Bream: Why are we so excited for the second annual Minnesota Yacht Club music fest?

It’s easy to get excited about the second annual Minnesota Yacht Club coming to St. Paul’s Harriet Island July 18-20.

With any outdoor music festival, the sum is always greater than its individual parts, not to mention the unquenchable appeal of a communal vibe and meet-up with friends.

The musical lineup for the expanded-to-three-days MYC announced Tuesday is familiar, deep and desirable, even though it’s short on diversity. Hozier, Green Day and Fall Out Boy are the headliners.

The big coup is Alabama Shakes, who have been on hiatus for eight years. Last month, they played their first gig since 2017, at Tuscaloosa’s Bama Theatre in a benefit for a local brewery hoping to present live music. The band never broke up, but frontwoman Brittany Howard launched a remarkable solo career in 2019. Alabama Shakes hasn’t released an album since 2015, but their recent social media posts suggest a new recording is in the works. MYC appears to be their first big gig. We couldn’t be more thrilled.

Howard, who is Black, is the most prominent person of color on the Minnesota Yacht Club bill this year. Other diverse performers include Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz, Twin Cities guitar hero Cory Wong; Jake Clemons, saxophonist for Bruce Springteen & the E Street Band; buzzy TikTok star Gigi Perez, and Twin Cities Americana singer Laamar.

With MYC’s lineup, it’s not about being politically correct. It should be about touching a wide and representative range of musical tastes. Music lovers, especially those in the Land of 10,000 Bands, don’t just stay in one lane; their playlists are all over the spectrum. And a music festival with 29 acts should reflect that.

It’s obvious that MYC promoters have avoided any hint of hip-hop, even here-for-the-party artists like Snoop Dogg, T-Pain or our homeboy Nur-D. And, of course, MYC prudently doesn’t dip into country music because there are so many country-and-camping festivals in the Upper Midwest to more than scratch that party-till-you-puke itch. However, we would have welcomed some Americana artists like Jason Isbell or Sierra Ferrell or pop stars like Lana Del Rey or Chappell Roan, festival favorites who attract younger fans.

C3 Presents, the Austin, Texas-based promoters of Minnesota Yacht Club, have turned to proven triumphs in the Gopher State. Headliners Hozier and Green Day as well as Howard performed outstanding sold-out concerts last year in the metro. There’s no harm in bringing them back so soon; remember, it’s the sum of the parts. Expect Days 1 and 3 to quickly sell all 35,000 tickets.

“Too Sweet” hitmaker Hozier, slated for opening night, remains as hot as out-of-the-fryer mini-donuts, and the demand to see him hasn’t diminished. Green Day, the festival closer, is one of the all-time great live bands, and its hyperkinetic frontman Billie Joe Armstrong is invariably extra-amped (if that’s even possible for him) when he takes the stage in the Twin Cities, hometown for his wife, Adrienne, whom he met here. Even though Billie and the boys rocked Minneapolis stadiums last year and in 2021, we’re always glad to see Green Day.

Fall Out Boy, not so much. Especially since these Day 2 headliners will have played the metro area in four of the past five years, including the last three consecutively.

The MYC 2025 undercards suggest that not all these artists are “warm-up” acts. Opening day on July 18 is particularly compelling with soulful rockers Alabama Shakes, quirky but cult-loved Father John Misty and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Sheryl Crow, an inspiring and underappreciated concertizer — all she wants to do is have some fun.

The middle day — easily the least engrossing lineup — boasts a couple of winners on its undercard in Gen X alt-rockers Weezer, who are as comfortable as an old sweater, and Minnesota’s own Cory Wong, who always puts on a spirited, entertaining show of instrumental jazz-funk.

The final day, the Green Day day, features a delectable mix of top-notch melodic rock bands Semisonic and Beach Bunny, along with party bands 311 and Sublime as well as Garbage, the magnificent modern rockers from Madison, Wis., whose singer Shirley Manson always remembers that they played their first concert ever in Minneapolis at the 7th Street Entry in 1995.

Overall, we’re pretty thrilled about this lineup. OK, there are a few slots where we’re we might go sit by the banks of the Mississippi River for a break and an overpriced beer. But it looks like the Twin Cities have finally landed a bona fide destination summer music festival just like Austin City Limits in Texas and Outside Lands in San Francisco. We’re not massive like Coachella or Lollapalooza. That’s fine. We don’t have the space for it.

Now if C3 can just add the necessary cellphone and Wi-Fi towers to Harriet Island for the weekend so we can find our friends at the fest, we look forward to wonderful sailing at the 2025 Minnesota Yacht Club.

When: July 18-20.

Where: Harriet Island Regional Park, St. Paul.

Tickets: $275-$2,300; on sale at 10 a.m. Jan. 30 with a code provided after signing up for alerts at MinnesotaYachtClubFestival.com.