Music Tastes Good 2018 Announces Lineup Headlined By New Order and James Blake

Today Long Beach’s sonically eclectic foodie fest Music Tastes Good announced its lineup for 2018. Returning to last year’s location at Marina Green Park, MTG’s two-day fest will be headlined by a pair of English acts–post-punk heroes New Order and downtempo debonaire James Blake. The festival originally curated by the late Josh Fischel, a revered Long Beach singer-songwriter, is now in its third year and has begun to come into its own as a festival hosting equal parts food and music.

This year, in addition to seeing acts like Joey Bada$$, The Black Angels and Santigold on two stages September 29-30, the festival presents its third stage–a “Taste Tent” featuring 16 chefs from west coast port cities, a lineup that stretches from Baja, California to Vancouver, British Columbia and of course, Long Beach. It hosts chef panels and food demos, where guests can interact with this year’s lineup of culinary masters and sample their creations . It’s open to everyone (no additional ticket types needed this year), and guests can purchase food tastes a la carte. Cuisine offerings will range from gourmet tacos, West Coast seafood, modern Spanish tapas, fried mushroom po-boys, handmade ice cream, raw vegan delights and so much more. Menus will be posted later this year.

But back to the music. Whereas last year’s fest skewed heavily toward ’90s nostalgia with headlining acts Ween and Sleater-Kinney and rare additions like Heaven 17, this year hosts a smattering of artists from all over the map–from weirdo emo/hardcore rapper Princess Nokia (who absolutely slayed at Coachella this year) to indie darlings Parquet Courts. Lots of current acts populate the lineup’s undercard like Lizzo, Cherry Glazerr, Lil B as well as some of those off-the-beaten-path selections that give MTG that unpredictable spirit of LBC. After all, how many local festivals allow you to get down the Ethiopian jazz stylings of the legendary Hailu Mergia?

MTG would also be remiss without tipping its hat to the local scene that helped make Long Beach culture what it is. This year, in addition to local bands Forest of Tongue, BLCKNOISE and Asi Fui, the festival includes a performance from an act called “Radio Listener: A tribute to Ikey Owens–the late producer and celebrated LBC musician who played keys with The Mars Volta, Jack White and his own band, Free Moral Agents.

And once again, tying it all together with the true festival spirit marching through the pathway of Marina Green, the No BS! Brass Band will be on hand both days to facilitate some extra day time celebration in between your ravenous sampling of bites and bands.

Starting on Thursday 5/10 through Friday, 5/18, Single Day GA tickets will be $75 and GA Weekend tickets will be $135. Prices go up on Saturday 5/19, with GA tickets at $85 and $150, respectively. VIP tickets will be $175 for single day and $300 for 2-day from on-sale through 9/28. Payment plans will be available for all tickets. All prices will increase at the gate. To purchase tickets to the event, click here.

See below for a full list of artists and chefs on tap for MTG 2018

Music lineup:

SATURDAY Sept 29
New Order, Broken Social Scene, Joey Bada$$, Santigold, Lil B, Princess Nokia, Blake Mills, Big Thief, Cherry Glazerr, Oliver Tree, Shame, Los Master Plus, Quintron & Miss Pussycat, NO BS! Brass Band, Radiolistener: Tribute to Isaiah “Ikey” Owens, Feels, Neighbor Lady, Forest of Tongue, BLCKNOISE, Haunted Summer, Manuel The Band

SUNDAY Sept 30
James Blake, Vince Staples, The Black Angels, Lizzo, Parquet Courts, The Church, Sun Kil Moon, Bill Callahan, Hollie Cook, Hailu Mergia, Ezra Furman, Ladama, The Blow, De Lux, Ethio Cali, B.A.G. (Blimes x Gifted Gab), Fling, Baum, Hana Vu, Asi Fui, NO BS! Brass Band

Chefs:

Chef Name: Wesley Young

Restaurant Name: Pidgin

Restaurant Hometown: Vancouver, BC

Chef Name: Jeffrey Vance

Restaurant Name: No Anchor

Restaurant Hometown: Seattle

Chef Name: Cameron Hanin

Restaurant Name: Ma’Ono

Restaurant Hometown: Seattle

Chef Name: Pat Manning

Restaurant Name: Toro Bravo

Restaurant Hometown: Portland

Chef Name: Rachel Aronow

Restaurant Name: The Alembic

Restaurant Hometown: San Francisco

Chef Name: Sincere Justice Wong

Pop-Up Name: Tacos Sincero

Restaurant Hometown: Oakland

Chef Name: Edward Martinez

Restaurant Name: Milk Money

Restaurant Hometown: Sacramento

Chef Name: Michael Thiemann

Restaurant Name: Mother

Restaurant Hometown: Sacramento

Chef Name: Dawna Bass

Restaurant Name: Under the Sun