Martin Garrix in 2017

Martin Garrix

Photo: David M. Benett/Getty Images

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Music Festivals 2018: Houston's In Bloom Announces Full Lineup

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Are your favorite artists headed to Houston this coming March?
Brian Haack
GRAMMYs
Dec 14, 2017 - 12:23 pm

The first iteration of Free Press Houston and C3 Presents' rebranded In Bloom Music Festival (formerly the Free Press Summer Festival) has officially announced its 2018 lineup — stacked with big-name modern rock and electronic acts, alongside a who's who of rising stars of the underground hip-hop and dance scenes.

Leading the headlining lineup are past GRAMMY winner and current nominee Beck, current GRAMMY nominees Queens Of The Stone Age, as well as nu-metal mainstays Incubus and EDM prodigy Martin Garrix. Other exciting acts featured on the lineup include current Best New Artist GRAMMY nominee Lil Uzi Vert, Atlanta trap star 21 Savage, post-rock icons Explosions In The Sky, and alternative jam rock supercollective Broken Social Scene.

The two-day, four-stage music and arts festival first premiered in 2009 as an event built around supporting local music talent and visual artists in partnership with the Texas Campaign for the Environment to help spread the word about sustainability and pro-environmental policy.  Free Press Houston and C3 Presents announced late last month that for the festival's ninth annual installment in 2018 it would rebrand as In Bloom Music Festival.

In Bloom Music Festival 2018 will take place on March 24–26 at Eleanor Tinsley Park in Houston. Tickets to the festival are on sale now.

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Sophie Allison of Soccer Mommy, 2017

Sophie Allison of Soccer Mommy

Photo Courtesy Fat Possum Records

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SXSW 2018: Fader Fort Will Host Soccer Mommy, SOB X RBE, Debut New Location

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One of the premiere events at South By Southwest has announced its official lineup for 2018
Brian Haack
GRAMMYs
Mar 6, 2018 - 12:22 pm

South By Southwest is so close we can taste it, and that means it's time for the event lineups to start rolling in. Who will make a splash this year? Which acts will take that crucial step from hanging on the verge of fame and walk out into the spotlight?

Long known as one of the premiere events to see new acts break at SXSW, FADER magazine's three-day "Fader Fort" concert series has now revealed its 2018 lineup. It's packed with some names we've had our eyes and ears tuned towards lately, namely Soccer Mommy, SOB x RBE, Mozzy, Now Now, YBN Nahmir, and BbyMutha, with more acts still to be announced.

Soccer Mommy is the band project of 20 year-old Nashville songwriter Sophie Allison – a tight-knit four-piece whose sound belies their young age. Allison began playing music at the age of six, but largely kept her songwriting and recording a secret from her local friend group, choosing instead to release her songs online without publicizing them. As she got older, however, the recordings on her Bandcamp page caught an organic buzz that led to bookings for live gigs, eventually landing Allison a record deal the summer after she graduated from high school.

SOB x RBE meanwhile, have been riding a rocket all through the first quarter of 2018, thanks largely to their fantastic contribution to the No. 1 charting Kendrick Lamar-curated and produced Black Panther: The Album. Their track "Paramedic!" has managed to become one of the standout tracks on a soundtrack album packed wall-to-wall with hits. As a follow-up to their success as part of Black Panther: The Album, SOB x RBE were next tapped to join the lineup for Post Malone's huge 45-date summer world tour alongside 21 Savage, which kicks off next month on with a two-weekend stint at Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival. Tickets for the tour are still available; purchase links and additional show date details can be found on Post Malone's website.

Playing the Fader Fort at SXSW has proven to be a crucial step in the careers of some of today's biggest acts. Over the past 16 years has played host to the breakthrough moments for acts such as Odd Future (introducing the world to Tyler, The Creator, Earl Sweatshirt, and Frank Ocean, et al.), Kid Cudi and Amy Winehouse, meaning that its annual presence at SXSW is always a hotspot of activity for brand ambassadors, artist managers and industry reps of all kinds who are in Austin looking for the Next Big Thing.  The first 15 years of the Fader Fort will soon be documented in a new book called FADER FORT: Setting The Stage, which FADER will premiere at this year's event.

Goldlink at the Fader Fort, 2017

Photo: Roger Kisby/Getty Images

For its 17th annual installment, the Fader Fort has once again changed venues, moving up the street to 1501 East 7th St. in Austin, a joint indoor-outdoor space just three blocks from last year's venue.

"We wanted a little more space to be able to accommodate more fans at [the] Fort," explained FADER president and publisher Andy Cohn about the decision to change venues for the third time in three years. "We also wanted to enhance the experiences for artists with a larger stage, but still maintain the special, intimate experience with great sound quality that Fort is known to provide."

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The 1975 perform at Scala, London, 2012

The 1975 perform at Scala in London

Photo: Joseph Okpako/Getty Images

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Independent Venue Week To Launch In U.S. Summer 2018

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The U.K. event — dubbed "Record Store Day for concert venues" — will expand to the U.S. this summer
Brian Haack
GRAMMYs
Feb 5, 2018 - 12:41 pm

Since first debuting in 2014, Independent Venue Week (IVW) has come into its own as an established annual celebration honoring the bars, clubs, and concert halls that make up the dwindling ranks of independently owned and operated music venues in the U.K. Now in its fifth year, the week-long coming together of artists, promoters, labels, media, tastemakers, and venue owners is ready to step across the pond and make its first foray into the U.S.

Sybil Bell, founder of IVW and board trustee for the U.K.'s Music Venue Trust, says she is excited to meet the challenge of expanding the festival into the global marketplace, explaining, "We’ve been speaking to the industry and partners across the U.S. for around three years, and now finally feels like the right time to bring this celebration to America."

