The Sweetlife Festival and Maryland Deathfest open up festival season every summer but for the past few years Virgin Mobile FreeFest has reliably sent it off with a bang. The free music festival at Merriweather Post Pavilion always brings in a wide assortment of artists with the intention of entertaining every one of the 50,000 people that makes the trek out to Columbia. While the lineup has varied in star power and quality since its move to Merriweather in 2009, there have been a few trends. There is an assortment of overwhelmingly popular acts and smaller independent acts. There are always acts that have a good relationship with I.M.P. Productions—the folks that own Merriweather and the 9:30 Club and also now manage the Lincoln Theatre. There is always an act or two that’s either on a reunion run or else hit their peak rocking days in the ’70s or ’80s. There is always a stage chock full of electronic dance music.
With all of this in mind, the DCist staffers decided to have fun with our lineup predictions by making BINGO cards. B takes care of our Big Name acts like Skrillex, Jack White, and Weezer. Under I we put down acts that have a good established relationship with I.M.P. like The National and The Hold Steady. Under N, we put iNdie acts. Yeah, it’s a stretch, but it also allows Washed Out, the one act we’re pretty sure to be playing the festival, to occupy our free space. For G we have acts that are Getting Back Together, or in the case of artists like Patti Smith and Joan Jett—touring again. O in this case stands for “Oww, My Feet!” which is how we feel after spending too much time at the Dance Forest. We’ll take a look at these cards after a lineup has been confirmed to see how we did.
Matt Cohen’s Card:
Sure, Black Sabbath may be playing a month earlier in Bristow, Va, but who’s to say Ozzy and company won’t come by the area again to show the hip, young FreeFest crowd that old guys can still rock harder than most twenty-somethings with a laptop? My bet is with Robin Thicke because a FreeFest isn’t complete without at least one chart-topping summer jam.
Andy Hess’ Card:
If I was a betting man, I’d say my middle card in the Dance Forest column has the highest percentage of getting at least one pick right. Derek Vincent Smith, the hulking Colorado DJ (dude is six-feet-nine-inches tall!) who performs as Pretty Lights, would make for an excellent fit on the EDM side of the bill. Instead of bludgeoning you over the head with drop-after-drop-after-drop that permeates the dance festival circuit, Smith takes his cues from collage artists like DJ Shadow, Steinski, and The Avalanches. Smith uses soul, funk and hip-hop samples to create something a bit less homogeneous and would make for a great mid-afternoon palette cleanser.
Rohan Mahadevan’s Card:
Grouplove are set to release their sophomore record, Spreading Rumours, on Sept. 17 and have yet to set a D.C.-area tour date. The band has consistently sold out the 9:30 Club, making them I.M.P. favorites and would translate well to either festival stage. So far, they only have one 2013 date set, so I wouldn’t be surprised if FreeFest is on their docket.
Wouldn’t the world be a better place if D.C.’s Beautiful Swimmers got a dance tent set? Son is the best local album released thus far in 2013, and the band is attracting some national attention which would make their booking seem more logical. Virgin usually has one local spot up for grabs, and with Shark Week having played Sweetlife, it might be time to give Beautiful Swimmers a go.
Valerie Paschall’s Card:
Animal Collective just did two nights at the 9:30 Club, but if you recall, it was supposed to be three. This might be a long shot as they’ve had to cancel two strings of dates this year due to illness, but a late night set on the second stage might be good recompense for the fans that missed out.
The Replacements are another long shot, as they’re scheduled to play Denver’s iteration of Riot Fest that weekend. But who’s to say they couldn’t play Merriweather on Sept. 21, hop a flight from Baltimore-Washington International Airport to Denver, and play there the following night? This may be wishful thinking, but how great would it be to hear a crowd of 50,000 size singing “Bastards of Young”?
