music festivals

The 2021 Electric Daisy Carnival Is Happening Surprisingly Soon And Will Be ‘The Full EDC Experience’

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There appears to be hope on the horizon in terms of the ongoing pandemic, as more and more people are getting COVID-19 vaccines by the day. While the world is gradually opening back up, events that would draw large crowds are still mostly not happening quite yet. It may seem surprising, then, that Electric Daisy Carnival Las Vegas is going on with its 2021 event. Furthermore, it’s happening surprisingly soon, as the festival is set for May 21 to 23.

Pasquale Rotella — the founder and CEO of Insomniac Events, the company behind EDC — shared the news last night, noting that organizers “are moving forward as planned & will be working closely with local & state officials to make the show as safe as possible” and that “more details on safety protocols & the lineup will be shared soon.” He offered no indication that the event — which usually draws about 125,000 attendees per day, as Billboard notes — will be hosted in a reduced capacity, writing, “You can expect the full EDC experience with no details spared, from the festival grounds to the music, stages, art, performers, artists & fireworks!”

This news arrived shortly after Dr. Anthony Fauci said the number of new COVID-19 cases in the US is currently at a “disturbingly high level” and noted that the country could experience a surge in new cases. He concluded, “Hang in there a bit longer. Now is not the time, as I’ve said so many times, to declare victory prematurely.”

Check out Rotella’s post below.

“Electric Daisy Carnival is finally on the horizon. There were times during the pandemic when many of us lost hope. We were challenged to learn & listen to our hearts & trust that the storm would eventually pass, making way for a bright & sunny future for those in our community & around the world.

With the world being shutdown for over a year, I’m happy to announce we’re on our way to being able to celebrate in person. Book your flights, hotels & shuttles — EDC Las Vegas is on for May 21+22+23!

We are moving forward as planned & will be working closely with local & state officials to make the show as safe as possible. You can expect the full EDC experience with no details spared, from the festival grounds to the music, stages, art, performers, artists & fireworks! I look forward to seeing all your beautiful faces & feeling your incredible energy, and I couldn’t be more excited.

More details on safety protocols & the lineup will be shared soon. If you’re unable to attend in May 2021, no worries, but you’ll be missed. You can go to the link in my bio to transfer your ticket to 2022.

We’re ready to spread our wings & embrace our community who we miss so much. We know there may be challenges in front of us, which we will accept & do our best to overcome. We’ve been apart for a long time & I can’t wait to join you, united, Under the Electric Sky.”

Bonnaroo Festival’s Star-Studded 2021 Lineup Includes Lizzo, Tame Impala, And Megan Thee Stallion

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After a year of canceling all US music festivals, organizers are feeling optimistic about the return of large, in-person events this summer. A handful of music festivals are setting their sights for late summer dates, and Bonnaroo is the latest to unveil their hopeful 2021 lineup. Celebrating their 20th anniversary, Bonnaroo has booked acts like Lizzo, Tame Impala, Megan Thee Stallion, and many more.

The Manchester, Tennessee festival has historically taken place in June, but organizers have opted to push the date back to the weekend of September 2-September 5 to be safe. Along with Lizzo, Tame Impala, and Megan Thee Stallion, Bonnaroo invited countless big-name acts to take the stage. Some of the names include Foo Fighters, Run The Jewels, Janelle Monáe, Glass Animals, Deftones, Young Thug, Jack Harlow, Grace Potter, Orville Peck, Kim Petras, Omar Apollo, Waxahatchee, My Morning Jacket, G-Eazy, Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit, Phoebe Bridgers, Tyler The Creator, Lana Del Rey, Lil Baby, Leon Bridges, Young the Giant, and Brittany Howard.

Bonnaroo

To celebrate their return, Bonnaroo aims to commemorate their 20th anniversary with exclusive NFT art. They’re selling their original digital 2021 lineup poster as an NFT, marking the first time a festival has dipped their toes into the cryptocurrency art market.