"Bands still need to play and tour small venues here in order to get a foothold," she adds. "And those working behind the scene also need to start small. Local communities too need somewhere on their doorsteps that knows how to put live music on."

In addition to bringing together independent venue owners who are often left feeling like they operate in a vacuum, IVW in the U.K. found considerable success getting big-name artist onboard to serve as ambassadors and help increase audience awareness, notably tapping Radiohead bassist Colin Greenwood as the event's inaugural attaché. The U.S. debut of IVW has already secured the participation of Portishead's Adrian Utley, Nadine Shah, Jamie Cullum, and Darryl "D.M.C." McDaniels of Run-D.M.C.

The first U.S. iteration of Independent Venue Week is set for July 9–15, 2018, and will incorporate shows in cities all across the country. Full details about participating cities and venues set for release in May.

Catching Up On Music News Powered By The Recording Academy Just Got Easier. Have A Google Home Device? "Talk To GRAMMYs" 

Zedd, 2017

Zedd

Photo: Taylor Hill/Getty Images

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Air + Style Fest 2018 To Host Zedd, Gucci Mane, Phantogram And More

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The annual L.A.-based music and extreme sports festival has announced its 2018 lineup
Brian Haack
GRAMMYs
Jan 9, 2018 - 5:15 pm

Olympic Gold Medalist and international extreme snowboarding ambassador Shaun White's annual two-day Air + Style festival is returning to L.A. in 2018, and today White announced a killer lineup of bands, DJs, and rappers slated to make appearances at the festival's fourth iteration.

Topping the lineup for the 2018 edition of Air + Style is current GRAMMY nominee Zedd, along with Phoenix, Gucci Mane, Cashmere Cat, Cut Copy, DRAM, GRiZ, Mura Masa, Phantogram, Tinashe, Washed Out, and Badbadnotgood, with more artists still to be announced.

As always, central to the Air + Style festival will be a display of extreme talent from some of the world's most exciting talents in snowboarding, though last year's massive multi-story big air ramp will be replaced with an urban street-style snow park for the 'boarders to shred. Also, alongside the usual display of winter sports prowess,  the festival will be adding a skateboarding competition for the first time this year, which will see some of the world's best skaters  go toe to toe on a fast, transition-based concrete skatepark based on iconic skate installations from around the world.

"The festival is a combination of all my passions: sport, music and culture," says White of the festival. "The fact it happens in my home state of California and in Downtown LA, makes it even more special."

Tickets for Air + Style 2018 are available now.

11 Must-Attend 2018 Music Festivals: SXSW, Coachella, Lollapalooza & More

Crowd shot at Primavera Sound Barcelona 2019

Crowd shot at Primavera Sound Barcelona 2019

Photo: Xavi Torrent/WireImage

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Primavera Sound Barcelona 2021: Bad Bunny, Charli XCX, Tyler, The Creator, The Strokes, FKA twigs And More Confirmed

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Following a recent postponement, the celebrated Spanish festival has announced the first 100 artists for its 20th anniversary next June
John Ochoa
GRAMMYs
May 27, 2020 - 1:24 pm

After its 2020 edition was postponed to next year due to the coronavirus pandemic, Primavera Sound Barcelona has today (May 27) announced the first 100 artists confirmed for its 2021 installment. The initial lineup features "a majority of artists who reconfirm their presence at the festival," according to a blog post shared on the event's official website announcing the 2021 artist roster, including Bad Bunny, Tyler, The Creator, The Strokes, Pavement, Bikini Kill and several other previously announced artists. Newly added artists include Charli XCX, Tame Impala, Gorillaz, FKA twigs, Jamie xx and Jorja Smith, among many others.

The five-day festival, now taking place June 2-6, 2021, in Barcelona, Spain, was originally scheduled to celebrate its 20-year anniversary next month (June 3-7). In late March, the festival was postponed to August due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier this month (May 11), Primavera Sound Barcelona 2020 was ultimately postponed to next year, with the festival citing force majeure. The festival will now celebrate its 20th anniversary during the newly rescheduled dates in June 2021. 

More artists, including acts confirmed for the original 2020 lineup and new additions, will be announced over the next few months, according to the Primavera Sound Barcelona website. 

In the blog post, festival organizers addressed the impact the coronavirus pandemic has made on Primavera Sound Barcelona and the "hard times" it has caused for everyone involved.

"The entire Primavera Sound Barcelona team would like to acknowledge that we really appreciate all the messages of support, for the understanding and encouragement that we have received over the past few weeks," the post reads. "These are hard times for everyone and to feel that so many people are looking forward to collective events like our festival pushes us to work with more passion than ever …

"Whoever said that the second chances are never good did not imagine that we would experience something like what is happening this 2020. With the whole world on pause due to the evolution of the global pandemic and with the live music sector holding its breath facing a summer without festivals, we can only look forward: towards 2021, specifically, the year in which we are going to recover everything that will be pending from 2020."

Read: Recording Academy And MusiCares Establish COVID-19 Relief Fund

The 2021 installment of Primavera Sound Barcelona will debut Brunch -On The Beach, a brand-new closing party on the beach. The inaugural event, which was originally announced for the 2020 iteration of the festival this past February, will now take place Sunday, June 6, 2021, and will feature DJ sets from Disclosure, Nina Kraviz, Amelie Lens and Black Coffee. 

Tickets for Primavera Sound Barcelona 2021 will go on sale June 3 at 6 a.m. EST/noon CEST. All tickets purchased for the 2020 festival are valid for the 2021 edition. That same day, the festival will begin to offer exchanges and refunds for those who purchased tickets for the 2020 festival. 

To view the full lineup and to purchase tickets for Primavera Sound Barcelona 2021, visit the festival's official website. 

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