Festival-goers visit the Sweetgreen food truck at the 2011 Sweetlife Festival. (Photo by Francis Chung)

The Sweetlife Festival, sponsored by good-natured salad-makers Sweetgreen, announced the lineup for its 2012 edition today. The leafy vegetables might be locally sourced; the indie rock and hip-hop acts listed today for the April 28 concert are anything but.

Just as with last year’s festival, this year’s will be headlined by another much-ballyhooed band that has been dormant for the past few years. But whereas 2011 concertgoers waited all day in the mist and muck at Merriweather Post Pavilion to hear The Strokes promote their underwhelming Angles, this year’s comeback artists already sound more promising.

Portland, Ore.-based indie rockers The Shins top a lineup that also includes Avicii, Kid Cudi, Explosions in the Sky, Fitz and the Tantrums, fun. and A$AP Rocky. The Shins, whose new LP Port of Morrow (their first album since 2007’s Wincing the Night Away) comes out next week, are sounding as power-poppy as ever these days, as evinced by the lead single “Simple Song,” full of hummable riffs and big, jangly bridges.

It’ll be good to see The Shins back in the D.C. area for the first time since a 2009 show at the 9:30 Club. Kid Cudi is also preparing to drop a new LP, Man on the Moon III, after taking a break for his alt-rock duo WZRD and two seasons of the now-cancelled HBO series How to Make It in America.

But for a company that preaches the virtues of organic, healthy locavorism, much of the lineup seems full of long-traveled, empty calories. (Hell, even Washington it-boys U.S. Royalty got a place in last year’s festival.) Explosions in the Sky are kind of a one-trick band: go big at the end of every track, while fun. (obnoxiously placed period included) are primed to be this year’s version of Foster the People/MGMT/Passion Pit, with their single “We Are Young” already cemented as “that song from the Chevrolet Super Bowl commercial.” Likewise, I’ll be sorely disappointed if Fitz and the Tantrums’ nouveau blue-eyed soul isn’t scoring a lens-flared Cadillac ad by April 28.

But enough about the music. If regularly priced $75 tickets aren’t good enough for you, the VIP area is being catered by Rogue 24 chef R.J. Cooper.

Tickets go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. via Ticketfly and the Merriweather Post Pavilion and 9:30 Club box offices. (There’s a presale on starting later tonight for people who “like” Sweetgreen or the festival on Facebook.)

Full press release below:

AVICII, KID CUDI, THE SHINS TOP THE BILL AT SWEETGREEN’S
2012 SWEET LIFE FOOD & MUSIC FESTIVAL APRIL 28th AT MERRIWEATHER POST PAVILION

The Creators of Sustainable Eatery sweetgreen Unveil Lineup for
Sweetlife Food & Music Festival, Doubling the Number of Acts

Pre-sale for sweetgreen and Sweetlife Friends Noon March 8th
Public On-sale 10am March 9th

WASHINGTON, D.C., March 7, 2012 – When sweetgreen started the Sweetlife Festival two short years ago it was in a D.C. parking lot. Granted, it was probably the most righteous parking lot ever, thanks to electronic indie fave Hot Chip, but it was a parking lot nonetheless. Last year sweetgreen, known for its network of sustainable eateries throughout the Northeast, went for it – making the huge leap to Merriweather Post Pavilion, landing The Strokes to headline and selling out Sweetlife Festival in just its second year.
This year sweetgreen is going even bigger, badder, hipper and happier; doubling the number of acts it presents and adding a second stage to accommodate all of the electronic, indie and hip hop sounds sweetlife is fast becoming known for.

Where, When and the Line-up
Today, sweetgreen announced the 2012 Sweetlife Food & Music Festival http://www.sweetlifefestival.com will take place Saturday, April 28th at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Md. The Main Stage will feature Avicii, Kid Cudi, The Shins, Explosions in the Sky, Fitz and the Tantrums, fun. and A$AP Rocky. The second stage, a.k.a, The Treehouse, will feature sweetgreen’s favorite new artists that will be announced soon.

