Mars Bringing His Magic Back to Detroit

Modern Rock

By Kristi Kates | March 10, 2018

Bruno Mars (pictured) has just added yet another leg to his already-huge 24K Magic world tour; the new dates will start with a two-night run in Denver, Colorado, Sept. 7 and 8, with much of the newly confirmed schedule including two-night stands in many cities. Mars’ stop in Detroit will only include one show — Sept. 15 — but you can hop on over to Canada if you want to catch him again, as he’ll be playing two shows in Toronto, Sept. 22 and 23, before moving on to Boston; Brooklyn, New York; Nashville; Dallas; and Austin, Texas. The whole shebang goes out with a four-night run in Los Angeles that begins Oct. 23 …

Singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles and soulful singer John Legend will co-starring in the latest live-musical epic set to air on NBC. The pair, with a complete supporting cast, will take on the respective roles of Mary Magdelene and Jesus Christ in the vintage rock-opera musical, "Jesus Christ Superstar," which will be executive-produced by the show’s creators, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. The play itself, complete with all of its iconic Broadway songs and Alice Cooper as King Herod, will be broadcast live from Marcy Armory in Williamsburg (Brooklyn), New York on April 1 (Easter Sunday) … 

Queens of the Stone Age is heading up a huge show in London late this spring as part of its trek through the European festival circuit. In addition to an appearance at Croatia’s INMusic Fest, the band will play Finsbury Park in London on June 30, along with co-headliners Iggy Pop, The Hives, and Run the Jewels. The band plans to add even more support acts to really pump up the volume …

Death Cab for Cutie fans, rejoice! The band recently celebrated the 20-year anniversary of its first performance (an acoustic house show in Washington state attended by only a couple dozen people), and it’s not stopping the music any time soon. In fact, the band is currently prepping its ninth album, which is set to hit outlets this year. In the meantime, you can check out DCC’s Bandcamp page to listen to that first show and find a very entertaining amateur recording of that first DCC landmark “concert,” in which you’ll often hear more of the audience chatting than you do the band … 

LINK OF THE WEEK
Canada’s own version of the Grammy Awards, The Juno Awards, has announced its nominees for this year’s ceremonies. Among the Canadian artists included are The Weeknd, Shania Twain, Jessie Reyez, and Arcade Fire. The Junos will be awarded on March 25 in Vancouver, British Columbia. Get all the rest of the details at the show’s official website, junoawards.ca, eh? … 

THE BUZZ
The Majestic Theater has two shows of note this week: Keys N Krates on March 11, and OMD (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark) on March 14 …

Indie rock fans might not know that Garrett Borns, aka Universal Records recording artist BØRNS, is actually a native of Grand Haven; Borns has just released his latest album, Blue Madonna, to both fan and critical acclaim …

Holland, Michigan’s own Americana singer-songwriter Roger Brown is currently working on tunes for a brand new solo album, which will be his first since his 2013 release, Sometimes You’re Lucky …

Over in Ann Arbor, acclaimed singer-songwriter Jonatha Brooke will take the stage at The Ark on March 18 … and that’s the buzz for this week’s Modern Rock.

Comments, questions, rants, raves, suggestions on this column? Send ’em to Kristi at modernrocker@gmail.com.