I heard Deek recently talking about Bucket lists on air and it got me thinking, what’s on my bucket list? I don’t just have one bucket list I have multiple bucket lists of things I want to do, most of them come down to time and money in order to achieve them.
Seen as though I’m a rock jock here on B-Rock FM I suppose my music bucket list is based around what music festivals I really want to attend! Now I know I gone on about music festivals all the time, but I see music festivals as the ultimate smorgasbord of acts that you’ve seen, want to see, heard of but haven’t seen and bands you’ve never heard of but will probably check them out because there is no one else on at that time that you want to see.
Music festivals vs a club show is always my preference but that doesn’t mean I never go to club shows, the upcoming Amity Affliction tour in June is one show I’m not missing purely because every band on the bill is an act I want to see!
The problem with the current Australian scene is that most of the music festivals I want to go to no longer exist. Homebake, Big Day Out, Soundwave, Livid; all have met their demise. Yes, there are some still floating around that look pretty awesome, Splendour, Groovin The Moo, Falls Festival, Unify Gathering are all on the bucket list, but for me there’s a few that are worth travelling to the other side of the world to see.
Number 1 on my list is Download Festival held every June at Donington Park in the UK. For a man who likes the heavier side of music Download Festival year after year has an epic line up of bands, this year alone there’s: Biffy Clyro, System of a Down, Aerosmith, Steel Panther, Rob Zombie, Prophets of Rage, Sum 41, Slayer, Mastodon, Of Mice and Men, plus another 40 or so bands. Download Festival is also happening in Paris and Madrid this year and there are rumours that we could be seeing it on our shores for the summer of 2017/2018 jeez I hope it happens!
Number 2 on the list is Sziget Festival which is a mammoth 7 day events that happens on an island in the middle of the Danube River in one of the most beautiful cities in the world Budapest, Hungary. When I went on my travels in 2015 I was 2 days shy of going to Sziget but unfortunately it wasn’t to be. Sziget caters to people of all tastes of music with this years lineup including Kasabian, Major Lazer, Flume, PJ Harvey, Interpol, Rudimental, Billy Talent, The Naked and Famous are just some of the acts. Last year close half a million people from 95 countries attended Sziget, so you see some cool bands and get to meet and chat to people from all over the globe!
Number 3 on the list and truthfully it has been for a long time is Fuji Rock Festival in Japan, which tends to happen within a week of Splendour in the Grass. As the name suggests the festival occurs in the mountains near Mt Fuji. In fact the camp grounds tend to be at a higher elevation than the actual festival site so you can sit at your tent and watch a band strut their stuff as you have your morning (afternoon) coffee. There’s more to Fuji Rock than just bands, the whole festival has different themed areas, which require you to walk through beautiful lush green forests to get to them. Plus I’ve heard the morning Tai-Chi is a must do purely because everyone gets dressed up for it. Imagine standing in a field doing Tai-Chi next to Pikachu and Captain Jack Sparrow. Weird? Yes, definitely but that’s the craziness of Japan!
Others on the list include Rock Am Ring in Germany, Governor’s Ball in New York, Bonnaroo in Tennessee, Rocklahoma, Hellfest in France, Roskilde in Denmark… It’s a very long list that may never happen. Of the festivals I’ve been able to cross off are Lollapalooza in Chicago which is incredible! And Reading Festival in the UK which delivers year on year the best lineup of bands!
So if you love live music, festivals and travelling then combine your loves, save some coin, jump on a plane and do it!
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