Festival Noize: Sam Hunt’s Nashional, Lockn’, Cheyenne Frontier Days, Rock On The Range & More

Sam Hunt announces The Nashional Music Festival … Lockn’ snags Dead & Company for headline duty … Florida Georgia Line, Nickelback and Eric Church are among Cheyenne’s Frontier Days lineup … J. Cole, Travis Scott, and Future to headline Miami’s Rolling Loud Festival … Moontower Comedy Festival unveils full lineup … Umphrey’s McGee and Big Something to play two nights at Mountain Music …Rock On The Range reveals comedy lineup … Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo raises the curtain on its new “Texas-sized concert stage.”

Sam Hunt
John Shearer / County Rising / Getty Images
– Sam Hunt
Sam Hunt performs during the sold-out Country Rising Benefit Concert at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville Nov. 12 to support the Route 91 Harvest shooting victims in Las Vegas and hurricane victims in Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico and the Caribbean.

Turns out Sam Hunt has more on his plate than the special guest slot on Luke Bryan’s stadium shows.  The multi-platinum-selling singer/songwriter will curate his first ever music festival.

The Nashional will take over Bicentennial Capitol Mall in Nashville April 20-21.  The diverse lineup includes headliner Hunt along with Judah & The Lion, Fetty Wap, Brothers Osborne, Kyle, Quinn XCII, LANY,

“The sense of community in Nashville helps give it the character and personality that makes me proud to be a part of it,” Hunt said in a statement.  “I wanted to create an experience at The Nashional that celebrates music, community, and everything they mean to each other and this city.”

Citi, the fest’s official credit card, will hold a presale beginning Feb. 6 at 10 a.m. Central Time.  General onsales launch Feb. 9 at 10 a.m.  Central Time.

Dead & Company will play four sets spread over two nights at Lockn’ 2018, planned for Aug. 23-26 at Infinity Downs located at the foot of Blue Ridge Mountains near Arrington, Va.

Starting Feb. 2 Lockn’ organizers will be naming headliners one act at a time.

Tier 1 tickets go on sale Feb. 9 at 12 p.m. Eastern Time.  Lockn’ will be offering a three-day ticket as well as its regular four-day passes.  Those four-day tickets will be top prize when the fest holds a VIP Pass contest on Facebook beginning Feb. 5 and running through Feb. 7.

The friendly folks at Cheyenne Frontier Days in Cheyenne, Wyoming, are proud to present the festival’s 2018 lineup.

Happening July 20-29 Cheyenne’s Frontier Park, this year’s event will feature Florida Georgia Line along with Michael Ray; Cole Swindell and Chase Rice; Charlie Daniels Band and Tracy Lawrence; Eric Church and Cam; Nickelback; Toby Keith with Bobby Bones & The Raging Idiots, and Ned LeDoux; and Dierks Bentley with Kip Moore.

The festival will start selling tickets Feb. 2 at 9 a.m. Mountain Time.

The Rolling Loud Music Festival scheduled for May 11-13 at Miami Gardens’ Hard Rock Stadium is ready to start selling tickets.

Along with headliners J. Cole, Travis Scott, and Future, the fest’s wall-to-wall hip-hop lineup includes established stars as well as up-and-coming artists. 

Tickets for the all-ages extravaganza go on sale Feb. 2 at 10 a.m. Eastern Time.

Be sure to visit Pollstar’s interview with the Rolling Loud promoters that took place a couple of months ago and can be viewed on the other side of this link

Tig Notaro, Jo Koy, and “Evening For The Comedy Resistance Starring David Cross” will be among the laugh-providers at the 2018 Moontower Comedy Festival in Austin, Texas, April 18-21.

The festival also announced special guests Nikki Glaser, Ali Siddiq, and Shmanners, and a podcast hosted by Travis & Teresa McElroy.

Previously announced Moontower performers include Tiffany Haddish, “Weird” Al Yankovic, Mike Birbiglia, Janeane Garofalo, and Colin Quinn.

Moontower Comedy Festival badges are still on sale.

Having 25 bands playing on four stages is the blueprint for the Mountain Music Festival at ACE Adventure Resort in the New River Gorge of West Virginia May 31-June 2.

Umphrey
John Davisson
– Umphrey
Bear Creek Music & Art Festival, Spirit Of The Suwannee Music Park, Live Oak, Fla.

The Memorial Weekend affair will feature two nights of Umphrey’s McGee and Big Something as well as performances by Perpetual Groove, Pimps of Joytime, Litz, Broccoli Samurai,

Tickets are on sale now. Folks wanting to go in style should check out the Festival’s Diamond VIP Pass that includes whitewater rafting, zip lining, camping, meals and, of course, music.

The level of laughter will be turned up way past 11 when J.B. Smoove, Trae Crowder & Big Jay Oakerson head up the funny stuff at this year’s Rock On The Range at MAPFRE Stadium in Columbus, Ohio, May 18-20.

This year’s ROTR music lineup includes Tool, Avenged Sevenfold, Alice In Chains, A Perfect Circle, Godsmack, Stone Sour, Breaking Benjamin and Stone Temple Pilots.

The folks at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo are so proud of their new RodeoHouston stage that they sent out a press blast heralding its arrival.

Engineered and manufactured by Tait and described as a “Texas-sized concert stage,” the star-shape behemoth includes a 48-foot diameter rotating performance area, 434 lights, a laser-guided positioning system and a 28-foot tall motion controlled video backdrop.

“We continue to look for new ways to improve the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo experience for our fans,” Rodeo president / CEO Joel Cowley said in a statement.  “This new state-of-the-art stage will greatly enhance the RodeoHouston concert presentation and help achieve our goal of providing larger-than-life experiences in NRG Park for many years to come.”

The new stage is sure to get a workout.  The RodeoHouston entertainment lineup features Garth Brooks performing on the Feb. 27 day as well as the March 18 closer.  Scheduled between the two Garth nights are Little Big Town, Blake Shelton, Leon Bridges, Kelsea Ballerini, Alessia Cara, Rascal Flatts, Jason Aldean, Thomas Rhett, Luke Bryan, Chris Young, Cody Johnson, Calibre 50, Zac Brown Band,

Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo’s “Texas-sized concert stage.”
– Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo’s “Texas-sized concert stage.”