Upcoming Concerts I Plan To Attend

Typically, I will not attend my first concert of the year until the weather is much warmer and there is zero chance for snow in the forecast. This year however, concert season is coming a little earlier for me. The reason for the early arrival is that Mrs. Vie and I have tickets to see one of our favorite live acts, Nickleback, on Valentine’s Day. We felt it was the perfect way to celebrate the day. And with that show right around the corner, I thought it would be a good time for me to figure out which other performances I will be attending this year.

 Caveat – I am trying to attend less concerts this year than I have in years past, due to financial constraints. But as the days wear on and more and more concerts are announced, I see myself bending that self imposed rule rather quickly. I’ll be sure to provide an update to this post as additional shows are added to my 2015 list. Here’s what I have, or expect to have for now.

Nickleback at PPL Center in Allentown, PA

As mentioned above, my wife and I will be attending this show. This will be the 4^th time that I am seeing Nickleback in concert and the first since they toured behind Dark Horse. From the first time I saw this band in concert I have loved them live and I have never been disappointed by their performance. I suspect that Valentine’s Day will be no exception.

Sixx: AM at Starland Ballroom, NJ

Metal Eddie caught me via text recently and inquired if I wanted to see this show. I haven’t seen Sixx:AM since Cruefest back in 2008, so I felt that it was time to check out the band live again. Of course this means that I will have to spend money on their new CD prior to the show. Man, why can’t bands just give me everything for free at this point? I give them enough coverage!

M3 Metal Festival at Merriweather Post Pavilion, MD

Kix! Europe! Quiet Riot! Warrant! Queensryche! Yes, the annual metal festival returns once again. This will be my sixth year in a row travelling to Baltimore to hang out with my good buddy Rob Rockitt and enjoy some of the greatest 80s metal music around. All over the course of 2 fabulous days in May! Horns out….rock on!

Dave Matthews Band at PNC Bank Arts Center, NJ

This is a definite must. Anytime the mighty Dave Matthews Band performs within 90 minutes of my house, I have to see them. I will be on the lawn for another wonderful summer night to enjoy one of my all time favorites in concert. Where I am torn is that the band is playing in CT two nights later. It’s a Friday night show and it is only a 3 hour drive for me to get there. I really want to go to that concert too, but I am conflicted, because the cost of the show, plus travel, plus hotel for the night adds up fast! And if I go to CT, the next night DMB plays in MA, and that’s only 90 minutes from CT… Stay tuned for updates on what I do regarding these extra shows.

Rush at Prudential Center, NJ

My uncle doesn’t own a country place, but he is a big fan of Rush. He reached out to me regarding attending this show and had the opportunity to purchase pre-sale tickets. Knowing how incredible Rush is in concert, I didn’t even need to give it a second thought. Okay, that’s a slight lie. I did ask my wife to validate that I could justify attending this concert. She did and told me I had to go, its family. I love my wife.

O.A.R. at TBD

While they haven’t yet announced tour dates for 2015, O.A.R. seems to be on the road every summer, and I would believe that this year would be no exception. And seeing as how I am a big fan of this band, I find no reason why I wouldn’t attend one of their shows, especially if it is a summer show at PNC on a Saturday night, as it has been for the past few years. So even though this is not official, due to no announcements having been made, I am pretty certain that I will be taking in another wonderful night of O.A.R.

AC/DC at TBD

The rumors are flying that AC/DC is on the verge of announcing their world tour and that Chris Slade will be their drummer for this tour. Remember him? He performed on The Razor’s Edge album and was with the band for 5 years. He was actually with the band when I attended my first concert ever (http://rockandrollguru.blogspot.com/2009/01/acdc-november-11-1990_17.html). AC/DC doesn’t come around too often, so needless to say, the second this tour is announced and a local date has been declared, I am in.

So even though I am trying to attend fewer concerts in 2015, I still have quite the slate of shows listed. However, I did skip out on U2 at The Garden, although I really wanted to see at least one of those. And, I am foregoing Billy Joel at The Garden this year, even though his last performance was amazing. I also skipped out on Extreme at the Bergen PAC, I’m skipping Kix at The Bergen PAC, and I opted to be a no for Foo Fighters at Citi Field. While 7 concerts may appear to be a lot for 2015, it could have been almost double that. I say good for me!!! And I still say bands just let me come to their shows for free…. *SIGH*

UPDATES: 
The AC/DC concert is official. They will be performing at Met Life Stadium in August, and I will be attending that show. O.A.R. will be at the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, New Jersey. I will also be at that show. I also plan to see Guster in July in Bethlehem, PA. And I have tickets for Def Leppard/Styx/Tesla at the PNC Bank Arts Center. That brings my total concerts for the year up to 9. And I still may see Twisted Sister in June.... expect more updates as they arrive.

