Concerts
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Some history will be made, and rekindled, during this year’s 13th annual Blue Note Jazz Festival.
The five-week parade of concerts begins on June 1 and will encompass 94 performances by nearly four dozen acts at five venues — primarily the Blue Note club itself in New York City’s Greenwich Village, as well as Sony Hall, the Brooklyn Bowl, Town Hall, Central Park SummerStage and Celebrate Brooklyn at the Prospect Park Bandshell.
Alex Kurland, Blue Note’s director of programming, promises that festivalgoers will not be lacking for variety.
“Jazz is very much the guiding force at Blue Note, but we’re not stuck in a box or restricted about genre-specific programming,” Kurland explains. “It’s very open. The inspiration of jazz runs through so much music and so much creative culture in general, so we’re really just embracing all this really special artistry. Jazz represents freedom, and that’s really where we’re leaning towards.”
To that end the festival lineup features a dizzying amount of diversity during its run. But the major news is, in fact, about a jazz artist: trumpet legend Wynton Marsalis will be returning to the 200-seat Blue Note as a bandleader for the first time since 1991. Marsalis will perform 12 shows across six nights (June 11-16) with his regular Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and with the Future of Jazz Septet.
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“I’m so excited to be back at the Blue Note after all these years,” Marsalis tells Billboard in a statement. “One of the fondest memories of my career is being in the Blue Note with Dizzy (Gillespie), Sweets Edison and Clark Terry going to see Freddie Hubbard.”
The shows are part of a new collaboration between the Blue Note and Jazz at Lincoln Center, where Marsalis is the managing and artistic director of jazz. It will also bring performances by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Youth Big Band, directed by Julius Tolentino, and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Youth Orchestra, directed by Tatum Greenblatt, on June 15-16, respectively.
“This is a very historic presentation of Wynton, one of our proudest presentations of the month,” Kurland says. “This is a landmark kind of reunion between Wynton and the Blue Note; he’s played the Blue Note since the opening of the venue, but not as a leader since he began his curation of Jazz at Lincoln Center. It will be unique for him to play in a tiny space. We feel very honored.
“We are all about collaboration and partnership,” Kurland adds. “A lot of that occurs on the stage, but on business and branding and presentation side, we love to partner with different organizations to have these special moments, and working with Jazz at Lincoln Center makes a lot of sense.”
The venues for the four other headliners — Andra Day on opening night, June 1, followed by Corinne Bailey Rae on June 16, British drummer Yussef Dayes on June 22 and the Ezra Collective closing the festival on July 7 – will be announced later this month.
Other intriguing team-ups during the festival include Wu-Tang Clan’s Ghostface Killah, who’s long incorporated jazz in his mixes, double-billed with New Orleans’ Soul Rebels for three nights (June 21-23) at the Blue Note. At the Sony Hall: Jazz Is Dead performs June 9; Yo La Tengo teams up the Sun Ra Arkestra on June 15; James Brown/Parliament-Funkadelic trombonist Fred Wesley makes a rare appearance on the same bill as the Brecker Brothers on June 21; and Antibalas pairs with Hailu Mergia on June 22.
Other Blue Note festival residencies include New Orleans’ Soullive for six nights; drummer Julius Rodriguez and Crescent City trumpeter Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah will be there for four nights each; and bassist and bandleader Derrick Hodge and Ozomatli for three each. Stanley Clarke will perform June 25-26 at Sony Hall, and Yes/King Crimson veteran Bill Bruford is journeying from England for a June 29 ProgJect show at the same venue.
A strong corps of other vocalists, meanwhile, also includes Lisa Fischer and Gino Vannelli. The festival lineup also includes eight Blue Note brunch concerts on Sundays and one Saturday show devoted to the Buena Vista Social Club’s music on June 8.
“When you’re looking to book amazing, great artists you’re drawing from the global landscape, so that’s very glaring in the lineup,” Kurland says. “There are definitely a lot of innovative artists who are very contemporary; that’s always important for the Blue Note, to have such a progressive edge. Then you have the great icons, the legends…and hopefully you’re giving people a sense of the great range of that’s available.”
