Robert Randolph

The 25th annual Simi Valley Cajun & Blues Festival will rock once again at Memorial Day weekend, May 24-25, at Rancho Santa Susanna Community Park, 5005 Los Angeles Ave., in Simi Valley. The event features two full stages for each of its musical genres. Music will proceed non-stop each day from 12 noon until 7:30 p.m. Tickets, $22 adults 13+ ($20 online until May 1) and $15 children 7-12, are available online at http://www.simicajun.org or at the gate. Parking is ample and free.

You’ve already marked your calendars- now get your tickets!!!! Wanee Festival will be April 18^th-20^th at The Spirit of Suwannee Music Park in lovely Live Oak, Florida. Wanee 2013 promises to be an amazing journey into the depths of jam band virtuoso peppered with some serious flavor.

There are a number of outdoor festival sites in the US that have that extra special 'something' that makes people come back year after year.  Florida has Spirit of the Suwanee Park, for example.  What usually sets a festival location apart, for me at least -- is a mix of breathtaking natural beauty, and of course -- the music.. But for me to come back year after year, it's gotta have a little something on top of that.. Something that's a little different.. Perhaps a bit comically-odd, at times. Something one can't quite verbalize.

Anybody hoping for last year’s incredible lineup that featured Tom Petty and Steve Winwood playing on the same day and also sharing the stage for a few tunes was bound to be disappointed with this year’s lineup. Day 1 of the Outside Lands seemed a little small for a festival, but that may have been because there were so many stages with up to five bands performing at once, sometimes in different areas of Golden Gate Park. Then again when Pearl Jam began it’s final set of the night.