OUTSIDE
CHANCES

This year, hundreds of
thousands of fans will travel
for miles to see scores of
bands on some extraordinary
bills. But with more festivals
cropping up than ever before
and fewer superstars to
headline them, what will
the future sound like?

BY DAVID BROWNE

 

AS ANIMAL COLLECTIVE manager Brian DeRan admits, booking his band for shows isn’t always easy. Two of the members are married, one has a kid. They live in either New York City, Washington, D.C., or Lisbon (Portugal!). “They’re really spread around,” DeRan says. “Setting up a tour can be kind of a pain.”

Coming to the rescue this spring and summer, just in time to help promote the band’s Water Curses EP, is the annual Coachella festival. And the annual Pitchfork festival. And the new All Points West festival. Thanks to these events, Animal Collective can fly in, play before upward of 60,000 people, and fly out. The band know enough to expect no soundchecks, maybe a half hour set time, and possibly temperamental rented gear. “Sometimes, with our band and others I’ve talked to, you come offstage feeling that wasn’t the best you could do,” says the group’s Brian Weitz. But, says DeRan, “Financially, it’s a good option this year.” He won’t say how much Animal Collective will take home, but adds, “They don’t have to do a six-month tour, based on what the festivals can offer them.”