highvibes
Your Guide to Music Festivals

© owenwbrown

The much awaited yearly McDowell Mountain Music Festival begins on Friday. The music festival which is taking place for the ninth time is scheduled to open at the grounds belonging to the Compound Grill in Phoenix. The event which will bring together families and friends will have different bands performing for a cause. The proceeds from the music festival will go towards children's charity in the locality.
Those attending the McDowell Mountain Music Festival this year will be witness to three days of sheer music performed by 15 bands on two stages. The main stage will be having performers of the likes of Anders Osborne, Trevor Hall and Dark Star Orchestra to name a few whereas the second will have performances by upcoming local bands like Synaptic Soul, Decker and Quick Henry amongst others.
The music festival will also cater to areas other than music like bidding in the silent auction, taking the children to the kid zone or stopping over at the market place. According to the public relations director of the festival, Gabrielle Mink, the kids zone would have entertainment for kids like, a face painter, caricature, a balloon maker, ceramic painting for kids, puppet show, a man on stilts, etc.
The festival concludes on Sunday. Tickets are priced at $42.5 for adults and $22.50 for those between 11 to 17 years of age. Children below 11 have free admission.

© Saad Faruque

The popular rock band, Metallica announced on Tuesday that they are taking on more than 20 bands for the inaugural of the upcoming rock fest, Orion Music + More festival on June 23 and 24. The veteran rock band will perform on both the nights of the rock fest on two of their classic albums: ''Ride the Lightning'' of 1884 and ''Metallica'' that came out in 1991.

Sources say that this is the only time the popular head bangers would perform this year in North America. Metallica drummer, Lars Ulrich is very happy and excited about the upcoming rock fest. He stated in an interview that the band always wanted to do its own rock fest with a variety of music and games and thankfully this year, they got this opportunity.

This rock fest will also feature popular metal band: Liturgy, a Brooklyn-based trio. Liturgy's Aesthetica was one of the most highly acclaimed metal albums of last year. Other notable bands include Roky Erikson, the Black Angels, Artic Monkeys, Titus Andronicus, Modest Mouse and many more.

Metallica fan club members can buy tickets on Wednesday and the general public can buy tickets on Saturday. C3 Presents is producing the Orion Festival.

© Chris P Jobling

Music festivals across the US, such as the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival and the Sasquatch!, sold out in a matter of days. This is in spite of the fact that the concert industry overall had a bad year in 2010. Unlike music tours and concerts, music festivals are thriving.

The difference is probably due to the fact that festivals create a more eclectic experience and offer a variety of bands. Festivals like Stagecoach, Rock on the Range, and Lollapalooza set attendance records last year, while high-profile tours like the Jonas Brothers and American Idols Live struggled with slow sales, cancellations and postponements. The founder of the Bamboozle festival compared themselves to Walmart and Costco of the music world, in that they provide such a wide variety of entertainment at a value price.