Second, today's the day that The Toronto Urban Roots Festival, TURF for short, has unveiled their line-up for 2015! The big names include Of Monsters and Men, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Wilco, The Avett Brothers, Neko Case, UB40, Cake and Lord Huron. Also on the bill are Desaparecidos featuring Connor Oberst, Deerhunter, Built to Spill, St. Paul and the Broken Bones, Shakey Graves and Will Butler. I'm personally excited about some more of the small-print acts like Fishbone, Skydiggers, The Elwins, NQ Aruckle, Ron Hawkins and the Do Good Assassins and Restorations. In total, there will be 46 acts across three stages, so more acts will be announced as we get closer to the show date.
Due to the Pan-Am Games, the festival is later than usual. It's scheduled for September 18-20 at Fort York Garrison Commons. This year's focus is on the Toronto scene with a local artist kicking things off on each of the three stages each day. The biggest challenge that I see for TURF is the other festivals, including Riot Fest, that are scheduled for the same weekend.
TURF ticket info:
- Earlybird Tier One 3 Day Passes, 3 Day Front of Stage VIP Passes, and 3 Day VIP Plus Passes go on sale Thursday April 23 at noon through Ticketfly, and then at Rotate This, Soundscapes, and The Horseshoe Tavern Friday April 24 at noon
- Earlybird Tier One ticket sales end on Wednesday June 10 at Midnight
- Single day line-ups and tickets will be announced June 8 and on sale June 11
- The Club Bonus Series, which features many of the festival performers, appearing in venues like Lee's Palace and The Horseshoe Tavern, is back and will be announced in early July
Of Monsters and Men
The Avett Brothers
Neko Case
Desaparecidos
Deerhunter
Built to Spill
St. Paul and the Broken Bones - quite the build-up from Mr. Letterman. I think these guys will put on a super-fun show.
Fishbone - I haven't seen these guys since the second Lollapalooza tour back in 1993
Skydiggers
Chuck Ragan
The Elwins
NQ Arbuckle
Ron Hawkins and DGA (Do Good Assassins)
Restorations - really like what I hear on first listen. Look for a more in-depth post on these guys.
Just in case you missed it, you can see all my TURF coverage from 2014 and 2013 by clicking right here. I've got pics of such artists as July Talk, Gogol Bordello, Gaslight Anthem, Hey Rosetta!, Drive-By Truckers, Shovels & Rope, Black Joe Lewis, Deer Tick, Gary Clark Jr., London Souls, The Hold Steady, Frank Turner, Lowest of the Low, Matt Mays, Dawes and more.
Pic from Indie 88.