Between music festivals and outdoor venues, summertime is when bands typically do most of their touring. It's also the best time to travel for most people, and seeing live music couldn't make for a better travel experience. Not to mention, summer in Texas is brutal and will melt your face (not in the good way). Here are 10 bands that give you an excuse to get on the road this summer and see some live music:

1. Phish

When it comes to live acts there are few bands even close to the Vermont quartet known as Phish. Of course there are loads of haters who resent that, but they have probably never been to a Phish show. Phans complain about a lack of jamming since the band has been back together (and been sober), but the bottom line is that Phish are by and large one of the most mind-blowing touring acts these days. Regardless of your level of Phandom, summer time is Phish time, and there are plenty of chances to see them this summer as they crisscross the country on a massive tour. What other band gives you a reason to take off work and drive to Oklahoma City in August? www.phish.com
-Neil Ferguson

2. String Cheese Incident

Ok, so I like jambands. Big deal. I love them for many reasons,but the main reason is that seeing a jamband live is FUN. String Cheese Incident may not be fully reunited, but the fact that one of the great jambands of our generation has been putting on festivals and touring the last couple of summers is definitely a good thing. If there’s one thing to take away from a Cheese concert it’s the light-hearted jolly good time enjoyed by all. To a newcomer it may seem alarmingly strange seeing grown men dressed as fairies while wearing tutus and hula hooping, but at a Cheese show this is normal. The only way to make sense of seeing that is to let the music infect you and realize that fans are E-lated to see such a great band. Much like Phish, Cheese have earned the elite status of being able to play when they want and where they want. Their summer tour isn’t huge, but it includes stops at some of the most enchantingly beautiful venues in America. See this band and you won’t regret it. www.stringcheeseincident.com/
-Neil Ferguson

3. Wilco

Jeff Tweedy and company have worked hard to transform Wilco in to a touring machine, and they are a band that deserves every ounce of success they’ve had. The amount of musical talent possessed by each member of the band is absolutely astounding, and no matter where they play, Wilco gives their fans an unforgettable concert experience. For an act that is by no means a jamband, the guys in Wilco are able to tour relentlessly across the world while still maintaining that creative spark that makes each show uniquely impressive. Wilco is easily one of the best touring bands around, and this summer there are plenty of chances to see them. wilcoworld.net/#!/
-Neil Ferguson

4. Jack White

Just a year after claiming he'd never start another band, Jack White has gone ahead and created two. He typically starts each show with a set backed by the all-girl band, affectionately called The Peacocks. Their fiddle and stand-up bass stylings give them a country-tinged sound, and Jack plays a bit more acoustic with them, but they still rock. He'll get the crowd locked in right away by opening with the White Stripes classic, "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground." For those who mourned the end of The White Stripes, don't worry. The show is about 40% White Stripes songs, 40% from his brilliant new album, Blunderbuss, and 10% each of The Raconteurs and The Dead Weather. Impressively, the new songs are just as spectacular, (if not as catchy) as his old ones, but lyrically he's at his all-time best on the new material. All of Jack's old bands' songs sound fresh and re-vamped by the highly skilled studio musicians he strides across the stage to jam with throughout the show. I'm having trouble restraining myself from just lauding superlatives on this Jack White solo tour. I got to see his SXSW showcase and went so far as to call it the best concert I've seen in my entire life. The only 10/10 rating I've ever given a show, besides Neil Young. This is Jack White at his absolute best. http://jackwhiteiii.com/
-Zack Teibloom

5. M83

After putting out one of the most celebrated albums of 2011, Hurry Up, We're Dreaming, M83 is out to prove that they're even better live. I camped out two hours early for their Stubbs show a few weeks ago (Check out our review and photos), and they've only gotten better since their last November stop in Austin for Fun Fun Fun Fest. This summer is the exact ideal time to see them. With 100 shows under their belt, they're a well oiled machine. Tight set list, brilliant light show, sincere and loving banter, a couple of tricks up their sleeve and even a monster to make you dance in delight. Our reviewer called the recent sold out Stubb's show "magical," and it's easy to see why. ilovem83.com/
-Zack Teibloom

