Brits can rejoice as well this week, with major additions made to the Glastonbury, Hop Farm, End of the Road, ATP Curated by Animal Collective, Lovebox, and Creamfields lineups. It looks like New Orleans won’t be the only city rocking the south this spring as Memphis’s Beale Street Festival gears up with some big-name additions. And as always, South by Southwest is busy making some last-minute preparations while still tagging acts to their undercard. Mardi Gras might be over, but the festival party’s just getting started.

Remember, by bookmarking Festival Outlook and/or following us on Twitter you never have to miss a beat when it comes to the latest festival news. After all, Wednesday only comes once a week.

NEWS:

– Glastonbury Festival confirmed a number of 2011 acts, including Chemical Brothers, Fleet Foxes, BB King, Laura Marling, Mumford & Sons, Janelle Monáe, Big Boi, Crystal Castles and more. Although all 200,000 tickets have already been claimed, there is still hope in the form of an April re-sale. Stay tuned to Festival Outlook for more details on the re-sale, and lineup updates.

– Animal Collective, TV on the Radio, and Fleet Foxes are set to head the Pitchfork Music Festival 2011. The event will take place July 15-17 in Chicago’s Union Park, and also include Kylesa, Yuck, Destroyer, Das Racist, and Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti. Tickets are on sale here; three-day passes are already sold out, so be sure to snatch up the remaining single-day tickets ASAP.

– The Beale Street Festival has announced yet another impressive and diverse bill for its 2011 edition. The Flaming Lips, Wilco, and MGMT are set as headliners, while Ziggy Marley, Mumford & Sons, Gregg Allman, Cee-Lo Green, Jason Mraz, Macy Gray, Ludicris, and Slightly Stoopid are among the notable acts. Tickets are on-sale now at the wonderfully low price of $69 for the three-day pass, so be sure to grab yours soon via Ticketmaster. VIP packages and more info about Memphis in May celebrations can be found at memphisinmay.org.

– Hey festival fans! Corporate sponsorship and tiered pricing got you down? Sick of all the big festivals selling-out, branding, and abusing your bank account? Then search no further, for the Hop Farm Music Festival touts a “return to the basics” that’s not only appealing but refreshingly egalitarian. Held on the first two days of July, the lineup includes Lou Reed, Morrissey, Patti Smith, Iggy & The Stooges, The Eagles, Deathcab for Cutie, and Brandon Flowers. Head over to Seetickets.com for single-day and weekend passes.

– The Do LaB’s Lightning in a Bottle will return this May will a lineup featuring DJ sets from Thievery Corporation and Bonobo, as well as performances from Pretty Lights, Lucent Dossier Experience, Beats Antique, MiM0SA, and many more. There will also be informative green-living workshops to promote environmentally-sustainable practices, as well as yoga, dance classes, and art installations, in addition to the three stages of music. Tickets are available now in one-day, two-day, and three-day packages via the festival’s website.

– San Francisco’s Outside Lands Festival will return August 12-14th. “Eager beaver” tickets go on sale this Friday at 12pm PST.

– The Nateva Music and Camping Festival will return August 5-7. STS9, Thievery Corporation, Gregg Allman Band, John Butler Trio, Bob Weir, and Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros  Guster, and Ghostland Observatory are among the notables confirmed for the festival’s sophomore edition. Tickets, along with layaway, RV and VIP remixes, are now available through the festival’s website.

– After a two-year hiatus, Langerado is set to make a triumphant return this summer. The Florida-based festival’s second coming is the product of seasoned veterans C3 presents (the people who bring you Lollapalooza and ACL promoters) and Boros Entertainment, and will take place October 8-9 in Sunrise, FL. Early bird tickets are available as of 11am EST today (March 9th) and limited, additional passes will go on sale (for double the price) the same day the lineup announcement is made on June 1st.

– The first of four music festivals to held by the Dave Matthews Band this summer is set to take place in Atlantic City, NJ this June 24-26. DMB will headline all three days with the help of Thievery Corporation, Flaming Lips, Ray LaMontagne, Bassnectar, Dr. Dogg, Grace Potter & The Nocturnals, O.A.R., Delta Spirit, David Gray, Warren Haynes Band, and Michael Franti & Spearhead among others. Ticket requests can be submitted this Monday (March 14th) at 10am EST, and actual tickets can be purchased for the three-day event on March 25th. Details are still forthcoming about the Midwest stop, as well as the other two destinations.

