The expanded 33-concert summer series boasts new faces – from Il Divo to Tower of Power – along with a bevy of returning favorites such as Grace Potter. The lineup and more at Local Spins.
My Morning Jacket: The band makes its Meijer Gardens debut on July 1. (Photo/Austin Nelson)
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When Art Garfunkel played the first official concert at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in June 2003, the fledgling amphitheater attracted a little more than 1,000 concertgoers as it braced for an inaugural 10-concert season.
Today, Meijer Gardens announced a 33-concert lineup for the 1,900-capacity amphitheater’s 2024 season, with My Morning Jacket, Black Pumas, Blues Traveler, Leslie Odom Jr., Boyz II Men and Charley Crockett joining returning favorites such as O.A.R., Trombone Shorty, Bonnie Raitt, Michael Franti and Amos Lee on the expanded docket.
The Fifth Third Bank Summer Concerts series will kick off on June 5 with “outlaw cowboy” artist Orville Peck, who was forced to cancel his 2023 tour which initially had included a stop stop at Meijer Gardens.
Black Pumas: Touring behind their 2023 album, “Chronicles of a Diamond.” (Photo/Jody Domingue)
Tower of Power, Jason Mraz, The Wallflowers, Il Divo, Gin Blossoms, Kansas, Grace Potter and Fitz & The Tantrums also will likely garner enthusiastic attention from concertgoers when discounted tickets go on sale to Meijer Gardens members at 9 a.m. April 20. After the member pre-sale, tickets will go on sale to the general public on April 27 through AXS.com, this year’s new ticket provider for Meijer Gardens.
“I might be biased, but welcoming Bonnie Raitt back after a seven-year break is certainly hard to beat. She is just the best,” said Chris Mautz, who books the annual concert series for Meijer Gardens.
“The mix of the first-time acts hitting the Gardens is sweet – from Tower of Power to the Black Pumas, Boys II Men to My Morning Jacket, Il Divo to Leslie Odom Jr., Orville Peck to Sierra Ferrell. Stoked for all of these.”
This summer’s series will once again feature guest stars joining the Grand Rapids Symphony on the amphitheater stage: Bruce Hornsby on July 11, Gov’t Mule’s Warren Haynes on July 22 and Black Violin on Aug. 1.
Meijer Gardens had previously announced three shows — Los Lobos and Little Feat on June 21, The Temptations and The Four Tops on July 12, and Andrew Bird and Amadou & Mariam on Aug. 9.
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As usual, the series will feature several high-profile double bills, including Raitt and James Hunter (June 26), Old Crow Medicine Show and Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway (July 10), Gin Blossoms and Toad the Wet Sprocket with Vertical Horizon (Aug. 5), Blues Traveler and Big Head Todd & The Monsters (Aug. 14) and the series-closing Keb’ Mo’ and Shawn Colvin (Sept. 16).
Returning to Meijer Gardens: Grace Potter on Aug. 18. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
“Curating the Meijer Gardens Concert Series is such a blast for our entire team. It is a bit like going for a long walk in the Gardens. You begin with a bit of a plan and then you see where it takes you.,” Mautz insisted.
“Something might catch your eye so off you go down a new path. Then you are drawn to something familiar and you roll back to find that. This seems to repeat itself many times, and in the end, you have 33 nights of making musical memories at Meijer Gardens.”
The average public ticket price for Meijer Gardens concerts has dropped slightly the past two years in a row. This year’s average price comes in at $72.60, 30 cents less than the 2023 average of $72.90.
The most expensive concert? Boyz II Men on July 28 with tickets priced at $130 for members during the pre-sale; $135 for non-members.
Meijer Gardens also has created an “Insider’s Guide to Buying Tickets” to “help make the ticket purchasing experience easy and hassle-free,” according to the official series announcement. The guide is available online at MeijerGardens.org/concerts.
Copyright 2024, Spins on Music LLC
