Golden Gate Park hosted San Francisco’s 6^th Outside Lands Festival this past weekend, bringing in scores of talent ranging from musical to culinary to comedic. The festival sold out more than a month in advance, yet the grounds felt deceptively spacious all three days. Although the fog hardly let up all weekend, two things were clear: the leggings-as-pants trend is here to stay, and the comedy aspect of Outside Lands has been severely underrated thus far.

COASTLINE FESTIVAL announces the lineup for the inaugural festival taking place Saturday, November 9th in Tampa and Sunday, November 10th in West Palm Beach.  With all-day music on 2 stages, 11 bands, a wide array of food trucks, over 25 craft beers with a heavy tilt toward Florida’s own wildly popular hand craft brewers, and regionally renowned artists, COASTLINE FESTIVAL will have something for all.

The 39th Annual Bluegrass Hall of Fame & Uncle Pen Days Festival will be held September 18-21, 2013 at the Bill Monroe Memorial Bluegrass Music Park & Campground in Brown County, Indiana. The 4-day event includes a stellar line-up of over 30 bluegrass bands, instrument and vocal workshops, jam sessions, camping, food, vendors, and fellowship.

After the intense rains of the night before, everyone’s spirits were lifted as the second day of the 2013 Rhythms on the Rio Riverbank Fest dawned bright and clear. It helped having the Mojones from Creede, CO, cook up some intense blues first thing.

Resiliency marked the opening of the Rhythms on the Rio Riverside Fest this past Saturday. After the spring fires, the summer monsoons hit the region hard, coloring the Rio Grande with black runoff from the burn scars higher in the mountains and swelling the waters into a rushing torrent. More of those rains hit the festival late afternoon creating some scrambling between the sound crew and the bands and forcing festivalgoers under any available tarps and canopies.

Forty-six years ago, Jimi Hendrix took the stage at the Monterey Pop Festival and set his guitar on fire, ushering in a new definition of rock and roll.

Rhythms on the Rio Riverside Fest in South Fork, Colorado, constantly amaze me. Though a small festival, it rounds up some of the best talent in the region and manages to snag a big name touring band or two.

Nobody in the current concert and touring scene has done more to up the ante for music festivals and “happenings” than the String Cheese Incident. This should come as no surprise to some.  In addition to pioneering their own unique sound and instrumentation, the band has evolved with its fans over the years. They started their own record and ticketing companies to keep their CD releases and events reasonably priced and under their control.

Boston Calling Music Festival had a successful debut back in May, when bands and fans gathered within the city’s historic City Hall Plaza for two days filled with music and great vibes.

By the fireside glow of the happy hippie house I heard of the legend of the Whippersnap Music and Arts Festival.  It is a family friendly event of the new paradigm.  I have heard of the mobile stage that visits the campsites as a parade for the kids that maybe can’t play well with others or for kids that prefer the shade of their own campsites and their iPods rather than communing together at the main stage.  I’ve heard of a miraculous place where grandmas, mommas, babies and party kidz alike were togeth