More details about the festival can be found here. The full 2024 Blue Note Jazz Festival lineup includes:
June 1—Soulive—Blue NoteJune 1—Andra Day—Venue TBDJune 2—Soulive—Blue NoteJune 2—Harlem Gospel Choir—Blue Note BrunchJune 2—Paula Cole—Sony HallJune 3—Derrick Hodge—Blue NoteJune 4—Derrick Hodge—Blue NoteJune 5—Derrick Hodge—Blue NoteJune 5—Lisa Fischer—Sony HallJune 6—Soulive—Blue NoteJune 7—Soulive—Blue NoteJune 7—Michel Camilo—Sony HallJune 7—ALJO with Hamilton de Holanda and Yamandu Cost—Town HallJune 8—Soulive—Blue NoteJune 8—The Music of The Buena Vista Social Club—Blue Note BrunchJune 9—Soulive—Blue NoteJune 9—Jazz is Dead—Sony HallJune 9—Harlem Gospel Choir—Blue Note BrunchJune 10—Brandee Younger—Blue NoteJune 11—The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis—Blue NoteJune 12—The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis—Blue NoteJune 12—Yemi Alade—Sony HallJune 13—The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis—Blue NoteJune 14—Jazz at Lincoln Center presents Wynton Marsaliswith The Future of Jazz Septet—Blue NoteJune 14—Eliane Elias—Sony HallJune 15—Jazz at Lincoln Center presents Wynton Marsaliswith The Future of Jazz Septet—Blue NoteJune 15—Yo La Tengo with the Sun Ra Arkestra—Sony HallJune 15—Jazz at Lincoln Center Youth Orchestra—Blue Note BrunchJune 16—Jazz at Lincoln Center presents Wynton Marsaliswith The Future of Jazz Septet—Blue NoteJune 16—Victor Wooten—Sony HallJune 16—Corinne Bailey Rae—Venue TBDJune 16—Jazz at Lincoln Center Youth Orchestra—Blue Note BrunchJune 17—Julius Rodriguez—Blue NoteJune 17— Haley Reinhart—Sony HallJune 18—Julius Rodriguez—Blue NoteJune 19—Julius Rodriguez—Blue NoteJune 19— Mulatu Astatke—Sony HallJune 20—Julius Rodriguez—Blue NoteJune 20— Mulatu Astatke—Sony HallJune 21—Ghostface Killah with The Soul Rebels—Blue NoteJune 21—Fred Wesley with The Brecker Brothers—Sony HallJune 22—Ghostface Killah with The Soul Rebels—Blue NoteJune 22—Antibalas with Hailu Mergia—Sony HallJune 22—Yussef Dayes—Venue TBDJune 23—Ghostface Killah with The Soul Rebels—Blue NoteJune 23—Harlem Gospel Choir—Blue Note BrunchJune 24—Ozomatli—Blue NoteJune 25—Ozomatli—Blue NoteJune 25—Stanley Clarke—Sony HallJune 26—Ozomatli—Blue NoteJune 26—Stanley Clarke—Sony HallJune 27—Chief Adjuah—Blue NoteJune 27—Gino Vanelli—Sony HallJune 28—Chief Adjuah—Blue NoteJune 28—Bombino with Etran De L’Air—Sony HallJune 28—Os Mutantes—Brooklyn BowlJune 29—Chief Adjuah—Blue NoteJune 29—ProgJect with Bill Bruford—Sony HallJune 29—Brass Queens—Blue Note BrunchJune 30—Chief Adjuah—Blue NoteJune 30—Harlem Gospel Choir—Blue Note BrunchJuly 1—Joey Alexander—Blue NoteJuly 7—Ezra Collective—Venue TBD
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This summer’s edition of the Rocklahoma festival will feature headlining slots from Avenged Sevenfold (Friday night), Disturbed (Saturday night) and Slipknot (Sunday night) in what promoters are calling the event’s biggest lineup to date. The three-day hard rock fest, which will run from August 30-Sept. 1 at the Rockin Red Dirt Ranch in Pryor, Oklahoma, will also feature headlining sets from Evanesence, A Day to Remember, Lamb of God, Halestorm, Skillet, Mastodon, a reunited Anthrax, Clutch, Kerry King, Coal Chamber and others.
