FPSF 2015 Lineup Announced, Just Now

Annnnnnd there we are, folks; the balloon has gone up, at long last. The good people in charge of the Free Press Summer Festival (aka FPSF) have released the big-ass pile of names playing this year’s festival. A whole bunch of it makes me excited, some of it makes me shrug, and a bit of it makes me scratch my head and say, “really?” Overall, though, I’m pretty happy with what’s on the menu.

In terms of the big names on the list, the ones I like the best are Skrillex, St. Vincent, Belle and Sebastian(squee!), Mastodon, The Decemberists, Band of Horses, and, yes, Tears for Fears (what can I say? Watching Psych made me remember how much I liked the band…). I’m honestly not sure when the last time Belle and Sebastian or The Decemberists played Houston, but it’s been a long while, at the very least. And, obviously, the reprise of last year’s Welcome to Houston H-town rap all-star performance is naturally badass.

As far as the “meh” bunch, I’m a little disappointed to see Weezer back on the list so soon after their last performance — unless they’re planning on doing some weird, Flaming Lips-esque deal where they play only KISS songs or something, because that would be entertaining. Then there’s Ben Harper, who I’ve seen in the past and have been somewhat underwhelmed by, so that particular reunion deal doesn’t do much for me.

And then…R. Kelly. Seriously? I’ve never been a fan of the guy’s music in general, and I realize he was acquitted of the actual charges, but I’m sorry, I just can’t get past the creepy-ass shit he’s done, especially the allegations that one of the women involved may have been a minor. If the FPSF crew were going for a controversial performer on the bill, yeah, I think this is the one. Not really sure how I feel about this, to tell you the truth; it makes my spirits feel kinda icky in general.

Sliding on down the list, though, my spirits get happy again, because there’s a crap-ton of awesome people playing further down, including The Mountain Goats(!), Rocket From The Crypt(!!), Sarah Jaffe (who I’ve been dying to see live), Sturgill Simpson, Flogging Molly, Future Islands (sweet!), Riverboat Gamblers, Gary Clarke Jr., The Bright Light Social Hour, Robert Ellis, and Charles Bradley & His Extraordinaires, plus a bunch of equally-excellent local-bred folks, like {Buxton}, {The Tontons}, {The Suffers}, {Night Drive}, {Scale The Summit}, {Deep Cuts}, {the last place you look}, {Catch Fever}, {We Were Wolves}, and {Second Lovers}.

And hey, with Brandi Carlile and Tove Lo both on the list, my wife and daughter might now finally feel like braving the heat down this June 6th & 7th in Eleanor Tinsley Park, too…

Anywho, here’s the full list, with links where I can find ’em:

• Skrillex
• R. Kelly
• Weezer
• Steve Angello
• Major Lazer
• Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals
• St. Vincent
• The Decemberists
• Flume
• Belle and Sebastian
• Mastodon
• Chance The Rapper
• Tears For Fears
• Band of Horses
• Welcome to Houston
• Gary Clark Jr.
• G-Eazy
• Future Islands
• Portugal. The Man
• Pallbearer
• Riverboat Gamblers
• Moon Taxi
• The Band of Heathens
• Ben Kweller
• Tunji Ige
• Twin Peaks
• The Tontons
• the last place you look
• Pope
• Deep Cuts
• Moji
• Charli XCX
• RL Grime
• Tove Lo
• Tycho
• ILoveMakonnen
• Yung Lean & Sad Boys
• The Mountain Goats
• Grizfolk
• Freeman
• Buxton
• Goatwhore
• Opat
• DJ Fredster
• Night Drive
• George West
• Catch Fever
• Flogging Molly
• Brandi Carlile
• Rocket From The Crypt
• GTA
• Charles Bradley & His Extraordinaires
• Diarrhea Planet
• Iceage
• Sarah Jaffe
• Robert Ellis
• Con Brio
• Scale The Summit
• Gio Chamba
• We Were Wolves
• Guilla
• Second Lovers
• Sturgill Simpson
• Odesza
• Lecrae
• Glass Animals
• Benjamin Booker
• The Bright Light Social Hour
• Houndmouth
• Pentagram
• The Suffers
• Futurebirds
• Slaptop
• Hiram
• Boan
• The Vanity
• Kult Dizney
• Prismo

phew. Alright, there you go — R. Kelly weirdness aside, if you need further reasons to snag a wristband right damn now, then I don’t know what to tell you…