Although summertime is often associated with festival season, there are also plenty of artists doing their own tours. Those artists may have some festival appearances scattered throughout their itineraries, but the sunny weather is a solid incentive to open up the outdoor amphitheaters and arenas for some memorable live music, fest or not. From Missy Elliott’s first-ever headlining tour to the indie-rock fan’s dream combo of The National and The War On Drugs, check out the most anticipated summer concert tours of 2024.
21 Savage
The London-born, Atlanta-bred rapper 21 Savage has been touring North America since May 1, but he has several arena and amphitheater dates left on the American Dream Tour. That includes stops in Southern cities like Tampa, West Palm Beach, Birmingham, and, of course, Atlanta. He’ll be joined by J.I.D, Nardo Wick, and 21 Lil Harold.
Adrianne Lenker
— adrianne lenker (@AdrianneLenker) March 28, 2024
Over the years, Big Thief has become one of the most known names in contemporary indie rock. Frontwoman Adrianne Lenker, as her tour agenda showcases, has become wildly popular in her own right. Following her recent solo album, the sparse, somber Bright Future, Lenker brings opening act Twain along for a slew of dates, many of which are sold out, starting June 9 in Austin.
Bryson Tiller
Louisville vocalist and songwriter Bryson Tiller recently released his self-titled album back in April. He is currently touring behind it, and it continues through nearly all of June. Along the way, Tiller will make stops in cities like Nashville, Minneapolis, New York, Atlanta, and more.
Ethel Cain
ethel cain – the childish behavior tour
LA / NY pic.twitter.com/BgpHnmIGcV— (@concertleaks) December 5, 2023
Since her 2022 debut album, the dark, sprawling Preacher’s Daughter, Ethel Cain has steadily ascended through the ranks to become a pillar of indie-pop. Cain has hinted at new music here and there, but for now, she’s going to keep touring. That resumes with a North American tour this month following a slate of European dates. Her new schedule includes appearances at Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, Summerfest, Hinterland, and others.
Future / Metro Boomin
We Still Don’t Trust You unwittingly became the catalyst for the most fruitful hip-hop beef in recent memory when Kendrick Lamar dissed Drake and J. Cole during his guest verse on “Like That.” Future and Metro Boomin themselves have mostly stayed out of it — relatively, at least. After all, they do have a massive tour to focus on. The duo kicks things off in Kansas City on July 30 and wraps it up in Vancouver on Sept. 9.
Green Day
The Saviors Tour will travel across the globe, in which Bay Area pop-punk trio Green Day will perform their most iconic albums, 1994’s Dookie and 2004’s American Idiot, in full to respectively celebrate their 30th and 20th anniversaries. For select dates, they’ll bring along Smashing Pumpkins, Rancid, and The Linda Lindas.
Gunna
Gunna is a fixture of Atlanta rap, and he’s taking that idiosyncratic ATL style all over North America plus a small handful of European dates for The Bittersweet Tour. With opener Flo Milli, the YSL affiliate will visit cities like Miami, Orlando, and, obviously, Atlanta.
Janet Jackson
The queen of new jack swing, Janet Jackson, will embark on a large North American tour starting June 4 in Palm Desert, California. For last year’s tour, she brought Ludacris along as her opener, and this year, she’s bringing St. Louis rapper Nelly. The Together Again Tour will make stops in Anaheim, Salt Lake City, Denver, St. Paul, and plenty more cities.
Jhené Aiko
Jhené Aiko announces tour dates for ‘The Magic Hour Tour.’
She will be joined by Coi Leray, Tink, UMI, and Kiana Ledé. pic.twitter.com/WgAFyWlluF
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) March 26, 2024
From the middle of June to the end of August, Los Angeles R&B mainstay Jhené Aiko will tour North American arenas with openers Coi Leray, Tink, and Umi in tow. It kicks off at Detroit’s Little Caesars Arena on June 19 and wraps up at Columbus’ Nationwide Arena on Aug. 22.
Justin Timberlake
Earlier this year, Justin Timberlake released Everything I Thought It Was, his first studio album since 2018’s folk-tinged Man Of The Woods. To promote the new record, he’s currently on The Forget Tomorrow World Tour. It includes stops in cities like Tulsa, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, and many more.
Khruangbin
The Houston instrumental trio Khruangbin recently released A LA SALA, an album that leans into the group’s psych-pop proclivities. They’re touring behind it all summer in both Europe and North America, and joining them will be openers Arooj Aftab, Men I Trust, John Carroll Kirby, and Peter Cat Recording Co.
Lizzy McAlpine
Back in April, singer and songwriter Lizzy McAlpine released her third studio album, Older. She’s celebrating its release with a summer tour that takes her all the way from Washington, D.C. to Sydney, Australia and back to the States. McAlpine has a busy summer ahead of her, but that gives you plenty of chances to catch her show.
Megan Thee Stallion
Houston rapper Megan Thee Stallion is bringing the Hot Girl Summer Tour all over the globe. It’s currently underway, having stopped at cities like Minneapolis and Baltimore and will soon head to places like New Orleans, Dallas, and Meg’s very own Houston. Joining her will be Memphis rapper GloRilla.
Missy Elliott
”OUT OF THIS WORLD”TOUR
across NORTH AMERICA!!!! With my fam @ciara @BustaRhymes & my bro @timbaland The Spaceship will be Landing at an ARENA NEAR YOU
RUN 4 COVER!