6. Miike Snow

They've already out-grown SXSW. Soon they'll outgrow the smaller stages and be headlining pretty much everywhere they go. See them on a smallish stage while you still can. In 2010, I had to call in a favor to get into Miike Snow's Filter show in a courtyard. Perez Hilton texted the whole time, except during "Animal." Would they evolve from a band with one spectacular debut album and one hit single? Oh, my, yes. Aside from coming out in masks, they had a pretty straightforward set-up a couple years ago. They still played in the early afternoon and couldn't explore the darkness of their songs. This year they tried to bring a spaceship synth machine to SXSW. Lustre Pearl could barely contain it. It took too long to set-up and its splendor couldn't be fully appreciated. At Coachella, they had the time and room to fully explore the space, and it was so exquisite. The show bested Radiohead and Justice as my favorite of the weekend. These inventive Swedes are currently touring in support of their second album, Happy to You, which sums up my feelings on them quite well. Lead singer Andrew Wyatt has only gotten better as a frontman and dancer. Seriously, watch from13:40-14:05 of their Coachella show. You should watch the entire thing, but you really need to see this dance...and this tour. www.miikesnow.com/
-Zack Teibloom

7. Robyn

“Show Me Love” was the hit of the summer in 1997 for my friends and I. It was a catchy pop song with R&B undertones, and featured a strong female protagonist in the song. Today, Robyn has become an almost universally adored pop diva, experimenting with electronic music and crafting kick-ass danceable sing-alongs with sass. She's a Swedish powerhouse: she's got a great, bird-like voice and matches head-bobbing, thumping beats with professional-grade dancing. She'll be coming to the ACL Moody Theater at the end of June, so put your dancehall best on and get ready to groove. www.robyn.com
-Caitlin Wittlif

8. Sigur Ros

I cannot overstate my adoration for the Icelandic quartet Sigur Ros. Their music transports me in a way that no other band does, and that's coming from a girl with four Bright Eyes posters plastered up in her work cubicle. Lead singer Jonsi Birgisson is gifted with an otherworldly voice, and he uses it as an instrument of grace, peace and destruction, sometimes in one breath. If you've heard a few songs by the band, you might think, “Oh yeah, so that'll be a chill show, just sit back and relax.” You'd be wrong. Yes, the band has some songs that are gentle and delicate, and much of their latest album, Valtari, is in this spirit. However, when they come roaring out of the gates with a song like “Glósóli,” which explodes at the four minute mark, hitting you head-on like gale-force hurricane winds. This is a special breed of mind-opening music that is very, very rare. Don't let yourself miss out. Sigur Ros is currently slated for very few US dates, but I am hopeful they'll be a last minute add-on to the Austin City Limits bill. If not — onward ho to Chicago for Lollapalooza! www.sigur-ros.co.uk/
-Caitlin Wittlif

9. Justice

I almost didn't see Justice live at Coachella this year. They were running 25 minutes late, Girl Talk had begun on an adjacent stage, and I was tired of standing in a field with nothing going on while so much was happening around me. Thanks to the forces of the universe (and my better-informed boyfriend) I stuck it out, and enjoyed one of the most incredible 20-minute dance parties of my life for it. Justice know what they are doing. Maybe it's something in the water, but France just seems prone to produce incredible electronic-dance-rock artists. I have never seen a more solid front-to-back dance party at a music festival before. Usually, you'll have chunks of dancing interspersed with people drinking, talking, sitting, and doing whatever else people do. Not for this band. We were probably 150 feet or more from the stage, and as far as my eye could see, there was nothing but neon-colored dancing. They're spending much of the next few months in Europe, but if you can't splurge for an international ticket, make your way across the Canadian border in August, and bring your dancing shoes.
www.facebook.com/etjusticepourtous
-Caitlin Wittlif

10. Desaparecidos

Speaking of Bright Eyes (see above Sigur Ros rec), I am the kind of superfan that feels Conor Oberst can do no wrong. He's tooled with folk music, alt country, rock and electronic music. On top of that, he has managed to put out album after album of biting, honest, emotional and often political songs. Desaparecidos is his most punk undertaking, a band he was in for a very brief period when he was much younger that bemoaned the institutions of marriage, greed and corporations — the pillars of America, if you will. Though Oberst himself seems happier in many ways now, he's still as political, so I suspect the reformed Desaparecidos could rock even harder these days. They only have a handful of tour dates at the moment, but they are worth the trip because there is no guarantee they'll play many more shows after the summer ends. If you like your rock served up with some economic frustration, or need an outlet to let off political steam, this Omaha band is your band. www.desaparecidosband.com/
-Caitlin Wittlif

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