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Tickets for the 2024 Rocklahoma festival will go on sale on Friday (April 5) beginning at 11 a.m. ET here; weekend VIP, GA passes, as well as camping and glamping passes will all be available at that time, with passes starting at $10 or 10% down on layaway. Others acts on tap for the festival include: Badflower, Pop Evil, Giovannie & the Hired Guns, Bad Wolves, Tom Keifer, Winger, Faster Pussycat, Vixen, Set It Off, The Warning, Kim Dracula, Austin Meade, Oxymorrons, Holy Wars, Enuff Z’Nuff, Atomic Punks and many more.
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“Rocklahoma is a call to arms, a celebration of not only music but also of our differences and what makes us all the same,” Lzzy Hale of Halestorm said in a release announcing the lineup. “We are so grateful to be returning to the stage, and cannot wait to see our old friends, and welcome the new ones into our Rock ’n Roll family!”
Check out the full roster for the 2024 Rocklahoma festival in the concert poster below.
These days, Coldplay approaches touring “as a traveling R&D lab,” says longtime manager Phil Harvey — and the band’s ongoing Music of the Spheres tour does feel a bit like a stadium run as science experiment. There are compostable wristbands, biodegradable confetti and stationary bicycles that fans on the floor can ride mid-set to generate power to the production’s smaller C stage.
Five years ago, frontman Chris Martin declared that Coldplay would not tour until he could ensure the act’s stadium dates would “have a positive impact” on the environment. Now, thanks to the numerous green innovations put in place since Music of the Spheres began in 2022 — including not only the aforementioned measures but also renewable-resource batteries and routing that reduced air travel — the band achieved a 47% reduction in carbon emissions for the first year of touring, with a 50% reduction goal by the time it wraps in November.
Like an increasing number of artists, Coldplay relied on a team of scientific experts to devise a plan for a greener tour that would be both mammoth (7.7 million global tickets sold to date, according to Billboard Boxscore) and meaningful. “For the number of artists that we’ve been speaking to, the interest and appetite for understanding is pretty good and has exploded over the past three years,” says professor John E. Fernández, director of the Environmental Solutions Initiative (ESI) at MIT, who helped certify Coldplay’s carbon emission results and has also worked extensively with major dance act Above & Beyond.
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The band also connected with Luke Howell — a former solar engineer who founded British sustainability consulting firm Hope Solutions and previously worked with the Glastonbury Festival. Howell and his Hope team studied the band’s previous tours “to identify key areas where we could reduce emissions,” he says, then created a range of targets, while recommending emerging green tech for the trek. “We don’t always get it right,” Harvey says of Coldplay’s ongoing efforts, “but we pass on everything we learn so that other people can do it better next time.”
Ahead of the inaugural Music Sustainability Summit, held in Los Angeles in February, the ESI announced a comprehensive study on touring’s carbon footprint, expected to be completed this summer. Recommendations will be made — although Fernández says there’s still a long way to go. “I would characterize the music industry as risk-averse,” he says. “It’s a business, and artists are trying to make a living, so we’ve seen an enormous amount of concern over the risk entailed with making a commitment to reduce emissions.”
Prof. John E. Fernández
MIT
It’s one thing for a stadium act like Coldplay to make sustainability a prerequisite for playing live, but the majority of artists don’t have that financial luxury — or even a standardized emissions benchmark to shoot for. Michael P. Totten, who has served as a climate science adviser for Pearl Jam for over two decades, says, “The biggest problem we face is that [no artist] has control over everything” — in short, even one big act can’t cut through all the live-industry bureaucracy. “You’d love to work with green arenas,” he says, “but they’re owned by somebody else, they do a ton of events, and might say, ‘You should talk to the ticket sellers.’ ”
Thus, so far, the artists who effectively make their touring practices greener tend to be those who have the means and drive to do so — and whose tours also often leave the biggest footprints. Totten points out that Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard helped drive the band’s pledge of donating $200 per ton of carbon on its tours — but did so based on scientific recommendations, not any law or industrywide objective.
Marcus Eriksen, a marine scientist who has worked with Jack Johnson to spread awareness of plastic pollution in the oceans, believes that change needs to start with more major artists demonstrating their awareness of various environmental issues. “You want to find influencers — people that can reach a much wider audience,” says Eriksen, who has led several ocean expeditions intended to help educate celebrities like Johnson about how much plastic exists in large bodies of water. Such in-person experiences can, he says, help attendees recognize an urgent issue and encourage them to spread the message back on land. “Getting folks out into the field for a direct experience — that can be transformative,” Eriksen says.
