Noise Pop Festival:

The San Francisco based Noise Pop Festival has added several new names to its 2010 bill. Now set to join the previously announced likes of The Magnetic Fields, Atlas Sound, Rogue Wave, and Memory Tapes are Deerhoof, Fences, Princeton, something called The Dodos & Magik Magik Orchestra Collaborative Performance, and none other than the Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band. Festival passes and individual tickets are currently available via ticketfly.com.

South by Southwest:

Wasting no time to kick off New Year off with a bang, Austin’s always overwhelming South by Southwest has added a series of heavy weights. Cheap Trick, She & Him, Broken Social Scene, Metric, and Cornelius are now all set to showcase at the festival, which is set to take place from March 17-21. Plus, many other acts have already been independently confirmed by CoS, meaning we still have a long ways to go before the complete bill is unveiled. Badges, wristbands, and all that fun stuff can be had at sxsw.com.

All Tomorrow’s Parties:

When it comes to All Tomorrow’s Parties’ lineups, any news is usually huge news. This is particularly exemplified in the latest lineup additions announced for the Matt Groening-curated portion of All Tomorrow’s Parties 2010. The recently reunited Iggy & The Stooges, Built to Spill, CocoRosie, and Lightning Dust are among the names confirmed to join Panda Bear, Deerhunter, Broadcast, and The Raincoats from May 7-9 in Minehead, UK. And then the weekend after that Pavement takes over. Yeah, totally jealous. Tickets, if there are any, can be had via Seetickets.com.

Coachella Music Festival:

Now for the obligatory Coachella update: Vampire Weekend and Hockey are the newest names to be confirmed for festival, which will be held from April 16-18 in Indio, California. Hot new rumors include Wilco, Soundgarden, Citizen Cope, RX Bandits, jj, and Elvis Costello. All should be revealed by the end of January, and then we can sleep.

Download Festival:

AC/DC and Metallica? It’s quite possible those could be the two acts headlining next summer’s Download Festival, set to take place from June 11-13 in Leicestershire, England. Tickets are now available.

Sonar Festival:

We have our first LCD Soundsystem sighting of the year! James Murphy and Co. are confirmed, along with French electro duo Air, for next year’s Sonar Festival, set to take place from June 17-20 in Barcelona, Spain.

Oya Festival:

Talk about covering your bases. Oya Festival 2010, set to take place from August 10-14 in Oslo, Norway, already features a reunion (Pavement), hip-hop (OutKast’s Big Boi), punk rock (The Gaslight Anthem), DJs (Major Lazer), and up-and-comers (Surfer Blood). And to think we’re only through the first round of announcements!

Coachella Music Festival:

And now for our obligatory Coachella update: No real new concrete news to report on the Indio based music festival, but the boarders have dug up a couple new rumors, including DJ Tiesto and California electro project Bassnectar. Yeasayer also seems like a sure bet. As for headliners, speculation seems to be centered around three particular names: The Rolling Stones, Pearl Jam, and Gorillaz. The latter two appear more likely, but, then again, predicting Coachella is like predicting Pete Doherty’s next arrest — impossible! Needless to say, stay tuned to the Outlook.

The Euros:

More than a few major European music festivals have unveiled their 2010 headliners over the last week and if their selections are any indication, then Muse, Pearl Jam, and Pink will be the flavors of the summer. Belgium’s Rock Werchter has tapped all three; Portugal’s Optimus! Alive and London’s Hard Rock Calling both sport Eddie Vedder and Co.; Muse is confirmed for Roskilde and the Rock Am Ring & Rock Im Park; The Netherland’s Pinkpop Pestival will see John Mayer, Kasabian, Pink, Rammstein headline; London’s Wireless Festival has also tapped Pink. For additional information, click on the numerous links proceeding this sentence.

Coachella Music Festival:

On the Coachella front, CoS can independently confirm Phoenix’s Indio appearance, while The Big Pink and The Cribs appear to be solid possibilities. Perhaps the biggest item of note, however, is the possibility of a Beastie Boys headlining performance, as hinted at by the trio’s Adam Yauch in a recent interview. What’s more, there also appears to be a chance that Billy Corgan and his current band, still somehow known as the Smashing Pumpkins, will be playing as well. Of course, Coachella has yet to make anything officially official.

