Festival News and Rumors
Punk in the Park 2021 U.S. Festivals to Feature Pennywise, NOFX, The Vandals, Face to Face, and More
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-14T19:03:07+00:00“>April 14, 2021 | 3:03pm ET In another sign that things are opening up on the festival front, a pair of events dubbed Punk in the Park will take place this May and November in Arizona and California, respectively. Each will feature a lineup of notable punk bands. Originally, the two-day California edition, Punk in the Park – Orange County, was set to be the inaugural version of the new fest, but pandemic restrictions led organizers to move the original 2020 dates to April 2021 and then again to November 6th and 7th at Oak Canyon Park. That makes the one-day Punk in the Park – Arizona event, taking place May 29th at Big Surf Water Park in Tempe — the first stagin...
Las Vegas’ Electric Daisy Carnival to Take Place in May
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-09T03:21:01+00:00“>April 8, 2021 | 11:21pm ET Electric Daisy Carnival will be the first major US festival to take place since the beginning of the pandemic when it descends on Las Vegas, Nevada from May 21st and 23rd. “We are moving forward as planned & will be working closely with local & state officials to make the show as safe as possible,” said Pasquale Rotella, founder of EDC’s Insomniac Events, in a statement released Thursday. “You can expect the full EDC experience with no details spared, from the festival grounds to the music, stages, art, performers, artists & fireworks!” Tickets to the festival can be purchased here. Rotella did not provide any specific det...
Rob Zombie, Korn, Staind, and More Announced for July 2021 US Rock Festivals
Organizers of two major US rock festivals are counting on a relative return to normal this summer, officially announcing the lineups for Wisconsin’s Rock Fest and Michigan’s Upheaval Festival today (March 31st). Rob Zombie, Korn, Staind, and Chevelle are among the bands set to play both fests, while the bigger Rock Fest will also feature Limp Bizkit, Snoop Dogg, Danzig, and more — provided that the events are able to go off as scheduled. Rock Fest in Cadott, Wisconsin is a long-running annual event, while Upheaval in Grand Rapids, Michigan was supposed to stage its inaugural festival last year. Both were called off in 2020 due to the pandemic, so the 2021 lineups are fairly similar to the ones that were set for last year. The big difference is that Disturbed has dropped off both events and...
Outside Lands 2021 Moves to Halloween Weekend with Tame Impala, Lizzo & The Strokes
Tame Impala (photo by Ben Kaye), The Strokes (photo by Philip Cosores), and Lizzo Lizzo (photo by Amy Price) Outside Lands locked in its 2021 lineup on the same day it canceled its 2020 edition back in June. However, the lineup has now been tweaked a bit as the San Francisco music festival has shifted to Halloween weekend — October 29th-31st — adding some acts and removing others. Originally targeting August 6th-8th, Outside Lands’ previously billed performers The 1975, Beach House, Polo & Pan, Big Thief, Parcels, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, The Beths, and a handful of others won’t make the transition to the new dates. Filling in those gaps will be Glass Animals, Kaytranada, Lord Huron, Claud, Bartees Strange, Sofía Valdés, 24kGoldn, SG Lewis, Flo Milli, Cannons, JESSIA, Q, Brijea...
Las Vegas’ Life is Beautiful Announces 2021 Festival with Billie Eilish, Tame Impala & Green Day
St. Vincent (Amy Price), Tame Impala (Riikka Vaahtera), and Billie Eilish (Ben Kaye) to play Life is Beautiful in 2021 Las Vegas’ Life is Beautiful is set to become the first major music festival to hold — or, at least, attempt to hold — an event since the beginning of the pandemic. And organizers have put together a big lineup in hopes of drawing in wary festival-goers. Billie Eilish, Green Day, Tame Impala, ASAP Rocky, HAIM, and Modest Mouse top the newly unveiled bill. Other notable acts include St. Vincent, Young Thug, Ludacris, Brittany Howard, Death From Above 1979, Glass Animals, Jamila Woods, J.I.D, Purity Ring, White Reaper, Yaeji, and Earthgang, among others. Life is Beautiful is currently scheduled to take place September 17th-19th, 2021 in downtown Las Vegas. Tickets — inc...
Primavera Sound Festival 2021 Canceled Due to COVID-19
Next verse, same as the first: Primavera Sound Festival 2021 has been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2020 edition of the Barcelona fest was first postponed, then scratched outright. But there was reason to think the 2021 iteration would be allowed to go on this June as scheduled. In January, Primavera organizers hosted a trial concert that showed no transmission of the novel coronavirus. Besides that, the global vaccine push has inspired optimism in all corners of the globe. But those sunny feelings are tempered by uncertainty surrounding three potentially alarming new virus variants first identified in the UK, South Africa, and Brazil. Besides that, America’s foremost infectious disease expert Dr. Fauci has been cautioning that live events won’t be able to safely return until ...
