THE COUNT: SUMMER FESTIVAL SEASON IS UPON US

IT WAS THE FEST OF TIMES: With Coachella and Stagecoach now a hazy memory, the worldwide music-festival season will begin in earnest as Live Nation unwraps a wicked list of more than 50 events, each topping out at attendance of more than 50,000, between now and the end of the year.

Live Nation has been able to corner the market on its already dominant position as the world’s largest promoter through partnerships with and purchases of such festival specialists as EDM giant Insomniac—which runs more than 20 huge shows per year, including Electric Daisy Carnival in Vegas 5/17-19, Hard Summer in L.A. 8/3-4 and EDC in Orlando 11/10-12; alternative festival kingpin C3 Presents, which oversees Shaky Knees (5/3-5), the Lollapaloozas (Chicago 8/1-4, Berlin 9/7-8, Brazil 3/28-30); See.Hear.Now (9/14-15); and Austin City Limits (10/4-6, 11-13).

Starting this weekend (5/4) in Las Vegas, Michael Rapino and company usher in the summer with USHER’s third edition of Lovers & Friends, also featuring Janet Jackson (CAA), Mary J. Blige (IAG), Snoop Dogg (WME), Backstreet Boys (WME) and many others.

Additional major Live Nation U.S. festivals on tap for 2024 include Boston Calling (5/24-26), BottleRock (5/24-26), Governors Ball (6/7-9), Bonnaroo (6/13-16), Ohana (10/27-29), When We Were Young (10/19) and Rolling Loud Miami (12/13-15).

On the international front, Live Nation is even more prominent, with Sweden Rock Fest (6/5-8), Download (6/14-16), Copenhell (6/19-22), Graspop (6/20-23), Isle of Wight (6/20-23), Pinkpop (6/21-23), Mad Cool Fest (7/10-13), Wireless (7/12-14), Osheaga (8/2-4), Boots & Hearts (8/8-11), Pukkelpop (8/15-18) and Reading & Leeds (8/21-25).

We need a can of Liquid Death and some orange earplugs just looking at this list.

Insomniac's Pasquale Rotella, C3 Presents' Charles Attal