Lineup Roundup: British Summer Time, BigCityBeats World Club Dome, TRNSMT & More

British Summer Time didn’t just announce its first headliner, Little Mix, but also a new headline sponsor, American Express.

The U.S. financial services corporation replaces British sponsor Barclaycard, which had been the headline sponsor since the festival’s inception in 2013.

American Express became a player in the concert business by pioneering credit card presales. Over the years, the company has expanded its presence and importance through longstanding partnerships with Live Nation, AEG and Bowery Presents. 

Deborah Curtis, VP, head of global brand & product experience and partnerships at AMEX, made Pollstar’s inaugural Impact 50 list in The Engagers category, which celebrates executives doing exciting things in fan engagement, people whose work makes for memorable events. 

Stew Heathcote, senior vice president and managing director of AEG Global Partnerships, said about the new partner: “American Express’ ability to not only drive ticket sales through pre-sales but connect the fan and artist in unique ways demonstrates true marketing innovation and is one reason why American Express is so respected in the entertainment space.”

Little Mix, which is Perrie Edwards, Jesy Nelson, Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Jade Thirwall, will play London’s Hyde Park on July 4.

The group just completed its European tour in support of its fifth studio album LM5, which closed at The O2 in London, Nov. 22. The group played a total of five shows at the iconic venue in 2019, which brings them to a total of 12 headline shows at the O2 across four tours, and over 184,000 tickets sold.

Emma Bownes, Vice President of Venue Programming at The O2 said: “It’s been an honour hosting Little Mix for what has now been 12 incredible shows at The O2. We’d like to thank Little Mix and SJM for letting us be part of their journey.”

Rita Ora, Kesha, Zara Larsson and more will going Little Mix at BST as special guests. Said Little Mix in a statement: “We’re so excited to perform at BST Hyde Park. It’s such a massive gig with a huge crowd, so it’s definitely going to be one of our 2020 highlights. We’ve been to see acts at BST before and it’s always such a party atmosphere. We’ll be bringing that to our set next year for sure!”

BigCityBeats World Club Dome, which goes down in June 5-7, 2020 at Commerzbank Arena in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, announced the first 17 of 250 acts. The list already reads like the who’s who of popular dance music: Armin Van Buuren, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, DJ Snake, Infected Mushroom, Steve Aoki, Sven Väth and more.

This year’s World Club Dome will be Las Vegas themed. Widely renowned as the entertainment capital of the world, Las Vegas unites some the world’s biggest artists, performers, DJs, sports personalities and chefs in a decadent and luxurious neon landscape that suggests anything is possible and where the unimaginable is imagined – an ethos that directly mirrors that of BigCityBeats CEO Bernd Breiter.

Hip hop festival WOO HAH!, which takes place in Beekse Bergen in Hilvarenbeek, Holland, July 10-12, 2020, announced Kendrick Lamar as its first headliner.

Also confirmed are A$AP Ferg, Aitch, Ares, Ashafar, Cho, DaBaby, Earthgang, Ski Mask The Slump God, Tiffany Calver, and many more. WOO HAH! festival director Ruud Lemmen said he’s been in conversations with Kendrick Lamar’s team even before the 2019 edition of WOO HAH! – another example of how far in advance bookings are made these days.

The fact that the rap star agreed to perform at the 2020 edition, was “a true childhood dream come true for us,” according to Lemmen, who added that “there will be more attention for the campsite this year: by offering more pre-set tents and a larger campsite with better facilities, we want to make the WOO HAH! experience even better.”

Meanwhile, Scotland’s TRNSMT festival announced its first wave of acts, including the three headliners Courteeners, Liam Gallagher and Lewis Capaldi, who will perform on July 10, 11 and 12, respectively.

Also on the bill across those three days are Ian Browns, Foals, Snow Patrol, Rita Ora, Sam Fender, Blossoms, Aitch, Keane, Twin Atlantic, Little Simz and more.

Lewis Capaldi has been performing at TRNSMT since its inception in 2017. “To be a headliner is absolutely wild,” he said, adding that “things are about to get chubby and sexy, fast. See you up the road next year!”

The Courteeners performed at TRNSMT in 2018, as did Liam Gallagher, who said: “I love Scotland and It’s an honour to be going back to headline TRNSMT Festival. 

P.S. Have I told you lately that I love you?”

Courteeners frontman Liam Fray said: “Scotland took us straight to their hearts, right from the very start. Starting with playing the ABC with The Coral back in 2007, we’ve always had an amazing connection with the people of Scotland. Feels like a second home. To headline TRNSMT is a serious honour and we’ll be bringing a serious party.”

Festival director Geoff Ellis said, TRNSMT has developed into “a pillar of the UK festival scene,” in three short years. “We’re delighted that TRNSMT 2020 will host the major UK festival headline debuts from global superstar Lewis Capaldi and indie favourites Courteeners, plus the return of the legend that is Mr. Liam Gallagher.”

Ellis expects around 50,000 fans per day, and said more artists would be announced in the new year.

The other Gallagher brother, Noel, and his band High Flying Birds, will kick off Bristol Sounds 2020 concert series, June 24. Supergrass, Levellers, Reef, Goldie Lookin Chain, Jack Savoretti and more have been announced as well.

Bristol Sounds takes place June 23-28 at the Lloyds Amphitheatre in Bristol, England.

Lytham Festival, which takes place July 1-5 in Lytham St. Annes, England, has announced all five headliners, which include the aforementioned Lewis Capaldi and Little Mix, as well as Lionel Richie, Snow Patrol and Westlife.

The supporting artists will be announced in the coming weeks and months.

The festival’s organisers announced that “at least 75 pence from every ticket sale for Little Mix at Lytham Festival will be donated to Nordoff Robbins – a charity that uses the power of music therapy to enrich the lives of people affected by life limiting illness, isolation or disability.”

Festival director Peter Taylor said the mission had been to outdo Lytham Festival’s 10th anniversary in 2019, and he believes his team succeeded: “To have Lionel Richie and Westlife on the same bill as Lewis Capaldi, Snow Patrol and Little Mix is incredibly exciting and really does make this our biggest ever line-up.”

Secret Solstice also announce the phase-one lineup for its seventh edition, June 26-28, 2020 in Reykjavík, Iceland. Cypress Hill, Lil Pump, Primal Scream, and TLC have been announced as headliners, with Meduza, Regard, Hayden James, Hot Dub Time Machine and more also in the bill.

The festival takes place during summer solstice, which comes with 72-hours of continuous sunlight thanks to it location close to the Arctic circle.