Pretty Boy Floyd - May 14, 2011 (M3 Day Two)

I’ll admit it. Prior to my journey to this year’s MS music festival, I only knew the basics of Pretty Boy Floyd. I was familiar with their big hits and best known songs, but had little additional knowledge of the band or their music. Pretty Boy Floyd was a great group that somehow escaped most of my attention. When I heard they were playing at M3 though, I knew that I wanted to see their performance. On a misty, chilly, Saturday afternoon, I felt the excitement racing through me as I made my way to the second stage.

Staying to witness all of Danger Danger’s set on the main stage forced me to miss half of Pretty Boy Floyd’s opening song, “Leather Boyz With Electric Toyz.” The half that I did hear though sucked me in. The raw energy and incredible skill of this song being played live was intense. It was immediately apparent that there was something special transpiring. By the end of “Leather Boyz With Electric Toyz,” I had positioned myself center stage as the crowd grew. Pretty Boy Floyd was the opening act on the second stage and while the timeslot was not a highly coveted one, this did not prevent the band from giving it their all.

Every member of the band looked great! From new drummer Ben Graves to lead singer Steve Summers, you would have sworn these guys were all in their 20s. Whatever workout program they participate in, I need to sign up for it. Perhaps it’s all the groupie love that keeps them looking so fit.

Since they were on an extremely tight timeline, Pretty Boy Floyd played a condensed set of hits. “I Wanna Be With You,” “Your Momma Don’t Know,” and “48 Hours” were all included in their hard rocking set. A total of eight songs were performed in all, but each one was breathtakingly brilliant. Pretty Boy Floyd stole the early part of the show and was definitely one of the best bands at the 2011 M3 Festival.

Between the over the top and outrageous feather boa jacket donned by Summers, and the outlandish and radical makeup, Pretty Boy Floyd put on a talented performance. In between songs the band handed out copies of both their debut CD and their all Kiss tribute CD. I was not even aware that the band had done the latter.

Musically, Pretty Boy Floyd was on fire. Their sound was impeccable, their performance as hard rocking as it gets, and their on stage antics were fun for everyone. What surprised me most was how great the band sounded. They were the first band to use the second stage and yet their sound was better than some of the bands that graced the main stage.

Should there be another M3 next year (and I don’t see any reason why there wouldn’t be), Pretty Boy Floyd needs to be invited back to rock the main stage. In the meantime, I am hopeful that the band will decide to do a summer tour. I would live to see these guys in action again.

Setlist
Leather Boyz With Electric Toyz
Toast Of The Town
Rock And Roll Outlaws
Saturday Night
I Wanna Be With You
48 Hours
Your Momma Won’t Know
Rock And Roll (Is Gonna Set The Night On Fire)

The M3 Festival 2011

It’s Festival Week once again at The Rock And Roll Guru. This week I will be discussing five select festivals including the highs, the lows, the bands on the bill, the places to go, and why you should attend.

M3 Festival
http://m3rock.webs.com
May 13 – 14, 2011
Columbia, Maryland

Overview
In what has become known as the hair metal event of the year, M3 returns for their third year of metal madness. Taking place in Columbia, Maryland, at the Post Merriweather Pavilion, M3 has stretched itself into a 2-day event for the first time. The concerts begin on Friday, May 13th with KIX headlining the night. Then the party continues on Saturday, May 14th where Whitesnake will close out the festivities. With hair bands galore filling the bill for both nights, this is the festival for the 80s metal lover to attend.

Ticketing
Tickets are available through Ticketfly, a ticketing service that is a billion times better than Ticketmaster. The tickets are sold in a tiered fashion with the most expensive ticket being $175 for the VIP ticket. This package includes backstage passes with a buffet, premiere seating in the first few rows, and a private entrance. Pavilion 1 tickets are $95, Pavilion 2 tickets are $65, and Lawn tickets are $45. There are individual day tickets on sale as well for fans who do not want to attend both dates. But who would want to miss one of these nights?

