With the mayor as a host and the world's biggest concert company as a financier, it became official: Harriet Island will rock again this summer.
Mayor Chris Coleman and representatives from Live Nation held a press conference today announcing the lineup and details of St. Paul's ambitious new two-day music fest, scheduled June 23-24 on the riverfront park that used to be the home of Taste of Minnesota and Riverfest.
The inaugural event will be called the River's Edge Festival and feature an eclectic mix of mainsream rock, indie-rock, hip-hop and electronic dance music, including headliners Tool (June 23) and the Dave Matthews Band (June 24). As promised, a sizable contingent of Minnesota acts will also perform, including Poliça and Motion City Soundtrack.
Other performers on the bill include the Flaming Lips, Puscifer, Coheed and Cambria, Diplo and Brand New, along with Delta Spirit, Scissor Sisters, Kinky, Mexican Institute of Sound, Mutemath, Gardens & Villa, Kids These Days, K-flay, An Horse, Yuna and Civil Twilight, and local bands Quietdrive and the Rope.
Two-day wristbands for the festival go on sale for $99 starting April 13 at 10 a.m. through RiversEdgeMusicFestival.com. To avoid fees, you can buy tickets in person at the Xcel Energy Center box office through April 20.
The wristband price will increase after April 20. Single-day tickets will go on sale a month or so later for around $75, organizers said. Prices will increase as the fest gets nearer.
Coleman talked up Harriet Island itself as one of the biggest stars of the new fest: "It really has been a goal of mine as mayor to take advantage of that space," he said, boasting that the event will "be one of the most memorable weekends of music the Twin Cities has ever seen."
The Fest will be spread out over four stages, including a DJ stage and another smaller staging area on neighboring Raspberry Island.
The event is expected to draw 40,000 people to Harriet Island.
The city's partnership with Live Nation calls for a five-year minimum commitment to produce the fest, which is hoped to be a "destination festival" along the lines of other Live Nation events including Sasquatch near Seattle and the Reading and Download fests in England.
Live Nation representatives said that the River's Edge will be Tool's only North American gig this summer.
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