The Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Tennessee sees sets from Rhiannon Giddens, Robert Plant, Punch Brothers ... Sam Amidon performs outside Boston ... The Bad Plus Joshua Redman performs in DC and Philadelphia ... Devendra Banhart DJs in LA ... The Black Keys headline Isle of Wight Festival ... Olivia Chaney tours Midwest ... Emmylou Harris, Rodney Crowell inaugurate Atlanta Botanical Garden amphitheater ... Audra McDonald sings in Saratoga, CA ... and more ...
The ever-eclectic Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival takes place this weekend in Manchester, Tennessee. Rolling Stone’s "Bonnaroo 2015: The Ultimate Guide" of the "essential bands, films, DJ sets and comedy" to catch in Manchester this weekend includes all three Nonesuch artists performing there: Rhiannon Giddens on Saturday, and Robert Plant and Punch Brothers on Sunday. You can catch all of the action streaming online at redbull.tv/bonnaroo.
Punch Brothers kick off the summer leg of their tour with the Bonnaroo set, featuring music from their recent Nonesuch release, The Phosphorescent Blues. The weeks ahead bring festival sets across the United States, including a return to the Telluride Bluegrass Festival and a free show in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park for Celebrate Brooklyn.
Before heading to Tennessee, Rhiannon Giddens gives a concert at Taft Theatre in Cincinnati tonight. Her tour will also take her to Telluride Bluegrass Festival next week. The Lexington Herald Leader's Walter Tunis, previewing tonight's concert, says Giddens' recently released solo debut album, Tomorrow Is My Turn, "is one of the best releases of 2015 so far." Her recent show in nearby Lexington was "sublime," Tunis exclaims. "Simply put, if you experienced that show, you understand what the fuss is about. If you missed it, you now have a second chance."
Robert Plant, who has had to reschedule concerts earlier this week due to laryngitis, is back in fine form for Bonnaroo and his concert at Mud Island Amphitheatre in Memphis tonight.
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Sam Amidon performs at the Center for Arts at the Armory in Somerville, Massachusetts, Sunday. The concert is part of FRINGE, a program intended to introduce viewers to artists expanding the boundaries of folk music. Amidon, who will be performing music from his most recent album, Lily-O, and more, shares the bill with harpist Maeve Gilchrist.
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The Bad Plus Joshua Redman continues its spring tour with performances at The Hamilton in Washington, DC, tonight, and Philadelphia’s World Café Live Saturday. The group, which has just released its self-titled debut album on Nonesuch Records, comprises The Bad Plus—pianist Ethan Iverson, bassist Reid Anderson, and drummer Dave King—and saxophonist Joshua Redman, who first performed with the trio in 2011. The group has a four-night residency at the Jazz Alley in Seattle next week before heading to Canada for a number of summer festivals. The Albany Times Union's Greg Haymes, reviewing the quartet's set there last night, says it was "as though Redman was the long-lost fourth member returning to the fold after an exploratory journey into heretofore uncharted musical territory."
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Devendra Banhart, whose new art book, I Left My Noodle on Ramen Street, was just published by Prestel, helps mark Los Angeles Pride weekend by co-hosting a free event of DJ sets and much more at the Ace Hotel Downtown LA on Sunday. The event, Moon Uterus: Age of Aqueerius, runs from 1 to 8pm, with proceeds going to support the Los Angeles LGBT Center.
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The Black Keys close out the spring leg of their Turn Blue tour this weekend with a headline set at Isle of Wight Festival in the United Kingdom tonight and a concert at Northside in Aarhus, Denmark, Sunday. The Daily Telegraph includes them among the top five “unmissable acts” at the Isle of Wight, urging festival goers to “get on board.” The band returns to North America for festival sets in July and August.
The Black Keys’ performance at Governors Ball in New York City last weekend was a “fantastic set,” says Billboard, and tops Rolling Stone’s list of the 25 Best Things We Saw at Governors Ball 2015.
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Olivia Chaney continues her US tour featuring music from her debut album, The Longest River, with performances at Schubas in Chicago on Saturday and The Back Room at Colectivo Coffee in Milwaukee Sunday. “There’s no excuse to miss this rising artist,” exclaims the Wisconsin Gazette.
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Emmylou Harris, who received the 2015 Polar Music Prize in Stockholm earlier this week, resumes her tour with longtime friend Rodney Crowell at the Atlanta Botanical Garden in Gainesville, Georgia, Saturday, inaugurating the Garden's new Ivester Amphitheater. The tour features songs from their recently released album, The Traveling Kind, and their 2013 Grammy-winning duo debut, Old Yellow Moon.
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Audra McDonald, whom the Boston Globe recently placed “among the greatest theater artists of her generation,” performs at Mountain Winery in Saratoga, California, tonight.
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