Category: Concerts

Eminem, The Killers, Muse to headline Bonnaroo 2018

Eminem, The Killers and Muse are the headliners for the 17th annual Bonnaroo Festival, taking place June 7-10 as always in Manchester, Tennessee, Superfly and A.C. Entertainment announced today. More than 150 artists will perform during the festival on “The Farm” at Great Stage Park, the 700-acre event space located 60 miles southeast of Nashville. Tickets go on sale Friday, Jan. 12 at 10 a.m. ET, exclusively via www.bonnaroo.com.

Other performers include Future, Bassnectar, Sturgill Simpson, Bon Iver “performing two unique sets,” Khalid, Kaskade, Paramore, Alt-J, Dua Lipa, Sheryl Crow, Anderson.Paak, Sylvan Esso, Nile Rodgers & Chic, Playboi Carti, Broken Social Scene, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, Thundercat, Mavis Staples, Amadou & Miriam, T-Pain and many more — the full lineup appears below.

The three headliners are making the rounds this festival season, with Eminem performing at Coachella, New York’s Governors Ball and Boston Calling; The Killers at Boston Calling, Alabama’s Hangout Festival, California’s Bottlerock and several European festivals; and Muse at Bottlerock and other European festivals.

Upgrades to the Bonnaroo fest include improved communal areas (formerly known as pods, now called Plazas) with shade, free public WiFi, showers, activities and art, charging stations, misting stations, medical, safety stations, information and portable restrooms.

According to a press release, further upgrades that will presumably be clear to previous festival attendees include “several permanent ‘Barns’ being installed in various locations onsite including VIP that are being designed to create more vibrant scenes in the campgrounds similar to the legendary ones at The Grind and The Garage. A pristine wooded hangout similar to The Grove is also being installed.”

Other highlights include “Droolworthy Food with celebrity chef Tim Love, set to be a special community-focused area based on all things culinary, as well as House of Yes, Little Cinema, The Well, Tonalism by DUBLAB and The B-Hive Under the Tower.” As in past years, “Groop Camping” in the general-admission campground is available to ensure that all fans get to camp with their friends no matter when they arrive onsite.

Beyoncé, The Weeknd and Eminem to headline Coachella

Toronto singer The Weeknd will join superstar Beyoncé and veteran rapper Eminem to headline this year’s Coachella Music and Arts Festival.

Organizers announced the forthcoming lineup for this year’s festival on Tuesday. The event, held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, Calif., takes place across two consecutive weekends in April, featuring the same lineup over each weekend.

The high-profile gig was an expected one for Beyoncé, who was set to make her debut as a solo headliner in 2017 after having previously made guest appearances with her husband, rapper Jay-Z, and her sister, Solange. However, she withdrew and postponed after becoming pregnant with twins and was replaced by Lady Gaga.

The festival’s recent pivot toward a hip hop and R&B-heavy offering continues with Eminem, who released his latest album Revival in December, and The Weeknd, whose most recent release was 2016’s acclaimed Starboy.

Other notable acts on the bill include SZA, HAIM, Tyler the Creator, Migos, Cardi B, St. Vincent, Jamiroquai, David Byrne formerly of the Talking Heads and Chic featuring Nile Rodgers.

Rising R&B singer Daniel Caesar, rapper Belly and electro-funk duo Chromeo are among the Canadians headed down to the festival.

The 2018 Coachella festival takes place April 13-15 and April 20-22.

Neil Young’s secret site for Dec. 1 concert is Omemee, Ont.: report

Will Neil Young’s mysterious Dec. 1 concert be held in his childhood home of Omemee, Ontario? A local website thinks it has the evidence.

Kawarthanow.com reported Monday that it had acquired an email to Bell Media, which will be stream Young’s show, from the City of Kawartha Lakes, which governs Omemee, a community of roughly 1,200 people 23 km west of Peterborough. In the email, the municipality approves “closing of a section of Sturgeon Road (from Church St E to King St W for southbound traffic only) in Omemee … for a Live Concert Special, organized by the Bell Media, from Tuesday, November 28, 2017 at 12:00 p.m. to Saturday, December 2, 2017 at 3 a.m.”

At the corner of Sturgeon and King in Omemee is Coronation Hall, a venue whose capacity is normally 140 persons. Billboard Magazine has said the concert will take place at 200-person-capacity venue, so close enough.

The 72-year-old rock superstar’s acoustic 90-minute concert, timed to promote his new album The Visitor, is slated to be live-streamed on CTV.ca and the CTV GO app starting at 8 p.m. EST on Dec. 1; outside of Canada, it will stream on Facebook.