Summer Camp Music Festival:

Chillicothe, Illinois’ favorite annual three-day music festival has announced its 2010. The Summer Camp Music Festival will return to Three Sisters Park from May 28-30. And not surprisingly, the festival has already confirmed moe. and Umphrey’s McGee’s participation. Tickets are currently on sale via eTix.com.

All Tomorrow’s Parties:

Looking to keep up with his co-curators, The Simpsons’ Matt Groening has added another round of names to All Tomorrow’s Parties Weekend One. Panda Bear, The Residents, Deerhunter, Broadcast, Daniel Johnston, Shonen Knife, and Amadou & Mariam are among those now scheduled to appear perform at Butlins Holiday Centre from May 7-9. Press your luck with tickets here.

Primavera Sound:

Europe’s version of Pitchfork, the Primavera Sound Festival, has added the likes of Mission of Burma, Orbital, Wire, Low, Superchunk Dr. Dog, Japandroids, The King Khan & BBQ Show, Lee “Scratch” Perry, Circulatory System, and Sic Alps to its already ridiculously indie friendly lineup. This inane list will join previous confirmed acts such as Pavement, Pixies, Wilco, The Fall, Panda Bear, and The New Pornographers in Barcelona, Spain from May 27-29. Tickets (you know you want ‘em) are here.

Hillside Inside:

Getting back to North America, Hillside Festival’s winter extravaganza, Hillside Inside, will return to the Sleeman Centre in Guelph, Ontaio this February 6th. Confirmed to participate in this year’s festivities are Ani DiFranco, Martin Sexton, Hawksley Workman, Final Fantasy, The Rural Alberta Advantage, and Woodhands among others. Ticket information here.

We spent most of the afternoon creating and updating Outlook pages for several European based summer music festivals, including Isle of Wright, RockNess, Primavera Sound, the Hurricane Festival, and the Oya Festival. The biggest thing we learned after doing all of them? Basement Jaxx and Franz Ferdinand can definitely be classified as this summer’s festival whores.

Of course, this doesn’t mean we’ll be cutting back on our coverage of U.S. festivals. In fact, with Sasquatch! scheduled to unveil its 2009 lineup tomorrow, the next 24 hours should prove to be quite busy.

Since its inception a little over a year ago, we have viewed the Festival Outlook as a database where lineups for all major U.S., Canadian, and European music festivals can be found in one central location. This also includes independent confirmations and rumors leading up to an official announcement, as what can currently be found on our pages for Coachella, Bonnaroo, and countless other festivals.

Because there seems to be somewhat of a misconception on what this actually means, let’s try to explain it. We only “officially confirm” a band if their appearance has been confirmed via a MySpace page, interview, press release, message board posting, or some other means outside of an actual festival announcement. For an act to don the title of “officially confirmed,” we must be 100% confident in this information and the in the sources that provided it.

If there’s any room for doubt, then the act will generally fall under the “rumored” category. The same is the case for acts that haven’t independently confirmed their appearance, but have made it rather obvious, such as a void in tour dates (see: Morrissey and Coachella). That being said, we don’t include just any act as “rumored.” If their appearance just doesn’t make sense, or lacks any real credible evidence, we do not include them on either list.

Now, I know there’s been some questions on how an act can be “officially confirmed” just because a website says it is. That’s fair and we respect their opinions. However, I would answer that by saying we spend an obscene amount of hours each and every day creating and updating the pages on our Festival Outlook so that they’re as informational as they are compelling. Will every “officially confirmed” act for every of the hundred music festivals we cover turn out to be on when their respective lineups are announced? Probably not, but if our past history says anything – every act we “officially confirmed” for Langerado ’09 currently appears on the official lineup – and a great deal of it will be.

Take it for what it’s worth, but Consequence of Sound fully stands by any and all information appearing on the site.

Let’s take that in for a moment, shall we?

2008 is now all but a distant memory. Sure it was great, but it’s all about what you’ve done for me lately, and with some of the early confirmation and rumors we’ve received for the 2009 editions of our favorite music festivals, anticipation seems to be the only things filling our minds at the moment.