Lineup
The lineup for this year’s M3 festival is intense and chock full of glam metal (as always). Friday, May 13th, which is being billed as the official “kick-off” party, has 4 great acts. Jetboy will open the evening followed by L.A. Guns, Warrant, and the headliners of the night, KIX. Now that is my idea of an opening night!

The fun continues as the acts get even bigger for day two. Faster Pussycat, Hurtsmile (Gary Cherone’s new band), Slaughter, Mr. Big, Tesla, and the big headliners of the night, Whitesnake are all on the bill. Other entertainers include Lita Ford, Sebastian Bach, Great White, Danger Danger, Pretty Boy Floyd, Big Noize, and Black And Blue. This is a hair metal lover’s delight.

History
Now in its third year of entertaining the masses, the M3 music Festival gets better every year. Last year’s festival ran like a well oiled machine (until Vince Neil gummed up the works). I expect that this year’s festival will run even smoother. With almost no waiting time between bands, thanks to the 2 stage set up, M3 has worked out the kinks in their program and their third year should be their best year yet. The Post Merriweather Pavilion has been around for a while and they know how to host concert events. With plenty of concession stands, good food, and lots of cold beer, M3 is an amazing experience.

Places To Stay
Listed on the M3 website are some nearby hotels. And while there are rooms still available at most of these hotels, practically all of the double bed rooms have been sold out. If you’re going to Columbia with your sweetie, then it’s no worries all the way. However, if you’re going with your buds, expect someone to be sleeping on the floor. If you look a little further outside the immediate area of the Post Merriweather Pavilion, you’ll not only find hotels that have double bed rooms available, you’ll find that they cost less too. Cousin Ryo’s advice is to do a little research and save a few bucks.

Overall
M3 is once again the music festival of choice for the staff at Hard Rock Hideout (www.hardrockhideout.com). After attending last year’s festival and having an amazing time, this even bigger two day event looks to bring even more thrills. With low, low ticket prices (compared to other festivals) and old school glam acts a-plenty, how do you say no to this festival? M3 looks to be the best way to kick-start the summer concert season.

Ryo’s Final Word
I am really hoping that Faster Pussycat will play their stupendous cover of “You’re So Vain.” It would just about make the entire festival for me.

Live Video Footage From M3

Here is some live video footage of this past Saturday’s M3 Festival.

First up is Kix – Cold Blood. Note the shape that Steve Whiteman is and keep in mind that he must be in his 50s. He’s an inspiration.




LA Guns (W/ Phil Lewis) – The Ballad of Jayne. Hearing this live on Saturday totally brought me back to high school.




Nelson with Mark Slaughter playing guitar. The sound quality is great. The film is a little shaky. Nelson looked great, sounded great, and I made the right decision leaving Vince Neil’s set to see them.



And finally, here’s The Scorpions performing Sting In The Tail.

M3 Festival Initial Reactions

As I'm sure you are aware, the M3 Rock Festival was this past weekend in Columbia, Maryland. In the coming weeks, I will be posting full, in-depth, analytical concert reviews of all of the acts that I saw full sets for at the M3 Festival. However, as I prepare for copious amounts of review writing, I wanted to put down my initial reaction and showcase some of the highlights from this year’s festival.

The Shirts
Obviously, a LOT of T-Shirts were worn and seen throughout the day. Wondering what the number one shirt worn at the festival was? Cinderella. Second place went to Kix. There were quite a few Kiss shirts as well, including a couple of button down shirts with the four solo album faces on both the front and the back. Those shirts were cool.

The Food
Kudos to the Merriweather Post Pavilion. The food was excellent. The cheeseburger I had for lunch was one of the best cheeseburgers I ever ate. And yes, I know how bizarre that sounds. My cheese steak for dinner was exceptional as well. I also noticed several food and drink options throughout the pavilion and although the lines were long, the workers moved quickly to keep the lines moving. Well done. My one complaint? The ice cream machine was broken (and there was only one on the entire premises). No ice cream on the hottest day of the year? That sucked.

Best Tent At The Festival
This is a tie between Shiprocked, who was there helping to raise money to prevent cancer and the Gentleman’s Gold Club. Shiprocked was fighting for a noble cause, but the Gold Club had half naked hot women sliding down makeshift poles. That can be very hard to top.

