rock

It used to be that American music festivals had more of a through-line when it came to bands; a metal festival, a hippie festival, a bands-that-want-to-be-the-Cure festival, etc. But seemingly over the last few years, with Coachella and Lollapalooza expanding their scope to include music besides alt/indie/horn-rimmed glasses rock, more and more competing festivals are following suit. For instance, I can imagine the crowd at the Mile High Music Festival in Colorado this July looking much like those found on any campus quad: a mix of everything. There’s bros playing hackey-sack with would-be techno dancers, long-hairs jamming their favorite Floyd tune to bleach-blonde Abercrombie-clad girly-girls, dread-heads bumming cigarettes off folksy types…

Twenty-five years after the successful launch of Street Scene helped fuel the redevelopment of San Diego's then largely moribund Gaslamp Quarter, downtown is helping breathe new life into the city's oldest and largest annual music festival.

"To come back and be a part of the continuing growth of downtown is something we're very excited about," said Street Scene founder Rob Hagey, who returned his festival downtown last year, after being held in 2007 at Coors (now Cricket Wireless) Amphitheatre and in 2006 and 2005 in the Qualcomm Stadium parking lot. "It was all about rebranding and coming home to where Street Scene belonged."

Breaking out of five years of going to the Austin City Limits Music Festival by checking out the Sasquatch! Festival in George, Washington turned out to be a pretty good idea. Held over Memorial Day Weekend with one of the most dramatic natural backgrounds behind a stage I've ever seen, the festival is a unique treat to say the least.  With the location of the main stage at the base of a natural amphitheatre with the Columbia river gorge behind it, the venue inspires all those who play to turn it up a notch to at least "11."  Everyone has the dramatic "helicopter shot" moment as they crest the hill to see the big stage for the first time. And Sasquatch knows how to play this up, evidenced by this promo video. Notice the grass terraces, which are quite cushy, and except for the bugs the first day make for a nice place to lay around and catch some great music.

The big names on this year's summer music docket call to mind the days when Bill Clinton was president, Lollapalooza was the biggest tour around and kids still bought CDs. You've got Green Day selling out arenas, Pearl Jam and the Offspring headlining big festivals, and even reunions from No Doubt and Phish. (One question: Where's Arrested Development?!) But even those who don't know "Dookie" from De La Soul can find plenty of reasons to get out and hear live music this summer (and early fall).