As an attempt to both ring in the new year with a bang and catch you up on all the latest rumblings that have gone down on FestivalOutlook.com in recent weeks, we figured now would be a good time to offer a quick Cliff Notes edition of the current goings on in the music festival world. So without further ado…

Believe or not, but you won’t have to wait until the spring to get an early taste of the months and music to come. In just two weeks, the fifth annual Tomorrow Never Knows Festival will take to Schubas Tavern in downtown Chicago for five straight days of nonstop rock and DJ sets. Department of Eagles, Cursive, Bishop Allen, and Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson will lead the charge, while DJ Autobot of Flosstradamus and Mannequin Men’s Kevin Kujawaw will offer some spins in between. Oh, and did we mention yours truly is one of the sponsors? Talk about one hell of a way to kick off the 2009 season!

Between February 6 and 8, Tennessee will provide another reason as to why it’s the the unofficial home of the U.S. music festival when the Big Ears Music Festival will make its debut in Knoxville. Antony and the Johnsons, Negativland, and Matmos are among the major highlights, while Dan Deacon, Burning Star Core, and Shaking Ray Levis are a few of the acts added within just the last week. Good start, eh? And we still a long ways away from a complete lineup.

Langerado. Oh, Langerado. You twisted our hearts and toyed with our emotions for what seemed like months – plus, a couple delays mixed in – and then, when you finally unveiled your 2009 lineup, you left us with well, a void? Sure, between Ryan Adams & The Cardinals, Death Cab for Cutie, The Disco Biscuits, and The Faint, the Miami based festival has some heavy hitters on its lineup, but it also appears to be lacking a major headliner or two. Fortunately, word on the street is that another lineup announcement is still forthcoming and it should include a big name or two. Looking for a hint? The Dave Matthews Band seems to be a good guess.

There’s nothing like South by Southwest. Five days of eclectic styles and sounds from 1800+ artists and bands in one beautiful location. Could life get any better? As Brian Regan would say, “I deduce it cannot.” Of course, with the inane amount of awesomeness comes a whole lot of work, and with SXSW currently only offering 24 acts, we’ve had to scavenge far and wide to find who else is playing. So far, we’ve found 230 names with Andrew Bird, Noah and the Whale, Alejandro Escovedo, Black Lips, Heartless Bastards, The Thermals, The Wombats, and Little Boots making up some of our early favorites. But last we checked, 230/1800 = 12.7%, meaning we still have quite a ways to go.

Now on to perhaps the most fascinating, yet antagonizing music festival in the country, let alone the entire world – the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival. We say fascinating because one look at the acts currently confirmed to be playing (and by confirmed, we mean they have independently confirmed their appearance via MySpace or in comments to fans) and well, wow. No Age, Girl Talk, Fleet Foxes, Sebastian Tellier, Peanut Butter Wolf, The Presets, and that’s just scratching the surface. We say antagonizing however, because not only is Coachella one of the hardest festivals to find info about, specifically when it comes to headliners, but anything you do find is often met with a mixed bag of rather passionate emotion from the festival’s loving attendees. For example, just mention the fact that The Killers will be one of the headliners of the Indio, California based event, which they will be bearing some remarkable reversal of events like Brandon Flowers deciding to quit the band and become a fashion designer, and you probably won’t find many friends. Thankfully, by the time Coachella is officially announced sometime this month, everyone should be happy, especially if a few of the other rumors currently floating out there prove true.

For emos and punks, the weekend of May 2nd should be welcomed with open arms. After all, that’s when the 2009 edition of The Bamboozle will take to East Rutherford, New Jersey. Since announcing No Doubt and Fall Out Boy as its headliners, the two-day festival has slowly but surely been unveiling its lineup. So far, we know The Used, Rise Against, Taking Back Sunday, Third Eye Blind, and The Get Up Kids make up the acts currently set to perform.

We’re still a ways off from the ninth annual Summer Camp Music Festival, but we already know that a few old favorites (Umphrey’s McGee, moe., Girl Talk, Family Groove Company to name a few) will be stopping by Chillicothe, Illinois between May 22 and 24.