While music fans are getting excited about the idea of festivals returning, Tennessee’s governor shares the same sentiment. “It’s exciting to see Tennessee stages come back to life in time to celebrate the 20th anniversary of this internationally acclaimed festival,” Gov. Bill Lee said. “Fans are ready to gather together and celebrate their shared love of music once again. We welcome them back for a full Bonnaroo and what is sure to be a truly unforgettable event.”

See Bonnaroo’s full lineup above.

Tickets go on sale 3/31 at 10 am PST. Get them here.

Some of the artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Glastonbury Is Hosting A Big Livestream Concert With Coldplay, Damon Albarn, And Others

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It was announced at the top of 2021 that Glastonbury will not be hosting a festival this year (for the second year in a row) due to the pandemic. So, while thousands of people won’t be taking to the festival grounds this summer, they can enjoy a newly announced livestream concert that organizers are hosting.

“Live At Worthy Farm” is a ticketed livestream event that is set for May 22. As the name suggests, the show will take place at Worthy Farm and will feature Coldplay, Gorillaz’s Damon Albarn, Haim, Idles, Wolf Alice, Jorja Smith, Kano, Michael Kiwanuka, DJ Honey Dijon, and other currently unannounced performers.

This news shouldn’t surprise fans who have been following Glastonbury’s goings-on in recent months. In January, festival founder Michael Eavis said he wanted to do something to mark the festival’s anniversary: I would like to do something smaller somewhere around the anniversary date of when we started, which was the 18th of September 1970. I would like to consider possibly doing something around that time.” In December, Emily Eavis also noted, “We’re actually looking into the possibility of streaming some things from here if we can’t run the full show next year. We really want to get busy with planning some gigs — even if they’re to be streamed!”

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Hard Summer Festival’s 2021 Lineup Features Future, 2 Chainz, Lil Durk, And More

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It’s been over a year since the last in-person music festival took place in the US. However, with the roll-out of vaccines taking place across the country, festival organizers are confident that large-scale live music events will be able to return in the coming months. Hard Summer Music Festival is especially optimistic, as they’ve unveiled their lineup for this summer’s event.

The hip-hop focused festival has invited big-names to perform at their event. Headliners include Future, 2 Chainz, Lil Durk, Don Toliver, and Iann Dior. Other musicians have also been tapped to take the stage like Mario Judah, Snot, Rubi Rose, Dillon Francis, and Jauz.

The festival is usually held in Fontana, California, but this year, Hard Summer is headed to NOS Event Center in the city of San Bernardino the weekend of July 31 to August 1. The new location makes it possible to have a more spread-out event, taking place across five different stages. Organizers are making efforts to have COVID precautions in place for the event as well. In press materials, the festival claims, “Hard will be working closely with local officials to implement necessary safety precautions and will follow state and local health guidelines in place at the time of the event.”

Hard Summer tickets go on sale 4/2 at 10 am PST. Get them here.

Some of the artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Outside Lands Slightly Delays Its 2021 Festival And Tweaks Its Lineup

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Given that the coronavirus pandemic is still far from over, most news we get about music festivals is negative. Just this morning, it was reported that Coachella and Stagecoach may be pushed back to 2022. The good news is that another major California festival, Outside Lands, still intends to make its 2021 event happen, albeit with some tweaks.

When Outside Lands canceled its 2020 festival, they set their sights on early August for the 2021 installment. They’ve revealed today, though, that they’ve had to slightly delay the event, which is now scheduled from October 29 to 31, aka Halloween weekend.

The new dates mean that some artists can’t make the festival now, so artists like The 1975, Beach House, Polo & Pan, Big Thief, Parcels, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, The Beths, and others won’t be at Outside Lands this year. They’ve got some solid replacements, though, as added to the bill are Glass Animals, Kaytranada, Lord Huron, Claud, Bartees Strange, Sofía Valdés, 24kGoldn, SG Lewis, Flo Milli, Cannons, Jessia, Q, Brijean, and Shilan.