Best Performance of the Festival
Hands down, Kix was the best performance of the day. The energy that they brought to the stage was incredible and Steve Whiteman’s ability to work the crowd shows how a real frontman handles an audience. I am a newly minted huge fan of Kix after seeing them perform. I want to see their full set now and I am making plans to see them as soon as they perform again.

Worst Performance of the Festival
Vince Neil. Someone (perhaps more than one person) actually tweeted that they were leaving Vince Neil to see Nelson perform. I had done the same thing, but I had planned to do that. A full explanation of why Vince was so horrendous will be posted soon.

Overall Rating
Overall, I am extremely glad that I attended M3. I got to hang out with my good friends from Hard Rock Hideout, I got to see some exceptional bands perform (some which I’ve never seen before, others not in a long time) and it was an enjoyable day. Would I do it again? Absolutely.

Check back soon for full concert reviews of Kix, L.A. Guns, Trixter, Jetboy, Cinderella, and The Scorpions as well as a complete recap of my festival day.

Friday's Rockin' Roundup - M3 Festival Edition

Today, your Cousin Ryo is on a road trip to Columbia, Maryland. I’m heading there to attend this year’s M3 Festival. Hard Rock Hideout’s (http://www.hardrockhideout.com/) Rob Rockitt and Stone from Metal Odyssey (http://www.meralodyssey.wordpress.com/) will be there with me. I hope to be able to catch up with Bring Back Glam’s (http://www.bringbackglam.com/) Allyson as well. We are all attending due to our love of hard rock and hair metal.

The acts on this year’s bill are incredible and include some bands I’ve never seen before. Trixter, Nelson, Jetboy, and Kix are all performing and they are all bands that I have never seen in concert before. Also, the show’s headliners, The Scorpions – I’ve never seen them live either. Other acts (that I have seen) include LA Guns, Cinderella, Warrant, Winger, and Vince Neil. I am really looking forward to Winger’s set. I LOVE their new album (Karma) and I hope they play more than one song from it. I know their set time is limited (45 minutes), but they owe it to themselves and their fans to play the new songs.

Going to M3? Look for me. I’ll be there handing out business cards to anyone that is interested. I wish I had Guru T-Shirts. That would be cool. I guess that’s something to consider for next year! Expect a full report of M3 not only here, but at the other great rock, glam, and metal sites (mentioned above) as well. M3 is bound to be an incredible day of fun for all. I hope to see you there!

And while I was packing a bag, checking my stash of Aqua Net, and debating on which dew rag to wear, here’s what rocked this week:

Midas and SPIN Present Rock The Highway
Appreciating how summer travel, music festivals, and great music go hand in hand, Midas and SPIN have partnered up this summer to present the Rock the Highway contest where musicians can submit an original song that they think could be the next great road song (accepted in either fully produced or acoustic versions). Midas will pick the best of the bunch and put them up for a fan vote. Six bands will win a share of $17,000 in cash prizes PLUS appear in an ad in SPIN Magazine. For those who don’t want to submit content, Rock the Highway also includes a sweepstakes where music fans can vote for their favorite road songs of all time and enter to win prizes including VIP passes to select summer music festivals, navigation systems, satellite radio systems, gas cards and more. This is definitely worth checking out.

New Band – Awesome Song
Well, the band is new to me, anyway. Check out Hacienda’s Younger Days. What a cool song!



Guitar Legend Les Paul Has A Website Launched In His Honor
Want to know more about the late, great, Les Paul? Want to learn how to donate to charities that he believed in, or find out how you can help in other ways? Check out this website. It’s a great way to remember Les, and pay tribute to his legend.

Set Times For M3
And finally, if you are attending M3, the set times are included at this link. I will be there at high noon for Jetboy and I will be one of the few leaving Vince Neil’s set early so that I can see all of Nelson. That’s right, I said it and I meant it.

Have a great Friday! For more updates, hair metal soliloquies, news, reviews, and other fun things, you should follow me on Twitter. www.twitter.com/ryovie

M3 Festival

It’s festival week here at The Rock and Roll Guru! This week I’ll be discussing the upcoming summer festivals and highlighting the highs, lows, and all the in-betweens of each. I’ve selected five festivals and will post daily on each. Enjoy!



