Happy birthday to us This year marks Andrea Bocelli’s 65th birthday and 30 years of an iconic career that’s seen him sell nearly 90 million albums worldwide. Gift yourself with tickets to his upcoming show at the Bell Centre on April 11, which will feature selections from his uplifting solo album Believe, as well as a selection of arias, beloved crossover hits and famed love songs.
An eternity of tunes Ascendant Vermont-born, neo-folk pop artist Noah Kahan is making the jump to the big leagues with his (appreciatively) optimistically named We’ll All Be Here Forever World Tour, which already boasts several sold out dates in Europe and North America. Impressively, Kahan became only the fifth artist in history with 18 songs on the Billboard Hot Rock and Alternative Charts in one week — one week! — and he’ll be bringing his easy-on-the-eyes-and-ears charm to the Bell Centre on April 13.
Let loose the Barbz! Understandably insatiable Nicki Minaj fans — a.k.a. the Barbz, and they are legion — are no doubt rejoicing that the undisputed empress of hip-hop (133 Billboard Hot 100 hits; nine videos north of 1 billion views… insert mic drop here) will be bringing her Pink Friday 2 World Tour to the Bell Centre on April 17.
Not sure there’ll even be standing room Country music titan Tim McGraw needs no introduction. The three-time Grammy-Award winner’s career spans three decades, and his spring Standing Room Only Tour promises his signature high energy, huge production and biggest hits, as well as tracks from his recently released 17th studio album of the same name. The tour, which features fellow Grammy-Award winner Carly Pearce as a special guest, lands in the Bell Centre on May 2.
Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto Thank you very much indeed to longstanding prog/pop/soft rockers Styx, whose catalogue spans nearly 42 years and now 17 albums with their most recent LP, the highly acclaimed Crash of the Crown. Including original members James “JY” Young, Tommy Shaw and Chuck Panozzo, the band behind classic radio hits like Come Sail Away, Babe and Mr. Roboto will take the stage at the Place Bell arena on MTL’s north shore on May 21.
Montréal calling Reigning MTL indie rock darlings Half Moon Run have been demonstrating their musical Midas touch for the better part of 15 years. Now, they’re extending that seemingly bottomless ability into the creation of L’Appel Montréal, a one-day festival promising a dream lineup for indie fans (every element of the festival will be carefully curated by the band). Indie-pop outfit and fellow Montrealers Men I Trust will co-headline the outdoor event at Olympic Park, May 30.
Where there are Chainsmokers, there’s fire American electronic DJ and production duo The Chainsmokers have had a remarkable career trajectory, going from releasing remixes of indie artists a decade ago to becoming the stadium-filling, Grammy-Award-winning, Billboard-busting EDM/pop powerhouse they are today. So much so that Forbes magazine listed them as the highest-paid DJs in the world. The Chainsmokers will light up Parc Jean-Drapeau on June 7.
He's gonna need more heads for all those hats He’s a rapper, singer, songwriter, businessman, actor, philanthropist, brand ambassador, radio station owner and activist. Heck, he even founded his own NASCAR racing team. Clearly there are more hours in Latin hip-hop/reggaeton/pop superstar Pitbull’s day than there are in most of ours. The man’s energy is as infectious as his music, and fans will be able to tap into that when Pitbull brings the party to Parc Jean-Drapeau on June 8.
Dogg-gone it Turns out an old Dogg can teach you new tricks. By all accounts, the most recognizable and arguably most popular figure in hip-hop, the legendary Snoop Dogg, has more than a few surprises in store on his latest and 20th studio album, Missionary. Snoop has re-teamed with iconic producer Dre. Dre and Death Row Records for the new album, which fans will likely hear tracks from when Snoop hotboxes the Bell Centre with G-funk pioneers Warren G and DJ Quik, as well as DJ Green Lantern, June 9.
Summer concerts
It’s 11:11… make a wish And if that wish was to see and hear one of the most prominent voices in the canon of R&B, Chris Brown, then consider it granted. Sometimes called the new Michael Jackson of R&B (lookin’ at you 50 Cent), Brown’s stage presence and performances are the stuff of legend. Brown dances his 11:11 Tour (named for his chart-topping 11th studio album of the same name) into the Bell Centre on June 20 with special guest Ayra Starr.
Trippin’ with the Kid Atmospheric melodic rap, alternative hip-hop, neo-psychedelia or, as Kid Cudi himself has called it, “space punk rock,” Cudi’s winning formula is that there really isn’t any formula at all. The multi-platinum rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, actor and fashion designer draws from a big bag of influences including R&B, synthpop, indie rock, grunge and more. He brings his new and ninth studio album Insano to the Bell Centre with special guests Pusha T and Jaden on July 20.
Heavy rock heavyweights There won’t be lightning but there will be thunder when two of the biggest monsters of metal tag-team Montréal this summer. Titans of tuneage Mastodon and Lamb of God are joining forces to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their best-selling albums Leviathan and Ashes of the Wake, respectively. (Both albums were released on August 31, 2004.) Their aptly titled Ashes of Leviathan co-headlining tour will rattle the rafters of the Bell Centre on August 1.
