Rothbury Festival Lineup: The Dead, Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson to Headline

Attention festivalphiles of the world: If you don’t have 4th of July Weekend plans yet, reserve a spot on your calendar. Michigan’s Rothbury music festival will return for its 2nd annual event July 2-5 at the Doulbe JJ Ranch and Resort to bring you a genuine slice of jam-band heaven.

With headliners The Dead (playing their only summer date), Bob Dylan and His Band, The String Cheese Incident and Willie Nelson, it’s clear that Rothbury will take the forefront of hippie-rock-revival shows so far this year (sorry Bonnaroo, you got Phish, but Dylan and The Dead just set a new bar). The headliners might appeal primarily to an older crowd, but the fest has much more to offer…

If you’re a little younger and hip with the times, no worries. This year’s lineup features a variety of contemporary genres, from indie groups like Guster and Broken Social Scene to hip-hop and dance acts like Girl Talk and Chromeo. Here’s the full lineup:

The Dead
Bob Dylan and His Band
The String Cheese Incident
Willie Nelson & Family
The Black Crowes
Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley & Nas
STS9
G. Love & Special Sauce
Gov’t Mule
Broken Social Scene
Yonder Mountain String Band
The Disco Biscuits
Les Claypool
Cold War Kids
John Butler
Chromeo
Ani DiFranco
Matisyahu
Guster
Girl Talk
Femi Kuti & The Positive Force
MSTRKRFT
Martin Sexton
Flogging Molly
Railroad Earth
The Hold Steady
Toots & The Maytals
Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys
Brett Dennen
Zappa Plays Zappa
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals
Shpongle DJ Set
Son Volt
Jackie Greene
Soulive
Man Man
Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band w/ Tony Rice
EOTO
King Sunny Adé & His African Beats
Lotus
Kid Cudi
STS9 Live PA
The Glitch Mob
Davy Knowles and Back Door Slam
Pretty Lights
Moseley, Law, Sipe & Droll
Rebelution
Quannum All Stars ft. Lyrics Born, The Mighty Underdogs, Gift of Gab & Lifesavas
Toubab Krewe
Sam Roberts Band
Hill Country Revue
Kyle Hollingsworth Band
Lipp Service
2020 Soundsystem
Break Science ft. Adam Deitch
The Hard Lessons
The Low Anthem
Underground Orchestra
Future Rock
The Macpodz
Steppin’ In It
Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad
Chris Pierce
Rachel Goodrich
The Ragbirds
Four Finger Five

Tickets go on sale March 20 at noon with a variety of VIP options, and like all the other fests coming up, a lawaway option will be offered.

I used to say Bonnaroo was our present-day Woodstock, but it looks like Rothbury may be gaining an edge…

How does the Rothbury lineup compare to other summer fest lineups announced so far?