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Music News: Brandi Carlile announces all-women festival

Brandi Carlile at The Current in 2014.
Brandi Carlile at The Current in 2014.Nate Ryan/MPR

by Jay Gabler

July 19, 2018

Brandi Carlile has announced a new music festival with a lineup consisting exclusively of women artists — "to show," reports Rolling Stone, that "female artists are not only worthy of booking, but they are bankable, too."

Girls Just Wanna Weekend will take place from Jan. 30 to Feb. 3, 2019 at the Hard Rock Hotel in Riviera Maya, Mexico. In addition to Carlile, the lineup will include artists including Margo Price, the Indigo Girls, Lucius, the Secret Sisters, and Maren Morris.

"It all comes down to wanting to make a statement, to men and women," says Carlile, who says she hopes the festival will attract a wide range of fans. "The most amazing thing would be to look out into that crowd, and see men."

Jay-Z festival "evicted" from Philadelphia freeway

In other festival news, Philadelphia mayor Jim Kenney has said that after this year, Jay-Z’s annual Made in America festival will no longer be held on the city's Benjamin Franklin Freeway. In response, the festival founder wrote an op-ed in the local newspaper.

"We are disappointed that the Mayor of the City of Philadelphia would evict us from the heart of the city, through a media outlet, without a sit-down meeting, notice, dialogue or proper communication. It signifies zero appreciation for what Made In America has built alongside the phenomenal citizens of this city," wrote Jay-Z.

This year's festival will take place on Sept. 1 and 2, with performers including Janelle Monáe, Alessia Cara, and Nicki Minaj. (Billboard)

Springsteen's heading to Netflix

Bruce Springsteen’s acclaimed solo show has been one of the hottest and most expensive tickets on Broadway this year, but by the end of the year you'll be able to see it for the mere price of a Netflix subscription.

On Dec. 15, the day of the Boss's final onstage performance, the show will be released as a Netflix special. As the New York Times notes, if the special is good, it could put Springsteen in a position to land an EGOT: he already has a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony.

New York '79 nightlife headed to Broadway

In the latest intersection between rock music and theater, a musical opening next week in New York is set in 1979, moving back and forth between the Mudd Club and Studio 54. It's called This Ain't No Disco, a line from the Talking Heads song that mentions the Mudd Club.

The show is co-written by Hedwig and the Angry Inch creator Stephen Trask and Peter Yanowitz, a musician who's played with Yoko Ono, Natalie Merchant, and the Wallflowers.

The New York Times reports that the show "centers on the friendship between a gay hustler and aspiring graffiti artist and an African-American punk singer, whom Mr. Trask described as 'a mash-up of Patti Smith and Nona Hendryx.'"

Phil Collins preps big box

Phil Collins has announced a new box set that will spotlight his career-spanning history of collaborations with dozens of artists including Paul McCartney, the Bee Gees, Chaka Khan, Annie Lennox, and Joe Cocker.

Plays Well With Others, which comes out Sept. 28, fits 59 tracks on four discs and "highlights Collins' deft ability to drum in various styles," reports Rolling Stone. Shortly after the set's release, Collins will head out on his first major North American tour in over a decade. "Not Dead Yet, Live!" will come to Target Center on Oct. 21.