While standard green guidelines may not exist yet for the live industry, Howell says he would love to see more solar and renewable energy incorporated into touring, as well as “electric vehicles and fossil oil-free fuels for all trucking and freight.” Fernández also says the music industry must remain in close contact with the scientific community about the latest climate change projections to make any real progress. “Everyone in the music industry must accept the fact that we’re not going to stay [at] 1.5 degree C average surface warming,” he says, referencing the temperature threshold that was the original goal of the 2015 Paris Agreement. “So if you’re developing a climate plan to maintain that, you’re just going to have to rewrite that plan.”
With that in mind, Fernández stresses that artists must remain open to evolving information on climate change, even at the risk of reworking preexisting sustainability pledges. “This is not unique to the music industry — what we’re seeing is that some companies have made climate commitments, they don’t feel good about the inability to fulfill them, and then they go silent,” he says. “Artists can’t go in that direction. They have to be part of inspiring people to take action.”
This story will appear in the March 30, 2024, issue of Billboard.
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The 2024 edition of Splendour in the Grass won’t go ahead. “With a heavy heart,” reads a statement from organizers, issued late Wednesday (March 27), “we’re announcing the cancellation of Splendour in the Grass 2024, originally scheduled from Friday 19 July to Sunday 21 July in Ngarindjin / North Byron Parklands.”The surprise announcement comes less than a week after tickets to the three-day camping fest went on sale to the general public. As previously reported, Splendour had booked a healthy lineup featuring Kylie Minogue, Future and Arcade Fire as headliners. Also on the bill for the now-scrapped 2024 edition was Girl In Red, Yeat, Turnstile, G Flip, The Last Dinner Party, Tash Sultana, Fontaines D.C. and many more.“We know there were many fans excited for this year’s line-up and all the great artists planning to join us, but due to unexpected events we’ll be taking the year off,” the statement continues. Established in 2001 and held each year in Byron Bay, a picturesque beach town on the most easterly tip of Australia, Splendour is a destination event, and the most popular mid-winter camping fest in these parts. Splendour, once the hottest ticket on the festivals calendar, has endured a particularly tough run, first with the pandemic, which saw the announced, then shelved several times during the pandemic. Then, in 2022, extreme weather conditions wrecked the first day of Splendour 2022, contributing to softer-than-usual ticket sales for the 2023 edition.
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“We’re heartbroken to be missing a year especially after more than two decades in operation,” reads a joint statement from Jessica Ducrou and Paul Piticco, co-CEOs of Secret Sounds and founders of Splendour. “This festival has always been a huge community effort, and we’d like to thank everyone for their support and overall faith. We hope to be back in the future.”
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Tickets for Splendour 2024 went on sale from Thursday, March 21 via moshtix.com.au, with the SITG members pre-sale opening March 14. Single day tickets are priced at A$179 (plus fees), three-day tickets are $399 (plus fees), camping tickets cost $159 (plus fees) and the premium “VIP Village VIP” three-day ticket is A$599 (plus fees). Ticket holders will be refunded automatically. Despite the setback, Splendour will return, according to Secret Sounds, an affiliate of Live Nation, which produces the annual event. “We thank you for your understanding,” reads the statement, “and will be working hard to be back in future years.”
Since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, most of the country’s musical acts have taken sides, either supporting or condemning the war – but not Picnic.
The aging Russian rock band notably refrained from making any statements about the invasion of Ukraine. Many of their fellow musicians faced touring bans or exile for voicing their opposition, while others performed on the frontlines in solidarity with the Kremlin or in occupied Ukrainian territories.
Now, 46 years after its formation, Picnic has grabbed more global attention than ever for tragic reasons: Its planned concert at the Crocus City Hall in Moscow became the site of a mass shooting last Friday (March 22), with at least 137 lives lost in the terrorist attack. ISIS-K, an offshoot of the terrorist group ISIS, claimed responsibility for the March 22 attack.
Since then, some Russian media outlets have claimed that the band supported Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, suggesting this was one of the reasons that terrorist gunmen targeted the show.