Ticket Info
Pre-Sale: A limited number of tickets will be available Thursday, March 8, at Noon Eastern on http://www.ticketfly.com/. Pre-sale tickets can only be purchased with a special code that will be made availabe to fans that “like” sweetgreen or sweetlife festival on Facebook. The pre-sale code will appear Wednesday evening on https://www.facebook.com/sweetlifefestival and https://www.facebook.com/sweetgreen.

Public On-Sale: Tickets go on sale to the general public Friday, March 9 at 10am Eastern on ticketfly.com and the Merriweather Post Pavilion and 9:30 Club box offices.

VIP Tickets:
There will be a limited number of VIP tickets available and they will include:
-Viewing areas (prime seating and pit access in the Main Pavilion plus viewing area at The Treehouse)
-Covered cabana lounges and seating
-Special food and drink offerings curated by Chef RJ Cooper of Rogue24
-Complimentary sweetgreen salad tasting
-Free, filtered water.

”We’ve been planning this festival since the final note was played last year, and we can’t wait to share it with everyone,” said Jonathan Neman, co-founder of sweetgreen and the Sweetlife Food & Music Festival. “We put our hearts and souls into creating this day for people who love electronic, hip hop and indie music, but also we want to serve unexpectedly great food, provide a sense of community, throw a killer party, and make people decide they’ll never miss a Sweetlife festival.”

OTHER COOL STUFF
Known throughout the Beltway and Philly for its eco-friendly eateries that feature locally sourced ingredients, wholesome and flavorful food and sustainable business practices, sweetgreen is changing the way America thinks about quick eats. The sweetlife is a lifestyle extension of the brand that allows it to identify with the people who embody its core values, educating customers while rewarding them living the “sweetlife” – a life committed to sustainability, community, and fun. The Sweetlife Food & Music Festival brings all of the ingredients for the healthy lifestyle together in one event.

Sweetlife – The Food

sweetgreen is committed to delivering healthy, sustainably sourced food options through partnerships with like-minded brands such as Honest Tea, Stonyfield, Applegate, and KIND Snack, among others.
In addition, we are joining forces with Serious Eats to present the Food Forest, showcasing brands like Jose Andres’s Pepe Truck, Shake Shack, Roberta’s Pizza and Smucker Farms. Our vision is to extend sweetgreen’s hip and eco-conscious ethos from the table to all facets of the Sweetlife – including the festival fare.

Sweetlife – Giving Back
Sweetlife Festival has partnered with DC Central Kitchen this year and will raise money to support their charitable mission to use food as a tool to strengthen bodies, empower minds, and build communities. DCCK’s programs provide a comprehensive continuum of care to the people it serves; including food recycling, meal distribution, and a nationally recognized culinary training program to once homeless and hungry adults.

Sweetlife – The Environment
Working with Global Inheritance, Sweetlife Festival will offer interactive activities like the TRASHed:: Recycling Store, Human Hamster Wheels and Tour de Energy Bikes. Festivalgoers will be able to win points and prizes through our recycling store by recycling and composting, carpooling, shuttling and by participating in energy activities. Prizes include Honest Tea Vouchers, North Face sleeping bags, Camelbak backpacks, Skullcandy headphones and more

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About sweetgreen

Based in Washington DC and founded by Georgetown graduates Nicolas Jammet, Jonathan Neman and Nathaniel Ru in 2007, sweetgreen makes eating healthy food both simple and tasty. Offering a menu of fresh, sustainable eats in an eco-friendly dining environment, the forward-thinking trio of entrepreneurs at sweetgreen is redefining the concept of fresh-casual cuisine. sweetgreen serves up its signature and classic salads and frozen yogurt with seasonal ingredients sourced from local farms. Committed to sustainability in all areas, sweetgreen provides an enlightened workplace for its employees as well. For more information, visit www.sweetgreen.com.