(FOX 9) - As mask mandates and COVID-19 infection rates fall across the state, this summer's Rock the Garden festival promises to be a communal, cathartic event like few others in recent memory.
Last year's event was canceled due to the pandemic, but with the lineup released today, the 2022 edition seems likely to be marked by the sight of thousands of sweaty Minnesotans stomping, clapping and belting out the lyrics of "I Never Get Old" by Nathaniel Rateliff & The Nights Sweats when they play the Walker hillside on June 11.
That kind of full-throated earnestness may not be everyone's cup of tea (cynics!), but the festival lineup provides a wide range of potential experiences — from the iconic Sleater-Kinney to the Duluth-based Minnesota stalwarts LOW, whose rich, complex sound is as unique as it is unlikely to inspire a mass sing-along.
LOW also played Rock the Garden in 2013 (see above) and curated this year's lineup, so we can thank them for including the vintage, hazy, jazzy funk of DāM-FunK, the intricate North African blues of Bombino, the 90s alt-rock-inspired, TikTok viral beabadoobee, who has been hailed as the" voice of Generation Z," as well as the Australian doom rock duo Divide and Dissolve.
The list creates some tantalizing possibilities for intergeneration collaboration. If there is any justice in the world, beabadoobee, or Beatrice Laus, will take the stage with Carrie Brownstein and Divide and Dissolve, who create richly textured sonic landscapes to "decolonize and dismantle white supremacy," will jam out with LOW. Tickets will go on sale to Walker and MPR members on March 3 at 10 am, with general admission priced at $79.
Nathaniel Rateliff & The Nights Sweats
Sleater-Kinney
LOW
beabadoobee
Divide and Dissolve