2024’s blockbuster concert tours: Part II
Last week, IQ looked at ten blockbuster concert tours planned for the next 12 months, including outings by Taylor Swift, Coldplay, P!nk and Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.
Here, in the second and final part of our 2024 preview, we run through another ten of the biggest treks in what promises to be another huge year for the international live music business…
METALLICA
Fresh from headlining Saudi Arabia first major heavy metal concert at Riyadh’s Soundstorm festival last month, Metallica’s M72 World Tour will see the band playing two nights in every city it visits. Each No Repeat Weekend features two completely different setlists and support lineups. It will also include a new in-the-round stage design that relocates the Metallica Snake Pit to centre stage, as well as the I Disappear full-tour pass and the debut of discounted tickets for fans under 16.
Territories: Europe, North America
Dates: April-September
OLIVIA RODRIGO
Following her 2022 debut jaunt The SOUR Tour, the GUTS World Tour will be the 20-year-old Californian’s first arena tour. It kicks off on 23 February at Acrisure Arena in Palm Springs, CA, with stops across North America and Europe before wrapping up with four shows at Los Angeles’ Kia Forum in August. The 75-date tour will visit iconic venues including New York’s Madison Square Garden, Sportpaleis in Antwerp, Belgium, and The O2 in London, as well as Manchester’s new Co-op Live.
Territories: United States, Europe
Dates: February-August
NOAH KAHAN
The American singer-songwriter follows up his sold-out 2022 and 2023 Stick Season Tour runs by returning to Australia to launch his We’ll All Be Here Forever Tour this week. Produced by Live Nation, the Australia leg kicks off on Wednesday (17 January 17) at Melbourne’s Sidney Myer Music Bowl, followed by shows at Fortitude Music Hall, Brisbane, Hordern Pavilion, Sydney and Red Hill, Perth. The 27-year-old then embarks on sellout arena runs on both sides of the Atlantic, before returning to Europe in August.
Territories: Australia, Europe, North America
Dates: January-September
DOJA CAT
Doja Cat’s first-ever VR concert was announced earlier this month, but the US rapper will appear in-person for her debut European headline tour this summer. Having performed her inaugural arena headline tour in the US and Canada from October-December 2023, she comes to Glasgow’s OVO Hydro on 11 June 2024, kicking off a European arena jaunt which also includes dates at festivals such as Rock in Rio Lisboa in Portugal, I-Days Festival in Italy, Poland’s Open’er, STHLM Fields in Sweden, Slottsfjell in Norway and Les Ardentes in Belgium.
Territories: Europe
Dates: June-July
BLINK-182
Reunited for the first time in a decade, Blink-182’s biggest-ever tour resumes Down Under next month at the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia on 8 February. The ANZ leg is followed by a Latin American stint in March, with dates in Peru, Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Colombia, Brazil and Mexico, ahead of a US and Canada arena run over the summer months. The band will then land in the UK for a mix of arena, outdoor and festival slots, including headlining Reading & Leeds.
Territories: Australia/New Zealand, Latin America, North America, Europe
Dates: February-August
IRON MAIDEN
The enduring metal legends are still breaking records – selling out all 42,000 tickets for their first concert in Bogota, Colombia since 2011 this November in just 21 minutes. Maiden played to more than 750,000 fans across Europe and North America last summer and will hit the road again in Australia and New Zealand in September. The Future Past Tour will then move on to Japan for shows in Aichi, Osaka, Tokyo and Kanagawa, prior to a slew of North American gigs. It will conclude in South America in December, with two nights each at Chile’s National Stadium in Santiago and Allianz Parque in São Paulo, Brazil.
Territories: Australia/New Zealand, Asia, North America, Latin America
Dates: September-December
THE 1975
The British group’s 2023 was shrouded in controversy as a result of their infamous headline set that led to the cancellation of Malaysia’s Good Vibes Festival. But their touring business continues on the up and up, with a slate of European arena shows booked for Q1 2024, including three nights at The O2 in London.
Territories: Europe
Dates: February-March
NICKI MINAJ
Nicki Minaj Presents: Pink Friday 2 World, the Trinidadian rapper’s biggest tour to date, launches in Oakland, California, on 1 March. The North American leg runs until 12 May, visiting venues including Madison Square Garden in New York, Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle and Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. The European stint will commence on 23 May at Amsterdam’s Ziggo Dome, also visiting Manchester, Birmingham, London, Paris, Cologne and Berlin.
Territories: North America, Europe
Dates: March-June
MADONNA
The rearranged North American stretch of Madonna’s Celebration Tour continues over the next three months. The Queen of Pop began the anniversary tour in London last October, having been forced to postpone the 40-plus date run in the US, Canada and Mexico after being hospitalised last year. The outing will climax in the spring with five shows at Palacio De Los Deportes, Mexico City from 20-26 April.
Territories: North America
Dates: January-April
JONAS BROTHERS
On the heels of touring their native North America in 2023, Jonas Brothers are taking Five Albums. One Night. The World Tour around the world in 2024. The show, which sees the group perform their five studio albums every night, picks back up in the Philippines at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay on 22 February, followed two days later by a gig in Tangerang, Indonesia. The trio then move on to arenas in New Zealand and Australia, with their first Latin America concerts in 10 years – comprising nights in Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Chile and Argentina – scheduled for April, along with three shows in Mexico. The trek will then hit European arenas from May-June.
Territories: Asia, Australia/New Zealand, Latin America, Europe
Dates: February-June
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Post Malone, Stevie Nicks to headline new US festival
Post Malone, Stevie Nicks and Noah Kahan are slated to headline the inaugural edition of Lovin’ Life music festival in the US next year.
The three-day event will take place in Charlotte, North Carolina, between 3–5 May, with 40 artists performing across three stages.
Mt. Joy, Dominic Fike, Young the Giant and Jessie Murph are also on the bill for the 30,000-capacity event at N Brevard St.
Lovin’ Life is promoted by Southern Entertainment (est. 1994) – the Charlotte-based company behind music festivals such as Carolina Country Music Fest in South Carolina and the Barefoot Country Music Fest in New Jersey.
Mt. Joy, Dominic Fike, Young the Giant and Jessie Murph are also on the bill for the 30,000-capacity event
“After producing events all over the East Coast, we’ve dreamt of bringing a major music festival to Charlotte, and the Lovin’ Life Music Fest is our passion project,” says Bob Durkin, co-founder and partner of Southern Entertainment. “We’re thrilled to support the ongoing effort to make our hometown of Charlotte a Music City in such a big way.”
Rob Pedlow, co-founder and partner at Southern Entertainment, adds: “Charlotte’s ready for its own signature event. Lovin’ Life will be our very own Charlotte-flavored Lollapalooza, a new economic engine for the Queen City creating jobs, supporting area nonprofits and drawing music enthusiasts from across the Carolinas and beyond.”
Tickets for Lovin’ Life range from US$269 for three-day general admission to $1,199 for three-day Super VIP.
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