The month of June will see a number of high-profile festivals go down across the U.S., though because we’re still six months away, details remain minimal at best. Still, we do know a few things. For example, there are already a few artists confirmed for Bonnaroo, including the Zac Brown Band and Portugal. The Man, and Robert Earl Keen, while Bruce Springsteen and Phish remain solid bets to headline. After moving to Ozark, Arkansas, the Wakarusa Music and Camping Festival will look to celebrate with a lineup that already includes Big Smith and Zappa Plays Zappa. Summerfest has already dropped its first headliner, George Strait, while Joan Jett & the Blackhearts are also an early confirmee. And finally, we’ve already unearthed quite a few artists scheduled to play at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival. Among them are Emmylou Harris, the Zac Brown Band, Railroad Earth, and The Steeldrivers.

Of course, you can get all the latest news, confirmations, and rumors for all of the 2009 music festivals, including ones in Canada and the U.K., on our FestivalOutlook.com. We’ll also do another one of these recaps soon because after all, things are only going to get crazier in the weeks and months ahead.

By late February, the city of San Francisco will be once again thrust into the week long music extravaganza better known as Noise Pop. While the initial lineup is still forthcoming, this year’s edition, scheduled to take place between February 24 and March 1, has already unveiled a few early names, highlighted by No Age, Antony and the Johnsons, and Goblin Clock featuring Pinback’s Rob Crow.

One of this year’s more anticipated festivals is also one of the more tight-lipped. Even though we’re a mere six days away from the announcement of the 2009 lineup, the Langerado Music Festival has done a pretty stellar job keeping the rumor mill to a minimum. As of now, only Robert Randolph and Umphrey’s McGee can be marked down as confirmed. Pearl Jam still remains the strongest bet for a headliner, but even that is iffy. Thankfully, come December 8th, all will be officially known.

South by Southwest 2009 on the other hand, is already chock full of confirmations. Aside from the first nine officially confirmed last week, we already know the Austin based showcase, scheduled to go down between March 18 and 22, will feature a number of other notables, including Andrew Bird, Sofia Talvik, N.A.S.A., The Wombats, and These Arms Are Snakes. Currently, we can confirm over 70 names, but then again, considering the 1,000+ musicians expected, we’re still a long ways away.

Less than a month after Langerado, the Ultra Music Festival will return to downtown Miami for another two-day electric fury of epic proportions. Bloc Party, Cut Copy, and Matt & Kim make up the early names already confirmed. That enough to tickle your fancy? Better jump on the early bird tickets.

Coachella. Oh Coachella. For as much fun as the Indio, Califronia based festival is to cover, it also brings reaction and a lot of it, whenever even the smallest rumor surfaces. As of now, there are a lot rumors though ome (Fleet Foxes, N.A.S.A.) seem more plausible than others (The Prodigy). On the confirmation front, there are currently two: Burka Som Sistema and Tinariwen, however don’t be surprised if The Killers and Animal Collective join that list fairly soon. In fact, Brandon Flowers and co. are already rumored to have signed on to be one the festival’s headliners.

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, The Bamboozle unveiled the first part of its 2009 lineup. Among notables joining the previously announced Fall Out Boy and No Doubt will be the Bloodhound Gang, GWAR, Danger Radio, All Time Low, and the recently reunited Get Up Kids.

Across the pond, the Big Chill, RockNess, and Isle of Wright are some of the European festivals already offering a few early tastes of their 2009 lineups. Then there’s Australia, where the summer is already in full swing (see: Big Day Out, V Festival, and Soundset Sounds).

Be sure to check out FestivalOutlook.com daily, and if you catch anything we miss, please either shoot us an email or leave a comment the page.

Don’t believe me? Have you checked Consequence of Sound’s FestivalOutlook.com of late? Dates for a number of next summer’s high-profile music events haven’t been the only thing trickling in over the last couple of weeks. Take South by Southwest for example. The 2009 edition of the Austin based music conference, scheduled to take place between March 18 and 22, already has a number of early confirmations, including The Monthlies, TarantisT, and N.A.S.A.

