Summer 2017’s Hottest Tours: Kendrick Lamar, Lady Gaga, Metallica and More

August 1st–December 18th
Tickets $46–$281

Gaga
officially graduated from arenas to stadiums at the Super Bowl, where she
reminded the world she’s one of pop’s best performers. She previewed her
upcoming 41-date Joanne tour at Coachella, bringing flames, fireworks,
dancers and plenty of sentimentality, like when she sat at the piano and
delivered a soulful “The Edge of Glory.” 

July 14th–September 3rd
Tickets $50–$75

On a map, Phish’s 2017 summer tour looks unusually short: just five cities. That’s because 13 of the 21 shows are in one room, New York’s Madison Square Garden. Dubbed “The Baker’s Dozen,” the Garden dates will be the most Phish have played in a row in one venue since their club days. “We feel comfortable there,” singer-guitarist Trey Anastasio says of the arena, where Phish’s end-of-year runs are
already a tradition. “If you played me five different tapes, I would be
able to pick out the Garden. It has a reverberation you can feel.” So far,
there hasn’t been much discussion about repertoire or potential guests. “There
are conversations like, ‘Maybe we should plan this,'” Anastasio says. “And
the next conversation will be, ‘Maybe we shouldn’t plan anything.'” Ultimately,
that “relaxed feeling is the point of a residency. Relaxed is good.”

Through August 1st
Tickets $32–$280

When U2 first toured for The Joshua Tree in
1987, the band was struggling with its new fame and how to mount a stadium
show. “I, for one, didn’t enjoy it,” says bassist Adam Clayton. “This
summer is almost an opportunity to take it back.” The band looks forward
to readdressing the grandeur of songs like “Where the Streets Have No Name”
and “Mothers of the Disappeared,” which took aim at Ronald Reagan’s
devastating foreign policy. “There’s an element of nostalgia that we can’t
avoid,” says the Edge. “But it’s not motivated by a desire to look
backward. It’s almost like this album has come full circle.”

July 15th–November 11th
Tickets $75–$200 

“I’m dripping from the first song till the end,” says Mars, backstage in Birmingham, England, discussing his furiously physical 24K Magic world tour. To match the throwback vibe of his latest album, Mars is forgoing high-tech production in favor of old-school showmanship. That means lots of dancing, his eight-piece band often changing arrangements on the fly, and no distractions: “I got no time to put together gimmicks and robots and all that stuff – I want to go out and sing.” 

July 6th–August 18th
Tickets $74–$170

Lamar’s
last extensive solo tour was in 2013. Since then, he’s released two classic LPs
and one mixtape, and he played music from all of them during this year’s
headlining set at Coachella. In an era of flashy arena hip-hop tours, Lamar
kept the focus on his music, appearing onstage alone, rapping with explosive
energy on sing-alongs like the Black Lives Matter anthem “Alright.”

July 5th–October 2nd
Tickets $30–$350

McCartney
can think of only one reason he’s able to play three-hour shows at age 74. “I
like doing it,” he says. “Once you get in front of an audience
– and I’ve experienced this many times – it charges your battery.” He’s
promising a “refreshed” version of 2016’s One on One Tour, hitting
cities he’s never played, like Wichita, Kansas. His favorite moments include “A
Hard Day’s Night” (“That opening chord is still a thrill”) and “Live
and Let Die,” which takes the end of the night to a new level. “All
the girls in the audience say, ‘You don’t even have a sip of water.’ Can you
imagine the Beatles stopping: ‘Excuse me, glug-glug-glug’? I’m not raised in
the ‘drink water’ school.” 

Through August 16th
Tickets $59–$159

Drummer
Lars Ulrich says the band was inspired to launch its first U.S. stadium tour in
14 years after seeing the success of early-Nineties tourmates Guns N’ Roses. “I
was like, ‘OK, let’s put our balls on the line and see if anybody comes,'”
Ulrich says with a laugh. Metallica will bring the hits, plus a heavy dose of
their new LP, Hardwired … to Self-Destruct. Says Ulrich, “In 35
years, I’d never heard the sentence ‘Why are you not playing more new songs?’
until this tour cycle.”

July 29th–October 7th
Tickets $40–$100

After
scoring the first platinum LP of 2017, Sheeran is taking his one-man show to 60
arenas, which he calls “practice” for a stadium run next year. “I
don’t care what artists say about intimate gigs,” Sheeran says. “They’re
not as fun.”

July 29th–September 6th
Tickets $50–$180

Bieber’s
Purpose tour has had rocky moments, like when the singer stormed
offstage in England, blaming screaming fans. Lately, Bieber is “in a
really good space,” says Debra Rathwell, of promoter AEG. Bieber is ending
the $200-million-grossing tour with a nine-date stadium run that works in covers
like Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car” alongside megahits such as “Sorry.”
“It’s a party on steroids,” says Rathwell.

