This year, Forecastle Festival will be both familiar and new.
The three-day music festival will feature Louisville rock band My Morning Jacket, singer-songwriter Sam Smith, southern rock/jam band Widespread Panic and indie stalwarts Modest Mouse, organizers announced Tuesday.
In its 13th year, Forecastle will be July 17-19 at Waterfront Park. (City, park and festival leaders announced Monday that the festival would stay at Waterfront Park at least through 2019.)
My Morning Jacket and Widespread Panic have taken past turns as Forecastle headliners. For their part, Smith's career has risen in the past couple years and Modest Mouse is releasing its first new album this year since 2007's "We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank."
Other top bill bands include Southern Indiana's Houndmouth and Bowling Green-based Cage the Elephant. Also, the Bourbon Lodge (with all things bourbon) will return.
This is the "first wave" of line-up announcements, the festival said in a news release. So expect more bands as the festival approaches.
Weekend passes will start at $144.50 and go on sale Friday.
Here's the line-up announced Tuesday:
- Sam Smith
- My Morning Jacket
- Widespread Panic
- Modest Mouse
- Cage the Elephant
- Houndmouth
- TWEEDY
- Tallest Man On Earth
- Portugal. The Man
- RL Grime
- First Aid Kit
- Desaparecidos
- Shovels & Rope
- Big K.R.I.T.
- The Word
- Cold War Kids
- The Gaslight Anthem
- Sturgill Simpson
- St. Paul & the Broken Bones
- Cherub
- iLoveMakonnen
- San Fermin
- Kiesza
- Over The Rhine
- The Lone Bellow
- People Under The Stairs
- The Barr Brothers
- Alvvays
- Milo Greene
- The SteelDrivers
- Field Report
- Speedy Ortiz
- Son Lux
- JEFF The Brotherhood
- King Tuff
- Noah Gundersen
- Twin Peaks
- Cathedrals
- Fly Golden Eagle
- Diarrhea Planet
- The Revivalists
- Empires
- Broncho
- White Reaper
- Twin Limb
- Knox Hamilton
- Parker Millsap
Forecastle Founder J.K. McKnight said he expects attendance levels for this year’s festival to mirror those of 2013 when nearly 60,000 people entered the gate over the course of the weekend.
And McKnight said he is especially excited about acts like Lone Bellow, First Aid Kit and Cage the Elephant being on the bill this year.
“Cage the Elephant, we haven’t had them since 2009, they opened the festival then and I have the feeling that one day they may be closing it with how big they are getting,” he said.
McKnight said the agreement to keep Forecastle at the Waterfront Park through 2019 gives organizers a sense of comfort and focus.
“We’ve got the screws tied in pretty tight,” he said. “When you’re at a site and you don’t have to worry about moving the next year it allows to tighten everything up and really just make things better.”
WFPL reporter Jacob Ryan contributed to this story.
