Anita Baker, Roger Waters, Concert of Colors, Faster Horses lead busy concert weekend
Michigan’s hot concert summer rolls on.
This weekend brings a bustling show lineup to Detroit and beyond, including a long-awaited return by hometown R&B star Anita Baker, the 30th anniversary of Concert of Colors in Midtown and the latest Faster Horses country music festival in Brooklyn.
Roger Waters will bring his COVID-delayed This is Not a Drill tour to Little Caesars Arena on Saturday, playing a two-set affair loaded with music from his Pink Floyd days.
That’s on top of big shows at the Aretha Franklin Amphitheatre on the riverfront, with reggae royalty Stephen Marley on Friday and, on Saturday, beloved R&B mainstay Charlie Wilson, who's welcoming Michigan native El Debarge for an opening spot.
At Meadow Brook Amphitheatre in Rochester Hills, Bonnie Raitt will play her first metro Detroit show in five years, supporting her new album “Just Like That..”
Here’s a breakdown of the biggies on the weekend schedule.
Anita Baker
There was plenty of pent-up demand for a hometown Anita Baker concert: Tickets for Friday night's Little Caesars Arena show were snatched up in less than an hour when they went on sale in June.
Baker, who signaled her retirement in 2017 but returned to stages the following year, hasn’t played metro Detroit since a Pine Knob appearance in 2010. And it has been even longer since the R&B songstress performed in Detroit proper — a 2008 gig as part of the opening festivities at Motor City Casino’s Sound Board theater.
So this is a big one, made even more significant because it’s a one-off arena concert and not part of a larger tour. Indeed, the only other bookings on the Detroit native’s calendar this year came with a two-week run at the Venetian Theatre in Las Vegas in the spring.
Those Vegas setlists point to a Detroit evening that will be heavy on the soulful hits that made Baker an enduring staple of the R&B and adult-pop airwaves. She’s promising to make it an intimate occasion.
“You and Me. My Band, Magicians. Some Pretty Lights,” she tweeted Wednesday. “Just. Us.”
Faster Horses
The ninth edition of Michigan’s biggest country music event will run Friday-Sunday on the grounds of Michigan International Speedway, featuring one of the festival’s heaviest-hitting lineups yet.
Most notable is the Friday night headlining appearance by Morgan Wallen, who’s back in the good graces of the music industry after a series of controversial moments in 2020 and 2021, including a surfaced video in which he was seen using a racial epithet.
Wallen has been playing sold-out shows across the U.S. on his Dangerous Tour while remaining one of country’s most reliable chart-toppers. He's know for being unafraid to blend modern pop flourishes with his traditionalist sensibilities.
He’s one of 36 performers on the 2022 Faster Horses bill, which includes fellow headliners Eric Church (Saturday) and Tim McGraw (Sunday), along with main-stage artists such as Jake Owen, Brothers Osborne, Chris Janson, Cole Swindell and Ashley McBryde.
As always, the fest’s Next From Nashville tent will feature an array of country up-and-comers, including a Saturday afternoon set from singer-songwriter Alana Springsteen (daughter of Bruce).
Concert of Colors
After getting through two pandemic summers with video-only events, the annual multicultural festival is marking its 30th anniversary with an in-person return and a full slate of free performances.
Officially underway since last Saturday, Concert of Colors kicks into high gear this weekend with a slew of performances in Midtown Detroit, most of them outdoors.
The music of Iggy Pop is the focus of the latest Don Was Detroit All-Star Revue, as the Detroit-born bassist and producer leads an evening celebrating Pop’s Stooges and solo work with singers such as Mick Collins, Steffanie Christi'an and Carolyn Striho.
The revue has been a fest fixture for 15 years, but this is the first one happening outdoors. It starts at 9 p.m. Friday on the north lawn of the Detroit Institute of Arts, following a 7 p.m. set by Texas roots-rocker Alejandro Escovedo.
The globetrotting sounds will continue through the weekend, including a handful of shows inside the DIA’s Detroit Film Theatre, with notable performances by jazz bassist Marian Hayden (5 p.m. Saturday), Indian American electronic musician Karsh Kale (8 p.m. Saturday) and Brazilian musical ambassador Nanny Assis (2 p.m. Sunday). (Note: The indoor shows are free but require fans to reserve seats in advance.)
A full music lineup is available at concertofcolors.com.
An hour-long documentary on the history of Concert of Colors, which premiered Wednesday night at the DIA, will air at 9 p.m. Monday on Detroit Public Television (WTVS-TV, Channel 56).
Contact Detroit Free Press music writer Brian McCollum: 313-223-4450 or bmccollum@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Anita Baker, Concert of Colors, Faster Horses lead busy concert weekend