M3
http://m3rock.webs.com/

Taking place in Columbia, Maryland, at the Merriweather Post Pavilion, the M3 Festival is hard rock and heavy metal at its finest. With old school metal, hair metal, and nostalgic hard rock acts all on the bill, M3 looks to be one of the best festivals of the summer. Taking place over the course of just one day, M3 packs more metal into a short period of time than your old high school metal shop class. M3 is a rocker’s delight.

Ticketing
Tickets are available through Ticketfly, a new ticketing service that is standing up to Ticketmaster. The ordering process is painless and simple, the fees are low and transparent, and the entire ordering process is quick and simple.

Tickets are available in a tiered pricing system from $175 for the best seats, $75, $55, and $35 for lawn seats (all before fees). On the lower end ($55 and $35) these are the best festival prices I have seen for 2010. When you factor in the lineup for this day, it’s almost a no-brainer to attend this show.

Lineup
Going out on what they proclaim to be their farewell tour, The Scorpions are the big headliners of the night. Supporting acts include Cinderella, Vince Neil, Winger, Warrant, Kix, Nelson, and some other 80s metal favorites. For the price of the ticket, this festival would be worth going to just to see The Scorpions and Cinderella. When you add the other top name acts into this lineup, it’s a fantastic day of hard rocking fun.

History
This festival is relatively new to the scene. M3 began last year by bringing top name acts such as Twisted Sister, Extreme, Ratt, Dokken, Slaughter, and others. Fan polls and media reviews show that it was a professional experience, easy to get to, and well maintained. M3 plans to continue the great service in 2010 for year number two. If all goes well, M3 should be back for many more years.

Places To Stay
Since this is a one day festival, there is no camping available at the Post Pavilion. There are plenty of nearby hotels though. The Hilton, Courtyard by Marriott, Staybridge Suites and the Hampton Inn are all within a five mile radius of the Pavilion. Hotel rooms, like tickets for this show, are going fast, so make your reservations now if you plan on attending. A full list of hotels can be found on the M3 web.

Overall
This is the festival that cousin Ryo is attending in 2010. With an amazing lineup of old school glam metal acts crammed into one rocking day, low ticket prices, and an experience that can’t be repeated, M3 is the ultimate hard rock festival. Entering into its second year, the future looks very bright for this rock and roll extravaganza.

M3 Festival 2010

The M3 festival is returning this year. What is M3 you ask? Just an amazing day of hair metal music played at maximum volume and one of the better festivals of 2009. It promises to be just as great, if not better, in 2010.

Being held at the same location as last year, The Merriweather Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland, this year’s lineup features confirmed acts of Kix, Winger, Vince Neil, Cinderella, Warrant, L.A. Guns, The Scorpions, Nelson Trixter, and more!

Most of my regular readers know that I also write reviews for Hard Rock Hideout (http://www.hardrockhideout.com/). This is the festival that we have chosen to attend this year. Rather than try and brave the mid-summer heat of Rocklahoma, or attend another unproven festival, M3 is our festival of choice for 2010.

M3 promises to be an incredible festival of hair metal music bliss. Last year’s M3 was an amazing event that was enjoyed by all. 2 stages featuring several acts across the day saw some great bands performing. This year’s lineup is shaping up to be even better. With Winger supporting their fabulous new album (Karma), Cinderella performing, and The Scorpions as the big headliners, this is going to be one amazing day of music and mayhem. It will be an excellent introduction to the 2010 summer concert season.

No word about the on sale date for tickets, but I imagine that it would be soon. The website claims that prices and on sale dates should be announced in the next week.

For more information and updates, visit the M3 Festival website at: http://m3rock.webs.com/

Comments are open. Feel free to post some.

The Summer Concert Wrap Up Part Two: The Festivals

On Monday, we discussed the tours that took place during the summer of 2009, which ones were great, which ones were not so great, and which ones just plain sucked. Today I’d like to examine the concert festivals that happened (or didn’t) during this past summer.

Rock On The Range
May 16 – 17
Technically a spring concert, Rock On The Range was a 2-day hard rock festival that featured top acts Motley Crue, Alice In Chains, Avenged Sevenfold, Slipknot, and Korn. This was the event that kick started the summer concert festivals. Other great bands that performed included Buckcherry, Shinedown, The Used, and Black Stone Cherry, just to name a few. Held at the Columbus Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio, Rock On The Range was a great event to launch the summer concert festivals. With great bands on the bill and two days of hard rock mayhem, Rock On The Range was an excellent festival.

