Last year was a hit with music tours, festivals and celebrity appearances. This year is sure to be no different with tons of popular headliners and blasts-from-the-past you certainly do not want to miss on their summer concert tours.
Here’s a sampling of some of the concerts we’re looking forward to checking out. Please visit artist websites for full tour schedules.
One Direction “On the Road Again Tour”
One Direction’s “On the Road Again Tour” started back in early February and was considered to be the top-grossing hot tours. The tour kicked off in Australia and Asia, and within just the first seven weeks, the band gained $68.2 million in ticket sales.
The fifth leg of the tour kicks off in Europe June 5, and the beloved boy band returns to North America for the sixth leg in July. Cities included on this outing are:
July 9: Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego
July 11: Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, Calif.
July 15: CenturyLink Field, Seattle
July 26: TCF Bank Stadium, Minneapolis
July 28: Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Mo.
July 31: Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis
Aug. 2: Heinz Field, Pittsburgh
Aug. 5: Metlife Stadium, East Rutherford, N.J.
Aug. 8: M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore
Aug. 18: Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
On March 25, it was announced that Zayn Malik left the group. On social media, there were more than 10 million tweets regarding One Direction and Malik the same day, and there were more than 750,000 likes on Facebook through April 1. Due to the enormous amount of social activity, the band landed in the Top 10 of the Social 10 chart, which ranks the most-popular acts on Vevo, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites.
Taylor Swift “1989” Tour
Taylor Swift’s “1989” U.S. tour kicked off in May May 2o in Louisiana. The opener for some of the shows is Vance Joy, an Australian recording artist best known for “Riptide.” In addition to the tour, Swift received the No. 1 spot on Maxim’s Hot 100 list. In an interview about her upcoming tour, she told the magazine, “We’ve been in rehearsals for months, trying to get the live instrumental versions of these songs to as close to the album sounds as possible. And also you’re lengthening things, creating mash-ups with things. It was fun to play around and get everything sonically right before we got on the actual stage and started doing the choreography.”
May 30: Ford Field, Detroit
June 2: KFC YUM! Center, Louisville, Ky.
June 3: Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland
June 6: Heinz Field, Pittsburgh
June 8: Time Warner Cable Arena, Charlotte, N.C.
June 9: PNC Arena, Raleigh, N.C.
June 12-13: Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia
NKOTB, TLC & Nelly “The Main Event” Tour
New Kids on the Block started off the tour at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas earlier this month, and in an interview with “Good Morning America,” member Donnie Wahlberg said, “We’ve decided to reform again — not that we’ve broken up, but we’re gonna go back on tour this summer.”
May 30: Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids, Mich.
May 31: Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis
June 2: Time Warner Cable Arena, Charlotte, N.C.
June 4: BB&T Center, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
June 5: Amway Center, Orlando, Fla.
June 6: Philips Arena, Atlanta
June 7: KFC Yum! Center, Louisville, Ky.
June 9: Scope Arena, Norfolk Va.
June 10: Verizon Center, Washington, D.C.
June 11: Sands Bethlehem Events Center, Bethlehem, Pa.
June 12: Mohegan Sun, Uncasville, Conn.
Meghan Trainor Summer Tour
Meghan Trainor announced her summer tour on the same day of the release of her “Dear Future Husband” music video. The tour is expected to start in July at the Borgata in Atlantic City, N.J. and end at the Allentown Fair in Pennsylvania in September.
July 3: The Borgata, Atlantic City, N.J.
July 4: Mohegan Sun, Uncasville, Conn.
July 7: Common Ground Music Festival, Lansing, Mich.
July 9: Fillmore, Detroit
July 12: Aragon Ballroom, Chicago
July 14: The Pageant, St. Louis
July 16: The Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, San Antonio, Texas
July 18: The Fillmore, Denver
July 21: The Masonic, San Francisco
July 22: California Mid State Fair, Paso Robles, Calif.
July 24: The Palladium, Los Angeles
July 27: Delaware State Fair, Harrington, Del.
July 29: Troy Fair, Troy, Pa.
July 31: JBL Live at Pier 97, New York
Jae Monique is a contributing journalist for TheBlot Magazine.