Young lived in Omemee from ages 4 to 11, and his life there has long been considered the inspiration for “a town in North Ontario” in his song “Helpless.” In Young’s memoir Shakey, he remembers it as “a nice little town. Sleepy little place. . . . Life was real basic and simple in that town. Walk to school, walk back. Everybody knew who you were. Everybody knew everybody.”

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ 40th Anniversary Tour

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers has been treating the world to its distinct take on heartland /blues rock for the past 40 years. To celebrate the milestone, the band is throwing a party of an anniversary tour, which kicks off in April. Joe Walsh and Chris Stapleton appear as special guests on select dates.

Over the past four decades Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers has released 13 studio albums. Its most recent, Hypnotic Eye, was released in 2014.

A write-up from Rolling Stone about the band’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2002 declared that after forming in Gainesville, Fla., in 1976, the musicians “would mix their southern roots with Byrdsy guitar textures and vocal harmonies, and eventually, on the strength of Petty’s hook-filled songwriting, create one of rock’s most enduring catalogs.”

Notable singles include “Don’t Do Me Like That,” “The Waiting,” “You Got Lucky,” “Mary Jane’s Last Dance,” “Refugee,” and “Don’t Come Around Here No More.”

Produced by Live Nation, the 40th Anniversary Tour begins April 20 in Oklahoma City. More dates are yet to be announced, including West Coast gigs. Here’s how the routing stands today:

April 20 – Oklahoma City, Okla., Chesapeake Energy Arena
April 22 – Dallas, Texas , American Airlines Center
April 23 – North Little Rock, Ark., Verizon Arena
April 25 – Nashville, Tenn., Bridgestone Arena
April 29 – The Woodlands, Texas, The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
May 2 – Austin, Texas, Frank Erwin Center
May 5 – West Palm Beach, Fla., Perfect Vodka Amphitheatre
May 6 – Tampa, Fla., Amalie Arena
May 8 – Memphis, Tenn., FedExForum
May 10 – Champaign, Ill., StateFarm Center
May 12 – St. Louis, Mo., Scottrade Center
May 13 – Noblesville, Ind., Klipsch Music Center
May 29 – Morrison, Colo., Red Rocks Amphitheatre
May 30 – Morrison, Colo., Red Rocks Amphitheatre
June 2 – Kansas City, Mo., Sprint Center
June 3 – Saint Paul, Minn., Xcel Energy Center
June 5 – Des Moines, Iowa, Wells Fargo Arena
June 7 – Columbus, Ohio, Schottenstein Center
June 9 – Pittsburgh, Pa., PPG Paints Arena
June 10 – Cleveland, Ohio, Quicken Loans Arena
June 12 – Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. Bank Arena
June 14 – Hartford, Conn., Xfinity Theatre
June 16 – Newark, N.J., Prudential Center
June 17 – Hunter, N.Y., Hunter Mountain (Mountain Jam Festival)
June 29 – Chicago, Ill., Wrigley Field
July 1 – Philadelphia, Pa., Wells Fargo Center
July 2 – Canandaigua, N.Y., Constellation Brands – Marvin Sands PAC (CMAC)
July 5 – Milwaukee, Wis., Marcus Amphitheater (Summerfest)
July 6 – Milwaukee, Wis., Marcus Amphitheater (Summerfest)
July 15 – Toronto, Ontario, Air Canada Centre
July 18 – Clarkston, Mich., DTE Energy Music Theatre
July 20 – Boston, Mass., TD Garden
July 23 – Baltimore, Md., Royal Farms
July 26 – Queens, N.Y., Forest Hills Stadium
July 27 – Queens, N.Y., Forest Hills Stadium

Walsh appears April 20-29 and May 5-June 16. Stapleton takes the stage June 29 and July 5-6.

Presales for Highway Companions Club members begin Dec. 14 at 10 a.m. The general onsale for the Queens shows begins Jan. 14. Tickets for the rest of the dates go on sale to the general public Dec. 16 at 10 a.m. All times local. Visit TomPetty.com for more information.

Gord Downie to play Halifax concert for Secret Path project

Tragically Hip frontman Gord Downie will be performing in Halifax on Nov. 29 on the heels of his recently released Secret Path project.

The album is a set of songs and a graphic novel honouring Chanie Wenjack, a 12-year-old Ojibway boy who died from hunger and exposure after trying to find his way home from a residential school near Kenora, Ont., 50 years ago.

It was announced in May that Downie had been diagnosed with glioblastoma, a relatively rare but aggressive and incurable form of brain cancer.

The singer-songwriter then embarked on a cross-country tour with the Tragically Hip this past summer, which culminated in a show broadcast by CBC that had almost 12 million viewers.

