He’s got the clout and popularity now to be filling arenas coast to coast. Yet Toronto rapper Drake is resisting the urge to get too big with his first stateside tour behind November’s widely hailed second album Take Care.
So instead he’s embarking on the Club Paradise College Tour, an outing designed to thank original fans by playing relatively intimate venues on or near university campuses.
Granted, the locations aren’t exactly tiny — his San Diego State visit on March 11 brings him to the full-size Viejas Arena. But that’s not as cavernous as Staples Center, which he could likely pack in an instant. Instead, Drake’s L.A. stop will see him perform March 5 at the considerably smaller Galen Center at USC, where capacity is roughly 10,000.
My question is: Why say this tour is “for the same people who supported me from day one,” as he told MTV, when you can’t possibly ensure that that’s who will snatch up tickets? They go on sale Friday, Jan. 27, at 10 a.m. for Galen, $99.75 (the $69.75 range are already sold out), and Friday at noon for Viejas, $39.75-$59.75. Opening both shows: two other rapidly rising rappers, Kendrick Lamar and A$AP Rocky.
Matt Nathanson fans in Orange County are getting some options and extra opportunities: You can see the singer-songwriter open for Kelly Clarkson at Nokia Theatre on April 3, or you can see him headline a place a fraction of that size, House of Blues Anaheim, on April 6. Tickets for the new local date, $20-$42.50, go on sale Friday at 10 a.m.
Meanwhile, at House of Blues Sunset Strip and on sale at that time: Andy Grammer, March 2, $15 … the Pretty Reckless, March 14, $12.50-$37.50 … and Decibel Magazine Tour featuring Behemoth with Watain, April 25, $22.50.
Indie-pop singer-songwriter Ingrid Michaelson, who just issued her fifth album, Human Again, will spotlight it when she headlines April 27 at the Wiltern in Los Angeles, $25-$30, on sale Friday at 10 a.m. Also at that venue: the Brian Jonestown Massacre, May 12, $19.50-$25, on sale at that same time … and two Hard parties that go on sale Thursday at 10a.m., Dub Police featuring Caspa & Trolley Snatcha, March 3, $25-$30, and A-Trak with Jack Beats and Oliver, March 31, $30-$35.
Two more Latin music nights have been planned at Gibson: Una Familia Con Suerte, March 16, $29.75-$125 … and Aventurera — El Musical, March 24, $54.75-$159.75. Both are on sale Friday at 1 p.m.
We had mentioned that last decade’s party animal Andrew W.K. was back and slated to play March 10 at the Glass House, $25. Now, in addition to tacking on a March 8 show at Avalon in Hollywood, $22.50, it has also been announced that these gigs will find him celebrating the 10th anniversary of his debut, I Get Wet, by playing the album in its entirety with a full band. Both dates go on sale Friday at 10 a.m.
Speaking of the Glass House, Circa Survive frontman Anthony Green has outgrown it — his solo showon Feb. 11 has been bumped up to the larger Fox Theater around the corner in downtown Pomona, $18.50. All originally purchased tickets will be honored. The Dear Hunter and Isadora Crane will open.
More at the Fox: Five Finger Death Punch with Soulfly and Windowpane, March 24, $32 in advance, $35 day of show … and the next Jagermeister Music Tour, this time featuring Portugal. The Man with the Lonely Forest, May 4, $22.50 in advance, $25 day of show. Both of those go on sale Friday at 10 a.m.
Last week we mentioned that the effectively closed Music Box continues to add spring gigs, despite the need to relocate a few shows happening in the next two weeks. In addition to Esperanza Spalding‘s April 27 appearance, $41, there’s also:
- A return visit from French composer and multi-instrumentalist Yann Tiersen, May 12, $25
- Bass-crazy Brit DJ Jon Gooch, who does business as Feed Me, March 17, $32
- A singer-songwriter’s showcase on March 7, featuring Jay Farrar (of Son Volt), Will Johnson, Anders Parker & Yim Yames (aka My Morning Jacket’s Jim James) and Sarah Jaffe, $22.50
- And neo-bluegrass group Trampled by Turtles, May 22, $22.50 in advance, $27 day of show.
All of those shows are on sale now, except for the last one, which becomes available Saturday at 10 a.m.
New at Club Nokia: Arcangel plays March 24, $35-$55, on sale now … and leetUP, a celebration of nerd art and culture, takes place for the first time on March 1, with host Kevin Pereira introducing on-stage podcasts featuring Kevin Smith, Chris Hardwick, Doug Benson, Greg Fitzsimmons and more. Those tickets, $15-$50, are on sale Friday at 10 a.m.
Kathleen Edwards, the Ottawa singer-songwriter who last week released her fourth full-length album, Voyageur, will play March 27 at El Rey Theatre, $20, on sale Friday at 10 a.m. Also coming to the L.A. venue: Mickey Hart Band, March 2, $30 … Jovanotti, March 17, $25 … and the Black Seeds, April 5, $17 in advance, $20 day of show. Those last two go on sale Saturday at 10 a.m., the gig from Dead drummer Hart is on sale now.
And just as Radiohead is playing Santa Barbara Bowl a day before Coachella, Florence + the Machine are playing that amphitheater during Coachella — April 14, to be exact, the day before she helps close out the first of two sold-out weekend festivals in Indio (three if you count Stagecoach). Tickets for Flo at the S.B. Bowl, $34-$50, are on sale Saturday at 11 a.m.
Photo, from a New Year’s Day appearance at the Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, by Ethan Miller, Getty Images.
More coming shows:
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