(Photo by Eva Rinaldi)With the Governor's Ball taking place this weekend, right on the heels of Summer Jam last week, the summer music season is upon us. We at Papermag started wondering which acts were most prevalent at this summer's music festivals. We tallied up the nearly 1600 artists playing 38 music festivals this summer, sticking to festivals in the US and leaving out those with fewer than fifteen acts (4Knots Fest, Sandy Parts Fest), as well as touring festivals (Hard Fest, Fools Gold Block Party, Warped Tour), and festivals that lasted longer than a weekend (Milwaukee Summerfest). Here are the busiest acts:
11 Festival Appearances
Baauer, Robert Delong
10 Festival Appearances
Dillon Francis, Matt and Kim
9 Festival Appearances
Kendrick Lamar, Passion Pit
8 Festival Appearances
A-Trak, Holy Ghost! (includes DJ set), Twenty One Pilots
7 Festival Appearances
Boys Noize (includes performances in supergroup Dog Blood), Clockwork,Delta Rae, Killer Mike (includes performances in supergroup Run the Jewels), the Lumineers, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, the Mowgli's, Toro y Moi
Baauer at Coachella; photo by ANDR3W A on Flickr
Most Common Line-Ups
By averaging the number of festivals played by each performer at a given festival, we calculated a "uniqueness quotient." The lower the number, the more unique the line-up. The quotient includes comedians but generally excludes theater troupes, light shows, and other such non-musical entertainment. Below, we've ranked the festivals by descending uniqueness quotient. Italics denote festivals that have already taken place.
Most Common Line-Ups
By averaging the number of festivals played by each performer at a given festival, we calculated a "uniqueness quotient." The lower the number, the more unique the line-up. The quotient includes comedians but generally excludes theater troupes, light shows, and other such non-musical entertainment. Below, we've ranked the festivals by descending uniqueness quotient. Italics denote festivals that have already taken place.
1. Kanrocksas (6/28-9, Kansas Speedway, Kansas): 3.91
2. Firefly (6/21-3, Dover, Delaware): 3.90
3. Hangout (5/17-9, Gulf Shores, Alabama): 3.70
4. Boston Calling (5/25-6, Boston, Massachusetts): 3.63
5. Governors Ball (6/7-9, New York, New York):3.64
6. Loufest (9/7-8, St. Louis, Missouri): 3.55
7. Electric Zoo (8/30-9/1, New York, New York): 3.39
8. Made in America (8/31-9/1, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania): 3.36
9. Forecastle (7/12-4, Louisville, Kentucky): 3.25
10. Outside Lands (8/9-11, San Francisco, California): 3.20
11. Lollapalooza (8/2-4, Chicago, Illinois): 3.19
12. Sunset (5/25, Tampa, Florida): 3.14
13. Camp Bisco (7/11-3, Albany): 3.08
14. Bonnaroo (6/13-6): 2.84
15. Live 105's BFD (5/19, Mountainview, CA): 2.76
16. Global Dance (7/19-21, Red Rocks, CO): 2.69
17. Newport Folk (7/26-8): 2.69
18. Sasquatch (5/24-7): 2.69
19. Electric Forest Festival (6/27-30, Rothbury, MI): 2.61
20. Roots Picnic (6/1, Philadelphia): 2.59
21. Orion Music and More (6/8-9, Detroit): 2.51
22. FYF Fest (8/24-5): 2.36
23. My Life Every Day USA (5/25-6, San Diego, California): 2.24
24. Electric Daisy Carnival(6/21-3, Las Vegas): 2.20
25. Free Press (6/1-2, Houston): 2.20
26. Great Googa Mooga (5/17-9): 2.19
27. Pitchfork (7/19-21): 2.19
28. Hot 97's Summer Jam (6/2, East Rutherford, NJ): 2.16
29. Mountain Jam (6/6-9, Hunter Mountain, NY):2.16
30. Summer Set (8/24-6, Somerset, WI):2.10
31. Bumbershoot (8/31-9/2, Seattle):2.10
32. Wakarusa (5/30-6/2, Ozark, AR): 2.07
33. Bunbury (7/12-4, Cincinatti): 1.96
34. Launch (9/7-8, Sacramento): 1.86
35. Capitol Hill Block Party (7/26-8, Seattle): 1.74
36. Gathering of the Vibes (7/25-8, Bridgeport): 1.71
37. Nelsonville Music Festival (5/30-6/2): 1.69
38. Solid Sound (6/21-3, North Adams, MA): 1.67
39. Make Music Pasadena (6/1): 1.31
Matt and Kim; photo by Tony Shek on FlickrFemale Performer Quotient
In response to recent discussion about gender parity in festival line-ups, we also looked at the line-ups in terms of female representation. Being as generous as possible, we counted every act that included a female performer, putting back-up singers on the same level as bandleaders. 22.30% of the bands surveyed had a female member; here's how the individual festivals stacked up. It might not surprise you that the folk-oriented Nelsonville and Newport ranked toward the top, while the more EDM-oriented festivals ranked toward the bottom.
