Six countries, one genre: C2C makes 2020 return
AEG’s Country to Country (C2C) festival is returning in 2020 for the eighth edition of its flagship London event, alongside repeat editions in Ireland, Scotland, Germany, the Netherlands and Australia.
Luke Combs, Darius Rucker and Eric Church will headline C2C’s European festivals, alongside acts including the Cadillac Three, Tanya Tucker, Charles Esten, Brett Young and Old Dominion.
International touring series Introducing Nashville will be present at C2C for the first time this year, with acoustic performances from Abby Anderson, Eric Paslay and Tenille Townes.
C2C 2020 will take place from 13 to 15 March in London’s 20,000-capacity O2 Arena, which yesterday (22 October) celebrated reaching 25 million ticket sales. Simultaneous events will take place at Ireland’s 3Arena Dublin (13,000-cap.), promoted by MCD Productions, and the SSE Hydro (13,000-cap.) in Glasgow, Scotland, promoted by DF Concerts.
The country music festival is also returning to Afas Live Amsterdam (6,000-cap.) and AEG’s Verti Music Hall (4,350-cap.) in Berlin, following successful first outings last year. Greenhouse Talent will co-promote C2C Amsterdam, which takes place from 7 to 8 March, with Semmel Concerts taking charge of the Berlin edition on 6 to 8 March.
“C2C Festival 2020 continues to build on the massive success of Country to Country in the UK and across Europe”
“I am so proud to be part of the C2C family,” said Bob Harris OBE, the main stage host of the London event, at C2C’s line-up launch party at Country Music Week, which began on Monday.
“I can’t wait to listen to the best music in the world, enjoy the fantastic atmosphere of the main auditorium, catch the excitement of the pop-up stages and meet the incredible Country fans that make C2C so special.”
Chris York, C2C Festival promoter for SJM Concerts comments: “C2C Festival 2020 continues to build on the massive success of Country to Country in the UK and across Europe. We look forward to seeing all you passionate country fans in March once again.”
Tickets for all C2C’s European events go on sale on Friday 1 November at 10 a.m. (GMT).
More information about C2C Australia, which also returns for its second year in 2020, will be available at a later date. The Australian version of the event, promoted by AEG Presents and TEG Live, takes place in Sydney and Brisbane with a different line-up to other C2C events.
Read more about country music’s rise to global fame here.
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Lewis Capaldi embarks on UK, Ireland arena tour
Scottish singer-songwriter Lewis Capaldi has announced a UK and Ireland arena tour for March 2020, adding a surcharge of 50p to every ticket to pay for anxiety support staff in each arena he visits.
Tickets for the arena tour go on sale on Friday 26 April, preceding the release of the singer’s debut album, Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent, on 17 May.
The announcement follows sold-out tour dates across the UK and United States in 2019. “Cannot believe we’ve got an arena tour going on sale with one already sold out. Milking this one hit wonder thing,” jokes the singer on Twitter.
Capaldi recently added a second date at Glasgow’s the SSE Hydro (13,000-cap.) to the 2020 tour, which also includes shows at Dublin’s 3Arena (13,000-cap.), Cardiff Motorpoint Arena (5,000-cap.) and the SSE Arena, Wembley (12,500-cap.), as well as two performances at the O2 Apollo in Manchester (3,500-cap.).
The singer will use the tour to launch a new initiative called LiveLive, which provides support to fans suffering from anxiety or panic attacks. An additional 50p charged for each ticket will go towards funding a team at each venue qualified to assist in cases of panic, anxiety or any other forms of distress.
“I hate to feel that anyone’s anxiety is making them miss out on anything they want to do”
The initiative also includes the setting up of designated help points, a safe place or ‘escape room’ and a gig buddy system for those attending shows alone.
“I always get tonnes of messages from people online who have said they want to come to my shows but can’t because they’re struggling massively with anxiety or are just generally afraid they will have a panic attack during the show,” says Capaldi.
“I really wanted to put something in place to help those people feel comfortable and offer them support to allow them to experience the shows.
“I hate to feel that anyone’s anxiety is making them miss out on anything they want to do and LiveLive is my attempt at helping make these shows enjoyable for as many of those people who have been supporting this journey for me,” adds the singer.
The tour is promoted by Live Nation, DF Concerts, MCD Productions, SJM Concerts and DHP Family.
Capaldi was nominated for the critics’ choice award at this year’s Brit Awards in London.
A full list of tour dates can be found below:
Mon 2 March – O2 Apollo Manchester
Tue 3 March – O2 Apollo Manchester
Thu 5 March – The SSE Hydro, Glasgow
Fri 6 March – The SSE Hydro, Glasgow
Wed 11 March – Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff
Thu 12 March – The SSE Arena Wembley, London
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