PRE SALE starts this THURSDAY 10 am Local time https://t.co/VKk4wJUHCy pic.twitter.com/hBkkLeKsni— Missy Elliott (@MissyElliott) April 8, 2024
It’s hard to believe that someone as influential as Missy Elliott has never done her own headlining tour before. That is, until now. Alongside friends like Busta Rhymes, Timbaland, and Ciara, The Out Of This World Tour will start on July 4 in Vancouver and conclude on Aug. 22 in Rosemont, Illinois, right near the Chicago O’Hare International Airport. This is certainly a show you won’t want to miss.
Mitski
Having wrapped up a slew of European dates, Mitski is headed back to the States in August to tour behind last year’s excellent The Land Is Inhospitable And So Are We. She’ll usually be doing multiple nights at sizable theaters, such as three nights at Atlanta’s Fox Theatre and two nights at Detroit’s Masonic Temple Theatre. Joining her will be openers Arlo Parks, Lamp, Laufey, Alvvays, Wyatt Flores, Sharon Van Etten, and Sierra Ferrell, depending on the date.
Odesza
Odesza is a go-to festival headliner for many booking agents, and it’s easy to understand why. Their seismic strain of EDM is perfect for big fields and arenas alike. They embark on The Last Goodbye Finale Tour with openers Big Boi, Bob Moses, and more in tow, performing multiple nights at Los Angeles’ BMO Stadium, Berkeley’s Greek Theatre, and NYC’s Madison Square Garden along the way, as well as a hometown-adjacent run at The Gorge.
Olivia Rodrigo
If you managed to secure tickets to Olivia Rodrigo’s highly anticipated arena tour for her sophomore album, Guts, then count yourself lucky, as it’s completely sold out. She’ll spend June touring Europe before she returns to the U.S. with drum and bass/indie pop enthusiast PinkPantheress in July.
Pearl Jam
Eddie Vedder and co. have just released Dark Matter, their first album since 2020’s ill-timed Gigaton. To support the new record, they’ll perform all across the globe; the tour has currently taken them to Europe, and they’ll head back to the U.S. toward the end of August with opener Glen Hansard.
Peso Pluma
TICKETS NOW AVAILABLE
https://t.co/HbX5V4PJlD pic.twitter.com/pCwk3SBck1— Peso Pluma (@_PesoPluma) February 23, 2024
Mexican star Peso Pluma is headed to the United States later this month for a string of arena shows and festival appearances. The Exodo Tour will take him to Governors Ball in New York as well as his own shows in cities like Tampa, Oklahoma City, Houston, Kansas City, Omaha, and plenty more.
St. Vincent
In late April, Annie Clark released her latest album as St. Vincent, the entirely self-produced All Born Screaming. After a brief stint in Europe with Heartworms, she’ll tour all over the States with openers Yves Tumor, Dorian Electra, Spoon, and Eartheater for select dates.
Tate McRae
Canadian pop artist Tate McRae will take the world tour for her most recent album, Think Later, to North America starting this July. She’ll be performing in various amphitheaters with opening act Presley Regier. Her latest string of dates kicks off in her hometown of Calgary on July 5 and wraps up in New York on Aug. 22.
Taylor Swift
Cultural behemoth Taylor Swift is ready to stimulate some more local economies. The Eras Tour continues through Europe with openers Paramore all the way through late August. Fresh off the release of the messy, sprawling The Tortured Poets Department, 2024’s iteration of the tour now merges the Folklore and Evermore eras into one. But it also features a new set solely dedicated to TTPD.
The National / The War On Drugs
Indie dads rejoice! The National and The War On Drugs, as you’d expect, have a lot of overlap in terms of fandom. They’re both massive, beloved indie rock groups that always put on a spectacular show. Their co-headlining tour, dubbed the Zen Diagram Tour, will take them all over North American amphitheaters this September. Joining them is opener Lucius. Ahead of that, The National have a ton of dates this summer as they weave across Europe.
The Rolling Stones
Last year, The Rolling Stones put out their first studio album in seven years, Hackney Diamonds. Although it won’t be the same without core drummer Charlie Watts, Mick Jagger and the gang still put on an excellent show. They’ll tour all over stadiums, including stops in Chicago, Atlanta, Denver, and more.
Tomorrow X Together
K-pop boy band Tomorrow X Together have a few more tour dates left to play this summer. Whereas May took them primarily to cities on the West Coast, such as Los Angeles, Tacoma, and Oakland, this month’s stops include Rosemont, Washington D.C., and New York City.
Usher
As this year’s Super Bowl Halftime Show demonstrated, Usher is a one-of-a-kind performer. Now that he has finished his Las Vegas residency, he’ll kick off a run of sold-out arena dates starting with three nights in his hometown, Atlanta, on Aug. 14. It’ll run all the way through the end of November, with the three final U.S. dates in Houston.
Vampire Weekend
Following a few festival sets in May, indie-rock outfit Vampire Weekend will play North American arenas and outdoor theaters all summer long. Touring their latest album, Only God Was Above Us, Vampire Weekend will take Ra Ra Riot, Cults, Mike Gordon, La Lom, and Christone “Kingfish” Ingram on the road before heading to Europe in December.
Zach Bryan
Zach Bryan has quickly risen to fame as one of the most popular new left-of-center country artists. To capitalize on that quick ascendance, the Okalahoman alt-country songwriter will tour North American arenas for the rest of 2024. The Quittin Time Tour includes openers Sheryl Crow, Jason Isbell And The 400 Unit, Turnpike Troubadours, Sierra Ferrell, The Middle East, Levi Turner, and Matt Maeson.