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| 2014's Made in America festival is in Philly and LA over the Labor Day weekend |
When we last reported news about the 2014 Made in America festival – the newly bicoastal Labor Day weekend concert started by Jay Z, Live Nation and Budweiser – rumors about the lineups for Philadelphia and Los Angeles were rampant, and Glamorosi Magazine sources hinted that an Eminem and Rihanna pairing, OutKast, and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers might be in the mix. Now, with the Made in America 3 (MIA3) lineups coming soon, additional rumors find names like Frank Ocean, Coldplay, Foo Fighters and Wu-Tang Clan at the top of the list.
Back on April 17, 2014, Glamorosi Magazine predicted a potential line-up for Made in America 3, as well as a tour pairing Jay Z with his wife Beyoncé. Part of that already came true on April 28 when Bey and Jay announced their joint On the Run stadium shows. Then, on May 17, they dropped RUN, a star-studded promotional video for the tour.
As far as August 30 and 31’s Made in America 3 festival goes, the Eminem and Rihanna live pairing that we broke the news on in November 2013 still looks good for Philly’s MIA, as their summer tour isn’t playing that market. Outkast, also not scheduled for Philly anytime soon, did book a slot at Delaware’s Firefly Festival in Dover, DE for June 19-22. Are there enough Outkast fans in the Tri-state area to support two fests? Our other prediction, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (for Philly, rather than LA) is still warm, as they’re gearing up to majorly push their first album in four years, Hypnotic Eye, along with a 20th anniversary reissue of Wildflowers.
Now, several big name hip hop and alternative rock acts are heating up the MIA3 rumor mill. Coldplay hasn't yet announced a major tour to go with the release of its new album, Ghost Stories, but their name just jumped to the list of MIA headliners. Makes sense? Coldplay frontman Chris Martin is friends with Jay Z, and wouldn’t it be great to hear them at MIA Los Angeles, especially if Hova stopped by and performed the crunching “99 Problems” with their backing as he did with Pearl Jam at the first MIA in 2012?
Another top notch act, Dave Grohl’s Foo Fighters, have suddenly become a top contender for MIA Philly. Their latest project has them working in eight different cities around the country, recording with local musicians, playing local gigs, and filming every bit of the process for an HBO series due to debut late 2014. Last week, The Foo Fighters recorded at New Orleans' Preservation Hall before playing a surprise show with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. They could easily do the same in Philly before heading to MIA on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.
On the hip hop tip, Wu-Tang Clan’s name got thrown into the ring for a moment when RZA’s band was finishing up one of its new albums, A Better Tomorrow, due for release in July (Wu’s other new album, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, is rumored to have only one copy in production that will travel to museums. That’s why I love RZA). Word has it that not every member has contributed to A Better Tomorrow, but how that will determine Wu-Tang’s touring plans is up in the air.
Lastly, there’s singer and rapper Frank Ocean, the occasional member of Odd Future who worked with Jay Z on "Oceans", the best track on Hova’s 2013 album, Magna Carta... Holy Grail. Ocean has been in the studio working on the follow-up to his platinum-selling, critically acclaimed debut Channel Orange. Word has it that he’s hot to play the new music publicly. What could be more public than MIA?
UPDATE 5/20/14: This morning, the Wells Fargo Center announced that Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers would be playing Philly on September 15, and that Steve Winwood would be the opening act on the tour.
UPDATE 5/22/14: The MIA Philly lineup just came out: Kanye West is the hip hop headliner, Kings of Leon are the top rockers. What’s strange about this is that Kanye took part in the first Philly Made in America in 2012, so we had heard this rumor, but it sounded unlikely owing to Jay Z’s search for the most unique acts. Go figure. The rest of the lineup includes Pharrell Williams, Chromeo, Danny Brown, Girl Talk, The National, Spoon, De La Soul, City & Colour, and Mayer Hawthorne taking to the big stages, with Steve Aoki, Tiesto, and DJ Penguin Prison in the electro-dance tent. Stay tuned for the Los Angeles update.
For more of our Made in America festival coverage click here.
Graphic © Budweiser Made in America
Posted on Monday, May 19, 2014
