Who will Rock the Garden?
A nerdy sport that's rising in popularity among Twin Cities musicheads, trying to name this year's performers for the annual Rock the Garden concert is entirely a guessing game at this point. Walker Art Center and 89.3, The Current staffers' lips are sealed as tight as Caleb Followill's jeans. They'll make the formal announcement April 19, and the concert itself is scheduled for June 18. Beyond that, we can at least make some logical guesses. So here goes:
Ruled out because they're already booked elsewhere in the Twin Cities this summer: the Black Keys, Florence & the Machine, Adele, Cee Lo Green (opening for Rihanna), Janelle Monae, Iron & Wine, Cage the Elephant.
Ruled out because they're playing elsewhere in the world that week: TV on the Radio, Band of Horses, Bright Eyes, Fleet Foxes, Girl Talk.
Ruled out because they're too big: Arcade Fire, Kings of Leon, the Strokes, Radiohead, Kanye West (duh! on the last two).
Best guess for a headliner: Mumford & Sons are the most obvious top dog on numerous levels, including the fact that the Current was a supporter of the folky Brits from the get-go (and has kind of played them to death since then). The band has a show at the Telluride Bluegrass Fest in Colorado on June 19, the day after RTG; it's certainly doable by plane, especially if they go all-acoustic at either gig.
Other candidates: the National, Animal Collective, My Morning Jacket and Wilco (who headlined RTG in 2003, before the Current existed).
And some smaller bands that make sense: Drive-by Truckers, the Hold Steady, Cut Copy, Fitz & the Tantrums, Peter Bjorn & John, Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears, Matt and Kim and, as is possible any year DJ Mark Wheat is at the station, the Fall.
Local candidates: Gayngs, Atmosphere, Dessa, Jeremy Messersmith, Low, the Jayhawks.