Through November 18th
Tickets $30–$70

Following 2015’s double-platinum Traveller, Stapleton is releasing two albums this year. He will also mount one of the most ambitious country tours ever: The All-American Road Show includes Marty Stuart, Margo Price and a gigantic speaker system that is shaped like a band shell and produces studio-quality sound. “We don’t have lasers or things blowing up,” Stapleton says. “I want people to come to our show to listen.”

July 13th–September 23rd
Tickets $46–$501

Pete
Townshend was surprised by the crowds on the band’s recent 50th-anniversary
tour. “We were playing to a much larger number of younger people,” he
says. “It’s a real kick.” Now, the Who are hitting smaller cities,
along with a six-night Vegas residency. Expect lots of Tommy: The band
has been working in tracks like “Christmas” and “1921” for
the first time since 1989. “Maybe it’s because I can see the end,”
Townshend says. “But it means more to me.”

Through September 17th
Tickets $39–$150

“I
want to make it celebratory,” says Petty of the Heartbreakers’
40th-anniversary tour. Inspired by deep-cut-packed theater shows he played in
2013, Petty is working in gems like the rave-up “Rockin’ Around (With
You),” which he hadn’t played since 1983, and several Wildflowers songs,
which he reconnected with while working on a box set. Petty, 66, calls this his
“last trip around the country,” but concedes he’s unlikely to quit
completely: “I need something to do, or I tend to be a nuisance around the
house.” 

Through June 30th
Tickets $35–$125

Future’s
tour with Drake last summer was the top-grossing hip-hop tour of all time, making
$84 million. Now, after he scored two Number One albums in March, the rapper is
headlining his own tour, bringing along opening acts Migos and Young Thug. “This
tour is about my whole journey,” says Future, “so expect all the
smashes.”

Through September 21st
Tickets $50–$140

When
Billy Joel wrote “Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)” in
the Seventies, he had no idea he’d still be playing stadiums the year that song
was set. “There’s a whole new thing going on,” says Joel, referring
to the bigger crowds he’s seen since he returned to the road in 2013 after a
long break to recover from hip surgery. “There’s offers coming in from
everywhere. It’s like, ‘Is everybody else quitting?'” Lately, he’s been
mixing in covers like James Brown’s “I Feel Good,” and his continuing
monthly residency at Madison Square Garden has caused him to resurrect lost
classics like 1980’s “Sleeping With the Television On.” “It’s
almost absurd to me that I can play a stadium,” he says. “I don’t
jump around like Jagger. I just sit there at the piano and bang out the tunes.”

July 18th–September 3rd
Tickets $36–$150

“I
stumbled into one of the coolest setups a guy could have in a music career,”
says Mayer, who will play shows all summer as a guitarist in Dead & Company
and as a solo act. He says last year’s Dead tour has caused him to rethink
performing: He is breaking the night into “chapters” that include
full-band and acoustic segments. His favorite part? A set with his blues trio,
which includes Steve Jordan and Pino Palladino. “The first time the trio
makes a sound, even I’m not ready for it,” Mayer says.

August 1st–September 16th
Tickets $15–$99

Lately,
the band has toned down political talk for new songs, fun Sixties-rock medleys
and Nineties hits. “I want people to have a great experience away from the
news,” says Billie Joe Armstrong. “Let’s have a human experience and
rub up against each other.”

July 21st–September 5th
Tickets $39–$399

Richie
says he was shocked when Carey agreed to tour with him. Though they’re still
working out the set, they will each perform separately, with likely duets in
the middle. “I think this is going to be one of the most exciting tours I’ve
been on – next to the great Tina Turner,” Richie says. 

Through July 1st
Tickets $35–$175

Expect
a different experience than last year, though Bob Weir is cryptic on details: “The
premise we’re working with is when most people go to a show, they’re watching a
movie on the big screen in their head. We’re going to try to play to that.”

May 26th–October 28th
Tickets $32–$249

Waters
is promoting his first rock album in 25 years, but he’s promising a “75-25”
ratio of Pink Floyd and solo gems to new songs, and “over 400 feet of
projection.” “We’re doing rock & roll, but it’s also theater,”
he has said. “We care about it.”

June 23rd–August 5th
Tickets $43–$270

“There will be no holograms,” Queen guitarist Brian May assures fans of how the band will be paying tribute to Freddie Mercury on the band’s upcoming arena dates with Adam Lambert. “But there will be a retrospective element that connects to the glory days of when Freddie was with us. There will be echoes from the past in a new way.” As for just what that means, though, he’s keeping silent so as to surprise fans. That said, he says set lists will skew toward “vintage Americana Queen,” meaning classics like “We Will Rock You.” “I remember Prince saying, ‘Too many hits, too many hits,’ which is a good problem to have,” he says, “but we’ll be throwing in a few songs people won’t have seen live for a very long time.” That’s all right with Lambert, who has been singing with the band since their 2009 American Idol performance together and likes the collaborative nature of the pairing. ” We are a band when we get onstage at this point,” he says. “We have that thing where you can look at each other and there’s an unspoken communication that happens. It’s pretty exciting.”

