Ah, summer festival season. In years past, those of us in the D.C./Baltimore region had to either consider an expensive trip to a faraway locale or jealously eye the lineups of Coachella, Sasquatch, Lollapalooza, Intonation, Pitchfork, Bumbershoot and countless other fests, hoping that the festival gods would someday smile upon our little patch of the Mid-Atlantic. Luckily, that all changed with the introduction of Virgin Fest in 2006 (now known as the Virgin Mobile Festival)......

It seems like just yesterday we were scratching our heads and wondering what this mythical "v fest" creature we'd heard of could possibly be. A large-scale music festival that doesn't require a plane ticket? Our brain grapes were smashed at the thought! The first year (a one day event headlined by The Who and the Flaming Lips) went over well, and last year's bigger, better and greener approach was another notch in Richard Branson's belt.......

Baltimore's Dan Deacon, who plays tonight to a sold-out Black Cat, does things differently. His latest album, the critically acclaimed Spiderman of the Rings, starts with cascading and overlapping samples of Woody Woodpecker's laugh. Usually called an "absurdist composer" rather than solo electronic musician, he packs a crazy sense of humor, samples and loops into a building frenzy on tracks like "Crystal Cat," the 11 minute "Wham City," and "Snake Mistakes." In concert, Deacon sets......

We've gotten a couple emails wondering about the strange things afoot with the two scheduled Spoon shows at the 9:30 Club in October. In case you haven't heard the somewhat confusing story, Spoon booked two nights (October 22 and 23) at the 9:30 Club, and tickets went on sale August 9. Sometime last week, tickets mysteriously stopped being sold, without explanation. Then this past weekend, people who'd already purchased tickets received the following email:......

At this weekend's Virgin Festival, we snagged a few spare moments with Spoon's songwriter and front man, Britt Daniel, and drummer Jim Eno. The Austin-based quartet has been one of indie rock's most beloved for more than a decade. They recently released their sixth album, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, to warm reviews pretty much everywhere (you can hear the whole album on their label's site here). After enjoying their set, I headed back......

Day 1 was hot. Day 2 was dusty. And there were enough Amy-Winehouse-inspired hairdos to sink a ship. Our feet hurt, our foreheads are burnt to a crisp, we've got indentations on our noses from wearing sunglasses so much, a serious nap is in order and it's going to take more than one shower to fully recuperate, but the second annual Virgin Festival delivered on its promises of good bands, ecological responsibility, copious amenities......

Just two days left in our V Fest ticket giveaway video contest. Make your best entry that includes some form of a song by a V Fest artist, load it to YouTube, tag it with "DCist," and send an email to amanda (at) dcist (dot) com with the link and your contact information to put your hat in the ring. All entries must come in by 5 p.m. this Sunday night. Don't miss your......

OMGeez guys! We were completely overwhelmed with your submissions for our LOLCats V Fest ticket giveaway contest. They were numerous, hilarious, and covered almost every possible angle of converging the I Can Has Cheeseburger lexicon with the Virgin Festival. We put it to a vote, and the DCist staff chose Nicole Young's submission as our clear winner. Congrats Nicole, you'll soon get some living proof. Be sure to check out some of our favorite......

Ahhh, summer music festivals. As any music blog reader could tell you, as soon as the ground starts to thaw, they're all the indie kids can talk about. Last year we were all lathered up about getting a mega-fest of our very own (or at least, within reasonable stomping-ground distance). Several DCists embarked upon Pimlico and were pleased to report that the festival was wonderfully organized, accomodating, really well done and... that it just......

The last 24 hours have proved quite busy for regional concert announcements, and we're happy to say the news isn't about bands skipping DC as they galavant around the country. Earlier this morning the 9:30 Club's Seth Hurwitz announced the newly reformed Police and Smashing Pumpkins, along with the Beastie Boys, as the headliners for this year's Virgin Fest, now to be a two-day event held on August 4th and 5th at Pimlico Race Course......

It was a beautiful Saturday at Pimlico; the predicted scattered showers never materialized and the temperature never went too far in either direction. Stages were set up for the innaugural U.S. edition of V Fest. And what fine stages they were. Never having gone to the Preakness, I didn't realize how massive Pimlico really is. The man who makes cross-Atlantic flight comfy, spacious and fun did the same for his music festival. Compared to past......

We've been waiting for the official V Fest details for a little while now. We'd gotten hints that the September 23 affair at Pimlico would include The Raconteurs, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Who, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and more. All of those: confirmed. Here's the full lineup: Bands The Red Hot Chili Peppers; The Who; The Killers; Flaming Lips; The Raconteurs; Gnarls Barkley; Scissor Sisters; Keane; Thievery Corporation; Clap Your Hands Say Yeah;......

A few weeks ago, we told you about the cumulating evidence that Virgin Mobile will be bringing its popular European music festival, V Fest, to the states. The formal announcement has been made: The creators of England's phenomenally successful Virgin Festival will be announcing the debut of the American version. The Virgin Festival By Virgin Mobile will be held at Pimlico Race Course, home of the Preakness Stakes, in Baltimore, Maryland on September 23, 2006.......

It all started with a mysterious mention on Pitchfork of a Gnarls Barkley date at Pimlico. Yes, that Pimlico. That lead The Upstate Life to do a little research. The mysterious event, taking place on September 23, will also feature The Raconteurs, and is called V Fest. We're hoping that this is an American version of the UK's Virgin-sponsored annual event, which this year will feature acts like Radiohead, Beck, The Dandy Warhols, Bloc Party......