Vic's Picks: Favorite Music Festival
Chris: Electric Daisy Carnival Vegas
Being helicoptered into a festival will never get old. People still drive to them? Psh
Andrew W: SXSW 2011
I've been to SXSW in Austin something like 7 or 8 times, but nothing will ever top the first one: 2011, aka the year that Odd Future--on the eve of Tyler the Creator's GOBLIN release--was seemingly EVERYWHERE. I saw them play four times, including a time where they stormed off stage in a huff. I saw Hodgy Beats hitting kickflips in front of my hotel, and I saw Tyler the Creator watch the demure indie rock band Smith Westerns play before them at Fader Fort. I saw someone mosh into someone else so hard during "Sandwitches" that a beer can got smashed flat against their chest. I stood next to TV on the Radio's drummer by chance during one of the sets I caught them at, and for a moment, we looked at each other and he said "Holy shit," a moment the kind of surreal only a giant mess of a festival like SXSW can deliver. It was like watching a building demolition; it was like watching the end of civilization; it was like watching civilization rise from the ashes. All I knew is that I saw something new, something incredible, and something I'd be thinking about and listening to for the rest of my life.
Mark: Ozzfest 2001
When it comes to Nu Metal or "Divorced Dad Rock," this was the ultimate lineup during the genre's heyday! Black Sabbath, Marilyn Manson, Slipknot, Papa Roach, Linkin Park, Disturbed, Mudvayne, etc.
Amy: Lollapalooza 2003
This was the final year Lollapalooza toured before becoming a permanent Chicago fixture. I caught the second stop in Noblesville, Indiana, despite a nasty thunderstorm, then made it to the final stop at an outdoor venue near Seattle later that summer.
Jane’s Addiction headlined, and I somehow got to meet them backstage in Seattle (an epic moment). The lineup also included Audioslave (Chris Cornell sounding magnificent), Incubus, Queens of the Stone Age, and more.
It ended up marking the close of an era for me, too. It was the last concert I attended before becoming a mom, and, as it turns out, the last music festival I’ve attended. A watershed moment!
Lydia: (Couldn't Pick One) LOCKN' Music fest 2016, Phish Magnaball 2015, Phish Mondegreen 2024, Summerdance (various years)
LOCKN' was maybe one of the hottest weekends of my life, but filled with all my favorite bands, Phish, Ween, Tedeschi Trucks Band, the list is long. One cool thing about this festival is they had a rotating stage, so while one band was finishing up another band was setting up, so there was really no lapse in music. Also, during the fest the bands all have some pretty epic collaborations.
Phish is really the reason music festivals as we know them exist, so they just do music fests the right way creating some of the best memories of any fest I've been to.
Summerdance is the band Lotus's festival, it's in the middle of nowhere in Ohio, at a quarry where you can swim all day, and dance in the sand to the bands all night. The camping is in a wooded area, so it's so pleasantly cool for camping and just hanging out with a great group of friends!
Santina: Electric Forest 2017
The reason it was so special was because it was the first (and only) time they tried out doing two weekends. I was still so new to music festivals so I didn't have an agenda other than to see one of my favorite artists, Mod Sun (his addition to the lineup was the reason I even found out about the festival!) An ex and I went together, and as new as I was to festivals, she was attending her first one! We were there weekend two and it was so much less crowded. We were able to explore, choose where to go solely based on the vibes we felt, and let the music lead us, all in total ease. It was the one and only experience like that, and it's one I will truly treasure forever. Mod Sun's set was fantastic, by the way!
Jamie: Treefort Music Festival, Boise, Idaho (2012-2019)
I lived downtown during Treefort's first several years, and those were some of my favorite days in Boise. I'd unapologetically burn vacation days, which seemed ridiculous because I wasn't going anywhere, but I knew I'd be bouncing between venues until 2 or 3 a.m., grabbing a few hours of sleep, then waking up to the soundcheck and first set of the day because I'd intentionally left my windows open. Built to Spill reminded me whose town it was, but that's the magic of Treefort: Boise royalty happily coexisting with artists the festival was booking years before the rest of the world caught on. My "I saw them when..." list includes Future Islands, Sylvan Esso, ODESZA, Japanese Breakfast, Orville Peck, Run the Jewels, and Khruangbin. I don't live in Boise anymore and can't always make the pilgrimage back, but I still look at every lineup to figure out what's next.
Andrew J: Jazz Fest....2015?
The variety of music is amazing. Closed one day with Widespread Panic and the next with Pearl Jam. Cochon de lait and cheap beer made it even better.
Lake: Electric Forest 2019
First time at a big fest, with older brother and best friends, got to see my favorite artists!
Allie K: Aspen Jazz Fest 2021
Before we were married, my husband Dylan and I went to Aspen Jazz Festival as one of our first trips together. We saw Marren Morris, who I adored in college and got me through some big life transitions, and Jimmy Buffet, a staple in Dylan’s household growing up. It felt like a perfect (albeit random) mix for us both, set to an incredible backdrop. It was one of those “when you know you know” weekends for us both.
