iTunes Festival to Return to London for Eighth Year

The iTunes Festival will be returning home this September and taking a few American artists with them back to the United Kingdom. The festival announced that they will be returning to London for the 30 days of live performances. 

The iTunes Festival will celebrate its 8th year with acts such as Maroon 5, Pharrell, Kylie Minogue, Calvin Harris, 5 Seconds of Summer and many more, though those are just some that have been announced.

The popularity of the event was so big that earlier this year, the event made its American debut. At the end, there should be a grand total of 60 acts taking the stage at the end of September. 

Fans who are interested in winning tickets to see any of the performers, have the chance to do so by entering official ballots which can be accessed through the iTunes store. Winners will be chosen via lottery system. 

And like every year if you are not from the U.K., then don’t plan on entering because this is strictly for those who live across the pond. (Sorry.) But, like previous years, the concerts will be filmed and streamed online by Apple with fans getting a chance to watch the performances from their computers, iPhones, iPads and iPod touch device or through Apple TV. Apple is attempting to broadcast the shows, live, to more than 100 countries. 

The legendary Blondie, Robert Plant, Beck, Kasabian have all been confirmed to be headlining at some point during the month-long event. 

Soundgarden to Perform ‘Superunknown’ at U.S. iTunes Festival

Fans of Soundgarden might want to take a trip to Austin, TX during the week of South by Southwest because it has been reported that the grunge band will be performing its hit 1994 album, Superunknown in full during their set.

Superunknown being performed from beginning to end, will be the first time in the history of the band that they do so. The concert will take place at The Moody Theater on March 13 and will be streamed live on iTunes in the U.S. for those not fortunate enough to score tickets to the show.

When Soundgarden announced they might be heading out on tour in 2014, drummer Matt Cameron had said previously he would not be able to since he had prior commitments with his other band, Pearl Jam. Things must have either fallen through or Cameron found a loophole because the sticksman will be joining Chris Cornell, Kim Thayil and Ben Shepherd for the show.

The iTunes Festival performance will also mark the 20^th anniversary of Superunknown’s released which would go on to sell nine million copies and hit platinum five times. In honor of the milestone anniversary, a deluxe, expanded version of the album is set to be released in June as well as various versions of the albums, bonus tracks and never-before-seen photographs by Kevin Westerberg.

The band released their last album, King Animal back in November 2012.

As for the iTunes Festival, this is the first year that the festival will take place in the United States. Typically, the festival takes place in England in September, offering free shows from some of music’s biggest stars for an entire month. So far, the situation about tickets has not been released.

iTunes Festival to Hit South By Southwest

The iTunes Festival will finally be making its way to the United States this year as part of South By Southwest. The iTunes Festival, which usually takes place in England, gives fans the opportunity to see some of the biggest artists in music at no cost; the only catch is that it becomes a raffle of who can get tickets to attend.

According to press release from Apple, the festival will take place from March 11-15 and will feature performances from Coldplay, Imagine Dragons, Pitbull, Keith Urban, ZEDD, and may more that are still to be announced.

“The iTunes Festival in London has become an incredible way for Apple to share its love of music with our customers,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “We’re excited about the incredible lineup of artists performing and SXSW is the perfect place to debut the first iTunes Festival in the US.”

The shows will take place at ACL Live at the Moody Theater, home of Austin City Limits. “All five nights of the iTunes Festival will be available to enjoy for free as a live and on-demand stream via the iTunes Store® on your iPhone®, iPad®, iPod touch®, Mac® or PC. Performances can also be seen in the iTunes Festival app on your iOS device or with Apple TV® in stunning HD,” the official press release for the festival says about where you can watch the performances.

No word yet on how tickets will be distributed for this event.

Lady Gaga Teases Two New Songs

Yesterday, Lady Gaga gave her Little Monsters a little bit of a treat in the form of two teasers for two new tracks. Earlier in the day, she first released a short teaser from her rehearsals for the iTunes Festival on September 1 featuring new song, “Swine.” After leaving Little Monsters asking for more, she went ahead and released another rehearsal teaser which feature “Manicure,” another new song from her anticipated, ARTPOP.

Check out both teasers below and don’t forget, as if you could that ARTPOP will be released on November 11.

SWINE:

MANICURE:

iTunes Festival Adds More Performers

Kings of Leon and Vampire Weekend have been added to this year’s iTunes Festival.

Both bands will be performing at the Roadhouse, like all other iTunes Festival performers in September. Kings of Leon will perform at the month-long festival on September 11 while Vampire Weekend will follow them four days later on September  15. But KOL and VW aren’t the only ones that have been added to the already announced line-up; Paramore, Sigur Ros, Rizzle Kicks and composer Ludovico Einaudi have all been added to the bill.

As of now, the bill not only includes these new comers but also Justin Timberlake, Jake Bugg, Thirty Seconds To Mars, Queens Of The Stone Age, Jack Johnson, Primal Scream, Phoenix and Jessie J.

The festival will run every single night in September, with different performers taking the stage every night at the Roadhouse in Camden, London. As of right now, there will be an estimated 60 performers taking part in the show. Tickets for the festival are free, but before anyone gets any ideas of packing their bags and escaping to London for a month, only residents of the UK can qualify to be put in the lottery type give out they will be using.

But there is a silver-lining in all that. The festival will be broadcast live or on-demand on Apple devices and via iTunes.

LINE-UP (updated-6/19):

Sigur Ros (September 2)
Paramore (4)
Rizzle Kicks (5)
Queens Of The Stone Age (6)
Phoenix (7)
Jake Bugg (10)
Kings of Leon (11)
Vampire Weekend (15)
Jack Johnson (16)
Ludovico Einaudi (17)
30 Seconds to Mars (18)
Primal Scream (20)
Jessie J (23)
Justin Timberlake (29)

iTunes Line-Up Revealed

The line-up for the iTunes Festival has officially been revealed and Justin Timberlake, Phoenix, Queens of the Stone Age, Primal Scream, and Jessie J have all been included in the 30-day showcase in London.

The concert series which is for free, will be housed at the Roundhouse venue for the entire month of September. Other performers that have been confirmed for the series include 30 Seconds to Mars, Jake Bugg, and Jack Johnson as well as others that have yet to be announced.

At the end of the official announcement, there will be an estimated 60 acts taking part in the festival.

But before you start gathering your camping materials and calling in sick throughout September, tickets for the event are only available for U.K. residents. Those who do live in the U.K. will have to enter at the event’s website and then the tickets will be distributed by a lottery system.

For those not able to attend, Apple will be streaming the entire series online, so don’t feel completely bummed out.

iTunes Festival 2013 Lineup:

September 6 – Queens of the Stone Age
September 7 – Phoenix
September 10 – Jake Bugg
September 16 – Jack Johnson
September 18 – 30 Seconds to Mars
September 20 – Primal Scream
September 23 – Jessie J
September 29 – Justin Timberlake