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Who, Chili Peppers Headline U.S. Virgin Festival

Coachella. Bonnaroo. Lollapalooza. Sasquatch. The list of regional U.S. music festivals with bigtime lineups continues to grow, and now Sir Richard Branson and his Virgin Group are looking to get in on the action by launching an American version of their highly successful Virgin Festival, or V Festival as it's affectionately known in its native England.

The first U.S. V Festival will take place September 23 at the Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland, and already the events boasts a pretty stellar lineup. Set to headline the festival are The Who and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and the other acts on the bill reads like a who's who of commercially and critically successful "indie rock" acts: the Killers, Gnarls Barkley, the Flaming Lips, the Raconteurs, Scissor Sisters, Wolfmother, Keane, Thievery Corporation, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, New Pornographers, Drive-By Truckers, Kasabian and Brazilian Girls. There will also be a DJ tent featuring sets from Tiesto, John Digweed, Carl Cox, 2Many DJs, RJD2 and James Holden.

"My concept was to book the absolute best, most power-packed, quality-versus-quantity lineup I could," festival producer Seth Hurwitz told Billboard.com. "I wanted to make this the most prestigious festival to play on for bands."

Hurwitz also admits to a profit motive behind the festival, which is charging $97.50 per ticket at the 60,000 capacity race course. "I'm as big a capitalist as anyone in this business," said Hurwitz, who also runs Washington, DC's popular 9:30 Club. "But no one says you can't be a capitalist and a music lover at the same time."

--The ARTISTdirect Staff
07.18.06