The series announced today features a record 33 shows, including the Grand Rapids return of Sheryl Crow, Elvis Costello, Goo Goo Dolls and The Decemberists. Fans can expect higher ticket prices, too.
A 33-Concert Season: Some of the artists in the lineup. (Courtesy Photos/Rick Springfield Photo by Jay Gilbert)
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The busiest summer concert season in Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park history will boast first-ever appearances in 2022 by Norah Jones, Phish’s Trey Anastasio, She & Him, Corinne Bailey Rae, The War & Treaty and The Dead South as well as a bevy of returning favorites.
Announced today, the Meijer Gardens main summer series will feature a record 33 concerts, including Sheryl Crow, ZZ Top, O.A.R., Elvis Costello, Buddy Guy, Rick Springfield, Boz Scaggs, Umphrey’s McGee, Goo Dolls, The Temptations and The Decemberists.
Kicking off June 12 with Marc Cohn and Blind Boys of Alabama, the robust series will run through mid-September, wrapping up with Foreigner on Sept. 18.
The War and Treaty (Photo/Anna Sink)
The expanded lineup doesn’t even include the popular Tuesday Evening Music Club Series starring local and regional acts which will add June shows to its usual July-August schedule. Bands playing that series will be announced in late April.
“This is, by far, the most concerts that we have put on in any given summer since we first started presenting shows in the Frederik Meijer Gardens amphitheater in 2003,” said Meijer Gardens communications director John VanderHaagen.
“The increased number of shows is due to the growing popularity of both the Fifth Third Bank Summer Concerts main series as well as the embrace of our members and guests of the Tuesday Evening Music Club.”
The jam-packed main Fifth Third Bank Summer Concerts series includes several intriguing double and multiple bills, including Fitz & The Tantrums with St. Paul & The Broken Bones (June 19), Bela Fleck, Sam Bush and The Jerry Douglas Band (June 27), Sheryl Crow with Allison Russell (July 3), Buddy Guy and John Hiatt (July 21), Andrew Bird, Iron & Wine and Meshell Ndegeocello (Aug. 5) Boz Scaggs and Robert Cray (Aug. 22) and Emmylou Harris and Mary Chapin Carpenter (Sept. 1).
And Trombone’s Shorty’s “Voodoo Threauxdown” on June 24 will feature Tank and the Bangas, Big Freedia, Cyril Neville, George Porter Jr. and Dumpstaphunk (performing the music of The Meters and The Soul Rebels).
AS ARTIST FEES & TICKET PRICES RISE, A ‘CONCERTS FOR COMMUNITY’ PROGRAM
“I’m personally most excited to see shows that we haven’t presented here before: Trey Anastasio and Norah Jones being at the top of that list,” said VanderHaagen. “Other summer favorites for me are Lake Street Dive and a great co-headlining show of Fitz & The Tantrums and St. Paul & The Broken Bones, shows that we have had here before but never on the same night.”
The high-profile bookings also come with higher price tags: Tickets for eight concerts are priced at $90 or more, and the average public ticket price for 2022 is $73.91, a 22 percent increase from 2021. As with many venues, post-COVID cost increases have pushed prices higher.
“Our ticket prices are a direct reflection of our costs associated with bringing these high-quality acts to Grand Rapids. Artist fees are on the rise, as more and more acts bring bigger production value with them out on the road,” VanderHaagen said.
Trey Anastasio (Photo/Rene Huemer)
“Our goal each summer is to have options at every price category, from our free Tuesday evening shows to lower-priced Fifth Third Bank Summer Concerts tickets in addition to the higher priced acts that play our stage each summer.”
For Meijer Gardens members, discounted pre-sale ticket prices range from a low of $47 for Cohn/Blind Boys on June 12 to $99 for Elvis Costello & The Imposters/Nicole Atkins on Aug. 4.
However, Meijer Gardens this year also is partnering with the Steve & Amy Van Andel Foundation and Kent District Library on a “Concerts for the Community” program which will provide tickets, food and transportation to guests who “may not otherwise have the opportunity” to attend a show due to economic hardship.
