Sunday, February 15, 2015

Not the Last Time: More Stones (and Dead?) Shows to Come

A few weeks ago, we brought you news, before it was public, that the Grateful Dead would reunite in 2015, and that the Rolling Stones' 50th anniversary tour might roll on in America this year as well. Since that time, we've seen the announcement of and huge initial demand for those Dead shows. Now, it's time to focus on the Stones.

When we last previewed the Stones' visit to America in 2015, we advised that the band had been in talks with the Rock in Rio USA festival in Las Vegas. As we cautioned then, we had not been able to confirm reports that the band had signed on to play the festival. It's our understanding now that the plan to play a few U.S. shows in May before returning to Europe in June has been scrapped. 

55 and Counting?
This time, we bring news that with a rising economy in the States, the Stones will return to North America instead in the Summer of 2015 for a full-scale arena [edit: make that stadium] tour. The bulk of the tour will take place in July, with rehearsals taking place in June, and it will hit mostly markets not visited on the Stones' last American swing. The tour is still in the planning stages, but we think the likeliest stops will include the following: 

[arena list clipped]

While high-dollar arena [stadium] shows will be the focus of the tour, we don't rule out an appearance at a big event or two. A tour gearing up or rehearsing in mid-June would be getting ready right around the time of the previously-discussed Live Earth concert at MetLife (formerly New Giants) Stadium in New Jersey (not to mention the Firefly Festival in Delaware, whose lineup announcement has been suspiciously delayed, though we still believe Paul McCartney will headline that festival and have a hard time seeing the Stones joining him). The tour may also wrap up right around the time of San Francisco's Outside Lands festival in early August. A Stones show in Golden Gate Park would be more than 45 years in the making, as the park was the location originally planned for what ultimately became the tragic Altamont Speedway concert of 1969. 

The Grateful Dead: Fare Thee Well or Not Fade Away?
Speaking of Golden Gate Park, we have a few more notes on the Grateful Dead's 50th anniversary. The band's mail-order ticketing service has faced overwhelming demand for its "Fare Thee Well" concerts in Chicago, suggesting that those stadium shows may well sell out when tickets go on sale online on February 28th. If so, we expect the announcement of live webcast events in clubs from coast to coast, including promoter Peter Shapiro's Brooklyn Bowl venues in New York and Las Vegas. What's more, we anticipate unmet demand potentially justifying the announcement of additional, smaller-scale concerts featuring the Dead's original members and other like-minded guest artists. Whether those shows feature all four of the surviving Grateful or happen before or after the Soldier Field shows, we can't say, but we still expect more notable Dead-related events on both coasts this year. 

Several festivals this Summer may flirt with further Dead reunions, including West Virginia's All Good Festival and Connecticut's Gathering of the Vibes. One of the stronger candidates for that to happen is the Poconos' Peach Music Festival, associated with the now-retired Allman Brothers Band, which will separately feature both Dead guitarist Bob Weir and drummer Bill Kreutzmann, plus fill-in keyboardist Bruce Hornsby and recent Allman Brother and frequent Jerry Garcia stand-in Warren Haynes. The likeliest place for all four to appear together, however, is Shapiro's Lockn Festival. Of the living Dead, only bass player Lesh and unspecified "friends" have been announced thus far, but we would not be surprised if more Dead members join the bill at a later date, and if a multi-member jam ensues, pre-announced or not. 

Finally, we still anticipate additional anniversary shows on both coasts in the Fall, though how big they are and whether they ultimately feature all four members remains to be seen. Chicago may well see the final "Grateful Dead" shows, and certainly the only ones with Trey Anastasio on guitar, and in a stadium, but we wouldn't be shocked if the band plays one more saturday night or two later in 2015.

The Stones' Last Time Too?
Speaking of last concerts, could this be The Last Time in the States for the Stones too? We don't expect it to be billed that way, and wouldn't be surprised if the band makes a festival appearance in Spring 2016 before wrapping up their current world tour in Europe that Summer. Still, with guys this age, you never know. 

