RALEIGH — The concert card for the Old North State is starting to fill out with an impressive list of world-class artists set to perform over the next 12 months. Winston-Salem landed a coveted stadium performance by Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Billy Joel, who will visit the Twin City on Oct. 13 at Wake Forest’s BB&T Field.
The Queen City landed a coveted date with Super Bowl halftime show headliner Justin Timberlake as his “The Man of the Woods Tour” will stop at Charlotte’s Spectrum Center on Jan. 8, 2019. The Spectrum Center will also be the only stops in North Carolina for Maroon 5 (Oct. 4), James Taylor & Bonnie Raitt (May 16) and Rod Stewart (July 28).
The Capital City will also host an exclusive concert with Raleigh’s PNC Arena securing the only N.C. stop for Tim McGraw and Faith Hill’s “Soul2Soul” world tour on June 22, 2018. This tour is the couple’s first in support of a joint album, their 2017 “The Rest of Our Life” record. The tour was extended after and 80-date run of sellouts in 2017.
Raleigh is — so far — the only N.C. stop on Elton John’s “Farewell Yellow Brick Road” tour, set for March 12, 2019. John’s final tour kicks off in the U.S. on Sept. 8, 2018, and will consist of more than 300 shows across five continents, hitting North America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, South America and Australia before reaching its conclusion in 2021.
Greensboro will also host a farewell tour stop as Paul Simon will make a stop in the Gate City on June 19, 2018. The 76-year-old is calling his “Homeward Bound — The Farewell Tour” his last.
“I’ve often wondered what it would feel like to reach the point where I’d consider bringing my performing career to a natural end,” Simon said in a statement shared to Twitter. “Now I know: it feels a little unsettling, a touch exhilarating and something of a relief.”
Rock ’n’ roller Bon Jovi will play at Charlotte’s Spectrum Center and Raleigh’s PNC Arena on April 21 and April 24, respectively. The two venues will also host the Eagles (April 11 in Charlotte and April 17 in Raleigh) and Journey and Def Leppard (June 5 in Raleigh and June 9 in Charlotte).
Charlotte will get an early date on Metallica’s world tour on Oct. 22, 2018, at the Spectrum Center. Raleigh will have to wait until Jan. 28, 2019, to hear “Enter Sandman” ring through PNC Arena. Following last summer’s 25-date stadium run, Metallica is returning to North America for a second leg, bringing the in-the-round production currently being seen in European arenas. The band is also offering a “Wherever I May Roam Black Ticket” that will give a limited number of fans floor access to any show on the tour. “Feel like trucking to Tulsa? Booking to Boise? Motoring to Minneapolis? No problem… you pick the show, call us no less than 48 hours before the gig and you’re in!,” the release reads. A limited number of 250 of these Black Tickets will be available for $598. Spotify will have presale tickets starting Feb. 28. Tickets for the general public go on sale Friday, March 2nd at 10 a.m.
The summer country Mega Ticket series will again be staged at Raleigh’s Walnut Creek Amphitheater and Charlotte’s PNC Music Pavilion. This year the series — which runs from May to October — will feature eight events. Raleigh and Charlotte will host Luke Bryan, Rascal Flatts, Keith Urban, Dierks Bentley, Jason Aldean, Lady Antebellum & Darius Rucker, and Kenny Chesney. Brad Paisley will complete the set in Raleigh while Little Big Town & Miranda Lambert fill out Charlotte’s slate. Lambert will also perform a solo gig at Winston-Salem’s Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Mar. 24, 2018.
North Carolina’s Scotty McCreery will celebrate his first No. 1 single – “Five More Minutes” reached the top spot on Billboard’s Country Airplay Chart this week — this weekend at Greensboro’s Cone Denim Entertainment Center on March 3. McCreery will also take the stage at Harrah’s Cherokee on May 4, 2018.
Reuters contributed to this article.
