Bollapalooza '07

This weekend, the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, out in the California desert, kicks off this summer's concert season, which looks like it could be the biggest evar. Granted, it's still pretty early in the year to be talking about summer concerts, but I guess they have to hold it this early because it gets so hot in the desert.

Downtown Chicago? Not so much. I was up there last summer for Intonation, and the weather was just perfect. I'll be up there again this summer for the Pitchfork Music Festival and probably Lollapalooza as well. In fact, I already picked up a three-day pass for Pitchfork plus accomodations at a local five-star hotel known as the Red Roof Inn.

Lollapalooza just so happens to fall on the same weekend I was planning on going down to Atlanta for a family reunion, but I'm seriously considering a change of plans. Family reunions are usually pretty boring anyway, and from what I understand, we aren't even going to be in downtown Atlanta, but way out in the sticks somewhere.

I was seriously considering going to Coachella to see Rage Against the Machine, but California is such a long-ass way to go just to see a concert. Fortunately, Rage will also be playing some shit called Rock the Bells this summer in New York, and I ended up getting tickets to that. Granted, New York is about as far from here as California, and it's going to cost me a shiteload of money, but what are you gonna do?

The other headliner at Rock the Bells is the Wu-Tang Clan, which doesn't exactly inspire confidence. Ol' Dirty Bastard is as dead as motherfucking doornails, and they couldn't even get Ghostface to show up for VH1's Hip-Hop Honors. I'd hate to go all the way out to New York just to see the RZA, Method Man, and U-God or some shit. The rest of the line-up for Rock the Bells does look pretty solid though.

After the jump is a video trailer for the Rock the Bells festival.