May 26, 2016

TURF, Toronto Urban Roots Festival announces 2016 line-up: James Bay, Death Cab for Cutie, Barenaked Ladies, Lush, Okkervil River, Skinny Lister and many more

TURF, The Toronto Urban Roots Festival, my official favourite festival of the season, has just announced the 2016 line-up, and it's good! Not to mention the 19 additional artists to be announced, this line-up is stacked with Canadian and International acts sure to please crowds, including a few return appearances from TURFs past.

The line-up includes James Bay, Death Cab for Cutie, Barenaked Ladies, Dropkick Murphys, Explosions in the Sky, Jake Bugg, Matthew Good, Lush, The Sheepdogs, The Hives, Lake Street Dive, Guided by Voices, Rheostatics, Matt Mays, Drive-By Truckers, The Felice Brothers, Okkervil River, The Mekons, Skinny Lister, and many, many more including 19 to-be-announced acts. Click on the linked artist names to see my previous concert photos of those acts.

Personally, I'm going to be looking forward to DCfC, Barenaked Ladies, Explosions in the Sky, Lush, Lake Street Dive, Matt Mays, Okkervil River and Skinny Lister. They all have fantastic songs and put on fantastic shows. I'm especially looking at you Lush, for some great nostalgia, and Skinny Lister for the high-energy dance party. And every year I end up discovering a ton of great new artists, which is probably my favourite things about this superbly curated fest.

TURF will once again be held at Fort York Garrison Common. It takes place from September 16-18 and features an additional stage - totalling four - this year. Passes go on sale tomorrow, Friday May, 27, at noon. More ticket info at TURF's official site, but you've missed the early bird pricing at this point. Grab yourself some tickets. This is always the highlight of the festival season for me and I'm sure this year will be no exception. I also can't wait to see what they do with the Club Bonus Series and after-festival club shows this year.

Take a listen to many of the artists on this awesome line-up:

James Bay

Death Cab for Cutie

Barenaked Ladies

Dropkick Murphys

Explosions in the Sky

Lush

The Sheepdogs

The Hives

Lake Street Dive

Matt Andersen and The Bona Fide

Guided by Voices

Rheostatics

Matt Mays

Drive-By Truckers

The Felice Brothers

Okkervil River


The Mekons

Marlon Williams

Julien Baker

John Moreland

Skinny Lister

Midnight Shine