June 6th–July 29th
Tickets $72–$185

Henley is taking a 15-piece band on a solo tour, playing Eagles songs, solo cuts and telling the stories behind them. It ends with a 70th-birthday gig on July 22nd in Dallas with special guests.

June 2nd–July 27th
Tickets $25–$190

The
duo wanted to continue the chemistry they rekindled on Fleetwood Mac’s last
tour. Expect plenty of hits. “They’d run us out on a rail if we didn’t do them,”
Buckingham says.

June 5th–September 3rd
Tickets $29–$199

It took some convincing to get Mellencamp on board for his first outdoor amphitheater tour since 2005. “I don’t like playing for people drinking, fighting,
trying to pick up girls,” he says. To make it more tolerable, he has invited
Emmylou Harris, Jewel and Carlene Carter to open and join him onstage. Expect
lots of new material and Dylanesque re-imaginings of old songs. “I always
play ‘Jack and Diane,’ but not in the way people know,” he says. “I’m
not a fucking jukebox.”

August 8th–September 24th
Tickets $45–$80

Given the name of his new band, longtime Donald Fagen fans might assume his upcoming tour will focus on music from The Nightfly,
his classic 1982 solo debut. But the Steely Dan singer/keyboardist
claims the
moniker was simply the most original one he could come up with. “There’s
so many bands now that it’s hard to find something that doesn’t show up
when you google it,” he tells Rolling Stone. “So I just ripped
off my own invention from 1981.” Rounded out
by younger musicians he first encountered around his current home of
Woodstock, the Nightflyers will perform songs from all four of Fagen’s albums under his own name. And much like the Dukes of September – Fagen’s
loose collective with fellow yacht-rock survivors
Michael McDonald and Boz Scaggs – they’ll round out their sets with some
Steely Dan favorites TBD and a few choice covers. “We’ve already played
around with a few things: a Chuck Berry tune, a Beatles tune,” Fagen
says.

July 12th–October 1st
Tickets $30–$115

“If you’re lucky, you’re going to have nostalgia appeal, because that means you’ve been around long enough to be someone’s nostalgia,” Matchbox 20 singer Rob Thomas says. “There’s nothing bad about that.” This summer, Thomas and his bandmates will be steeping their fans in Nineties nostalgia by playing once-ubiquitous VH1 fodder like “Push,” “3 A.M.” and “Real World,” alongside their alt-rock–era tourmates in Counting Crows on what singer Adam Duritz has dubbed the A Brief History of Everything tour. It’s been five years since Matchbox put out an LP and three since the Crows offered up something new, so Thomas is excited to play what he’s calling a “victory lap.” That said, Duritz likes to keep fans on their toes. “We have 85 songs in rotation on our set lists,” he says. “We’re playing most of our music over the course of a summer. The bigger problem is what not to play on any given night.”

June 2nd–November 19th
Tickets $35–$90

In the three years since Phoenix last performed in the U.S., the French synth-pop group recorded a new album, Ti Amo – out June 9th – and devised a new stage production that frontman Thomas Mars says will add an “extra dimension” to the songs. “Concerts these days seem to be less and less about the instruments and more about pyrotechnics and light shows – it’s very cliché,” he says. “So we’re bringing instruments back, along with the sort of embellishment, fantasy and aura they can have. We’re giving them strength almost in a Kraftwerk way.”

Blackest of the Black: May 26th–27th
Tickets $39–$399

One of metal’s darkest bands will mark the release of new album, Black Laden Crown, this month with its own two-night Blackest of the Black festival in California, alongside Ministry and Suicidal Tendencies and attractions that include a castle, a bondage stage, a “blood bath” and freak show, among others. “I try to make Danzig concerts not just a show but some kind of experience that transcends going to a rock concert,” singer Glenn Danzig says. “You’ve got to get more out of it than just a rock concert, and this is going to take it the next level – or a couple levels.” They’ll then play a “limited number” of yet-to-be-announced gigs this summer, where they’ll celebrate the 25th anniversary of their 1992 LP How the Gods Kill.

Through August 26th
Tickets $35–$50

The
folk band has been marking the 50th anniversary of Blonde on Blonde by
playing the entire LP. “What a perfect jug-band song ‘Leopard Skin
Pill-Box Hat’ is,” says frontman Ketch
Secor.

July 7th–September 23rd
Tickets $20–$151

The Motown-influenced band is promising “hot, sweaty summer dance parties,” says frontman Michael Fitzpatrick.