M3
May 30
The M3 Festival was a one day only rock event held at The Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland. A gathering of the best in hair metal, the festivals headliners included Ratt, Extreme, and Twisted Sister. Other notable bands that performed were Kix, Dokken, Slaughter, Jani Lane, Y&T, and the BulletBoys. 2 stages were set up for the daylong event, with the only downside being that fans had to pick and choose which performers they wanted to see as most of the performance times overlapped. The reviews that I read showed this was one strong, fun, metal packed day of music. If it happens again next year, it might be on the top of my list for festivals to visit.

Bonnaroo
June 11 – 14
This year’s Bonnaroo festival packed in some great bands and great performances for a reasonable price ($250 for a full pass). Bruce Springsteen, Nine Inch Nails, The Beastie Boys, Wilco, and David Byrne all gave headline worthy performances. In addition to those bands, Phish performed for 2 nights as the main headliner (Bruce Springsteen was the other main headliner). The crowd was enamored with Phish and their performances were outstanding. Bruce Springsteen & the E-Street Band gave one of their most memorable shows on their current Working On A Dream tour and fans had a hard time determining which act was the best of the weekend.

Rocklahoma
July 9 -12
Billing this year’s Rocklahoma with the tag “It’s All About The Party,” was a marketing ploy that wound up working against the festival. Some fans cried that it was all about the party because the band and performances were awful. The reviews from this years’ Rocklahoma were not favorable to say the least. Held in Oklahoma in the sweltering summer heat, the first obstacle that fans had to overcome was the weather. Temperatures with the heat index hit over 110 degrees at one point, making it the hottest concert of the summer (in terms of the weather). With Stryper and Anthrax as two of the main headliners, fan complaints were strong that these were not headline worthy performers. The overall feel was that Rocklahoma lost some luster in its third year and there is hope that next year’s festival (should it be held again) will have better planning and better headline acts.

Lollapalooza
August 7 – 9
With Headliners Jane’s Addiction reunited and back in full swing, this year’s Lollapalooza was a spectacular event. Kings of Leon, Depeche Mode, Tool, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and The Killers rounded out the top bands for the festival. Other notable acts included Lou Reed, Ben Folds, and The Gaslight Anthem. Multiple bands and event tents rounded out Lollapalooza, providing an enjoyable and entertaining event for all who attended.

Rock Gone Wild
Scheduled for August 20 – 23
In what was beyond doubt the biggest disappointment of the summer, Rock Gone Wild never took place. Depending on who you believe, either the promoters were crooked, greedy, and screwed a lot of people (bands and fans) out of a lot of money, or, the promoters got screwed over by the casino grounds (where the concert was supposed to take place after being moved from its original site) and were left to take the hits.

Disappointments aside, I have to think the promoters were shady on this one. They moved the location from what was supposed to be awesome festival grounds to a much smaller area that they supposedly never had a legal contract with. They did this at the last minute (less than a month before the festival date). This only goes to show that ticket sales were not doing as well as they initially claimed. Even with their giveaways and special packages, fans were not buying.

Perhaps the promoters were too greedy. Perhaps an amazing festival (by the looks of the lineup anyway) met up with an awful economy and created an explosion. Perhaps it just wasn’t meant to be. Whatever the reason, the bottom line is that a lot of fans got screwed. Rock Gone Wild has set up information on how to get a full refund on their website (www.rockgonewild.com). If you bought tickets and haven’t received refund information, visit their site.

Outside Lands Festival
August 28 – 30
The summer festivals closed out with the Outside Lands Festival in California. Pearl Jam, Dave Matthews Band, Incubus, The Black Eyed Peas, and Modest Mouse (just to name a few of the top groups) performed to the delight of fans from all across the United States. Held at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, the Outside Lands Festival was an excellent end to the summer festivals and perhaps the most diversified event in terms of the different types of music. From rock, to hip hop, to alternative, to folk, this festival offered something for everybody. The 2nd annual Outside Lands Festival looks like a strong leader for best festival of 2009 and with the direction this event is moving in, it is certain to be a hit again next year and is another festival that will be moving to the top of my consideration list.

What was your favorite festival? Did you have the opportunity to attend more than one? Drop a comment and let me know. The Guru would love to hear all about it.

Comments are open. Feel free to post some.