As music and concert/festival season approaches, loads of new shows are being added to the local roster. It’s time to start planning which ones you’re gonna catch. We can help! Here are LiveNation’s Spring Concert picks, along with some dope tracks we’ve selected for each artist. Festivals and concerts can get pricey but fret not, we’ve also got a couple of sweet giveaways!
1. JESSIE J
Jessie J’s number one singles and a debut album that headed straight for the top, millions sold worldwide. Recently, her show-stopping performances attracted a global audience of billions for the Olympics, she has a full-blown Saturday night prime-time TV career, has performed extraordinary charitable acts that hit the headlines, she’s performed at Glastonbury, and produced songs for the likes of Miley Cyrus and Chris Brown. To think – three years ago, we didn’t even know who Jessie J was and now she’s a household name from Southend to Sydney. The future also looks bright for Jessy J with an upcoming album that already has a top 5 single, “Wild”, on it despite the fact that the single was released secretly.
“There was no pre-promo, no six-week build-up. I just wanted to do it for the fans and to see what would happen without all the social media and stuff. And it went to number one in four countries! I couldn’t be happier” Jessie J
Suggested Listening
2. PIERCE THE VEIL x SLEEPING WITH SIRENS
Sleeping with Sirens is an American post-hardcore band from Orlando, Florida currently residing in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The band was formed in 2009 by members of For All We Know, Broadway, and Paddock Park. They are currently signed to Epitaph Records and have released three full-length albums and an acoustic EP. The group is known primarily for the versatility of vocalist Kellin Quinn’s tenor vocal range.
Pierce the Veil embraces their defiant brand of progressive post-hardcore and gaining a rabid fan base thanks to their incredible live show, Pierce The Veil have become a hot commodity over the past few years. But with the release of stunning new album Collide With The Sky, the San Diego natives are truly, en fuego.
Suggested Listening
3. RL GRIME x DJEMBA DJEMBA
Special Guests TOMMY KRUISE
“Dance music has always been fiercely tribalist in nature, but those inclinations seem to be breaking down in the era of EDM—a movement whose very name speaks to its purportedly all-inclusive nature. The Internet has facilitated links between geographically distant scenes and structurally distinct styles, and it has given fans instant access to the whole sweep of dance music’s history. And then there’s the food-court model of the contemporary festival, in which attendees can sample a range of styles with relative ease—sometimes, without so much as wandering from one stage to the next.” Pitchfork
RL Grime is an American producer of hip-hop, trap, bass, and member of the Los Angeles electronic music collective WeDidIt. His debut Grapes EP was released in April 2012. His follow-up EP High Beams was released in July 2013 on Fool’s Gold Records, which debuted at #8 on Billboard’s EDM chart and #1 iTunes. RL Grime also has produced remixes for Benny Benassi, Chief Keef, Jamie Lidell, and Shlohmo.
Djemba Djemba is music born from a state of permanent contradiction, held together by one underlying and adaptive principle: rhythm. Experimenting with polyrhythms, 90’s FM synths, and the all-important 808 Kick, Djemba Djemba crafts a sound that is both intelligent as it is brain numbing. It’s easy to detect the influence of UK Bass music currently dominating clubs, yet at the same time feel altogether new, and in stride with the response taking place in New York, Chicago, Boston, and his home in Los Angeles. With releases on Mad Decent, his own imprint Rabbit Records, and Beat Team Supreme, Djemba’s music has been supported by the likes of Diplo, The Gaslamp Killer, Rusko, Baauer, Obey City, Major Lazer, Paul Devro, and BBC Radio 1. With exciting collaborations in the works with some of the biggest names in EDM, and his finger on the pulse of the latest dance music via his co-club night The Melt, Djemba Djemba certainly has a few surprises on the horizon.
Suggested Listening
4. TYLER, THE CREATOR
April 26 @ The Fillmore
Special Guests TACO
+ O GRIME with DJEMBA-DJEMBA
Tyler, the Creator, American rapper and record producer from Cali rose to prominence as the leader and co-founder of the alternative hip-hop collective Odd Future, and has rapped on and produced songs for nearly every Odd Future release. Tyler, the Creator also creates all the artwork for the group’s releases and said in an interview with radio presenter DJ Semtex, that he designs all the group’s clothing and other merchandise as well.
After releasing his debut album Goblin under XL Recordings, in April 2011, he signed a joint venture deal for his label Odd Future Records, with RED Distribution and Sony Music Entertainment. Following that he released his second studio album Wolf, which was met with generally positive reviews and debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 selling 90,000 copies in its first week.
Suggested Listening
5. RYAN ADAMS
Special Guests JENNY LEWIS
Ryan Adams, musician and producer, is best known for his prolific solo career, and as a former member of alternative country band Whiskeytown, with whom he recorded three studio albums. In 2000, Adams left Whiskeytown and released his first solo album, Heartbreaker, to critical acclaim. The album was nominated for the Shortlist Music Prize. In 2001, Adams released the UK certified-gold Gold, which included the hit single, “New York, New York”. He released five albums with the rock band The Cardinals and in 2009 Adams left The Cardinals and announced that he was taking a break from music. He resumed performing in October 2010 and released his thirteenth studio album, Ashes & Fire, the following year. The album peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard 200. In September 2014, Adams released his fourteenth album Ryan Adams on his PAX AM label. Adams has also produced albums for Willie Nelson, Jesse Malin, Jenny Lewis, and Fall Out Boy, and he has collaborated with Counting Crows, Weezer, Norah Jones, America, Minnie Driver, Cowboy Junkies, Leona Naess, Toots and the Maytals, Beth Orton, and Krista Polvere.
Suggested Listening