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The band did not comment on these reports. In fact, the band’s current frontman, Edmund Shklyarsky, who joined in 1981 as a guitarist and soon became Picnic’s main songwriter, has remained steadfastly apolitical since the terrorist attack. In his only public comments in the wake of the tragedy, he released a video address expressing “condolences to everyone who, involuntarily and naturally, found themselves involved in this terrible tragedy, utterly senseless. It is clear that there are no words that can resurrect or console people. But, of course, we offer our condolences to all relatives.”
Picnic will brave the stage again on Wednesday (March 27) at St. Petersburg’s Oktyabrsky concert hall. The concert will be dedicated to the victims of the Crocus City Hall attack, with the band announcing on social media that proceeds will be donated to the families of those who lost their lives or were injured in the attack.
The band’s manager, Yuri Chernyshevsky, wouldn’t comment on Picnic’s views on the war with Ukraine, and told Billboard that “you would need to ask the terrorists why they targeted Picnic’s show or why they targeted Crocus City Hall. I hope law enforcement will determine that.”
In the early 1980s, Picnic became part of the Leningrad Rock Club, an organization, allegedly controlled by the KGB, that facilitated underground and semi-underground rock bands to perform at a time when rock music in the Soviet Union faced scrutiny, if not outright bans. Later, Picnic’s songs drew criticism from Communist authorities for lyrics referencing illegal drug use.
In the latter half of the 1980s, Picnic, like other bands, benefited from the perestroika and glasnost reforms in the Soviet Union, which allowed formerly underground rock bands to officially tour and record. However, unlike some prominent bands of the period, Picnic largely avoided social and political issues, focusing more on esoteric and mystical themes in their lyrics.
Currently, the band includes the 68-year-old Shklyarsky, his son Stas on keyboards, bassist Marat Korchemny and drummer Leonid Kirnos. The band’s fan base is diverse, ranging from older listeners who have followed Picnic since the 1980s to younger fans introduced to the band through social media.
At the time of the March 22 attack, musicians from Picnic and a 65-piece orchestra set to accompany the rock band were in their respective dressing rooms and were promptly evacuated. However, Ekaterina Kushner, a member of Picnic’s administrative staff manning the merchandise table, died in the attack.
Another concert by Picnic and the symphonic orchestra was scheduled at the same venue on March 23. Almost all tickets for both performances at the 6,200-seat Crocus City Hall had been sold.
Willie Nelson’s famed 4th of July Picnic is moving to the City of Brotherly Love for the first time.
The concert, which he started in 1973, will be held at Freedom Mortgage Pavilion in Camden, N.J., just outside Philadelphia, the birthplace of America.
In addition to Nelson, the lineup will include Bob Dylan, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, Maren Morris, Mavis Staples and Celisse.
“I am thrilled to bring the 4th of July Picnic to Philadelphia for the first time in our storied history,” Nelson said in a statement. “It’s an honor to host such an extraordinary lineup of talent in the birthplace of our country. We can’t wait to celebrate Independence Day with you.”
Courtesy Photo
Nelson, 91, first held the 4th of July Picnic more than 50 years ago in 1973 at Hurlbut Ranch in Dripping Springs, Texas. Over the decades, artists on the bill have included Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, The Charlie Daniels Band, Rita Coolidge and Leon Russell. Last year’s event was held at Q2 Stadium in Austin, Texas, and featured Tyler Childers, Dwight Yoakam, Shakey Graves and Sierra Ferrell, among others. Though this is the first stop in the Philly area, the picnic has been held outside Texas before, including at The Gorge in Quincy, Washington, in 2007 and Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1978.
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Tickets go on sale to the public Friday (March 29) at 10 a.m. via Ticketmaster. Citi cardmembers can access presale tickets from Tuesday (March 26) at 10 a.m. local time until Thursday (March 28) at 10 p.m. local time through the Citi Entertainment program. The event is presented by Blackbird Presents and Live Nation Entertainment.
The picnic comes during a particularly busy time for Nelson, who will release his new album The Border on May 31 and will, once again, headline his annual Outlaw Music Festival Tour, which kicks off June 21 in Alpharetta, Georgia, and features many of the same artists as will appear at the July 4 event.
On Monday (March 24), Jazz at Lincoln Center revealed the host for its upcoming all-star tribute to late legend Tony Bennett, which doubles as the center’s annual gala fundraiser. Tony-nominated, Billboard 200-topping singer and actor Josh Groban is set to host the April 17 even at the Frederick P. Rose Hall in Manhattan’s Lincoln Center. […]