Attending Bonnaroo means making a bargain: Sustain only on beef jerky and Ambien-induced sleep for a weekend, and reap the benefits of bruised joints, a deflatedly exhausted post-weekend sense of self, and--hopefully--memories that'll stick with you at least until you've come down from however many 5-Hour-Energy shots (or...whatever) you've consumed to make it through all four days.

Thankfully, plenty of this year's fest was exceptional enough to stick; in a very organic way, this year's Bonnaroo managed to walk the slippery line between the festival's roots in the somewhat culty world of jam bands (the first couple years, organizers somehow notoriously got everyone who's ever segued two songs of theirs together for late-night megajams) and its more recent reputation as the premiere festival in North America (thanks to bookings like Radiohead and the Police). Coachella may still be capable of the bragging rights that come with breaking bands, but Bonnaroo's the place to come see those

It's not like one needs more ways to fill the time in New Orleans, especially during Jazz Fest. But in its eighth year, Ponderosa Stomp has become a must-see bridge between the two Jazz Fest weekends. A two-night, 40-plus-band extravaganza now augmented by a three-day music conference, Ponderosa Stomp rediscovers lost legends, launches comebacks, initiates reunions, and uncovers secret histories as it celebrates an honor roll of unsung heroes of American music. And, sometimes, the unsung heroes behind unsung heroes.

"When we started out we had no real design, we were just doing shows with artists we admired," says Ponderosa Stomp founder Ira "Dr. Ike" Padnos, a walking vinyl records database who's an anesthesiologist by day. "The idea was to bring musicians who never played out to New Orleans -- lost heroes, sidemen, one-hit wonders. We want to show history, where music comes from, strip away the museum and oldies show mentality. If you listen to this music you realize how much

The moment the Coachella 2009 lineup was revealed, I saw Amy Winehouse's name listed for Saturday and thought, "Yeah, right. That's so not gonna happen." And sure enough, a few weeks later it was announced that the famously flaky Amy's Coachella appearance had been cancelled due to her typical U.S. visa issues. That was no surprise.

What was surprising was the subsequent announcement that Amy's main stage replacement for Coachella Saturday would be Sri Lankan-born, Britain-bred M.I.A.--a woman who ironically once dealt with visa problems herself, and who had a baby less than two months ago.

Of course, M.I.A.'s career has been on an unlikely upward trajectory as of late: After her song "Paper Planes" was used in the Pineapple Express trailer, it became a hit more than a year after its release, and multiple Grammy nominations (and a memorable nine-months-pregnant Grammy performance) followed. She was then even co-nominated for an Oscar for "O Saya" from Slumdog Millionaire. With

Some indie purists balked when they first heard that Sir Paul McCartney was headlining this year's hot Coachella Festival out in the hot California desert this weekend. Some old classic rock guy playing the same hipster rockfest as the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and M.I.A.? Perish the thought! But I never doubted that Paul would some real Macca magic at Coachella '09.

First of all, Coachella has always been home to reunion and heritage acts, and this year the lineup skewed especially older (possibly because more "mature" music fans have the disposable income to attend Coachella during these recessionistic times), featuring veterans like Morrissey, the Cure, My Bloody Valentine, Public Enemy, Throbbing Gristle, X, Bob Mould, Paul Weller, the Orb, Henry Rollins, and Superchunk. So I figured Paul would fit right in. In fact, with 75-year-old Leonard Cohen playing Coachella this year, Paul wouldn't even be the eldest elder statesman on the bill!

Second, EVERYONE loves the Beatles. They're sort of