You had me at Pavement

Virgin Mobile is sticking it to the man again this year. Not a bad lineup, and less than 15 minutes from the house. Tickets go on "sale" this Saturday.

The price is right... especially when it's free

As the summer approached and various festivals were releasing details on their 2009 editions, rumors were surrounding the Virgin Mobile Festival - mainly whether or not it was even going to happen. Well it's happening on Saturday, August 30th, but with a few changes...

• IT'S FREE!!!!
• It will be held at Merriweather Post Pavilion (instead of Pimlico Race Course, where it had been since the festival started in '06)
• It will only be a one-day event
• IT'S FREE!!!!

That's right kids, it's free. Hell, even Ticketbastard is waving their infamous convenience charge if you pick up the tickets at Will Call. While it's not required, Virgin Mobile is asking attendees to donate $5 to youth homelessness through RE*Generation.

I don't think anyone would've been surprised if Virgin Mobile half-assed the booking. But I have to hand it to them, the line-up is pretty solid... Franz Ferdinand, Weezer, the National, the Hold Steady, St. Vincent and Girl Talk to name a few. And a dance tent to boot - count me in!

Tickets were made available this past Saturday and surprise surprise, they "sold" out fairly quickly. Soon after, posts started appearing on Craiglist - those looking to sell the free tickets AND others offering $$ (and other things) for extra tickets. Gotta love it.

For those of you who were unable to get tickets (like myself) you can certainly go the Craigslist/eBay route. Another option is to try back after the 28th. Those who ordered tickets and selected the Will Call option must pick-up their tickets between Aug 21-28. Unclaimed tickets will be released to the public after that.

Hooray Friday!

- New Beck kids! "Chemtrails" is the first single from his upcoming album. While I'm not a huge Beck fan, it sounds pretty solid.

- P-fork has a handy guide to this year's festivals. Yet another year of me not attending one of these. I'm thinking it ain't ever going to happen.

- Death Cab for Cutie performed "I Will Possess..." on Jimmy Kimmel Live! Thanks to the Music Slut.

- If you haven't heard Attack & Release yet, you're missing out. The Black Keys swung through NPR studios and performed 3 songs for World Cafe. You can also check out their concert at the 9:30 Club on All Songs Considered - can't believe I missed it.

- More NPR goodness with Hot Chip on World Cafe. October can't come soon enough, when these cats roll through through DC again...