Jay-Z Plots Intimate Summer Tour With Live Band, Ciara

Jay-Z has announced a series of intimate July concerts that will allow him to reconnect with fans before putting the finishing touches on his next album, The Blueprint 3. Fantasy Ride singer Ciara will be the opening act for the trek, which will feature Jay performing with a live backing band. According to a press release, the tour kicks off with a pair of shows Fourth of July weekend at the Palms Casino in Las Vegas. From there, Jigga will head toward Chicago, the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, and down to Atlanta on July 12th. Thus far, only five dates have been announced for the joint tour, but more shows are promised.

As for tickets, the Citi Presale, Premier Parking Presale and the Fan Club Presale both start today, May 13th. The Live Nation Presale, Ticket Rush Presale and Radio Presale start May 14th. If there are any tickets left after all those presales, the general public can begin getting tix on May 15th at the Live Nation site, since Jay-Z was one of the first artists to sign a 360 deal with Live Nation in 2008. Get the current itinerary below.

July 3 - Las Vegas, NV @ The Pearl at the Palms Casino Resort
July 4 - Las Vegas, NV @ The Pearl at the Palms Casino Resort
July 7 - Chicago, IL @ Charter One Pavilion at Northerly Island
July 10 - Uncasville, CT @ Mohegan Sun Arena
July 12 - Atlanta, GA @ Chastain Park Amphitheatre

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Song Stories

“Piano Man”

Billy Joel | 1973

Billy Joel’s first hit, “Piano Man,” was – ironically – an autobiographical lament about how his first album wasn’t a hit. When Cold Spring Harbor didn’t take off, Joel briefly became a lounge pianist in Los Angeles, and this song, about that experience, expressed his frustrations and fears at the time: “And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar/And say, ‘Man, what are you doing here?’” “It was all right,” Joel said later, about the gig. “I got free drinks and union scale, which was the first steady money I’d made in a long time.”

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