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10 Can’t Miss 2014 Music Festivals

It’s thought that the first music festivals took place during the Pythian games in ancient Greece some 2,500 years ago, when musicians sang or played instruments to please the gods. Music festivals have evolved just a bit since then—though I’m sure some tripping Bonnaroovians still appeal to the great spirits—and while there have been some calamities along the way like Woodstock and Altamont in the 1960’s, festivals have experienced a surge in popularity since the turn of the 21st century. The reasons why this has happened vary, but more than anything else festival-goers often point to the experience of being sealed off from the real world, surrounded by friends and their favorite bands for days on end as to why festivals are so enjoyable. There’s really nothing else like them in pop culture, and judging by the current pace of growth, festivals are only going to become only more common and localized in the near future.

That being said, the festival season of 2014 is well upon us. The list below contains, in order of date, 10 U.S. can’t miss music festivals featuring predominantly rock acts and a diverse assortment of other genre-based musicians. Browse it, learn a little bit about each, and pick your 2014 festival before tickets sell out!

Warped Tour

One of the longest running festivals on this list, Warped Tour has been going strong since 1995. Part music festival, part brand extravaganza and part extreme sports showcase, Warped Tour never fails to entertain the thousands of mostly teenaged people that make the trek to scalding hot parking lots in search of a good time. This year’s festival promises to be no different with more than 120 bands, mostly in the vein of punk and metal, playing more than 40 tour stops across the country. Featured performers will include Falling In Reverse, Less Than Jake, 3OH!3, and Of Mice & Men. Want to get in the Warped mood before buying a ticket or heading over? Checkout the Spotify playlist of Warped Tour 2014 bands!

Where: Nationwide
When: June 11th – August 3rd
Genres: Punk, Pop Punk, Metal, Emo, Hard Rock, Electronic
Lineup and Tickets: http://concertfix.com/tours/warped-tour

Bonnaroo

If Warped Tour is the granddaddy of touring festivals, then Bonnaroo is the patriarch of the quintessential middle-of-nowhere camping festival. Meaning “Good on the Streets” in New Orleans slang, Bonnaroo is a behemoth of a festival and grows larger with every passing year, now featuring way more than just music: water slides, interactive workshops, and silent discos are just a few examples that will be present at this year’s event. Bonnaroo 2014 is fast approaching­, so if you’re interested in any of the more than 200 artists making their way to a dusty farm in Tennessee­—headliners are Elton John, Kanye West, Jack White, Lionel Richie, Neutral Milk Hotel, and Vampire Weekend—best purchase your passes now!

Where: Manchester, TN
When: June 12th – 15th
Genres: Diverse
Lineup and Tickets: http://www.bonnaroo.com

Firefly

A relative newcomer to the festival scene, Firefly is fast creating a name for itself as the go-to camping music festival on the east coast, and certainly the most exciting thing to happen in Delaware in a long time. In fact, the festival’s even been branded with the tagline “The East Coast’s Premier Music Experience” and advertises the camping setting as “lush wooded landscapes on the eastern seaboard.” So what about the music? They might not have as much to offer as Bonnaroo in the way of quantity or extra-curricular activities, but they certainly make up for it with a high concentration of quality acts if you’re into pop, indie, or alt rock. Headliners of this year’s festival are Foo Fighters, OutKast, Jack Johnson, Imagine Dragons, and Beck, and The Lumineers. The lineup is deep, too, with dozens of up and coming artists making an appearance throughout the four-day event. This one’s also coming up rather quickly, so don’t sleep on it if you live anywhere near the mid-Atlantic region!

Where: Dover, DE
When: June 19th – 22nd
Genres: Diverse
Lineup and Tickets: https://fireflyfestival.com

Rockstar Mayhem Festival

Mayhem Festival is the brainchild of Warped Tour creator Kevin Lyman, and as such is very similar­­ in format, touring from parking lot to parking lot across the U.S. every summer. Unlike Warped Tour, Rockstar Mayhem consists of far fewer bands and stages, with only 19 acts making the trip this year on four stages compared to Warped’s 120 bands on 11 stages. It also only visits 28 cities instead of 40. That said, the headliners are no less impressive – this year’s Mayhem Fest’s marquee artists are Korn and Avenge Sevenfold. The genres of music present are similar to those at Warped, though Mayhem fest is decidedly less diverse; if you’re not interested in the peripheral genres present at Warped Tour and are more of a metal / hard rock purist, then Mayhem is the choice for you.

