After Sweetwater 420 (SW420), Candler Park, and the High Sierra Music Festival (HSMF), my festival season is probably over for 2022.
I was expecting a full Lockn’ Festival in Virginia in August of 2022 after the “special” Lockn’ Farm weekends in August of 2021 (Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, Goose, and Tedeschi Trucks Band), but it appears that the next event won’t be until next year – “See you on the Farm in 2023” is currently posted on their main page.
The Queen City Jam Session festival in Charlotte in mid-August has a great line-up, especially with a chance to see Oteil and Friends after they had to cancel from the SW420 festival. But mid-August in downtown Charlotte could be very warm. I remember Music Midtown in Atlanta having stages on various downtown vacant lots in the late 1990’s with no shade and very hot pavement, with little relief from the heat even after the sun went down.
The new Sacred Rose festival in Chicago at the end of August appears to be a superset of jam band festival artists (for example, including The War On Drugs, Khruanbgin, etc.). I’m concerned about the potential heat factor at that time of year combined with the main stage being in a bowl-like stadium with limited (or no) shade and freedom of movement. Maybe I’ll check that out next year.
The Resonance festival in Charleston in mid-September has some excellent artists, especially Goose, Umphrey’s McGee, and Eggy, but I’m not sure about the weather and mosquito situation in what sounds like a wetlands in the low country of South Carolina. Again, maybe next year.
The new FORMAT festival in Arkansas in late September has an interesting music lineup but the price seems a bit high, probably because of the combination of music and arts in one festival. As with Sacred Rose I’m inclined to give them a chance to work out the kinks in the first year and check out the schedule for year two.
The Austin City Limits festival in October is more interesting and remains an outside possibility. As of this date it looks like only single-day GA tickets are available. An interesting concept – most of the bands are playing on the same days on two different weekends, for example, The War on Drugs on Saturday the 8th and Saturday the 15th, Spoon and Goose on Sunday the 9th and Sunday the 16th