Every year, I attend at least one big-shebang music festival. And at least one time per festival, I hit a mental wall and wonder why I ever submitted myself to such rock 'n' roll torture in the first place. Whether I've been wellie-deep in Glastonbury mud or melting into a Wicked Witch-style sweat puddle in Coachella's 105-degrees-in-the-shade desert heat, I've suffered all sorts of indignities and inconveniences in my quest for festival fun, and sometimes I've pondered if it was all worth it.

But of course, I still wanted to hit up a rockfest this summer. But which one? Chicago's Lollapalooza and Pitchfork would be too muggy. San Francisco's Outside Lands, too windy. New York's All Points West and Seattle's Bumbershoot, too rainy. It was a rock 'n' roll conundrum of Goldilocks-like proportions...

But then I found the festival that was juuuusssst riiiiight: All Tomorrow's Parties in upstate New York's crumbling-yet-charming Catskills area. I mean, just check out this press release

It's been of the year's most anticipated tours, and it's been one of the biggest.

Britney Spears--who, any way you look at it, is today's Queen Of Pop--has come back with a massive, well-received bang with both her Circus album and the first leg of The Circus Starring Britney Spears, a concert tour spectacular like no other seen before.

With the second leg of the North American Tour now heading for take-off--it's slated to start Aug. 20th in Hamilton, Ontario and finish Sept. 27th in Las Vegas--Ms. Spears and her colorful troupe will soon be heading off to Australia for six long-awaited tour performances, hitting Perth, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane starting in early November. It'll be the first time she's performed in Australia, and fans-from all reports--are drooling in anticipation.

Ticket info for all the tour packages can be found here.

In the meantime, Yahoo! Music is thrilled to be able to showcase this exclusive performance of Britney performing "Circus" onstage while on her

Oh, Lollapalooza...Perry Farrell's famed festival of festivals has been rocking with a '90s spirit since, well, the '90s. Restarted in 2003 and now a long Chicago weekender instead of a touring fest, this seventh-year event made no cuts in budgets, pomp, or circumstance, with three days billed to the brim with new indie acts and old icons alike. But most of all, this year marked Jane's Addiction's epic return to the stage for the first time since the festival's revival. And knowing Perry Farrell, it would be worth all three days of insane heat.

Although the first day began with a promise of rain, Seattle's Fleet Foxes warmed the wet festival grounds with a folky, forest-y set.

Thievery Corporation had fields of people dancing.

Angus Young---um, I mean Peter Bjorn & John--brought indie quirk with shorts just short enough to make for an idiosyncratic AC/DC effect onstage.

Of Montreal took a rock 'n' roll voyage to Mars when they covered David Bowie's "Moonage Daydream" with special

With his latest album Cradlesong making some significant noise in the marketplace, Rob Thomas--known to most as the lead singer of Matchbox Twenty--continues to impress.

Thomas's songwriting ability is growing by leaps and bounds, as witnessed by some of the heavier topics covered on the new album and the melodic hooks in which they are couched. But however strong his ability to craft solid pieces of stirring rock 'n' roll, it may be in the live context--onstage, where the singer has spent much of his public life since Matchbox Twenty's 1996 debut Yourself Or Someone Like You--that Thomas has really made his mark.

Need proof? Check out this performance of "Lonely No More" from Thomas's latest DVD, Something To Be Tour - Live At Red Rocks. It captures him at his finest and shows that today's very best artists are the ones whose talent comes across both in the recording studio and onstage.

Info for his upcoming tour is available here.