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Your 5 Dream Music Festival Lineups

As spring approaches, so do our summer itineraries. Decidedly important is the time we spend researching how we will enjoy our long weekends in awesome cities with old-friends and new smiles.

Let music accompany all of your travels, and may your travels exult great music. Here is a guide to five stellar festival lineups to fill your summer months.

1. Coachella

The 16th annual, now, two weekends long Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California (distance from LA) runs April 10-19. Although Coachella may get the same blasé response from music industry heads, similar to their sentiments relating to SXSW in Austin, this year’s lineup (just as with Austin’s aura) is a gift for music heads. Some highlights of the festival include Tame Impala, Azealia Banks, Lykke Li, DJ Harvey, Caribou, Run the Jewels, SBTRKT, Flosstradamus, Toro Y Moi, Cashmere Cat, Lil B, Marina and the Diamonds, and Odesza.

2. Movement

Starting May 23rd, downtown Detroit’s legendary Riverfront destination, Hart Plaza, will host a 36-hour party. There will be 140 artists performing for over 100,000 (last year totaled 107,000) fans from around the world at the 10th annual Movement. Artist’s extending their talents include Robert Hood, house pioneer Juan Atkins (performing as Model 500), Terrance Dixon, Kimyon, Squarepusher, Disclosure curating an installment of their Wildlife Festival, Richie Hawton, Hudson Mohawke, Kevin Saunderson presenting ORIGINS, and Snoop Dogg, who will perform as DJ Snoopadelic.

3. Pitchfork

Offered in both Chicago and Paris, the Pitchfork Media platform is one of the best-respected purveyors of independent music the world might learn from. Last year’s Paris lineup included St. Vincent, Kaytranada, Tuneyards, Kindness, Lunice, and Fatima Al Qadiri amongst other great artists. This year’s 11th annual festival in Chicago’s Union Park runs July 17-19 and features lineup highlights: Chance the Rapper, The New Pornographers, Mac DeMarco, Madlib and Freddie Gibbs, Vic Mensa, Ariel Pink, and Single Mothers.

4. Lollapalooza

Last week announced the lineup for the 25th annual Lollapalooza Festival at Grant Park in Chicago, July 31-August 2, 2015. It is by far, one of the most enthusiastic crowds I have ever experienced at a festival – possibly because young college girls populate the grounds. Music fans are free to jump (the fence) into the lake at any point in which the Chicago summer heat becomes unbearable. The mix of established and new music will provide ecstatic relief for this year’s crop of festival goers. If you are coming to America to experience the madness, get excited for Paul McCartney, Florence + The Machine, Sam Smith, A$AP Rocky, TV on the Radio, Flying Lotus, FKA Twigs, Mick Jenkins, and Black Pistol Fire to name a few of the wondrous guests of honor. You can also experience Lollapalooza in Argentina, Brasil, Chile, and Germany.

5. AfroPunk

In its ninth year, AftroPunk has franchised itself to three cities this year: Paris, New York, and Atlanta. The progression is a reflection of the consistently amazing line-ups developed each summer. SPIN magazine suggests, AfroPunk “is the only music festival in America that truly understands just who invented Rock’n’Roll”. Given three opportunities to unleash your inner rebel, you should have no problem moshin’ with your soul sisters. The Paris show, May 23-24, features Lianne La Havas, Willow Smith, Twin Shadow, and Lion Babe. The New York line up August 22-23, has not yet been announced, but given last years talent, (Trash Talk, DJ Sliink, Uniiqu3, Cro-Mags, Juliana Huxtable, Bad Brains, $1 Bin, RP Boo, Cakes Da Killa, MikeQ) be confident this year is going to showcase America’s most promising bunch of punks.