LINEUP ADDITIONS:

–  South By Southwest: Foo Fighters (Expected); Added Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, Cee-Lo, Eisley, Funeral Party, Lupe Fiasco, Matt & Kim, Odd Future, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, and Wiz Khalifa

– Sasquatch! Music Festival: Added Wavves, Biffy Clyro, J. Mascis, and The Scott Aukerman & Paul F. Tompkins Show

– Lollapalooza: Titus Andronicus (Expected)

– Pitchfork Music Festival: Official lineup includes Animal Collective, Fleet Foxes, TV on the Radio as headliners as well as Cut Copy, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, Deerhunter, Destroyer, and The Dismemberment Plan

– Beale Street Music Festival: Official lineup includes John Mellencamp, Ke$ha, Wilco, B.o.B., Gregg Allman, MGMT, Mumford & Sons, The Flaming Lips, and Stone Temple Pilots

– Ultra Music Festival: Added Baby Anne, Classixx, Rabbit, Zeds Dead, Proxxy and Lantern, Shit Robot, and Porter Robinson

– Wakarusa Music Festival: Added Minus the Bear

– Electric Forest: Added Galactic and the Ragbirds

– Nateva Music & Camping Festival: Official lineup includes Thievery Corporation, STS9, Gregg Allman Band, John Butler Trio, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, and a solo acoustic set by Bob Weir

– Dave Matthews Band Caravan in Atlantic City: Official Lineup includes The Flaming Lips, Thievery Corporation, O.A.R., Michael Franti & Spearhead, David Gray, Grace Potter & The Nocturnals, Dr. Dogg, Bassnectar, and Dave Matthews Band

– Ottawa Bluesfest (Canada): The Black Keys (Expected), and Cage the Elephant (Expected)

– Glastonbury Festival (UK): Elbow (Expected), Biffy Clyro (Expected), Eels  (Expected); added Everything Everyting

– Oxegen Festival (Ireland): Official lineup includes headliners The Strokes, Black Eyed Peas, Foo Fighters, Arctic Monkeys, Coldplay, and The Script. Also performing are The National, Two Door Cinema Club, Bruno Mars, Paolo Nutini, DeadMau5, Brandon Flowers, Plan B, Bright Eyes and My Chemical Romance

– Electric Picnic (Ireland): Official lineup includes Arcade Fire, Pulp, Chemical Brothers, PJ Harvey, and The Go! Team

– Creamfields (UK): Official lineup includes The Chemical Brothers, Tiesto, Kaskade, Swedish House Mafia, Paul Oakenfold, and Boys Noize

– ATP Curated by Animal Collective (UK): Added Kurt Vile and the Violators, Tony Conrad, Oneohtrix Point Never, Actress, and Grouper

– End of the Road Festival (UK): Added Wild Nothing Mogwai, The Fresh & Onlys, Health, White Denim, and Tinariwen

– Rock Werchter (Belgium): Added Bruno Mars, Everything Everything, Digitalism, Tame Impala, TV on the Radio, The Vaccines

– Hop Farm Fest (UK): Added Lou Reed, Patti Smith, Morrissey, Iggy & The Stooges

– SonarSound Tokyo (Japan): Lineup announced, includes Flying Lotus, Battles, DJ Krush, Sabi, and Open Reel Ensemble

– Arenal Sound (Spain): Added Delorean, Vive La Fete, Dos Bandas Y Un Destino, and Russian Red

– Motel Mozaique (Netherlands): Architecture in Helsinki, James Blake, Battles, and Fenech-Solder

– Les Eurockeennes (France): Added Beady Eye and Beth Ditto

– The Lovebox Festival (UK): Lineup is official, includes Robyn, Scissor Sisters, Lykke Li, and Blondie

– Main Square Festival (France): Added Moby, Fleet Foxes, Cold War Kids, Limp Bizkit, Tame Impala, and Underworld

– Open’er Festival: Added The National, Big Boi, Deadmau5, and Two Door Cinema Club

– Lightning in a Bottle: Official lineup includes Pretty Lights, Beats Antique and a Thievery Corporation DJ set

– Summerfest: Added Def Leppard, Heart, Jason Aldean

– Harmony Festival: Official lineup includes The Flaming Lips, Primus, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeroes, and Ghostland Observatory

– High Sierra Music Festival: Official lineup includes My Morning Jacket, Neko Case, Ween, Dr. Dog, and Yonder Mountain String Band

– Bear Creek Music & Arts Festival: Official lineup includes Modeski, Scofield, Martin & Wood, Soulive, Lettuce, Beats Antique, Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk, The Funky Meters, John Scofield & Piety Street

– The Fest: Official lineup includes Less Than Jake, Bouncing Souls, and Against Me!

