... From the Festival Files

The V Festival began in England in 1996, with British groups like Pulp, Supergrass, and Elastica headlining the multi-day event. Even bigger acts - Radiohead, Oasis, Muse - have headlined in recent years, and the British festival now boasts four stages of music. The initial lineup for V Festival 2007 was revealed on Virgin Radio in Feburary, and confirmed acts include The Killers, Foo Fighters, Kasabian, Snow Patrol, Lily Allen, Damien Rice, Primal Scream, and Corinne Bailey Rae.

Keeping tabs on the V Festival has become a difficult task, since the event has spread to multiple continents. The Australian V Festival will hold its first concert this year, with one show being held at Sydeny's Centennial Park on March 31st and another at Avica Resort (on the Gold Coast) the following day. Promoter Michael Coppel has reportedly declared Melbourne a "festival graveyard" and did not book the festival in that city, but the "Best of V Festival" concert series will be held in both Melbourne and Adelaide. The overall lineup will be smaller, but many of the festival's big names will still be playing. The Pixies, Beck, Gnarls Barkley, and the Pet Shop Boys are some of the acts who've already confirmed their participation.

The American Virgin Festival is only slightly older than the Australian equivalent, having held its first concert in Baltimore, Maryland in September 2006. The Canadian Virgin Festival also launched that same month, and recently announced its initial lineup for 2007. First is the Vancouver event, which will be held on May 20th and 21st with music by My Chemical Romance, The Killers, and AFI. The second installment will be held in Toronto on September 8th and 9th. The (reunited) Smashing Pumpkins (ahhhhh!!!!!!), Bjork, The Killers, Interpol, and Tokyo Police Club will all play that event, which goes on sale tomorrow morning at 10 a.m.

No lineups have been announced for this year's American dates, but we're going to go with the trend and predict that The Killers will be involved.