Last month, several regional music festivals announced their lineups for the season.
If traveling isn’t in the cards this year, you could always stay here for the Fayetteville Roots Festival or head to Mulberry Mountain for Wakarusa or Thunder on the Mountain.
The Black Keys
Memphis in May
May 3-5 – Memphis, Tennessee
The Beale Street Music Festival kicks off this year’s Memphis in May events from May 3-5 at Tom Lee Park on the riverfront in downtown Memphis.
This year marks the 37th anniversary of the festival, and the lineup includes over 60 bands featuring headliners The Black Keys and Alice in Chains.
Other notable acts include The Flaming Lips, Smashing Pumpkins, The Roots, ZZ Top, The Black Crowes, Deer Tick, Heartless Bastards and Memphis’ own Lucero.
Most of the three-day pass packages are sold out, but the $85 option is still available through Ticketmaster as of Tuesday morning.
Rocklahoma
GNR
May 24-26 – Pryor, Oklahoma
Rocklahoma will celebrate its seventh year May 24-26 with three days of music and camping in Pryor, Oklahoma.
Guns N’ Roses, Alice In Chains and Korn will headline the event.
The full lineup lists about 50 more bands including Bush, Cheap Trick, Papa Roach, Bullet For My Valentine,Skillet, Steel Panther and RATT.
General admission tickets start at $99, but a 4-pack of tickets is available and will save you 25 percent. All tickets are available through rocklahoma.com.
Pryor is located about 45 minutes northeast of Tulsa. The festival grounds include onsite camping with access to restrooms and shower house, a general store for campers and VIP reserved seating.
Fun.
Kanrocksas
June 28-29 – Kansas City, Kansas
The Kanrocksas Music Festival returns to the Kansas Speedway in Kansas City this year after a year break.
This year’s event is scheduled for June 28-29, and includes a beast of a lineup featuring Grammy-winning band Fun and headliners Tiesto, Kendrick Lamar and the Avett Brothers.
The festival drew about 50,000 people in its first year when Eminem and Muse headlined the two-day event. According to the Kansas City Star, financial losses and construction at Kansas Speedway required organizers to suspend the event in 2012.
While there may not be a star as big as Eminem on this year’s lineup, the list of well-loved artists is long and includes MGMT, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Son Volt, Grouplove, Pretty Lights, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros and She & Him, which features “New Girl” actress Zooey Deschanel.
Tickets are currently $175 through kanrocksas.com, but expect those to eventually rise to around $190.
Luke Bryan
Flatlands Country Music Festival
Sept. 12-14 – Kansas City, Kansas
Finally, there’s the new Flatlands Country Music Festival which debuts Sept. 12-14 at Sporting Park in Kansas City. The three-day event includes camping and features inaugural headliners Luke Bryan and Toby Keith.
Sound familiar? It should. The recently announced Thunder on the Mountain music festival will also include three days of country music, camping and – get this – inaugural headliners Luke Bryan and Toby Keith.
While it won’t feature nearly as many country artists as Thunder on the Mountain, Flatlands does have a healthy lineup which also includes Darius Rucker, Love and Theft, Thompson Square, Rodney Atkins, JT Hodges, Kevin Fowler and The Charlie Daniels Band.
Ticket prices start at $99 and are on sale through Ticketmaster.
I would really like to attend the Kansasrock event because that’s an intriguing lineup. However, at nearly $200 per ticket, that’s tough to justify.
My thoughts exactly!
What, no love for Rocklahoma. It’s only 85 mi away. Maybe not hip enough for this crowd.
Good idea, Jdoug. I’ve added Rocklahoma to the list.
I was about to post a music-snobby, snarky comment about Rocklahoma. Then I realized they booked The Sword & Clutch and totally redeemed themselves!
Kanrocksas, while somehow managing to come up with an even worse name than Rocklahoma, actually has a pretty intriguing lineup. Avetts, Poly Spree, MGMT, Kendrick Lamar, mf’n Grimes!, Zeds Dead, Killer Mike, Yeasayer….I could get behind that. The headliners blow, but who goes to a fest for the headliners.
I can’t get behind Kanrockas because of the location, they’re taking great artists with potential for a great atmosphere and throwing it all out in an open asphalt motor speedway. I’m not the pickiest person in the world, but that kills it for me…
Totally agree, dude. I would never attend the event just for that reason…and because it is over priced…and because they named it Kanrocksas. Put that lineup in the woods (or at least on some grass) and I am there!
Location can really make a great festival, it’s one of the reasons I’m such a fanboy of Sasquatch, hard to beat The Gorge!
You wouldn’t believe how cool the the Speedway site is for a festival. Its modern, it safe, its easy. It sits on 1200 acres of grasland. The infield is incredible cool and the sound is absolutely the perfect. Ask someone who actually went to the fest in 2011. They will tell you that the experience was second to none.
Wakarusa stage schedule came out today! On JamBase you can customize your favorite bands time slots to go see, http://www.jambase.com/festivals/wakarusa/