– Sunfest: Schedule is up

With new festivals, new locations, new amenities, and new lineup additions, everything seems to be getting bigger and better this year. A festival arms race is at hand, causing new outfits like Electric Forest to set the bar high in their inaugural year with over 50 acts, the B.O.M.B. Fest to undergo a humongous expansion, along with some legally enforced moves (ahem Electric Daisy Carnival). Whatever the impetus, there’s many changes to be excited about in the upcoming year.

Check out this week’s edition of Festivals in Brief; for while there was no leap year to be had, there was no shortage of news and additions made.

And don’t forget to bookmark Festival Outlook and/or follow us on Twitter in order to get your daily festival fix. After all, Wednesday only comes once a week!

News:

– The Electric Daisy Carnival announced that the annual rave has found a new home in Las Vegas this year. Last year’s event caused much controversy when a 16-year-old died of an ecstasy overdose, sparking not only an investigation, but a temporary moratorium on all LA raves. The organizers’ cited the festival’s projected turnout as the reason for relocating the event so far in advance, as opposed to waiting and hoping for the ban to be lifted. EDC is also planning day raves in Dallas, Denver and Puerto Rico this summer. Additional details are forthcoming.

– The Pitchfork Music Festival will take place the weekend of July 15th-17th in Chicago’s Union Park. Both single-day and three-day passes go on sale this Friday, March 4th, although the lineup is still TBA.

– It looks as though the sophomore installment of the DeLuna Festival will be making some baller changes. This year’s Pensacola, FL fest tiered packages will include various rooms at the nearby Hilton and Holiday Inn, as well as six beach stages, and late-night, indoor stages at the hotels. The lineup will include a more refined, less-mainstream list and expected to be loaded with jam-bands who reflect the laid-back beach vibe. Resort packages go on sale March 15th at 10am via the festival’s website.

– Bassnectar, Infected Mushroom, Lotus, EOTO, Rabbit, and Daedelus will headline along with the 40+ bands that are set to perform at the 13th annual Starscape Music Festival. The Baltimore rave will span sixteen straight hours (2pm-6am), and is full of acts that will fuel dancing through the night. General Admission and VIP tickets are now available through the festival’s website.

– The initial lineup has been announced for the inaugural Electric Forest. Curators and headliners String Cheese Incident have confirmed over 50 acts for the festival on 4th of July weekend. Joining them will be DJ Tiësto, Pretty Lights, and REO Speedwagon as headliners, with an impressive undercard plus other amenities at the Rothbury, MI Double JJ Resort. Weekend passes go on sale this Saturday with a limited number of discounted tickets will be available, as well as VIP packages. For all ticket options see the festival’s website.

– The Summer Sonic Festival announced Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Strokes, and The Mars Volta will head the premiere Japanese festival this August. With an already-outstanding lineup, and more to be announced, Japan hasn’t rocked this hard since Godzilla showed up. The only problem will be choosing between the Tokyo and Osaka stages which have a varying lineup. Tickets are now available via the festival’s website.

– The Strokes will be headlining at this year’s edition of the Sweetlife Festival. Helping the restaurateur organizers promote their values of sustainable food and live music in D.C. metro area this April 30th, additional information is forthcoming, so be sure to stay tuned. For now, you can hit up the festival’s website to sign up for a special pre-sale code.

– The fourth annual Roots Picnic will take place at Penn’s Landing on June 4th. The Roots have employed Nas, Esperenza Spalding, The Dismemberment Plan, Ariel Pink, Wiz Khalifa, among others to help rock their hometown. Tickets are on sale this Saturday at 10am, and can be purchased at LiveNation. No word yet on whether Jimmy Fallon will be in attendance, or with his guitar skills, supporting them for a change.