Where: Nationwide
When: July 5th – August 10th
Genres: Hard Rock, Metal
Lineup and Tickets: http://concertfix.com/tours/rockstar-energy-mayhem-festival

Lollapalooza

This one might have the most interesting backstory of them all. Believe it or not, Lollapalooza started as a Jane’s Addiction farewell tour in 1991. Just like many other bands that have gone on faux farewell tours, Jane’s Addiction has toured since, but perhaps the most surprising development to come out of the tour was its conversion to a continually running festival, which aside from a 6 year hiatus from 1997 – 2003, has run non-stop since its inception. Lollapalooza is no longer a touring festival, instead making its mark as a 3-day, 100k person stationary event in Chicago’s Grant Park that hosts some of the biggest artists in the world and provides an awesome environment for music fans who want the chance to explore one of the biggest cities in the country as well. This festival’s lineup is more in the vein of the Bonnaroos and Coachellas as acts are booked on their commercial success more than by any genre they fall into. Keeping that in mind, this year’s headliners are Eminem, OutKast, and Kings of Leon.

Where: Chicago, IL
When: August 1st – 3rd
Genres: Diverse
Lineup and Tickets: http://www.lollapalooza.com/

Bumbershoot

I don’t think it’s going out on a limb to say that Bumbershoot doesn’t receive the attention it deserves. Maybe this is because it’s in a corner of the country that makes traveling expensive to people on the east coast. Or maybe I just think that because I live in the east coast. Either way, Bumbershoot is the longest running festival on this list, originally started as a free festival in 1971 to lift local spirits during an economically depressed time. It’s since converted to a paid event and last year sold a whopping 120,000 tickets. There are plenty of activities and even comedy shows to go along with the music, which this year is being headlined by the diverse trio of Foster the People, J. Cole, Panic! At The Disco, and Wu Tang Clan. As long as Seattle’s notorious rain doesn’t get in the way as it has in the past, this festival is a gem.

Where: Seattle, WA
When: August 30th – September 1st
Genres: Diverse
Lineup and Tickets: http://bumbershoot.org/

Riot Fest

It’s safe to say that Riot Fest is the most promising up and coming festival on this list. Starting as a punk-focused multi-venue festival in Chicago in 2005, Riot Fest today has expanded to a more traditional festival format—large outdoor areas—in three cities: Chicago (home base), Toronto, and Denver. A quick peek at each city’s lineup this year will reveal that Riot Fest has drifted away from their strict punk rock focus—three of the five headliners are The Cure, The National, and Weezer—though their deep lineup consists of very few artists outside of the rock realm, and is still plenty focused on punk; the remaining two headliners are Rise Against and Social Distortion. If Riot Fest has been able to expand from venues to parks in 3 cities over the course of 9 years, the event’s future is bright.

Where: Toronto, Chicago, Denver
When: Sep 6-7 (Toronto); Sep 12-14 (Chicago); Sep 19-21 (Denver)
Genres: Punk, Rock
Lineups and Tickets: http://riotfest.org

Austin City Limits

Just in case Austin’s music scene doesn’t get enough attention from SXSW and the Austin City Limits PBS Television Series, ACL the festival was launched in 2002 as an extension of the TV series and yet another way to justify the city’s nickname as the live music capital of the world. Unlike SXSW, ACL takes place in Zilker Park just over the river and provides a nice contrast to SXSW’s tangled bar-hopping, line-waiting, mile-walking scene. It also serves up the Austin skyline as beautiful backdrop to the performances and recently grew to two weekends, following in the footsteps of Coachella. This festival’s more focused on popular music than any certain genre, with the headliners for 2014 being Eminem, Pearl Jam, OutKast, Skrillex, and Beck. 

Where: Austin, TX
When: Weekend 1: October 3rd – 5th. Weekend 2: October 10th – 12th
Genres: Diverse
Lineup and Tickets: http://acltv.com

The Fest

If genre-generic, commercially oriented music festivals make you shudder, then look no further than The Fest that proudly books underground punk, hardcore, indie, and alt country bands from all over the world. Confusingly hosting Fest13 in 2014, this unique event boasts of its underground roots and the Gainesville, FL music scene that has helped it grow year over year and hosted more than a whopping 392 bands last year alone, none of which are chart toppers. What’s more, those 392 bands were only seen by an attendance of 23,000. That’s a pretty killer band-fan ratio, much better than any other location-based fest on this list. Now’s a good time to catch this festival in its prime if you’re into under the radar acts!

Where: Gainesville, FL
When: October 31st – November 2nd
Genres: Underground, Hardcore, Indie, Alt-Country
Lineup and Tickets: http://thefestfl.com

Voodoo Music Experience

Last on the list is New Orleans’ Voodoo festival, fittingly kicking off on Halloween 2014. This festival is a hybrid of sorts in the best way possible, hosting a mix of large and emerging artists from many genres, and allowing for camping on the grounds as well as being accessible to nearby hotels. They’re definitely the most uniquely branded festival, really capitalizing on the spook of the bayou and the time of year it takes place. Their lineup and pricing has not been released, but if either is anything like years past, then this event is going to be a strong contender.

Where: New Orleans, LA
When: October 31st – November 2nd
Genres: Diverse
Lineup: TBA
Tickets: https://thefestfl.com/tickets/

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