Festival

This year's Governor's Ball lineup has officially been announced! To celebrate, I decided to rank the music festivals I've attended over the last few years.

5. Virgin Mobile Freefest 2011

I was lucky enough to swipe some tickets to this free festival back when I lived in Baltimore, and a bunch of us ended up going. It was a lot of fun, but I didn't really see that many artists and I think I was completely sober the whole time.

Artists: Cut Copy, Empire of the Sun, Okkervil River, and Ghostland Observatory.

4. The Governor's Ball 2011

I went to the inagural Governor's Ball in 2011, where I heard Miami Horror for the first time and where I saw my first and favorite Empire of the Sun performance to date. This was back when the festival was actually on Governor's Island. Definitely a memorable experience, although it only lasted one day.

Artists: Miami Horror, Empire of the Sun, Neon Indian, Reptar, Girl Talk, Big Boi.

3. Governors Ball 2013

This is probably my favorite lineup of any festival I've attended. However, I paid for all three days but only got to experience two days of actual performances due to the torrential downpour that flooded Randall's Island on Friday and turned it into an island of mud. This weekend would've scored higher if the weather wasn't so terrible. Fuck that mud.

Artists: Deerhunter, Portugal. The Man, Cut Copy, Grizzly Bear, Animal Collective, Yeasayer, Japandroids, Paper Diamond, Thievery Company, Kanye West, and Kendrick Lamar.

2. Pitchfork Music Festival 2012 

This was a really fun weekend. It was my first time to Chicago so I got to explore the city and see a lot of great acts as well. Vampire Weekend was unbelievably awesome, Flying Lotus and Hot Chip had me dancing in ways I didn't know possible, and I got to see Beach House for the first time just as the sun was setting, which was a really cool moment.

Artists: Vampire Weekend, Beach House, Hot Chip, Real Estate, Atlas Sound, Lotus Plaza, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Cloud Nothings, Grimes, Sleigh Bells, Flying Lotus, and Araabmuzik.

1. Bonnaroo 2013

Paul Fucking McCartney. Do I need to say more? In hindsight, I didn't see as many bands at this festival as I did at other festivals, but the quality of the shows outweighed the quantity. Plus the roadtrip, camping, food, and overall experienced made for an amazing time that I'll never forget. Nothing can compete with Bonnaroo.

Artists: Paul McCartney, Tame Impala, Beach House, DIIV (x2), Purity Ring, Reptar, Wild Nothing, Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti, Empire of the Sun, Local Natives, Weird Al, Tom Petty, Twenty One Pilots, and Holy Ghost!