first post in nearly three months and what am i doing?

that’s right. bitching a little bit.

over the past few years, i’ve attended the tempe music festival. last year i shot pictures of it.

that’s neither here nor there. today i’m here to talk about the bands i’d like to see at the 2008 festival.

cowboy mouth has already signed on to do the show, and i’m real happy to see that. they put on a helluva show.

i get the idea that the promoters are trying to woo the college audience, and they’ve generally done a decent job. with that said, the replacements was not a good pick for last year’s show. again, they put on a great show, but that space could’ve been better filled by somebody else.

let’s talk about the gin blossoms. great live band. tempe’s favorite son. the fan’s love them. the phone thing is awesome, but do you we could get tempe’s other favorite son to play? i’m talking about roger clyne and the peacemakers. great people. great band. the fans love them. they could play either the same night or even the next night. just get ‘em in.

so, let’s get down to business. here’s a short list of acts i’d like to see at this year’s festival (in no particular order [except for maybe the first one]).

Mike Doughty: you may remember him best as the front man for soul coughing. he’s going to have a new album out so you know he’s gonna promote the hell out of it. his music is awesome and catchy. compared to obediah parker and OAR last year, the fans should really dig him. besides, he’s an act i’ve been dying to see for quite some time.

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah: they could be a great second stage act. cooky lyrics and fun music. i heard they drew a huge crowd when they did a show the tempe marketplace.

The Long Winters: falls under the category of one of my favorite bands. met the lead singer, john roderick. really cool guy. i think the fans would really respond to them.

Ghostland Observatory: an austin, texas band with a really unique electric sound. they could play the second stage and possibly pull some fans from the main stage to check them out.

The Love Me Nots: a local band that is rising quickly through the ranks. an indie garage sound that is damn-near catchy. they’re playing the tempe block party. plus, i work next to the guitarist.

Dear and the Headlights: you just can’t go wrong with a local band that played lollapalooza in front of hundreds of thousands of people. i think they could handle the bright lights and big stage of the tempe music festival.

Peachcake and Less Pain Forever: get these two bands back together to duke it out once again. they played to a packed marquee theatre a little more than a year ago. it was the most fun i’ve had at a concert.

The Meat Puppets: second day. third band from the headliner. it would be awesome. these guys are the grandfathers of phoenix/tempe rock. the TMF people need to toss these guys some respect. they just released a new album last year.

a small list, i know, but it’s just some ideas. the tempe music festival needs to really focus on local bands and cultivating that talent. i don’t really care who they get as headliners. just make sure they’re not sitting behind a piano for the entire set.