What may be the Stones' final North American tour is certainly a big deal. However, we may be more excited about a much smaller one - the return of Keith Richards' X-Pensive Winos. The great riff writer's side project has an album of new material set for release whenever the Stones eventually get some down time, perhaps late this year or early next. Keef may preview some of that material tonight when he appears on Saturday Night Live's 40th Anniversary special, which, like the Live Earth show, will also feature a living Beatle. Stay tuned, music fans!

Monday, February 2, 2015

Forecast(le)s, Fireflies, and Sasquatches (and Maccas, Gagas, and Daft Punks), Oh My

It's the depths of winter here in Festival Forecaster-land, and our thoughts turn once again to Summer, with at least two festival announcements coming soon, and a very big one on the horizon. 

We expect the lineup for Delaware's Firefly Festival, newly aligned with Coachella's producer, Goldenvoice, to be announced very soon, perhaps within the next 48 hours. Rather than our own list, we'll note this purportedly leaked one - http://www.stereogum.com/1731772/this-firefly-2015-lineup-leak-is-very-convincing/news/. We doubt that that is in fact the lineup, rather than someone else's educated guess, but do expect a good number of those acts including most of the headliners. 

Most intriguing here is the strong possibility that former Coachella (and Bonnaroo) headliner Paul McCartney will headline the festival. We note in that connection that Firefly takes place within days of Al Gore and Pharrell Williams' global and environmental Live Earth festival, set to take place in New York City, Paris, and more on June 18th. We expect Macca to help headline that festival in New York, along with big-name artists like Lady Gaga, the Dave Matthews Band, possibly Kanye West, perhaps Garth Brooks, and Pharrell himself. NYC, however, may not feature the festival's biggest get - could Pharrell's friends in distinctive headgear Daft Punk make a one-off live return in Paris? We think it could happen! 

Speaking of Kanye, we are still anticipating his new album, and would not be surprised if it drops within the next ten days, possibly tomorrow. And speaking of DMB, we would not be surprised if they or a like-minded group are the still-to-be-announced headliner along with Sam Smith and local heroes My Morning Jacket at mid-July's Forecastle Festival in Louisville, KY.

More certain than all of the above is when we'll get to see the elusive Sasquatch. The lineup for the Pacific Northwest festival, held at the stunning Gorge Amphitheatre, will be announced at an event in Seattle tonight. Here is our incomplete and somewhat hasty, but lengthy list of predictions, in alphabetical order: 

Action Bronson
Angus & Julia Stone
Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals
Benjamin Booker
Best Coast
Blank Range
Bleachers
Chromeo
Clark
Cloud Nothings
Courtney Barnett
Courtney Love
Death Cab for Cutie
Decemberists
DFA79
Earth 
Echosmith
Excision
Father John Misty
Flume
Flying Lotus
Future Islands
Florence and the Machine
Glass Animals
Grizfolk
Hiss Golden Messenger
Hot Chip
Jenny Lewis
Jose Gonzalez
Jungle
Kaytranada
Kiesza
Lana del Ray
Marina and the Diamonds
Milky Chance
Matt and Kim
Matthew Dear
Modest Mouse
Mumford and Sons
The New Pornographers
Neutral Milk Hotel
Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds
Odesza
Paramore
Phox
Pokey LaFarge
Royal Blood
Run the Jewels
Russian Circles
Ryan Adams
SBTRKT
Sleater-Kinney
Spoon
Sturgill Simpson
St. Vincent
Sylvan Esso
TacocaT
Tama Impala?
Toro y Moi
Ty Segall
The War on Drugs
Zella Day

And a few more possibilities: Acid Mothers Temple, Bassnectar, Bjork, The Black Keys or Deadmau5, Childish Gambino, Dawes, Fat White Family, Gorgon City, Hozier, Joker, Jukebox the Ghost, Justin Townes Earle, Lucero, Mayer Hawthorne, The Mountain Goats, My Morning Jacket, No Doubt, Of Monsters and Men, Old Crow Medicine Show, Ratatat, Robert Plant, Passion Pit, Rae Sremmurd, Spiritualized, San Fermin, Strand of Oaks, Streets of Laredo, Tove Lo, Vance Joy, Walk the Moon 

Watch this space for more soon, including follow-ups on the Grateful Dead and Rolling Stones reunions!