The program is meant to “diversify community exposure to world-class live music.”
Summer series concert tickets go on sale to members – online or by phone – at 9 a.m. April 23. Public sales begin at 9 a.m. May 7, though many concerts sell out to members during the two-week pre-sale period.
Longtime Meijer Gardens attendees will also be pleased to note that one of the amphitheater’s “house bands” – Lyle Lovett & His Large Band, a staple over the years – will be back for 2022, after not performing there since the 2019 season.
MEIJER GARDENS’ FIFTH THIRD BANK SUMMER CONCERTS 2022
June 12 – Marc Cohn + Blind Boys of Alabama, $47 presale | $50 member | $52 public
June 17 – Amos Lee w/ Neal Francis, $55 presale | $58 member | $60 public
June 19 – Fitz & The Tantrums + St. Paul & The Broken Bones, $70 presale | $73 member | $75 public
June 20 – An Acoustic Evening with Trey Anastasio, $70 presale | $73 member | $75 public
June 23 – Old Crow Medicine Show, $52 presale | $55 member | $57 public
June 24 – Trombone Shorty’s Voodoo Threauxdown featuring Tank and The Bangas, Big Freedia, Cyril Neville: The Uptown Ruler, George Porter Jr. and Dumpstaphunk (performing the music of The Meters and The Soul Rebels), $90 presale | $93 member | $95 public
June 26 – The Temptations w/ Kimmie Horne, $55 presale | $58 member | $60 public
June 27 – Bluegrass Happening featuring Bela Fleck & My Bluegrass Heart, Sam Bush & The Jerry Douglas Band, $62 presale | $65 member | $67 public
July 3 – Sheryl Crow w/ Allison Russell, $94 presale | $97 member | $99 public
July 6 – Corinne Bailey Rae w/ The War & Treaty, $50 presale | $53 member | $55 public
July 7 – ZZ Top, $95 presale | $98 member | $100 public
July 8 – O.A.R., $77 presale | $80 member | $82 public
July 13 – Five for Fighting with the Grand Rapids Symphony, $58 presale | $61 member | $63 public
July 14 – Michael Franti & Spearhead w/ The New Respects, $54 presale | $57 member | $59 public
July 15 – Lyle Lovett and his Large Band, $65 presale | $68 member | $70 public
July 17 – Norah Jones, $95 presale | $98 member | $100 public
July 20 – Rick Springfield with the Grand Rapids Symphony, $72 presale | $75 member | $77 public
July 21 – Buddy Guy + John Hiatt, $77 presale | $80 member | $82 public
July 27 – America, $62 presale | $65 member | $67 public
July 28 – Arturo Sandoval with the Grand Rapids Symphony, $50 presale | $53 member | $55 public
Aug. 4 – Elvis Costello & The Imposters w/ Nicole Atkins, $99 presale | $102 member | $104 public
Aug. 5 – Andrew Bird + Iron & Wine w/ Meshell Ndegeocello, $68 presale | $71 member | $73 public
Aug. 10 – The Dead South w/ Tejon Street Corner Thieves, $48 presale | $51 member | $53 public
Aug. 12 – Lake Street Dive w/ Madison Cunningham, $59 presale | $62 member | $64 public
Aug. 15 – The Beach Boys, $70 presale | $73 member | $75 public
Aug. 17 – The Decemberists, $56 presale | $59 member | $61 public
Aug. 22 – Boz Scaggs w/ Robert Cray Band, August 22, $69 presale | $72 member | $74 public
Aug. 24 – Umphrey’s McGee, $48 presale | $51 member | $53 public
Sept. 1 – Emmylou Harris + Mary Chapin Carpenter, $90 presale | $93 member | $95 public
Sept. 12 – Australian Pink Floyd, $58 presale | $61 member | $63 public
Sept. 15 – Goo Goo Dolls w/ Blue October, $97 presale | $100 member | $102 public
Sept. 16 – She & Him, $72 presale | $75 member | $77 public
Sept. 18 – Foreigner: The Greatest Hits Tour, $90 presale | $93 member | $95 public
Summertime Live: The Meijer Gardens amphitheater. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
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