In 2008, Radiohead headlined the Outside Lands Festival in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. A massive light show cut through deep, hurling fog and bounced off Eucalyptus trees as 100,000 people sang along to "Creep." Most people know that Radiohead is one of the biggest rock bands in modern history, but audience members that day actually experienced the band's greatness in a visceral and historic way.
You probably listen to different albums at certain times--Marvin Gaye in the kitchen, Billie Holiday in the bathtub, The Clash while you clean--and perhaps you have a favorite radio or Internet station for those tedious commutes and cardio sessions. But rarely do you get to experience music as a social event on a grand scale. Summer festivals allow you to make music itself the event, and not just how you get through it. By attending these summer concerts, you can grow your appreciation for the musicians you love, while finding new bands serendipitously.
Do you have the same bands in your music library that you've had for years? Do you feel a tired resistance when you think about putting music on? Music doesn't make the same demands as your job, family, home and other responsibilities. Often, it's the hobby that gets left behind. You can rediscover music's thrill and become newly motivated to seek out music by attending summer festivals. In turn, this can enrich your everyday life.
Stay excited about music by building a bucket list of acts you want to see. When these artists play summer concerts, you get to interact with them in an otherwise impossible way. By seeing how they look in person, how they banter, how they build their set lists and how their music animates the air in a way it simply can't animate airwaves, you find new textures and nuances. You get to hear the melodies that form the soundtrack to your life in real time, surrounded by other fans, in the warmth of the summer sun and with your friends at your side.
From indie music festivals like SXSW (South By Southwest) to summer concerts that focus on jazz, such as the New Orleans Jazz Fest, summer concerts tend to celebrate specific genres. You can deepen your knowledge and appreciation of these genres by attending the music festivals devoted to them.
These summer concerts typically showcase the most renowned and relevant acts in their field. You can see what a band is like without investing a whole night into that band's concert. If you don't like how a band sounds at a summer festival, you can wander over to a different stage to see another act.
The ability to sample different bands in this way can create excitement as you discover new bands. And when you get home, you'll have a whole new set of records to throw on while you scrub the kitchen floor.