MTK Fest, Escape to NYC & Lady Gaga

Eastern Long Island will host two major music festivals this summer, and they will take place less than one week apart from each other. The Escape to New York and MTK: Music To Know festivals will occur on August 5-7 and 13-14 respectively.

Escape to New York will host a wide variety of performers, from well-established Rock and Roll Hall of Famers like Patti Smith to new sensations like Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. And from New Wave pioneers such as The Psychedelic Furs to New Wave-influenced bands, like Of Montreal. Attendees are not only encouraged to camp out during the three-day festival, but concert-goers are encouraged to glamp. Urban Dictionary defines glamp as the misspelling of glomp – whatever glomp is. However, the unique party planning group behind Escape to New York (E2NY) would have you believe that glamping is a blend of the words glamorous and camping, also known as “Boutique Camping.” You are given the chance to spend thousands of dollars on a tent and a camping experience, which includes toilets, showers, catering and booze. Doesn’t quite sound like my idea of camping – i.e. midnight runs to the campground porta-potty and hours of unchecked boredom. [expand]

MTK: Music To Know will also feature a very broad spectrum of performances, ranging from the surf and pop music influences of Vampire Weekend to the country-western ideas that permeate Bright Eyes’ music to the electro-funk stylings of bands like Chromeo. Recently the festival became one act bigger: the British singer-songwriter phenomenon Ellie Goulding will also be making an appearance at MTK. You may recognize her from footage of the royal wedding, during which she performed a set including her cover of Elton John’s “Your Song.” Her music has been prolifically remixed over the Internet ever since her album Lights premiered at #1 on the UK charts.

The organizers of this event are not encouraging its attendees to “glamp”—or anything remotely similar—and attendees of MTK may not be pleased to discover that finding lodging may be difficult. The summer season in the Hamptons is not exactly easy to book. No matter—I live locally.

I encourage you to visit www.musictoknow.com, as it includes bios on each artist, helpful ticket information and cool 3D pictures of what the festival should look like. All the ticket and “glampground” information you desire can be found on www.escape2ny.com, as well as the rules for the exciting Master of Tickets contest.

This just in—the Internet is ablaze with rumors of a THIRD MAJOR music festival to hit the East End August 20-21. Some claim that Bridgehampton horsewoman MADONNA will join forces with LADY GAGA, performing hits as well as new material from Madonna’s upcoming album. Thousands of Lady Gaga’s “little monsters” who already have tickets for her world tour dates will be pissed if it’s true. And if promoters somehow get the approval to hold it at the SHELTER ISLAND site allegedly proposed, it’ll be a total clustertruck. It’s been dubbed “Faux Fest,” with the newly-recovered songstress Adele is also rumored to be on the bill! [/expand]