Stadium Concerts 2015
Legendary singer-songwriter James Taylor will be headlining Boston’s Fenway Park for the first time in his career this summer. The Aug. 6 show isn’t just a landmark event for Massachusetts native Taylor--it’s also bound to be one of the best Fenway Park concerts of 2015.
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James Taylor at Fenway Park
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James Taylor with Bonnie Raitt
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Fenway Park - Boston, MA
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Here are five reasons we think you should pencil the stadium concert into your summer schedule:
1. James Taylor is a Boston native (and Red Sox fan).
James Taylor was born at Boston’s Massachusetts General in 1948, and even though he moved away at a young age, Taylor has remained a longtime supporter of his hometown. Taylor boasts an honorary doctorate from the city's famed Berklee College of Music, and he has performed the national anthem at numerous Boston sporting events--including several Red Sox games at Fenway. His upcoming summer concert will mark the first time he delivers a full-length show at the outdoor stadium, though, making for an extra special homecoming event.
2. He has a new album coming out this summer…
For the first time in more than a decade, Taylor will be issuing an album of all-new music this summer. The forthcoming record, dubbed “Before This World,” has a U.S. release date of June 16, so fans will have plenty of time to study up on the new tracks before the James Taylor Fenway Park show takes place in early August. The album even features a song called “Angels of Fenway,” which Taylor wrote in homage to the team’s landmark 2004 World Series win.
3. …but he’s still bound to play his biggest hits live.
Even though Taylor has promised to share his new music at the upcoming show, we can’t imagine he would leave the stage without playing career-defining tracks like “Fire and Rain” or “Sweet Baby James.” Those songs, along with “Carolina in My Mind,” are Taylor’s most performed live tracks (according to Setlist FM), and he’d be crazy not to play the music that made him a global star in front of the Fenway crowd. After all, it isn’t every day that you get to headline your hometown MLB stadium.
4. Bonnie Raitt is the opening act.
Anyone attending this Aug. 6 concert will get to see two Rock and Roll Hall of Famers for the price of one, as Taylor has tapped veteran blues guitarist Bonnie Raitt to open the show. The two GRAMMY winners go back a long time: They were both featured on the star-studded bill of the 1979 No Nukes concert at Madison Square Garden.
5. You can make a weekend of it.
Even if you’re not from Massachusetts, the James Taylor Fenway Park concert is a perfect excuse for a weekend getaway. The outdoor summer show, scheduled for a Thursday evening, will lead into a full weekend of music at the Boston stadium, as the next three nights will feature concerts from Zac Brown Band.
If country music isn’t your cup of tea, Boston’s House of Blues is a long-standing music venue that’s literally across the street from Fenway Park. You can also take in any one of the dozens of concerts and comedy shows happening in Boston during the weekend of the James Taylor concert, or just take in the summer sights of this historic East Coast city.
