Summer music calendar is full and ripe

The summer movie season is in full swing. The summer menu is on at the city's best restaurants. The summer music calendar is set.

Now all we need is summer.

It's hard to imagine the bliss of an outdoor concert when a knifelike wind is blowing tears from your eyes. We're holding out for the six solid weeks of sunshine that will arrive sometime between the beginning of July and the end of September. In these weeks we'll reverse-hibernate, gorging on outside time and storing vitamin D with frantic abandon.

First stop: the Gorge. At a proud 8 years old, the Sasquatch! Music Festival is the starting gun for summer music in the Northwest, and it's happening at the Gorge in Grant County as you read this story.

On Aug. 8 and 9, toward the end of the Gorge's open season, is Phish, reunited after a five-year hiatus. If the Vermont-based quartet is still considered a cult, it's one on par with Scientology. Toward the end of its last run, Phish was consistently one of the top-grossing touring bands in the world. Thanks to back-to-back shows and on-site camping, Phish's Gorge dates will be more 48-hour party than typical concert. (By the way, this party sold out in minutes.)

Coldplay steps out of the arena and into the Gorge's stunning setting on July 11; Snoop Dogg, Slightly Stoopid and Stephan Marley play the Blazed & Confused Tour on July 18; the Vans Warped Tour kick flips on Aug. 15; and Lighthouse Coffee fanatic Dave Matthews and his Band play a triple-header over Labor Day Weekend on Sept. 4-6.

Back on this side of the Cascades, the inaugural No Depression Festival happens on July 11 in Redmond's verdant Marymoor Park. Tough year to launch a festival, but NoDepFest — which replaces last year's SP20 as the unique, Seattle-gone-national-caliber event of the summer — looks like a winner. The $45 ticket is a bargain with this lineup: country diva Gillian Welch returns to Seattle for the first time since 2005; folk-pop bard Iron & Wine captivated last year's SP20 crowd; and a "Seattle roots-music all-star revue," in which a slew of local Americana acts will perform a cover song or two, should be a rousing good time.

Also at Marymoor are heroes of the '80s Duran Duran (July 5), plus a pair of eclectic indie-rock bills aimed squarely at the KEXP set: the Decemberists, Andrew Bird, and Blind Pilot play July 17; and Death Cab for Cutie, the New Pornographers and Ra Ra Riot play the Concerts at Marymoor series on July 18 and 19.

The best way to avoid the aneurysm-inducing morass that is parking at White River Amphitheatre is to arrive early and leave early. But odds are, after pining for 15 years, most New Kids on the Block fans won't be leaving till the fat New Kid sings on July 7. The anonymous members of No Doubt lured back hot mom/lead singer Gwen Stefani for a tour with teen flavor-of-the-minute Paramore that hits White River on July 19. Perpetually underrated ZZ Top ought to overshadow headliner Aerosmith when the grizzled rockers team up on Aug. 17.

Kenny Chesney's latest hits are Jimmy Buffett-esque odes to binge drinking at the beach. His stop at Qwest Field on Aug. 1 — Qwest's only stadium concert of the year — will no doubt get a little crazy. As for filling KeyArena, Depeche Mode (Aug. 10) is a longshot and Green Day (July 3) is a no-brainer. As are teen dreams the Jonas Brothers at the Tacoma Dome (June 28) and AC/DC (at the T-Dome Aug. 30), who are reportedly running on overdrive.

A warning to serious music fans: the Woodland Park Zoo's ZooTunes concerts often draw casual picnickers and their feral kids, so don't expect a fully focused audience. Arrive early if you need a blanket spot close to the stage. Highlights this year are soul legends Mavis Staples and Allen Toussaint (June 24) and the heavenly vocal harmonies of Ladysmith Black Mambazo (July 15). The B-52s (the June 17 series opener) and the Indigo Girls (July 26) are already sold out.

For an even more bourgeois concert experience, Chateau Ste. Michelle presents a slew of big-ticket acts in a big-ticket setting. Elvis Costello (Aug. 23) is reliably good, and the pairing of Bonnie Raitt and Taj Mahal on Sept. 6 is a blues buff's dream. On the opposite end of the spectrum are populist, family-friendly outdoor shindigs like the Georgetown Music Festival (June 5-6) and the West Seattle Music Festival (July 11-12), neither of which has announced a lineup yet. And after complaints of overcrowding last year, the Capitol Hill Block Party (July 24-25) is selling fewer tickets at a higher cost, with an alt-rock-studded lineup highlighted by Sonic Youth and the Gossip and stacked with local faves like the Moondoggies, the Maldives and Hey Marseilles.

If you have to head indoors for your music, you won't be disappointed — Neko Case, alt-country queen of Tacoma, plays her hometown on June 2 at the Pantages Theatre, and Seattle's Paramount June 4.

Jonathan Zwickel: zwickelicious@gmail.com