Bonnaroo at its Best

This time of the year beats Christmas and Thanksgiving. Last week, 2011's Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival line up was announced. Like every year since 2009, the event will take place in Manchester, TN June 9-12. Headliners include Grammy winner Arcade Fire, along with the Black Keys and Eminem. Other large names such as Best Coast, DeVotcka, Florence and the Machines, and Ratatat will also perform.

How is it that all of my favorite musicians are going to be in the same city at the same time? I am having trouble falling asleep at night, devising a secret plan on how I can sneak into the show. This line up may just top last year's, which included groups such as She & Him and The Dead Weather. An estimated number of 75,000 people turned up in 2010-about the size of Chicago's annual Lollapalooza.

If I can't sneak in someone's guitar case, I will pretend I'm at Bonnaroo by sharing a video of five piece indie pop group Freelance Whales. Known for their obscure instrumentation (banjos, glockenspiels, and mandolins to name a few,) the band surprises audiences by performing in subways and on New York City's streets.