1. Make Music Pasadena: 69.44%
2. Nelsonville Music Festival: 48.98%
3. Great GoogaMooga: 46.15%
4. Newport Folk Festival: 42.22%
5. Boston Calling: 42.11%
6. Bumbershoot: 39.00%
7. Capitol Hill Block Party: 36.96%
8. Pitchfork: 36.17%
9. Firefly: 35.71%
10. Loufest: 34.48%
11. Launch: 31.82%
12. Governor's Ball: 30.30%
13. Forecastle: 29.82
14. Bonnaroo: 29.59%
15. Mountain Jam: 29.55%
16. Outside Lands: 28.79%
17. Hangout: 27.54%
18. Free Press: 26.51%
19. Bunbury: 26.25%
20. Lollapalooza: 25.40%
21. Kanrocksas: 24.62%
22. Live 105's BFD: 24.32%
23. Roots Picnic: 23.53%
24. FYF Fest: 23.21%
25. Solid Sound: 22.22%
26. Made in America: 19.44%
27. Wakarusa Fest: 16.13%
28. Orion: 15.38%
29. Sasquatch: 14.96%
30. Electric Forest: 14.85%
31. Gathering of the Vibes: 13.16%
32. Global Dance: 11.54%
33. Sunset Fest: 9.09%
34. Summer Set: 6.90%
35. Electric Daisy Carnival: 4.97%
36. My Life Every Day USA: 4.73%
37. Camp Bisco: 2.60%
38. Electric Zoo: 1.85%
39. Summer Jam: 0.00%*
(*Note: Nicki Minaj, though not on the bill, made a guest appearance)
Lance Herbstrong photo by Amy Mueller on FlickrWorst Band Names
Finally, below are the 70 worst band names of the nearly 1600 bands surveyed:
All Shall Perish
American Authors
Anya & the Get Down (less resilient than Thao)
Art Department
Arty
Bass Kleph
Bingo Players (a band of retirees?)
Brite Lite Brite
Bro Safari
Buddha's Groove Shoes
Captain Comfy
Chancellor Warhol
Deadkill
Down North
The Dunwells
Earphunk
Family of the Year
Freedom Fry
Fukkk Offf
Funtcase
Future Rock
Gaytheist
Gigamesh
DJ Girl 6
Gramatik
He's My Brother, She's My Sister
Hey Marseilles
Hobo
DJ Hype
Infectious Grooves
Jesse Jamz
Knowmads
Krewella
LA Riots
Lance Herbstrong
Le Castle Vania
A Lion Named Roar
Machines Are People Too
Manufactured Superstars
McLovins
Monogamy Party
Mord Fustang
The Mowgli's (that fucking apostrophe!)
Nahko and Medicine for the People
O'Brother
The Orwells
PANTyRaid
Peanut Butter Lovesicle
Planet Hemp
The Polish Ambassador
R3hab
The Record Company
Rin Tin Tiger
Shpongle
Shreddie Mercury
Sons of Fathers
Spaceneedles (guess where they're from)
Staying for the Weekend
Swanky Tunes
Technoboy
Tribal Seeds (yes, they have dreadlocks)
Tuneboy
Twiddle
Ubu Roi (dudes, there's already a band named after that play)
Vokab Kompany
We Are Snapdragon
Wick-It the Instigator
Xperience
Yo Mama's Big Fat Booty Band
You, You're Awesome