Coachella Postponed for Third Time Due to COVID-19
Encore? For the third time, the Coachella Music and Arts Festival has been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Via Billboard, Coachella’s sister country festival Stagecoach Country has also been pushed back. Coachella takes place almost every year in Indio, California. Last year’s event, scheduled for April, was meant to be headlined by Rage Against the Machine, Frank Ocean, Travis Scott, and Lana Del Rey, before the novel coronavirus waylaid those plans. It was optimistically pushed to October, but that idea only lasted until June before the raging pandemic made it shutter once again. In the process, 2020 became the first year without a Coachella in twenty years. Festival organizers hoped to bring it back this year April 9th-11th and 16th-18th. But even that proved overly sanguine, as...
Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, Harry Styles Headline iHeartRadio’s Virtual Jingle Ball 2020 Lineup
Dua Lipa and Billie Eilish (photos by Ben Kaye); Harry Styles (photo by Tim Walker) The ongoing pandemic has forced music festivals to either take a furlough year or go virtual in 2020, and that includes iHeartRadio’s annual Jingle Ball. Presented by Capital One, this year’s concert will look unlike any of the multi-city touring concert’s past, but the newly announced lineup is no less packed. Topping the 2020 Jingle Ball bill are Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, and Harry Styles. Other expected performers include Sam Smith, Shawn Mendes, Doja Cat, Lewis Capaldi, and more. In addition to performing their own hits and holiday classics, the artists will be welcoming fans into their homes. Between sets, the event will see the acts giving “a special look at how they celebrate the holidays,” according ...
Aftershock 2021 Lineup: Metallica, My Chemical Romance, Limp Bizkit, Mastodon, Rancid, Gojira, and More
Metallica (photo by Amy Price), My Chemical Romance (photo by David Brendan Hall) Aftershock Festival has unveiled its 2021 lineup, and it’s stacked with metal and punk heavyweights. Metallica, My Chemical Romance, Limp Bizkit, Mastodon, Rancid, Gojira, and more are on the four-day bill. It was previously announced that Metallica and MCR would headline the 2020 edition of Aftershock. When that fest was canceled due to the pandemic, it was revealed that both bands would be back for the 2021 edition. Now, the rest of the lineup has been announced. The festival will take place October 7th through 10th at Discovery Park in Sacramento, California, with metal titans Metallica headlining the Friday and Sunday lineups by playing unique sets on each night. Reunited emo heroes My Chemical Romance wi...
Jason Isbell, Yola, Shamir Playing Come Together: Mental Health Music Festival
This Saturday is World Mental Health Day, and Sound Mind Live is starting the celebration early. Beginning at 8:00 p.m. ET/5:00 p.m. PT on Thursday, October 8th, they’re throwing the Come Together: Mental Health Music Festival, a livestream benefit supporting The National Alliance on Mental Illness. Streaming on Relix’s YouTube channel, the event touts performances from Jason Isbell, Jade Bird, Yola, Shamir, Son Little, American Authors, Smith & Myers, and Kiiara. Also on the schedule are a number of expert panels with guest speakers from Mental Health America, National Alliance on Mental Illness of New York City, and MusiCares. The whole thing is hosted by comedian Jordan Carlos. In the hours before and after the livestream, there will be a series of “break-out panels” focused on...
SXSW 2021 Going Digital Due to the Ongoing Pandemic
Due to the ongoing health crisis, South by Southwest is going digital in 2021. Today, the Austin music, film, and interactive festival announced plans for SXSW Online, a self-proclaimed “digital experience” that’s set to go down from March 16th through the 20th. Like the festival’s in-person iteration, SXSW Online will feature conferences, keynotes, screenings, showcases, networking, and other exhibitions. According to a statement, the event’s Film and Conference portions will be constructed using an application process. Submissions open up on October 6th using SXSW’s PanelPicker platform. Next year’s SXSW Music segment seems like it will go down a little differently, however, serving as something of a make-up for the performers affected by the festival’s cancellation this past March....
Cold Waves Industrial Fest Goes Virtual with Meat Beat Manifesto, Members of Front 242, Ministry, NIN, and More
The annual Cold Waves industrial music festival in Chicago won’t be taking place in-person this year due to the pandemic. However, a virtual lineup, dubbed “The Lost Weekend”, has been set for September 18th-20th, featuring streaming performances and appearances by Meat Beat Manifesto and current and former members of Nine Inch Nails, Ministry, Front 242, Revolting Cocks, and more. The fest was set to occur the same weekend at the Metro in Chicago, with headliners Front 242, Stabbing Westward and My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult, but had to be postponed due to the pandemic. It was been rescheduled for September 26th-28th, 2021, with a lineup yet to be revealed. The virtual fest will broadcast for free via Twitch, kicking off Friday, September 18th with a stream of the first-ever Cold Wave...