Allen Scott, President of Concerts & Festivals at Another Planet Entertainment and Co-Producer of Outside Lands, says, “We have been eagerly anticipating our return to Golden Gate Park for over a year now and although we have to wait a few months longer, we couldn’t be more excited to present an epic Halloween edition of Outside Lands. The shift in dates allows us to work collectively to determine any new safety measures necessary to implement during the festival weekend. We ask fans to use this time before the festival to continue exercising common sense COVID safety practices and we look forward to being together again soon.”

Check out the new Outside Lands poster above.

The Coachella And Stagecoach Festivals Are Reportedly Being Pushed Back To 2022

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Coachella is one of the world’s biggest music festivals, but the last time an iteration of the event was actually hosted was April 2019. Since then, the pandemic has forced the fest — along with its country-oriented counterpart Stagecoach — to be postponed multiple times. Now it appears that is happening again: Variety reports that according to “two industry sources with knowledge of the situation,” that Coachella is moving from April 2021 to April 2022. Additionally, Stagecoach, which traditionally takes place the weekend after Coachella’s two weekends, will be similarly postponed.

As Variety notes, if this move is official, this will be the fourth set of dates the festival has had: First April 2020, then October 2020, then April 2021, and now April 2022. There were previously reports that the festival was pushed back to October 2021, although that news was never confirmed by promoters.

So far, most of the news about music festivals has been regarding cancellations and postponements. Events that have changed plans this year include Glastonbury, Boston Calling, and Primavera Sound. There are some silver linings, though. At the start of the year, Governors Ball declared its intention to host its 2021 festival in September. Life Is Beautiful is also set for September and organizers announced this year’s lineup last week.

Life Is Beautiful Festival’s 2021 Lineup Includes Billie Eilish, ASAP Rocky, Tame Impala, And More

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It’s been over a year since the first music festival canceled in 2020, marking the beginning to the months-long shut down of the live music industry. But with the vaccine roll out ramping up, festivals are confident that they’ll be able to return by the fall. Life Is Beautiful is the latest to announce their 2021 lineup, and they’ve book some big-name acts like Billie Eilish, Tame Impala, ASAP Rocky, and many more.

The downtown Las Vegas festival, which aims to take place the weekend of September 17, unveiled more than 60 acts that have been booked. Along with Eilish, Tame Impala, and ASAP Rocky, the list includes notable musicians like Green Day, Haim, Young Thug, St. Vincent, 6lack, Modest Mouse, Ludacris, Don Toliver, Lany, Brittany Howard, Earthgang, Purity Ring, Ashnikko, Shaed, Trevor Daniel, Still Woozy, Noah Cyrus, Yaeji, Remi Wolf, and Jamila Woods.

The festival’s 2021 lineup differs from their 2019 event, excluding acts like Eilish, and that’s intentional. Life Is Beautiful partner Justin Weniger described what they had in mind while booking the festival. “When curating the lineup for Life is Beautiful this year, we challenged ourselves to stay grounded in the realities of the year that we just lived,” he said. “The way we discover artists changed, the places we listened to music evolved, and the meaning of music deepened as we listened in new ways. This year’s lineup isn’t our 2019 lineup in 2021. It’s our 2021 lineup, and celebrates the artists, both established and emerging, who were the shining lights during our darkest days.”

Echoing Weniger’s statement, Festival Director Lauren DelFrago said that safety is still their top priority: “We have always put the health, safety, and security of our community first. As we prepare to produce the 2021 festival, we feel a heightened sense of responsibility to our staff, partners, performers, and attendees, and continue to work closely with local and state officials to ensure a safe return to live music.”

See the list of artists slated to perform at Life Is Beautiful 2021 above.

Tickets to Life Is Beautiful go on sale 3/12 at 10 am PST. Get them here.

