Holy mother of festival overloads. Wayhome just announced the lineup for their second year and it is a doozey. Last year they had Neil Young + the Promise of the Real, Kendrick Lamar and Sam Smith along with a super stacked under card filled with some of the best that Canada has to offer. This year is no different with the reunited LCD Soundsystem leading things off up on the top of the poster. It is a bit surprising seeing how they got first overall billing, but this is a band that is headlining Coachella, Bonnaroo and rumoured to top the brand new, New York held festival Panorama which hasn’t announced its lineup yet. With new music on the way, the litmus test will be to see what James Murphy and company plays and how they handle the top spot. Look for lots of dancing and by the end of their set expect people to become huge fans of them. Listen to Daft Punk is Playing at My House, All My Friends and Losing My Edge.

We also get the only (so far) North American performance from Arcade Fire this summer as they only have two shows in Europe lined up. For the past two years since the end of the Reflekor tour the band has been holed up in New Orleans working on new music, and it would be amazing if they premiered a few tracks for their loyal Canadian fans. That said, if they stick to just classic AF material we are in for a real treat as they have some of the most explosive sing along shows going around today. The triumphant swells of Wake Up, the chant-alongs in Rebellion (Lies), the dance party in Here Comes the Night Time are all just the tip of the iceberg. If this is the only North American festival date this summer, it will be the talk of the year, so expect a lot of theatrics.

Lastly Brandon Flowers returns to Oro-Medonte, this time with his reunited pals from The Killers who are apparently also working on new material. Flowers played three Killers songs last year and they were the highlights of his set. Expect his set to have the loudest cheering that feature sing-alongs so loud you will have no voice the next day. How can you not be excited to hear Somebody Told Me, Mr. Brightside, When You Were Young, Bones and Human live? The band only has one other show on tap for Governor’s Ball in early June so we will see what their set list looks like and if they still ‘got it’.

One of the best things about last year’s festival was the overabundance of great Canadian content. I firmly believe that the music coming from the great white north is not only amazing, but some of the best work in the indie and festival scenes and this year is no exception. For the straight up rock fans Arkells are billed the highest (after Arcade Fire of course) followed by the reunited Wolf Parade, the legendary Stars, Half Moon Run and Patrick Watson. If dancing is your thing A Tribe Called Red and Keys n Krates will bring top notch electronic jams while Coleman Hell will make you boogie with his guitar. If you are more of a hip hop fan multi-Polaris Prize nominee Shad brings his conscious rap to a large crowd while BadBadNotGood will jazz up your favourite hip hop instrumentals and look for them to either pop up at someone else’s set or for them to bring some guests out as everyone from Ghostface Killah to your mother loves them. If you are looking for a more laidback show Mac Demarco and his wacky antics or the breezy lullabies of Bahamas will be right up your alley to relax a bit. The fest features tons of great up in comers like Dilly Dally and Braids who both received tons of critical acclaim for their last releases.

Last year a theme occurred where the acts that incited the most dancers were kept until late at night, and of good reason because that is when our inhibitions fly away. To continue that trend look forward to the straight forward EDM of Major Lazer and Robert Delong or the indie pop styles of Haim, CHVRCHES and Matt and Kim. Look for things to get crazy for the international stylings of the Swedish MØ (who is most famous for singing the Major Lazer song Lean On) and the British AlunaGeorge.

Every festival snob will be going over the list of bands playing to see who has someone that isn’t popping up on every single poster and Wayhome certainly has some exciting names. While M83 is appearing on more than a few festivals, the fact that they have been away for so long is generating a ton of excitement about how they will make their comeback, expect their show to be one of the busiest of the whole weekend. Ray Lamontagne has never been super popular, but he is going on tour with My Morning Jacket as his backing band (sans Jim James) and that will certainly perk up some ears. RnB mysterious enchantress FKA twigs will look to solidify her strong fan base while Future hopes he can be as popular as his mix tape friend Drake. There are two interesting side project bands as Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys brings The Arcs and Alex Turner from Arctic Monkeys brings The Last Shadow Puppets to Burls Creek. Other hotly anticipated acts include the blissed out shredding of Foals, the sweet nothings of Kurt Vile and the Violators and the next big hip hop act Vince Staples.

Look for plenty of coverage about the festival on the site as we plan on doing lots of previews, making playlists and getting a score of interviews with the acts playing.