Summer vacation, grown-up style, is just a concert ticket away

It starts today.

The summer concert season kicks off at noon at the Gorge Amphitheatre in George, Grant County, with the opening of the three-day Sasquatch! Music Festival. The annual event, now in its fifth year, has become the unofficial opener of the summer-concert season.

Sasquatch! is so popular that the event, formerly one day, has grown into three. Headlining today is Nine Inch Nails, with Bauhaus and Wolfmother also on the bill. Saturday features Ben Harper, the Flaming Lips, the Tragically Hip and Neko Case. Sunday has Beck, Death Cab for Cutie, Queens of the Stone Age and Arctic Monkeys.

Among other big names playing now through September are Pearl Jam; Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers; the Dave Matthews Band; Elton John; and Mariah Carey.

But this summer is different because the biggest event isn't a rock concert or festival but Kenny Chesney's country show June 24 at Qwest Field. The all-day, seven-hour party also features Gretchen Wilson, Big & Rich, Dierks Bentley and Blaine Larsen. It's expected to draw about 60,000 fans.

This is not your father's country music. It's young country, which has surpassed rock in terms of sex, fun and dance rhythms. The audience will be mostly 20- and 30-somethings, along with veteran country fans turned on to the new rock-influenced country sound.

Young country's superstar couple, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, are set for two big shows, Aug. 9 and 10 in KeyArena.

What makes summer special is the outdoor concerts, at the Gorge, the White River Amphitheater, Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery in Woodinville, the Concerts at Marymoor and ZooTunes, all of which are so popular, most of their shows sell out.

Patrick MacDonald: 206-464-2312 or pmacdonald@seattletimes.com