MGMT performing at the Fillmore

Every year seems to bring more entrants to the Northern California music festival scene. The latest is First City, a two-day festival this Aug. 24-25 at the Monterey fairgrounds that will bring out big, indie-leaning names like Modest Mouse, Passion Pit, MGMT, Beach House, Toro y Moi, and Neko Case for its inaugural year.

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Now Chipotle's throwing a music festival.

Well, it's not a music festival, exactly; more like one an awkward mix of a music/food/drinking/corporate indoctrination event. Seriously, they're calling it a "food, ideas, and music festival." (Notice "music" in last place there.) So the primary goal of the event, coming to Golden Gate Park on June 8, is to get you to try new Chipotle dishes and feel good about this restaurant you (or, okay, us) eat at way too often. To make this proposition more attractive, the company has booked musicians like Mayer Hawthorne and the Walkmen to play live. They'll doubtless be giving impassioned, singular performances, since everyone at a Chipotle festival will care deeply about them, and will be paying extremely close attention.

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Chillin' in the grass at Potrero Del Sol

Looks like 2013 will bring another day worth raving about at Potrero Del Sol park. The Bay Bridged and Tiny Telephone just announced the lineup for their annual single-day, outdoor music gathering in that southerly grassy expanse, and it looks excellent. Headlining are local garage mavens Thee Oh Sees, but the bill also includes plenty of acts we don't see in town all that often. This third edition of the annual festival takes place Saturday, July 13, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Here's the full lineup:

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Instead of watching the Black Keys onstage, you could watch them on a screen in the food court area.

The Black Keys, the Flaming Lips, Andrew Bird, Alabama Shakes, the Dirty Projectors, Vintage Trouble and more
Friday, May 10, 2013
Bottle Rock Napa Valley

Better than: Bob's Hot Rods cover band, Craig Chaquico, or other music you'd typically hear at a winery.

Ostensibly the four-day event that took over downtown Napa last weekend was a "music festival." But that doesn't seem like an accurate term for the situation at Napa Valley's fairgrounds on Friday.

Most major music festivals offer diversions from the stages presenting live music -- ferris wheels, silent discos, etc. But at Bottle Rock, the bands and their performances felt like diversions themselves. Instead a "music festival," perhaps we should think of Bottle Rock as a day-drinking conference, or consumption confab, or cash-discarding party. It was a pricey, exclusive-feeling event packed with comedy, fancy food, and plenty of drinking, one that happened to include -- as a matter of course rather than an aching passion -- live performances from big, broadly appealing rock acts like the Black Keys, the Flaming Lips, and Alabama Shakes.

See also: Bottle Rock: Napa Festival's Attempt To Combine Food, Wine, and Music Falls Short

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Ahhh, free concerts at Stern Grove.

Warm(er) nights and light evenings mean a number of things in San Francisco, and one of them is that it will soon be time to spend your Sunday afternoons relaxing on a lawn in Stern Grove, enjoying good live music for the cost of nothing. Yes, folks, the Stern Grove Festival begins June 16, and organizers just released the lineup for this year. It includes soulful guitar genius Shuggie Otis, celebrated NorCal hip-hop outfit Deltron 3030, Kronos Quartet, the SF Symphony, Michael McDonald and Boz Scaggs (!), and more. And yes, every one of these shows is free.

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Furthur's Phil Lesh (left) and Bob Weir (right) performing at Outside Lands in S.F.

Bay Area jam outfitFurthur just announced that it will cancel its set at next week's Bottle Rock Napa Valley music festival in the wake of frontman Bob Weir's onstage collapse. The band, which features Grateful Dead co-founders Weir and Phil Lesh, had been scheduled to headline the first night of Bottle Rock on Thursday, May 9. No replacement act has been announced.

Weir collapsed during a Futhur gig in Port Chester, N.Y. last Thursday night, but appeared to be fine during an Atlantic City show two days later. A statement released today, however, says Weir will not be able to perform for several weeks:

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White Fence performing at Woodsist in 2012.

Considering the setting and the bands, the annual Woodsist Festival at Henry Miller Memorial Library in Big Sur is one of the coolest and most un-festival-like festivals in Northern California. Organizers (((folkYeah!))) just released the lineup for this year's festival, as well as new dates, which should make it easier to find lodging in high-demand Big Sur. Artists performing this year include White Fence, Foxygen, Skygreen Leopards, Real Estate, the Fresh & Onlys, and, of course, Woods.

See also: Live Review: Thee Oh Sees, Real Estate, and a Bunch of Cool Kids Relax in the Redwoods at the Woodsist Festival

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The 2013 Outside Lands lineup is out!

Outside Lands festival organizers today announced the lineup for the 2013 event, and it looks like a big one. Headliners include Paul McCartney, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nine Inch Nails, Phoenix, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Willie Nelson, Hall & Oates, and more. The festival takes place Aug. 9-11 in Golden Gate Park. Check out the full lineup poster below:

See also: Outside Lands 2013 Lineup: Five Thoughts About the Lack of Hip-Hop and the Loads of Nostalgia

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Gil Riego, Jr.

Passion Pit

Live 105 this morning released the lineup for its annual BFD spring mini-festival, which will head to Shoreline Amphitheatre for the 19th year on Sunday, May 19. Headlining the day are Thirty Seconds to Mars, Passion Pit, Silversun Pickups, and Jimmy Eat World. Other notable performers include DJ Shadow, Diplo, Of Monsters and Men, and Wallpaper. This year's Local Band Stage will host Tumbleweed Wanderers, Picture Atlantic, Anya & the Get Down, Finish Ticket, and others. Here's the full lineup:

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Since the Bay Area obviously doesn't have enough music festivals already, there's a new one coming -- to Napa, of all places. The inaugural BottleRock Napa Valley festival will run May 9 to 12 and has booked a huge slate of big-name pop-rock acts, including the Black Keys, Kings of Leon, Furthur, the Shins, The Flaming Lips, Cake, Alabama Shakes, and many more. The festival will take place at Napa Valley Expo, the state-owned fairgrounds near the city's downtown. Presale passes go on sale Feb. 3, and general ticket sales start Feb. 10. Prices are $299 for a three-day pass, $399 for a four-day pass, and $599 for a four-day VIP pass. Which seems kinda pricey! But check out the full lineup, as announced so far:

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