The weather has been so amazingly gorgeous lately, and the bombardment of UV rays has me giddily planning attendance at outdoor summer concerts. And thinking about outdoor summer concerts has me thinking about summer rock festivals, which has me ferreting out links for you to click through and enjoy. I bear no responsibility for any saved-up money you may spend on tickets to the following:
88.5 WXPN's XPoNential Music Festival (please pardon the hideous spelling): July 19-22, Wiggins Park, Camden -- If you used to be a fan of Y100, this is your best bet for a substitute. The Fratellis, Fountains of Wayne, Cracker, the Smithereens, and Philly locals Dr. Dog are all playing, among many, many others. I'm kind of bummed that they couldn't get the equally local Spinto Band to play, but you can't have everything.
Vans Warped Tour: August 3, Tweeter Center, Camden (though the site says it's Philly). If you're a Tony Hawk-worshipping, Vans-wearing, Hot Topic-shopping kind of person, this is the tour for you. You can connect with fellow fans here, become a Warped Panelist here, and see the lineup (in alphabetical order, with what dates they're playing) here.
Ozzfest: August 22, Tweeter Center, Camden (again, the site claims Philly as the location). This is the tour for music fans who like their music loud, louder, loudest, and their typefaces on the quasi-goth side of things -- you think I kid, but I am entirely serious: check out the logos for the bands playing this year's festival. Seriously, check them out! Some of them are not even legible! What in the world is the name of the band whose photo is the last one down on the right hand side (the one where they're all made up like rabid, runny makeup members of KISS)?
Finally, a small plug for R5 Productions, a local indie rock tour promoter. They don't have a packaged tour or local festival, but they might someday, and in the meantime, there is no better Philly-area promoter of smaller bands. If the names Explosions in the Sky, Lavender Diamond, El-P, or Tortoise mean anything to you, you'll want to make friends with R5 on MySpace, pronto.
PS: remember, all back-issues of teen magazines now circulate! You can take home back-issues for 7 days (and you can renew for two more weeks), so if you want some Metal Edge to go with your Ozzfest tickets, or Punk Planet and Under the Radar to prepare for going to the Warped Tour, please, be my guest.
