A Guide To The Best Festival Lineups Of This Year

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    A Guide To The Best Festival Lineups Of This Year
    POSTED
    By Sam Murphy

    Coachella
    Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for Coachella

    It's been a while since we've been able to write a list like this but it feels good to once again be thinking about music festivals in 2022. All the major festivals have begun rolling out their lineups for the year and with the Australian borders now mostly open, attending them finally feels like a possibility. Get ready for your mind to wander, here are the best festival bills of the year so far. 

    Coachella

    Palm Springs, USA

    Coachella is the big one on the calendar every year but it's been absent for the past two. There was speculation that they would bring back the headliners of the canceled 2020 festival - Rage Against The Machine, Travis Scott & Frank Ocean - but they're all gone replaced by Harry Styles, Billie Eilish and Kanye West. West has, of course, headlined before but it's Eilish and Styles' first time. They are joined by names like Swedish House Mafia, Big Sean, Carly Rae Jepsen, 21 Savage, Doja Cat and heaps more. It's going to be a triumphant return to the desert.

    When We Were Young

    Las Vegas, USA

    This one had everyone very excited last week. Nostalgia festivals are going to be a really dominant market this year and When We Were Young capitalises on it. Headlined by My Chemical Romance and Paramore, the lineup is basically the iPod of every early '00s pop/punk kid. Avril Lavigne, AFI, Bright Eyes, Jimmy Eat World and heaps more are on the bill making festivalgoers so excited that they had to put on two days after unprecedented demand.

    Splendour In The Grass

    Byron Bay, Australia

    Splendour In The Grass has been waiting a few years to celebrate its 20th anniversary and now it looks like it's finally going to happen. Joining the celebration is Tyler The Creator, The Strokes and Gorillaz who will be headlining the massive bill in July. As always, there's a host of great local talent including DMA's, Violent Soho and Amyl & the Sniffers plus international drawcards like Kacey Musgraves, Aitch and Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs.

    Primavera Sound

    Barcelona, Spain

    Primavera Sound is one of the best festivals in the world, delivering a massive lineup every year. A few years ago, it committed to an equal gender split (which should be the norm not the exception) and its kept its promise. This year, it will unfold over two weekends with huge headliners across both. Lorde, Dua Lipa, The Strokes, Megan Thee Stallion, Tame Impala and more will headline while Charli XCX, Kacey Musgraves, Jessie Ware and PinkPantheress are all slated to appear too.

    Boston Calling

    Boston, USA

    Boston Calling is here to satisfy the rock dogs among us. It's at the start of the US summer and it pulls together a bill that includes all the offshoots of rock 'n' roll music. This year, Foo Fighters, The Strokes and Metallica will headline the festival joined by Haim, RÜFÜS DU SOL, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Glass Animals and Weezer. It happens at the start of the US summer just when excitement is beginning to build for the impending festival season.

    Bonnaroo 

    Manchester, USA

    Bonnaroo was one of the few festivals that nearly happened last year but in the end it was a hurricane that pulled it apart last minute. Hoping for better luck this year, its pulled together a predictably brilliant lineup topped by J. Cole, Tool and Stevie Nicks. Bonnaroo traverses more genres than most festivals which is perhaps why there's something very everyone on this one.  Where else can you see The Chicks on the same bill as Illenium and Flume?

    All Points East

    London, UK

    All Points East is one of the most carefully curated festivals around. Since 2018, the festival has pulled together considered bills of some of the most visionary electronic and alternative acts in the game. 2022's lineup may be the biggest it's ever delivered with headliners including Tame Impala, Gorillaz and The Chemical Brothers. There are names here you won't see on many others festival lineups this year including Fleet Foxes, The National, James Blake and Pusha T.

    The Smokers Club Fest

    California, USA

    Where else to hold a weed-centered festival than California? This ones for those that like their festivals a little stoned and it's the perfect lineup for it. A$AP Rocky, Playboi Carti and Kid Cudi are up the top but move a little further down and things get really exciting. Schoolboy Q will perform his Oxymoron record in full while Wiz Khalifa will bring Kush & Orange Juice to the stage. It goes down on 30th April, crucially missing 4/20 by just 10 days.

    Lovers & Friends Festival

    Las Vegas, USA

    If the pop/punk nostalgia of When We Were Young isn't for you then maybe Lovers & Friends will be more your vibe. Tapping into '90s/early '00s R&B, it's a jammed bill full of nostalgia. Ms. Lauryn Hill, Usher and TLC will headline alongside Ciara, Ludacris, Lil Jon and Nelly. Scrolling further down your '00s iPod, there's also Ne-Yo, Ashanti, Cassie, Ja-Rule plus Brandy and Monica on the same lineup. Bliss.

    Mighty Hoopla

    London, UK

    Since we're throwing it back, we may as well spotlight one of the funnest festivals around - Mighty Hoopla in London. Spotlighting queer culture, Mighty Hoopla is a colorful pop festival full of high energy acts. This year, it's all about the groups with Steps and the original Sugababes lineup headlining. It's not all about nostalgia though with the festival also tapping Jessie Ware, Foxes and Big Freedia. 

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    Tags:
    festival,coachella, splendour in the grass, bonnaroo, primavera sound

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