Sting performs at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago, IL (Photo by Dan Garcia).
Highland Park’s Ravinia Festival, one of the most unique festivals in the country, has blessed music fans with their full 2022 lineup.
Headlining the Illinois festival this upcoming summer will be names like Stevie Nicks, Common, Sting, Pitbull, Why Don’t We, The Revivalists, John Fogerty, Little Big Town, Bonnie Raitt and many more. The festival kicks off at the end of May and will run until the middle of September.
Ravinia attracts hundreds of thousands of fans throughout the season and features seating in a 3,000+ seat pavilion as well as an expansive lawn area for fan picnics during performances, unlike nothing else that you’ll experience. You can visit the festival’s official website for tickets and more information.
Check out some highlights from Ravinia’s 2022 lineup below and check out their full schedule here.
While on the surface it may seem like an unlikely pairing, Sting and Shaggy complemented each other in the best way possible on Tuesday night at Chicago’s Aragon Ballroom for their co-headlining 44/876 Tour.
Rewind to earlier in the year when the two first released their debut single ‘Don’t Make Me Wait’, music fans everywhere raised eyebrows over the catchy but unexpected collaboration. But when you think about Sting and The Police’s strong reggae influences, it’s almost a no brainer for Sting and Shaggy to team up in some capacity. Both artists played a big role throughout the years in bringing reggae into mainstream radio, so when you dig deeper, the two have more similarities than they do differences.
So thanks to Martin Kierszenbaum (Sting’s manager and Shaggy’s A&R), the two combined forces, recorded a single, recorded an album and are now touring the country together in support of their new LP. Fast forward to October 2nd and fans at Chicago’s Aragon Ballroom were able to enjoy the duo live and in person.
And if you went into Tuesday’s show not knowing what to expect, you weren’t alone. Would Shaggy open the show? Would the two perform together? Or some format even more unexpected than the collaboration itself?
What fans got though was a true co-headlining tour from Shaggy and Sting, where the two performed together on stage throughout the entire night, delivering cuts from their album, as well as Sting, Shaggy and The Police’s greatest hits. Although their 44/876 album (named after the UK’s +44 country code and Jamaica’s 876 area code) is certainly a great listen, the two were certainly aware that their fans came to hear the decades of hits. So with their 2-hour performance, Sting and Shaggy were able to deliver all of the above.
One thing that was instantly apparent was how much fun the two have performing together. Opening with Sting’s 1987 track ‘Englishman in New York’, Shaggy put his spin on things, flipping the song into ‘Jamaican in New York’, before performing their album’s title track. The two seemed to enjoy backing up the other, as much as they enjoyed performing their collaborative songs together.
It’s no surprise that Sting is able to enjoy himself at yesterdays venue either. Not only was it the legendary singer’s birthday, but Sting is no stranger to the Aragon Ballroom. Many fans in attendance last night were surely in the same building a year ago for Sting’s sold-out show in 2017. But Sting’s Aragon connections go back further than that, as The Police performed at the Aragon Ballroom on November 20th, 1980 for the band’s second tour ever. From that point on, the band hit stadium status and delivered memorable Chicago performances at Comiskey Park (’83) and Wrigley Field (2007).
With the two having the time of their lives, their fans followed, as the crowd enjoyed the performances from start to finish. Highlights were present throughout the night, but personal favorites included their performance of ‘Don’t Make Me Wait’ as well as their mash-up of ‘Roxanne’ and ‘Boombastic’, which brought their regular set to an end before their encore performance of The Police’s classic hit ‘Every Breath You Take’, Shaggy’s ‘It Wasn’t Me’ and more.
A year ago, Chicago music fans didn’t know they needed a Sting and Shaggy concert in the lives, but Chicago is so glad it got one!
Check out our photos from last night’s performance below and get your tickets for the remaining dates of the 44/876 Tour here.
Summer has come and gone but that doesn’t mean you have to put your live music fix on hold, as the Windy City will host a number of amazing concerts this fall.
From Elton John’s farewell tour, to the awesome due of Sting & Shaggy and of course a massive stadium show with Ed Sheeran, there are plenty of concerts that you won’t want to miss in October.
Check out our list of the 14 can’t miss concerts in Chicago this month!
iHeartRadio went all in this year for their epic iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas, NV. Taking place in Sin City’s brand new T-Mobile Arena, fans will see the biggest names in music and the festival’s best lineup to date. Performing the festival this year will be mega-stars like Drake, Sia, Ariana Grande and Britney Spears, legends like Sting and Billy Idol, and much more, including performances from Zedd, Usher, Pitbull, Cage The Elephant and many more.
While Vegas gets us all in the betting mode, don’t gamble on this one, get your tickets now before its too late! The 2-day festival will take place on Friday, September 23rd and Saturday, September 24th. The festival will also host its Daytime Village, which will take place on the strip and feature sets from Alessia Cara, Sam Hunt, DNCE, Hailee Steinfeld, The Chainsmokers, Bryson Tiller and more.
Check out iHeartRadio’s official video announcement below.
Two legends in music, Sting and Peter Gabriel, have teamed up for a huge North American tour. Dubbed the “Rock Paper Scissors Tour”, Gabriel and The Police frontman will hit a number of stops throughout North America, including a July 10th performance at Milwaukee’s Summerfest. But unlike your normal game of Rock Paper Scissors, where you have a 1 out of 3 chance in winning, this version of RPS lets everyone come out victorious.
Speaking on the tour, Gabriel said “what intrigues me is that you get a good bunch of musicians together and interesting things will happen.” Sting also added that he thinks “people will be intrigued.” And with the lineup alone, no matter what the two decide to do with the tour, we have no reason to doubt that fans will be intrigued on all sorts of levels. The tour will kick off June 21st in Columbus and will hit 19 stops total until the tour concludes in Edmonton, Alberta on July 24th.
Tickets to the show will be available via LiveNation.com, but you can check out the complete list of tour dates below!
The Early Registration 