LIFE, LIBERTY, PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS

We can’t, I suppose, choose our Radiohead shows. As with all major festivals, there’s a hint of sadism (or is it masochism?) in the three-day lineup at Liberty State Park’s All Points West festival. Who, you might ask, will be excited for both the Secret Machines and Duffy? Will all those Roots fans really cotton to Sia? Can Ben Harper and Cat Power go back-to-back on the same stage without incurring some sort of collision as their mutually exclusive demographics trade places? There are some kicks to be had here, no doubt—the unlikely return of Underworld on Friday, for one, and Animal Collective’s unreasonably high spot on Saturday’s bill, for another. A suitable amount of buzz should fill the air—Girl Talk, coming off his recent Feed the Animals high; and the Virgins and Grizzly Bear, who both get to play native sons here—equaled only by the buzz kills: Jack Johnson, Trey Anastasio, and the reality that Liberty State Park is, in fact, in New Jersey.

Aug. 8-10, noon, 2008