– The B.O.M.B. Festival must’ve been taking some performance-enhancing drugs in the off-season. With headliners Snoop Dogg and Weezer leading a long list of all-stars this Memorial Day weekend, this is sure to be the biggest thing to hit Connecticut since being named “home of the world’s smallest natural waterfall”. All proceeds will be benefiting Bring Our Music Back, Inc., and initiatives for the formation of an Emerging Artists Scholarship Fund for Western Connecticut State University. Pre-sale tickets are available now, get them before two more possible price jumps once they go on sale to the public this Friday at 6am.

– Wilco’s Solid Sound Festival returns for its sophomore effort this year, expanding the art forms on display at Massachusetts’s Museum of Contemporary art with some killer acts and collaborations. Feature Thurston Moore, The Levon Helm Band, Liam Finn, and loads of Wilco-related collabos, the festival will take place June 24-26th. Passes are now available at Front Gate Tickets.

Lineup Additions:

– South By Southwest: Kanye West (Rumored); Added Moby (DJ set), Odd Future, Little Dragon, Acrylics, Big Sean, Bun B, Immortal Technique, Meat Puppets with Roky Erickson, Semi Precious Weapons, The Airborne Toxic Event, White Denim, and Willie Nile

– Bonnaroo: Shpongle DJ set (Expected)

– Lollapalooza: Anberlin (Expected), Civil Twilight (Expected), Crash Kings (Expected)

– Ottawa Bluesfest (Canada): Big Sam’s Funky Nation (Expected)

– B.O.M.B. Fest: Lineup announced, includes Weezer, Snoop Dogg, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, Wiz Khalifa, Coheed & Cambria, Neon Trees, George Clinton & The Parliament/Funkadelic, and The New Pornographers

– Pitchfork Music Festival: Yuck (Expected), Os Mutantes (Expected)

– Mountain Jam: Added Umphrey’s McGee, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Charlie Hunter, and Big Gigantic

– Movement: Paxahau Electronic Music Festival: Lineup announced, includes Ana Sia, Green Velvet, Soul Clap, Art Department, Scuba, Kerri Chandler, Goldie, and Marcel Deltman

– Starscape Festival: Lineup announced, includes Bassnectar, Lotus, Daedelus, Mayhem, Hot Pink Delorean, and Infected Mushroom.

– Electric Forest: Initial lineup announcement includes three shows by The String Cheese Incident, Tiësto, REO Speedwagon, Bassnectar, Pretty Lights, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, Stephen Marley, Kaskade, The New Deal and many more

– Glastonbury Festival (UK): Added Yuck

– Summer Sonic (Japan): Lineup announced, includes Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Strokes, and a special guest (from the UK), The Mars Volta, Panic! At The Disco, House of Pain, Deerhunter, Neon Trees, Friendly Fires, Two Door Cinema Club, Simple Plan, and more

– Summerfest: Added Florence and the Machine, The Black Keys, and Cage the Elephant

– Roots Picnic: Lineup announced, includes The Roots, Nas, Wiz Khalifa, Ariel pink, Esperanza Spalding, The Dismemberment Plan, and Little Dragon

– Harmony Festival: Initial lineup announced, includes The Flaming Lips, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Railroad Earth, Krishna Das, Lost at Last Tribe, Will Durst, James Twyman, and Brooke Medicine Eagle

– Sweetlife Festival: The Strokes confirmed to headline

– Solid Sound Festival: Wilco to play 2 headlining sets; other acts include Thurston Moore, Levon Helm Band, Liam Finn, Sic Alps, and The Autumn Defense, among others

– Fuji Rock Festival (Japan): Lineup announced, includes Coldplay, The Chemical Brothers, Arctic Monkeys, Incubus, Cake, and Wilco, among others

– Exit Festival (Serbia): Added Pulp, Magnetic Man, DJ Sneak, and Carl Craig

– T in the Park (Scotland): Added Kids in Glass Houses and Villagers

– Rock Ness Festival (Scotland): Added The Cribs, Magnetic Man, Frightened Rabbit, Glasvegas, and Simian Mobile Disco

– Sonar Festival (Spain): Added M.I.A., Cut Copy, Boys Noize, and Die Antwoord

– Sonisphere UK: Added Sum 41, House of Pain, and You Me At Six

– V Festival (UK): Lineup announced, includes Eminem and Arctic Monkeys, Kaiser Chiefs, Duran Duran, Razorlight, Tinie Tempah, Ellie Goulding, and Buno Mars, among others