The Halifax show, announced Tuesday by promoter Sonic Concerts, will be held at the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium. Tickets will go on sale on Thursday at noon through the Dalhousie Arts Centre and Sonic Concerts’ website. Tickets cost $61, including fees.

Secret Path originated from a collection of poems written by Downie, which evolved into songs. The album, recorded in 2013, was produced by Broken Social Scene’s Kevin Drew and Dave Hamelin, known for his work with indie rock group the Stills.

Tove Lo Plots 2017 ‘Lady Wood’ Tour

Swedish pop star Tove Lo will embark on an 11-date North American tour next year in support of her new album, Lady Wood.

The trek begins February 6th at Showbox SoDo in Seattle and includes stops in Los Angeles, Chicago, Toronto and New York before wrapping February 24th at the 9:30 Club in Washington D.C. Tickets will be available via Tove Lo’s website and go on sale October 28th, the same day Lady Wood arrives.

Tove Lo already has a handful of dates scheduled for December as part of the traveling Jingle Ball 2016 tour. Her first appearance on that trek will be December 1st at the SAP Center in San Jose, California.

Lady Wood marks Tove Lo’s second LP and follows her 2014 debut, Queen of the Clouds. In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Tove Lo said Lady Wood was Part One of what she saw as a double album to be continued next year. “The whole album is about different kinds of rushes in life,” she said. “The first chapter – ‘Fairy Dust’ – describes initiating [a] feeling, and then the second chapter ‘Fire Fade’ is when you start to be a little bit more aware and vulnerable.”

Tove Lo Lady Wood Tour Dates

February 6 – Seattle, WA @ Showbox Sodo
February 7 – Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater
February 8 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater
February 10 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Novo
February 15 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
February 16 – Chicago, IL @ House Of Blues
February 17 – Toronto, ON @ Massey Hall
February 19 – Boston, MA @ House Of Blues
February 20 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Electric Factory
February 22 – New York, NY @ Hammerstein Ballroom
February 24 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club

ABBA Reunited For A Rare Performance

The legendary pop group ABBA gave an impromptu performance at a hotel in Stockholm on Sunday night.

According to the newspaper Expressen, Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad were celebrating 50 years since their first meeting. The private party was held at the Berns Salonger in downtown Stockholm. The quartet was surrounded by local musicians and actors. Although photos of the party were posted on Instagram, videos of the performance have not yet emerged on social media.

Ulvaeus and Andersson met June 5, 1966, became friends and later formed ABBA. The group, which split up in 1982, last sang together in 1986. With hits like “Mamma Mia,” which spawned a billion-dollar hit musical and Hollywood blockbuster, “Dancing Queen” and “Waterloo,” the band, known for its glistening harmonies, sold 380 million records. They reunited earlier this year, at the January 20 opening of “Mamma Mia! The Party” in Stockholm, but did not sing.

The group reportedly turned down $1 billion to reunite for a tour.

Rolling Stones to play March 25 show in Havana

The Rolling Stones announced Tuesday that they will play a free concert in Havana on March 25, becoming the biggest act to play Cuba since its 1959 revolution.

The Stones will play in Havana’s Ciudad Deportiva three days after U.S. President Barack Obama visits Havana.

The concert is expected to draw a massive audience in a country where the government once persecuted young people for listening to rock music, then seen as a tool of Western capitalism.

“We have performed in many special places during our long career but this show in Havana is going to be a landmark event for us, and, we hope, for all our friends in Cuba too,” the band said in a statement.

Along with easing many restrictions on foreign music, art and literature, the Cuban government has increasingly allowed large gatherings not organized by the government in recent years. The Stones concert will almost certainly be one of the largest since Cuba began easing its limits on some non-official gatherings in the 1990s.

On the same week as the visits by Obama and The Rolling Stones, the Tampa Bay Rays are also expected to play the first Major League Baseball exhibition game in Cuba since 1999, part of an extraordinary string of events in a country that spent the Cold War isolated from the United States and its allies.

Cuban fans have been buzzing about a possible concert by “Los Rollings” since lead singer Mick Jagger visited Havana in October.

The Havana “Concert for Amity” will cap the Stones’ America Latina Ole tour through seven Latin American cities. The band said it will donate instruments and musical equipment from sponsors to Cuban musicians during their visit.

The biggest musical performance in Cuba to date was held in 2009, when the Colombian singer Juanes drew more than a million people to a show titled “Peace without Frontiers” in Havana’s Revolution Plaza.

That concert angered Cuban-American exiles in the U.S. and its organizers wrangled with the Cuban government over performances by Cuban artists critical of the government. U.S. government contractors also tried to use the concert to promote programs designed to foment political change in Cuba.

The Stones concert is expected to take place in a more relaxed political environment, coming more than a year after Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro announced that they were declaring detente and moving to normalize relations.

