Advent of music fests you can’t afford to attend

By Alif Omar Mahfix  •  in News
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It’s that time of the year again when Malaysians are inundated with news of international music festivals while stuck here with mak cik-friendly Jom Heboh. JUICE feels your pain but in the spirit of Klang Valley’s very own yearly Urbanscapes we can’t help ourselves from listing down some of the festivals all around the world in the coming months. We are sadomasochistic like that.

With the amount of festivals going on these days, it’s hard to pick one you would want to put effort into saving enough money for. JUICE perused the internet and decided that these 5 are worth looking into;


Pitchfork Music Festival – July 15-17

Urbanscapes wasn’t the only music festival that was held early this July. Pitchfork, the online publication that is the metaphorical lightbulb to the hipster’s moth, had its sixth iteration of Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago. Without any proclivity to a specific kind of music, the fest features anything and everything from Curren$y to The Radio Dept. Judging from the inclusion of DJ Shadow, who has been stuck in relevant-irrelevant limbo for some time now, we think they don’t care much for whether they rated the acts 8.5 or 6.8 either.


Acts to look out for: OFWGKTA, Battles, Das Racist, Toro Y Moi, tUne-YarDs, Baths, TV on the Radio, Shabazz Palaces, James Blake

Go to www.pitchforkmusicfestival.com for more info.

KaZantip – July 30-August 27

Ukraine’s KaZantip doesn’t like to be called a festival because then it would just be another boring international annual club culture festival, instead KaZantip is its own mini universe where hundreds of the best DJs, dancers, musicians, performers and other creative minds from all over the world come under one republic. Even with the small space, KaZantip is equipped with dance floors, bars, restaurants, cinema halls, and kitesurfing stations among other minor architectural wonders. Expect Youtube-ready East-European ravers to make up 50% of the crowd.

Acts to look out for: Aeroplane, Arty, Audiofly, Marc Romboy, Ivan Smagghe, Groove Armada, Nick Warren, ZIP

For more info, head to www.kazantip.com.

Summer Sonic – August 13-14

Japan’s biggest outdoors music festival since the start of the new millennium has been host to Japan’s own independent and mainstream rock musicians as well as renowned international names like Jay-Z and Oasis. The festival is held at Tokyo and Osaka simultaneously, often with the majority of the bands playing at one city going to the other the next day. If you can muster the courage to be rendered incommunicado due to language barrier, this is the Asia-based festival to be at.

Acts to look out for: Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Mars Volta, The Strokes, The Horrors, OFWGKTA (again), Avril Lavigne….. just kidding!

Brave Japanese text for more info at www.summersonic.com.

Berlin Festival – September 9-10

Sieg heil music lovers, Berlin Festival 2011 celebrates the post-genre pop music landscape with a music event that plays dubstep, psychedelic, hip hop, avant garde, post-industrial-metal-pre-funk-folk-dangdut, and any other conceivable genre one can think of. This year’s line up promises to highlight new icons, existing legends, and fledgling acts in equal measures. Berlin Festival’s collaborative expansion with Club XBerg provides the fest with many more stages and time that they can afford to dedicate a stage for entire labels.

Acts to look out for: Mr. Oizo, OFWGKTA (again?!), The Waters, Diplo, Skrilexx, Aloe Blacc, Mogwai

For more info, visit www.berlinfestival.de.

Parklife – October 2

Unless it’s a rave party, outdoors music events tend to be more rock-inclined, Sydney’s Parklife 2011 is set to change that this year. With a line-up that has more bands that straddle the line between electronica and rock and straight up electronic artists, this festival is tailored to those who want some beeps and boops to their twangs and bangs. Parklife is held at Sydney’s Moore Park, a site so historical enough that it makes the event the only music festival that comes with the disclaimer “respect the culture and heritage of our beautiful venue when you party at Parklife.”

Acts to look out for: Santigold, Simian Mobile Disco, Little Dragon, Joker & MC Nomad, Lykke Li, Duck Sauce

Need more info? Click here www.parklife.com.au.