With a two-day music lineup to fill instead of the usual one, this year's Rock the Garden festival outside Walker Art Center June 21-22 truly will offer a little something for everyone -- or at least everyone who listens to co-sponsoring station 89.3 the Current.
Two beloved indie-rock bands that have been in steady rotation since the Current took the air nine years ago, Spoon and Guided by Voices, will be paired together for the Sunday RTG lineup along with fellow garage-rocky guitar wielder Kurt Vile and rootsy Tennessee newcomer Valerie June. Saturday, meanwhile, offers the kind of act that organizers have been criticized for not booking more of in the past: Hip-hop. Late-'80s pioneers De La Soul will top out that day's show with indie-pop mainstays Best Coast and Matt and Kim. Two hometown favorites, Jeremy Messersmith and Dessa, will also perform one day apiece.
Here's the full schedule:
SATURDAY, JUNE 20
- De La Soul
- Matt and Kim
- Best Coast
- Jeremy Messersmith
- one more opening band TBA (someone with a gig in town between now and June 20)
SUNDAY, JUNE 21
- Spoon
- Guided by Voices
- Dessa
- Kurt Vile
- Valerie June
After recent years' Rock the Gardens all consistently sold out fast, organizers decided to add the second day to welcome more concertgoers -- and to get a better return on their set-up and production costs, which are largely the same whether it's one or two days. Money raised from the event go toward both the Walker and the Current's parent, Minnesota Public Radio, each nonprofit organizations.
As usual, tickets will go on sale first to Walker or MPR members starting Thursday at 11 a.m. via eTix.com. If not sold out by Saturday, they will be available to non-members Saturday at 11 a.m. Two-day general-admission passes are being sold for $100, or single-day tickets will also be available for $59. Different VIP options are also available ranging from $100-$225/day or $175-$400/two-day.
A certain type of Big Star/Cheap Trick-loving indie-rock fans will gobble up the Saturday lineup with Spoon and GBV, which also happens to be both bands' first Twin Cities gig in more than three years (after many years of seeing them annually). Spoon has been teasing fans with news of its first record since 2010's "Transference," due sometime this summer on Merge Records. GBV has put out somewhere between four and 14 albums in that time but only played here once since first reuniting (First Avenue in 2010).