Or how about Coachella’s country-friendly little brother, the Stagecoach Music Festival? Though not set to go down until the end of April, the California based event already has five confirmations, highlighted by Ricky Skaggs and The Charlie Daniels Band. What’s more, a full lineup announcement could come as early as the end of this month. New Orlean’s Jazzfest also has a few early names as does Memphis’ Beale Street Music Festival.

Then there’s the rumors. As one would expect, Coachella is leading the back with a slew of names that either make sense, have told personally told fans of their prospective attendance, and/or have been hinted at my everyone from Coachella organizers themselves to city music promoters. The Smiths and The White Stripes are two of the more high-profile names being discussed, while Hot Little Pony, N.A.S.A., and White Lies are among the smaller acts that all but a lock.

Pearl Jam is the latest addition to the rumors currently afloat relating to the 2009 edition of the Langerado Music Festival, while the Grateful Dead top the early Bonnaroo wish list.

Still, we are still very much in the early stages of this “off season,” and we haven’t even begun to scratch the surface of all the lineups that will make up the 2009 festival season. Be sure to check out FestivalOutlook.com daily, and if you catch anything we miss, please either shoot us an email or leave a comment the page.

But before depression sets in, we’d like to point out that there is never really an off season when it comes to music festivals. Sure, most of this year’s have come and gone, but planning for a few of next year’s earlier festivals are well under way. What’s this mean for you? Well, just sit back, relax, and enjoy what surely will be a wild winter of announcements and rumors. Of course, this just means more work for us, but hey, we’re not complaining.

Usually, our constantly updated, critically acclaimed FestivalOutlook.com will have you covered for just about everything. But sometimes, we like to provide nice little summaries – in post form – just in case you may have missed something. This is what this post is. Cool? Cool.

Before we discuss 2009, as mentioned, there are a few festivals remaining before we can close the book on 2008. Most are in the still pleasant south – the Voodoo Music Experience, Fun Fun Fun Fest, and Anti*POP Festival just to name a few – while the latest edition of the CMJ Music Marathon will overwhelm New Yorkers with an unfathomable number of viewing options at the end of October.

The status for a few festivals, such as Bang! and The Echo Project, still remain unknown, but we’d be willing to bet that considering there are less than three months left in ’08, neither of these will be taking place anytime soon. Add into the equation that Bang! doesn’t even have a working website anymore, and well, maybe it’d be better to refer to it as Boom instead…

Once these final few finish up, we’ll have a brief break from scenes of 60,000 people gathering around four stages, while 100 of music’s biggest names perform awe inspiring sets among blistering temperatures and overpriced water. But don’t worry, come March 6, 2009, we’ll be back at it all over again.

On that day, the seventh annual Langerado Music Festival will officially kick the new season off. Only this time around, the Florida based festival will call Miami’s Bicentennial Park home. The lineup will apparently be “fresh,” but so far, aside from a few questionable rumors, we only know one confirmed name for sure:  Robert Randolph and the Family Band.

Two weeks later, the music portion of South by Southwest 2009 will officially get under way. While lineup announcements are still a few months down the road, based on past experience, it’d be safe to assume that those who head down to Austin between March 18 and 22 may want to stock up on caffeine thanks to all the official and unofficial options that will be presented at them.

Coachella and its younger sister, who is all mixed up in that country music, the Stagecoach Music Festival, have also announced their 2009 dates. Coachella will go down a little earlier than in year’s past, April 17-19 to be exact, while Stagecoach, which actually already has a couple confirmations, will take place a week later, April 25-26.

Other festivals currently offering 2009 dates include West Palm Beach’s SunFest (April 29-May 3), the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival (April 24-26 & April 30-May 3), and Memphis’ Beale Street Music Festival (May 1-3). And if you believe Alpha & Omega Services, aka the guys who ride around on horses making sure everything is swell, Bonnaroo will take place between June 11 and 14, while Rothbury will call the Fourth of July weekend home.

In other words, it’s time to start picking up those 2009 calenders and saving any loose change around the house. Before you know it, Prodigy someone will be taking the stage of Indio to serve as Friday’s night headliner.

As always, keep checking both Consequence of Sound and our FestivalOutlook.com for all the latest rumors and confirmations.