Some of the artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Another 2021 Festival Has Been Canceled, And This Time, It’s Primavera Sound

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Last year’s festival season was a total wash thanks to the coronavirus pandemic. Unfortunately, it’s starting to look like 2021 may face a similar fate. LiveNation’s CEO seems to think big concerts can return this summer, but others don’t seem as optimistic. Earlier this year, Glastonbury announced that it would not put on a 2021 festival. A week ago, Boston Calling also announced that they were canceling their 2021 event. Now, another festival has closed its doors for 2021: Primavera Sound.

In a post titled “We will dance in 2022,” organizers wrote today:

“It is with great sadness that we must announce that the 20th anniversary of Primavera Sound Barcelona is postponed until 2022 due to force majeure.

We have tried everything, but we have now made this very painful decision due to the uncertainty surrounding the legal framework for large events on the original dates of the festival — from June 2nd to 6th –, which, added to the restrictions that currently exist, mean that we cannot work normally on the preparation of the festival nor ensure that, once the date arrives, it can be celebrated.

Thank you to all the artists, agencies, sponsors, production companies and workers involved in everything necessary to hold Primavera Sound. And to the attendees, our family, thank you for your faith and love. We owe you the best edition of Primavera Sound, and we are already working on it.

Like last year, we are going to offer all ticket holders the possibility to keep their tickets for next year. It will also be possible to request a refund of the ticket from Wednesday, June 2nd, which is when the Primavera Sound Barcelona 2022 line-up will be revealed.

We will make it doubly good next year.

Until then, take good care of yourself. See you soon.”

This year’s lineup was set to include Pavement, The Strokes, Bad Bunny, Tyler The Creator, Charli XCX, Tame Impala, FKA Twigs, Jamie xx, and Gorillaz, among others.

Check out the announcement below.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

LiveNation’s CEO Thinks Big Outdoor Concerts Will Return To The US This Summer

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It was around mid-March of 2020 that the first shelter-in-place orders were issued in the United States. That was almost a year ago now, and the future of the live music industry is still uncertain. LiveNation seems to think, though, that they will be able to host large, mostly full concerts this summer.

CEO Michael Rapino said during Live Nation’s Q4 2020 earnings call last week that “a clear outline to a 75 percent to 100 percent” is likely to go forward, noting that 75-plus-percent capacity shows in large US markets are “within sight.” He also noted, “We might have certain states that might not be ready, but we have enough states and enough artists willing to play the open slots if we get to that level in the right markets. So as long as these states open up to the right capacities, we can start in midsummer and in the southern US we can go all the way into November.”

As for shows at a lower capacity, that doesn’t seem to be in LiveNation’s plans, as Rapino said, “[We] have not, to date, done a lot of work in the 0-percent to 50-percent capacity business. We don’t see that as a viable model to ramp back up [considering the] fixed cost.”

This news comes just about a week after Boston Calling decided to cancel its event this year for the second year in a row, so it remains to be seen if other events will follow suit or if LiveNation’s optimism is shared by others.

The Boston Calling Festival Has Canceled Its 2021 Event

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2020 was a year mostly without music festivals, and so far, it remains to be seen how 2021 will pan out on that front. Glastonbury has already called off its 2021 event and it looks like Coachella may get the axe as well. Boston Calling canceled its 2020 fest and now it is repeating that this year, as organizers announced today that the 2021 event will not be happening.

In a note shared on social media, organizers wrote:

“After exploring all possible options for hosting Boston Calling this year, we have made the difficult decision in conjunction with local and state authorities to cancel the 2021 festival. The health and safety of our entire community is always out top priority, and there was no appropriate scenario under which we could provide the Boston Calling experience you love and deserve.

While we are sad to go another year without the festival, we have set our sights on 2022 — mark your calendars for Memorial Day weekend. We look forward to sharing more information around headliners, lineup and vendors as we get closer to the 2022 festival. […] Stay safe, we look forward to seeing everyone again soon.”

While Boston Calling was one of the last major 2020 festivals to be called off, they have made the decision early this year. Now, music fans wait to see if this latest cancellation will be indicative of a larger trend for festivals in 2021.

Find Boston Calling’s full note about this year’s cancellation below.