Whip out the earplugs and credit cards. It's time for hot fun in the summertime as the concert business rolls out a wide array of stars, lineup configurations and price points in what's expected to be one of the healthiest seasons in years. The industry anticipates a 20% uptick in receipts over 2012, according to Billboard.
From veteran heavyweights the Rolling Stones to the killer double bill of Justin Timberlake and Jay-Z to hip-hop and boy-band package tours, summer's inventory caters to every appetite.The season's boom in Boomer acts got off to a stunning start this month with the Rolling Stones' 50 and Counting tour, expected to gross nearly $100 million from 18 shows. Paul McCartney's Out There trek also launched this month, and its 11 U.S. dates include a return to Boston's Fenway Park July 9. Fleetwood Mac hit the road in April and wraps up a U.S. run July 6 in Sacramento.
Missed those ticket stampedes? Plenty of vintage heavyweights have yet to leave the gate. Bob Dylan's Americanarama Festival of Music (starts June 26 in West Palm Beach, Fla.; 26 dates) finds the bard sharing a marquee with Wilco, My Morning Jacket, Richard Thompson and Ryan Bingham. Heart is double-billed with Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Experience, and the two acts will end each night with a 30-minute dip into the Zep catalog (June 17, West Palm Beach; 35 dates). Even heavier is a Black Sabbath outing that reunites 1968 founders Ozzy Osbourne, Geezer Butler and Tony Iommi for the first time in 35 years (July 25, Houston; 20 dates).
Cyndi Lauper's She's So Unusual tour (June 12, San Diego; 23 dates) celebrates that breakout album's 35th anniversary. On the heels of career-spanning documentary The History of the Eagles, the Eagles embark on their History tour (July 6, Louisville; 34 dates), which Don Henley has hinted may be a farewell. And after its second Peach Festival Aug. 16-17 in Scranton, Pa., the Allman Brothers Band brings Steve Winwood and Grace Potter & the Nocturnals along for select dates on a brief tour (Aug. 20, Chicago; 14 dates).
