of a throwback in Good Charlotte, who surely aren't as familiar with the lifestyles of the rich and famous as the once were.
Lineup:Cage The Elephant, The 1975, Bastille, Silversun Pickups, Chrvches, Foals, The Struts, The Joy Formidable, Good Charlotte, Blue October, XAmbassadors, JR JR, Nothing But Thieves and The Strumbellas.
Taco Libre Festival, April 30, Main Street Garden Park.
We all love tacos. We love love music, too. And wrestling? Yeah, most of us can get behind that. So what if a music festival combined all three of these things and set up shop in Downtown Dallas? Well, you'd get this.
Lineup: Mariachi El Bronx, Grupo Fantasma, Larry G(EE), Mayta.
JMBLYA May 13, TBA.
One of the best festivals anywhere to combine the ever-on-fire genres of trap-centric EDM and hip-hop, JMBLYA is the annual crown jewel of statewide concert promotions agency Scoremore. If past bills are any indication, your favorite under-30 rapper who isn't Drake or Kendrick Lamar is likely going to perform here — and probably your favorite producer, too. Unfortunately, we don't yet even know the venue for this one, just the date. But we still suggest you start budgeting your funds and time for this one, anyway.
Lineup: TBA.
Homegrown Music and Arts Fest, May 14, Main Street Garden Park.
Homegrown is a great example of how to throw a small, family- and dog-friendly, single-day festival in the heart of a city. It's also a perfect utilization of Main Street Garden Park. There's a reason why this plot of land is such a desirable spot for fests these days, and it's because Homegrown paved the way.
Lineup: Ghostland Observatory, Neon Indian, Wild Child, Bright Light Social Hour, Will Johnson, Pageantry, Kaela Sinclair, Bobby Sessions, Charley Crockett, Kirk Thurmond & The Millenials, Young Mammals, The Misteries.
Elm Street Music & Tattoo Festival May 20-21, Deep Ellum.
Though it's only been around since 2013, this festival, which brings some of the world's finest tattoo artists to town and soundtracks those festivities with a whole slew of in-your-face and mostly punk-leaning bands, has already become an anticipated annual staple. Interestingly, this will be the first year in which the affair's dates haven't centered around a Friday the 13th — but we're thinking that's likely only to make things more organizationally simple for the team behind the event as their brainchild continues to grow.
Lineup: : The Bouncing Souls, Angelic Upstarts, Off With Their Heads, English Dogs, The Generators, Sniper 66, Blood Letters, Disaster Strikes. Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls, Reverend Horton Heat, The Dictators NYC, Dead Flowers, From Parts Unknown, The Swingin' Dicks and more TBA.
Wildflower! Arts and Music Festival May 20-22, Galatyn Park, Richardson
Wildflower! has taken the 'burbs of Richardson by storm for 23 years now. That's a long time! And, to its credit, the fest has come a long way since its humble beginnings. As many as 70,000 people come each year now. Dia de los Toadies, June 11, River Road Ice House, New Braunfels.
No, this isn't taking place in North Texas any longer, but for the past few years it went down in Fort Worth where the Toadies are from. So it's close to home in a spiritual sense, and something we figured you'd be keen on knowing about.
Lineup: Toadies, Reverend Horton Heat, Purple, In The Whale, Emily Wolfe, The Golden Meanies, A Giant Dog and more TBA.
Smoked September 24, Main Street Garden Park.
A BBQ festival with booze is basically every Texan's match made in Heaven. This one'll take place downtown and, though we don't know much at this point beyond a date and a location, it's still probably worth putting into your Google calendars.
Lineup: TBA.
20th Anniversary Texas Music Revolution March 25-26, Oak Point Park & Amphitheater, Plano.
Twenty years is a hell of a long time for a music festival. It's pretty damn commendable. In honor of the milestone, Texas Music Revolution is going to be two days for the first time ever.
Lineup: Lee Ann Womack, Stoney LaRue, Chris Knight, Mike Ryan, Zane Williams, and more TBA.
Lineup:Toadies, Le Freak, Unforgettable Fire, Dennis DeYoung and the Music of Styx, Black Joe Lewis, Jimmie Vaughan, John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers.