– Rock Werchter (Belgium): Added Linkin Park

– Roskilde Festival (Denmark): Added Mastodon and Parkway Drive

– Wireless Festival (UK): Added Bruno Mars, The Streets, David Guetta, and Far East Movement

– ATP’s Nightmare Before Christmas (UK): Caribou, Battles, and Les Savy Fav confirmed to curate

– Camp Bestival (UK): Added Laura Marling

What had transpired in the preceding hour and a half was nothing short of a spectacle. It was more than a hip-hop show; you might even say it wasn’t a hip-hop show. Composed and arranged by Santa Rosa-raised Adam Theis, “Brass, Bows, & Beats” is just what you’d expect from the title: a 45-piece string and brass orchestra, a DJ, and some MC’s performing a mixture of hip-hop, jazz, funk, big band, and classical music. Special guests joining the Jazz Mafia on this particular night were the aforementioned Chali 2na and Berkeley rapper Lyrics Born.

But while the special guests were clearly the draw, they certainly were not the focus. That said, it’s hard to say who was. At times, there were so many people coming onto and off of the stage it was hard to tell who was singing, who was playing violin, and who was just a roadie (all were dressed in street clothes). Truly, the focus was not on the “who” but the “what” — the Jazz Mafia worked so well as a unit, and vocalists felt like accompaniments as often as they did frontmen.

Still, most people were there because they wanted to see some hip-hop, and while “Beats” were not as prominent as advertised, the show was not lacking in hip-hop credibility. Despite having the stage presence of a used car salesman and sporting a Conan O’Brien haircut, Jazz Mafia rapper Dublin can really hold his own next to the likes of Lyrics Born and Chali 2na. If hip-hop weren’t so ethnocentric, a dorky, White, very talented San Francisco MC in a business suit might have a chance. The marquee names were in and out of the show, but when they were in they were on (for the most part — turn up Lyrics Born’s mic!). The orchestra learned some of Lyrics Born and Chali 2na’s solo material, and played selections off of the latter’s Fish Outta Water and some new and old stuff by the former.

Which brings us to the main weakness in the show. As well-crafted as the “Brass, Bows, & Beats” live show is, none of the compositions are very memorable save for “At My Window”. The sweeping symphonic backing is there, the solos are on point*, and the singers are talented — but no one walked away from Harmony Fest Friday night thinking he had to get the album. Most fans will remember that they played Lyrics Born’s “Callin’ Out” but couldn’t hum three notes from the main event.

The show has the potential to be unforgettable, but it hasn’t quite reached that level yet. However, it is entertaining, original, and masterfully arranged, and something to see at least once. Theis says in a promotional video for his show, “One of our main goals is to put San Francisco music back on the map internationally.” You can’t fault his ambition, and if there’s any word that sums up “Brass, Bows, & Beats” it is that. Beaming on stage Friday, trombone held high, Theis had the look of someone realizing his ambitions.

* Violin duels are extremely fun to watch, and should happen more often.

Photography by Angeline Quintilla.

According to Billboard.com, The Roots will head down to to their hometown of Philadelphia on June 6th to once again serve as hosts for The Roots Picnic. This time around, the band will reportedly both open and close the day-long celebration with Public Enemy, backed by both the hosts and Antibalas, and performing It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back in its entirety. TV on the Radio, The Black Keys, and Santigold are among the acts set to provide the music in between. Other names confirmed include Writtenhouse, Back to Basics, Making Time, Busdriver, Kid Cudi, Asher Roth, and DJs Cash Money and Jazzy Jeff. Of course, the two bigger questions on at least my mind are:

1. Will Jimmy Fallon be doing an opening monologue?
2. How long before Rachel Ray creates the Rachel Ray Picnic?

I’d also make about this being the first time The Roots are hitting the road since their bus crash last year, but it’s probably a bit too soon.

One week and 3,000 miles later, the 31st annual Harmony Festival will bring its pro-music/art/ecology/healthy living/spirtuality feel to Santa Rosa, California, and if you’re not still feeling bloated from the picnic, perhaps it’d be a good idea to make your way out west. After all, it’s hard not to find a little harmony in the recently revealed initial lineup, one which includes Michael Franti & Spearhead, Matisyahu, Cake, Shpongle, Steve Kimock Crazy Engine, and ALO. Plus, as an added benefit, the folks at Harmony have extended their “eco-harmonic” stimulus package to March 15th, meaning you still have a few pick up the $99 weekend passes.