Dave Matthews, Backstreet Boys, Tedeschi Trucks and more: 12 summer concerts to look forward to in Jacksonville
Tom SzaroletaGet ready for a loud summer, with more than 60 concerts coming to Northeast Florida between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Take your pick from metal and hip hop and country and salsa, boy bands, blues bands, jam bands and kick-your-teeth-out rock 'n' rollers. Some old favorites are stopping by, along with some exciting up-and-comers.
So how are you supposed to choose which shows are right for you? We've picked out a dozen that stand out from the crowd.
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Brooks & Dunn
7 p.m. Saturday, June 4, at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena. $26.84-$450
Retirement apparently doesn’t suit Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn. They played their “final” show in 2010 but are back on the road for a Reboot Tour. Will “Play Something Country” be in their setlist? Are those high notes on “My Maria” still within Dunn's range? Will “Boot Scootin’ Boogie” bring out the line dancers?
Dave Matthews Band
7:30 p.m. Monday, June 6, and Tuesday, June 7, at Daily's Place. $135-$380.
Dave Matthews and guitarist Tim Reynolds were one of the first acts to play at Daily’s Place when the venue opened in 2017, but it’s pretty rare to see the full Dave Matthews Band in a place that seats only 5,500 fans. DMB is one of those acts that fans follow around the country, so don’t be surprised to see a lot of out-of-state license plates in the parking lot and a bunch of the same people attending both shows.
Machine Gun Kelly
7:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 14, at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena. $46-$325.
When Machine Gun Kelly played a show at Daily’s Place last April, it was kind of a big deal, one of the first events in Jacksonville to be sold at 100 percent capacity since the start of the pandemic. For this show, he’s across the parking lot at the larger VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena. Blackbear and Ian Diorr open the show.
Backstreet Boys
7:30 p.m. Monday, June 20, at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena. $31.76-$296.75.
The Backstreet Boys can’t really be touring to mark the 25th anniversary of their debut album, can they? Actually, it’ll be 26 years by the time this twice-delayed show finally hits the stage in Jacksonville, but it’s still the original five Boys – AJ, Howie, Nick, Kevin and Brian – and their DNA Tour also includes stops in Tampa and West Palm Beach.
Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band
7:30 p.m. Friday, June 24, at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre. $52-$154.
What would you do if he sang out of tune at his St. Augustine show? Ringo, of course, plays lots of Beatles songs but also allows his band – including former members of Toto, Men at Work and David Lee Roth's band – to do their own songs. Edgar Winter is a new addition to the band for this tour.
Tedeschi Trucks Band
7 p.m. Friday, June 24, at Daily’s Place. $45.75-$149.75
The Jacksonville-based band traditionally opens its annual Wheels of Soul summer tour with a hometown gig. This one was delayed two years by the pandemic, although a smaller version of the band did play two shows at Daily’s Place last summer. All 12 members of the band are on board this time. Los Lobos and TTB keyboardist Gabe Dixon open the show.
The Stadium Tour
4:30 p.m. Saturday, July 2, at TIAA Bank Field. $29-$750.
Rock fans were excited when they first heard news that Def Leppard, Motley Crue, Joan Jett and Poison were coming to Jacksonville for a stadium show. But that was more than two years ago and now those same fans are holding their breath, hoping the bands can keep it together long enough to play the show. Will Motley Crue guitarist Mick Mars' health hold out? Can Crue singer Vince Neil still carry a tune? Will Poison guitarist C.C. Deville implode again? Will egos shut the whole thing down before it ever gets started? We'll know by the 4th of July, one way or the other.
Blackberry Smoke
6:45 p.m. Thursday, July 7, at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre. $34.50-$54.50.
The last time Blackberry Smoke came through Northeast Florida, they never got to play a note. At an August 2021 show at Daily's Place (which had already been delayed by a year), opening acts the Wild Feathers and the Allman Betts Band played their sets, but a Blackberry Smoke band member tested positive for Covid backstage and the band's performance was canceled. So now the Southern rock standard-bearers, one of the hardest-touring bands in the business, are back, marking their 20th anniversary with the Rasslin' is Real Tour.
Mixtape Tour
8 p.m. Friday, July 8, at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena. $30-$195.
Way back in the dark ages of the late '80s and early '90s, long before you could carry a few thousand songs in your pocket, you could take a dozen or so tunes you loved, put them on a "mixtape" and give it to your friends. Songs by acts like New Kids on the Block, Rick Astley, Salt-N-Pepa and En Vogue. Those four are teaming up for a tour that takes "Hangin' Tough," "Never Gonna Give You Up," "Free Your Mind" and "Whatta Man" straight off of those old mixtapes and on to the stage.
El Gran Combo
8 p.m. Friday, July 15, at the Florida Theatre. $49-$125.
A lot of American music fans have never heard of El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, and that's a shame. The group has been together since 1962, won a Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, released more than 60 albums and earned the nickname "The University of Salsa" for the more than 40 former members who went on to become stars on their own. The 14-piece group mixes salsa, bomba, guaracha, merengue, boogaloo, jala-jala, bolero and tango into a powerful brew that will have fans dancing in the aisles.
Keith Urban
7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 4, and Friday, Aug. 5, at Daily's Place. $60-$90.
Keith Urban is an unlikely country star. He's Australian, for one thing, and you could make a fair argument that he doesn't really play country music. But, label's aside, the guy is a much better guitar player than he generally gets credit for, he's won four Grammy awards and he's got enough star power to book two nights at Daily's Place, the other side of the wall from TIAA Bank Field, where he played his last Jacksonville show, in 2015.
Rod Stewart
7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 2, at Daily’s Place. $63-$458.50.
When a veteran rocker in his mid-70s announces a tour, you sort of have to wonder if he's still got that iconic voice. When that tour is delayed two years by Covid and the singer is now 77, you might be a bit worried. But it's Rod Stewart, who had a big hit with a song called "Forever Young" and whose trademark rasp sounded like an old guy long before he actually was one. By the way, this show gets the award for Most Delayed Concert — fans who bought tickets the day they went on sale, back in January of 2020, will have held them for 945 days by the time Stewart takes the stage.