Festival time again, who’s on tap

On Tuesday Coachella, the fabulous festival set in the California desert, will release its lineup for this year’s three-day event, and several message boards are lit up with speculation.

Coachella has excelled in past years by regrouping some of “alternative” (whatever that is) rock’s greatest bands, including The Pixies, Jesus and Mary Chain and Portishead, while showcasing some of music’s unending talent (Radiohead, Beastie Boys). As always, the others in attendance include an array of up-and-coming bands sure to make indie kids drool with anticipation.

Word on the street is Muse is one of the headliners this year, while Damon Albarn’s cartoon creation Gorillaz will debut their new album Plastic Beach to headline another night. The third big act could be Jay-Z, or an absolute surprise. I was hoping Coachella would finally get The Smiths back together, but Morrissey’s recent health problems put that theory out the window (that and Moz said he would never do that).

Others planning a date in the desert include Wilco, Beasties, Phoenix, Spoon, plus new phenoms The Big Pink and The XX (both of which put out brilliant debut albums out year).

One festival I had been to in the past but didn’t think much about recently is the Savannah Music Festival set in late March. The fortnight of shows includes Wilco, She & Him, M Ward (guess that makes sense if She & Him are there) and the peerless Wynton Marsalis. Just to see Zooey singing is enough to make the four-hour trip from Athens.