Emerging summer concert events taking place
June 14, 2023
As a line of people change into crowds, music begins to play with musicians holding their instruments. With the days becoming longer, more and more concerts start to appear, with a ton to see this summer at parks, theaters and other locations.
Broccoli City Festival
On July 15 and 16, the Broccoli City Festival will visit Washington, D.C. Broccoli City Festival was founded by Greensboro, North Carolina entrepreneur, Brandon McEachern as a way to promote environmental causes among African-Americans, such as sustainable living conditions and renewable energy sources. Rapper Jay-Z was interested in these causes and became the first headliner. Years later, other hip-hop African-American artists like The Internet, Lil Wayne and Lil-Baby made the festival into a hip-hop and pop genre festival.
Since 2016, it’s become an event held in Washington’s iconic Gateway Park. The festival features a number of famous musicians from the genres of hip-hop and pop. Last year, they had a lineup of artists including 21 Savage and Ari Lennox. This year, the headliners are artists Lil Uzi Vert, Jazmine Sullivan and Brent Faiyaz, with others like Ice Spice, Kodak Black and Glorilla. For July 15 and 16, the general ticket prices are $189.50 and other prices are available at BroccoliCity.com.
“I enjoy listening to [African-American hip-hop] songs since it kind of gets my mood and adrenaline up from time to time,” freshman Mitchell Stout said. “But the music itself, like the lyrics and beats are very uplifting and if I went to one of my favorite artists’ concerts or tour, it’d be fun and exciting.”
Confetti Tour
An alternative rock/pop duo called Confetti are currently going on tour around the United States. They are coming to The Canal Club down in Richmond, on May 25 at 7 p.m. Tickets prices are $53 and other tour dates are available from Concerts50.
The band originated when two like-minded, passionate people met at Indiana University, and created the group Confetti in the late 2010s. They produce music that relies heavily on culture, pop and politics. According to LastFM, their production is evocative of early 2000’s hip-pop/pop blended with modern sounds made explicitly to get people to dance.
Although the band has three number-one hits, including “Ghost,” “Robbing a Bank,” and “Dear God,” “Ghost” has remained their biggest hit since its release in 2019 with over 88,000 people having listened to it.
“I’ve been listening to rock my entire life definitely, but I never heard of a band called Confetti before,” freshman Finley Cobb said. “Definitely would recommend it since there are lots of cool subgenres of rock that are all very exciting and expressive. But because everyone has different meanings and perspectives to music, I think the more varieties there are, the better since people can see what they like.”
D.C. Jazz Festival
Jazzy melodies play through the city streets and saxophones blare with over a 100 musicians performing at various local venues. The D.C. Jazz Festival, formerly known as the Duke Ellington Jazz Festival, is a five day event held every Labor Day weekend in Washington, D.C., it starts on August 30 to Sept. 5. Prices range from $49 to $89 for the August 31 performance at the arena stage; other dates are available at DCJF.
Each year, the DC Jazz Festival has grown in size and reputation. Their most well attended one was back in 2020 as a virtual festival with 200,000+ attendees. In this year’s festival, they’re featuring a lineup of 19 jazz artists, 16 of which are performing at The Wharf with the Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble and Sounds From the Ancestors.
“I listen to jazz sometimes because it can represent many emotions and the flow of it is very chill and relaxed to a certain extent,” freshman Jinlae Kim said. “If there was a concert, I would like to go because seeing these musicians do their thing live is sort of a different feeling than listening to it through your phone.”
There are additional events happening in the middle of the summer at places like Wolf Trap, Jiffy Lube Live and Capital One Arena. Artists at Wolf Trap, Capital One Arena and Jiffy Lube Live include Boney James, Charlie Puth, Post Malone and Madonna. There are many well-known performers there and tickets for many of them will sell out quickly.