Both governments are now moving rapidly to make the new relationship appear irreversible before the end of Obama’s term.

Beyonce Announces ‘Formation’ World Tour Following Super Bowl Show

One day after surprise-releasing a new song and video, Beyoncé followed her Super Bowl 50 halftime show performance with news of the Formation World Tour.

The tour is the singer’s first solo trek since her ambitious Mrs. Carter Show World Tour in 2013. It kicks off April 27th in Miami, Florida at Marlins Park, with an additional 21 stadium dates that include New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Toronto, Philadelphia, Dallas. The European leg of the tour starts June 28th in Sunderland, U.K. at Stadium of Light and includes dates in London, Manchester, Zurich, Amsterdam, Paris, Milan, Stockholm, Frankfurt and more.

Bey debuted “Formation” live Sunday at Santa Clara, California’s Levi’s Stadium dressed in a tight black jumpsuit with gold military “ammunition” that seemed to reference Michael Jackson’s signature look from the Eighties. Bruno Mars, another previous Super Bowl halftime show headliner, also appeared during Coldplay’s set.

“Formation” is available to stream and download for free exclusively through Tidal.

Beyoncé Formation World Tour Dates

April 27 – Miami, @ Marlins Park
April 29 – Tampa @ Raymond James Stadium
May 1 – Atlanta @ Georgia Dome
May 3 – Raleigh @ Carter-Finley Stadium
May 5 – Nashville @ Nissan Stadium
May 7 – Houston @ NRG Stadium
May 9 – Dallas @ AT&T Stadium
May 12 – San Diego @ Qualcomm Stadium
May 14 – Los Angeles @ Rose Bowl
May 16 – Santa Clara @ Levi’s Stadium
May 18 – Seattle @ CenturyLink Field
May 20 – Edmonton, Alberta @ Commonwealth Stadium
May 23 – Minneapolis @ TCF Bank Stadium
May 25 – Toronto @ Rogers Centre
May 27 – Chicago @ Soldier Field
May 29 – Detroit @ Ford Field
May 31 – Pittsburgh @ Heinz Field
June 3 – Boston @ Gillette Stadium
June 5 – Philadelphia @ Lincoln Financial Field
June 7 – New York City @ Citi Field
June 10 – Baltimore @ M&T Bank Stadium
June 12 – Hershey @ Hersheypark Stadium
June 28 – Sunderland, UK @ Stadium of Light
June 30 – Cardiff, UK @ Millennium Stadium
July 2 – London, UK @ Wembley Stadium
July 5 – Manchester, UK @ Emirates Old Trafford
July 7 – Glasgow, UK @ Hampden Park
July 9 – Dublin, Ireland @ Croke Park
July 12 – Dusseldorf, Germany @ Esprit Arena
July 14 – Zurich, Switzerland @ Letzigrund
July 16 – Amsterdam @ Arena
July 18 – Milan, Italy @ Stadio San Siro
July 21 – Paris @ Stade de France
July 24 – Copenhagen @ Parken
July 26 – Stockholm, Sweden @ Friends Arena
July 29 – Frankfurt, Germany @ Commerzbank Arena
July 31 – Brussels, Belgium @ Roi Boudoin

Kenny Rogers Announces Retirement

Kenny Rogers announced his retirement during an appearance on the “Today” show this morning, with the promise that he would play one final worldwide tour before calling it quits.

The Country Music Hall of Fame member, who has sold more than 120 million records, released his latest holiday album – Once Again It’s Christmas – today. But Rogers had more on his mind than just his new LP.

Rogers told “Today” that he’s stepping away from the music business so he can spend more time with his family.

An announcement from his PR rep notes that details about Rogers’ final world tour will be revealed in the coming months. The last stop of the tour will take place at the “Today” show.

“I’ve had an incredible career,” Rogers said. “More than I’ve ever dreamed. And thanks to you guys who’ve supported me all these years. I wanted you to hear it from me. Not many people get to see the end of the rainbow. And I think I have. I think I’m have the beauty of this career and the beauty of getting to know you guys daily, out on the road and watching you kids grow up with me. And doing my Christmas tour every year.

“And as hard as it is to leave, I will tell you this. Younger and earlier in my career and in my book I wrote there’s a fine line between being selfish and being driven and I think I crossed that line a lot when I was younger and I didn’t get a chance to spend a lot of time with my older boys and I regret that now. And I’ve decided that my goal now is to stay home and help Wanda raise Justin and Jordan and be as much of an influence on them as my mother and father were on me, because that’s what parents are for. And I wanted you to hear that from me.

“I love all of you. I love the way you’ve treated me. You’ve always been respectful and I will miss you dearly but I must go be with my boys. Goodbye.”