August just got hotter The unstoppable force that is Jennifer Lopez will push the mercury through the roof when she brings her This Is Me… Now tour to la belle ville this summer. The tour is named for the hip-hop/pop/R&B diva’s new album, her first studio recording in nearly a decade, and its accompanying autobiographical “musical rom-com action sci-fi” bio pic. J-Lo, who Forbes magazine called the most powerful celebrity in the world, is in the (Bell Centre) house on August 5.
Raging arena rock redux Rock’n’roll in the ’70s never felt so good as when monsters of riffing and harmony — like, say, Heart and Cheap Trick — were doing it. Well, lo and behold, what once was old is brand spankin’ new again as Heart, still led by the Wilson sisters, come out of a five-year hiatus for their Royal Flush 2024 tour with special guests Cheap Trick. The two groups of Rock and Roll Hall of Famers will fill the Bell Centre with memories on August 8.
Roll out the “Linoleum” The bad news is that SoCal punk superstars NOFX are calling it a day. The good news is they’re going out in their own epic style: they’re celebrating 40 years with a 40-city final tour that features the legends playing 40 songs each concert (full albums, rarities and a set list that changes every night). Their last-ever (sniff, sniff) Montréal shows take place outdoors at Olympic Park on August 24 and 25, and they’re promising a stacked lineup of support bands each day.
Out of the eye of the storm Following a tumultuous few years marked by the deaths of friends and family, Kentucky-bred alt/indie rock six-piece Cage The Elephant have channeled grief and catharsis into their new record, Neon Pill. The architects of instantly recognizable college radio classics like Shake Me Down, Come a Little Closer and Cigarette Daydreams will, as is their custom, leave it all on the Bell Centre stage with openers Young the Giant and Bakar on August 26.
Inhale painful breakup, exhale smoky pop Masters of the slow-burning, heartstring-plucking pop song, Cigarettes After Sex are back with another melancholic slow-dance album in the form of X’s. Described as “akin to disco ball-refracted tears on the dance floor” (make of that what you will), X’s mines the bottomless pit of relationship angst that is perpetual songwriting gold for the Cigarettes. The X’s World Tour stops at the Bell Centre on August 31.
Da Bronx in da house With over 21B (that’s 21 with a B, dang) career music streams and having amassed more than 50 RIAA Platinum and Gold certifications, chart-topping hip-hop superstar A Boogie Wit da Hoodie has consolidated himself as one of the music industry’s biggest names. Proof positive of that is the New York native’s Better Off Alone arena tour across New Zealand, Australia, Europe, the U.K. and North America, which lands in the Bell Centre, September 12.
He scores, big time You may not know the name, but unless you live in a complete cultural vacuum (it’s possible), you’ll be very familiar with the work of Hans Zimmer. The prolific, Academy-Award-winning composer has scored some of the most memorable soundtracks to many of Hollywood’s biggest movies, including Pirates of the Caribbean, The Lion King, The Dark Knight trilogy, Top Gun: Maverick and Dune: Part Two, to name a very few. Zimmer’s smash-hit tour — featuring an 18-piece live band and a full orchestra — pours pure entertainment into the Bell Centre, September 17.
Fall concerts
Here comes, and there goes, Clancy Masterful songwriting machine Twenty One Pilots are back with latest LP, Clancy, the final chapter in their nearly decade-long concept album endeavour, and named for the central character in the series. Rap, rock, pop, punk, you name it, are all staple components of the highly creative and eclectic Twenty One Pilots toolbox. The Grammy-Award-winning duo —whose mega-hits include Stressed Out, Chlorine and Ride — will wow fans at the Bell Centre, September 25.
Bringing SexyBack to MTL He collects awards and accolades like other people collect baseball cards (10 Grammys, four Emmys, nine Billboard awards and so on and so forth…). Now, for the first time in five years, former ’N Sync singer and reigning Prince of Pop, Justin Timberlake, is taking the show on the road once again. Timberlake’s Forget Tomorrow World Tour, in support of his sixth studio album, Everything I Thought It Was, will rock your body on October 4 at the Bell Centre.
The past is blasting After an 11-year hiatus, and on the 30th anniversary of their formation, post-grunge hit-makers Creed have reunited and picked up where they left off with their Are You Ready? Tour. The ninth best-selling musical act of the 2000s, Creed will join fellow rockers Mammoth WVH (fun fact: WVH stands for frontman Wolfgang Van Halen, the son of Eddie Van Halen) and Finger Eleven (fun fact: they were originally known as the Rainbow Butt Monkeys) at the Bell Centre on November 25.
Jamie O'Meara
Jamie O'Meara was the Editor-in-Chief at C2 Montréal and the former Editor-in-Chief of alt-weekly newspaper HOUR Magazine.
