Festival season is upon us

I'm like a kid on Christmas morning as festival season rolls around and it looks to be another great one. With the recent release of the Bonnaroo, Sasquatch, Coachella and SXSW lineups, which include several band reunions, it looks as if the festival scene continues to expand and transform. An excellent example of this is this year's Bonnaroo lineup. Last year people were outraged as Bonnaroo turned from a hippie festival to a hippie and hipster festival (including the likes of Radiohead, Death Cab for Cutie, Bright Eyes, etc.). This year the festival has expanded even more, with headliners Tool, Widespread Panic and the newly reunited Police. These festivals are bringing rock 'n'roll back to life in the way that they are beginning to bring rockers, stoners, hippies, hipsters, hicks, punks, hip-hoppers and metalheads together to enjoy something they all love -- music.\nOpening Festivals\nFestival season opens in a week with South by Southwest and Langerado. SXSW is the festival of discovery in Austin, Texas, where almost a thousand bands play throughout the city for a week and a half in hopes of catching a big break. However, that's not to say the festival does not have a host of indie veterans like Spoon and The Faint. Also opening up festival season is a growing three-day festival in Sunrise, Fla., called Langerado. It has a more jam-based lineup, including Trey Anastasio, O.A.R. and Widespread Panic. However, this is not a one-dimensional lineup in that it also includes indie bands such as the New Pornographers, My Morning Jacket and the Hold Steady. This is also just the start because festival season goes all the way to the fall, giving a few seasons worth of festival madness.\nThe Big Three\nThe mammoth festivals are Coachella, Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza. Coachella features an incredibly diverse lineup, with everyone from Björk to Willie Nelson to the Red Hot Chili Peppers rocking Indio Valley, Calif., in late April. After that there's Bonnaroo, which takes place in Manchester, Tenn., in mid-June. The festival took a big leap last year by breaking from the jam-band mold and including a plethora of indie bands. This year the event goes even further by including metal bands, most notably with headliner Tool. Finally there is Lollapalooza, which takes place in Chicago in August. It started out as an alt-rock festival and last year Lollapalooza hosted an incredible lineup, with 130 bands on eight stages. The lineup included rap, alternative, jam, metal, indie, pop, rock and folk acts bringing more than 100,000 different people together. While the 2007 lineup is yet to be announced, Lollapalooza has made an agreement with the city of Chicago to have the festival in Grant Park for the next five years.\nBand Reunions\nThis festival season there are several bands scheduled to reunite. The most talked about reunion has been The Police, who are set to play at this year's Bonnaroo, along with playing a number of tour dates for their 30-year reunion tour. Next is the one-night, one-time only reunion of political rap-rockers Rage Against the Machine, who will play the final night of Coachella. Coachella also will feature the reunion of indie favorite The Jesus & Mary Chain. Alt-rockers The Smashing Pumpkins are set to play some European festivals, and Genesis, with Phil Collins on vocals, are set to play at Al Gore's global warming awareness concert. Even Guns N' Roses and Van Halen are rumored for reunion tours.\nMy Ultimate Festival\nWith all of these great festivals coming around, it makes me think about what my ultimate three-day festival would be. Located in Central Park, the festival setup would be similar to that of Bonnaroo, where everyone camps in one spot for the weekend and shows go from noon to 4 in the morning. The first day would kick off with a bang with modern rock live greats including The White Stripes, Arcade Fire, My Morning Jacket and Robert Randolph and the Family Band. Then I would have Rage Against the Machine reunite and play the most politically charged show of their career, followed by Nirvana with the resurrected Kurt Cobain. After that U2 would play like they did during their Joshua Tree Tour. Then before the headliner, I would have John Bonham resurrected as Led Zeppelin plays the most rocking set of the festival. The first night's headliner would be Queen, arena rock legends playing their rock anthems as the crowd sang along with the resurrected Freddie Mercury, rock's best vocalist. After the headliner, the late-night show would be three spacey acts, starting with the Secret Machines, followed by Radiohead, only to close with the fathers of psychedelic music, Pink Floyd. \nThe second day would open up with dynamic acts like the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the reunited Oysterhead, live innovators the Flaming Lips and the heavenly Sigur Ros. Then there would be a slew of rock immortals, including the Beach Boys, Chuck Berry and David Bowie. Next Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band would play like they did during their Born To Run days. My second night headliner would be The Who, with bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon resurrected, sounding like rock's loudest live act. For the second night of late night shows, I would have an absolute jam fest with the Grateful Dead, the Allman Brothers Band and Phish. Of course Jerry Garcia and Duane Allman would be resurrected, and all three bands together would have the most spectacular jam session in history.\nFinally after an intense two days, the third day would ring of rock's softer sweeter side. Early on I would have Sufjan Stevens and then three singer-songwriters who have been brought back to life: Nick Drake, Jeff Buckley and Elliott Smith. Then I would have Marvin Gaye and James Brown resurrected and blowing people away. Next there would be the sweet sounds of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young and Simon & Garfunkel. The festival would end the only way an ultimate rock festival can end -- with a collaboration of the rock's greatest guitar players. The resurrected Jimi Hendrix would be the main headliner, with special guests Robert Johnson, Eric Clapton and Duane Allman along with modern guitar greats Robert Randolph, Jack White and John Frusciante. This would be the perfect ending to the most incredible weekend in music history.\nWe are witnessing a special time in rock history since music is rapidly branching out and today's music listeners are expanding their horizons. This may be because of the political climate, new technology or indie music coming to the forefront, but whatever the reason, these are great days for rock 'n' roll. So when it comes down to it, ask me which I like more, Christmas or festival season. The answer would be um ... festival season!