From Hootie to Blink-182, here are the concerts to add to your Upstate summer lineup
Greenville and the surrounding area are set to have a sizzling summer music scene as a host of international and local country, rock and R&B artists will arrive in the Upstate between May and September.
Over the last year, Fantasia, Jellyroll, Thomas Rhett and more notable acts have contributed to Greenville's popularly growing music scene. As we await the upcoming 2025 Trueline entertainment venue and Peace Center's A Music Project to arrive by the end of the decade, there are still a ton of great top performers to see throughout the Upstate.
As the weather heats up and the Greenville-area social events begin to sprout, here are 10 of our favorite shows to see this summer throughout the area:
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Frank Foster at The Foundry at Judson Mill, May 4
Indie-country artist Frank Foster arrives in Greenville just before summer officially begins. The independent artist who writes and sings his original works will star at one of Greenville's best new music venues: The Foundry at Judson Mill.
Since 2011, Foster has climbed the Country Billboard charts, reaching as high as number seven and number two in the sales charts in 2018 with his album "Til I'm Gone."
Tickets for the 7 p.m. show are $20 — a good deal for a great time.
Location: 701 Easley Bridge Road, Unit 6030, Greenville
Keith Sweat at the Peace Center, May 5
R&B and Soul make its way to the Peace Center as Keith Sweat will serenade downtown Greenville with sounds of the '90s with a 14-album solo catalog spanning as recently as 2018.
His career highlights include genre classics "Make It Last Forever," "Nobody," and "Get Up on It," with both a 1993 Soul Train Lifetime Achievement Award and a 1997 American Music Award to boast, plus collaborations with fellow R&B hitmakers Gerald Levert and Johnny Gill for two albums that reached Billboard charts.
Tickets for the 7 p.m. show can be found at PeaceCenter.org.
Location: 300 S. Main St. (Greenville)
Sister Hazel at Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium, May 10
Sister Hazel returns to Spartanburg for the second time as January 2023 saw the rock band sell out the inaugural show inside "The Hall." As nearly 1,800 people attended last year's performance, Lindsay Drakulic, director of marketing for Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium, expects the same.
The Gainsville, Fla. natives are known for their breakout singles "All for You" and "Your Winter," which made the soundtrack for the movie "Ten Things I Hate About You."
"Their return means they are coming back because they enjoyed themselves, which is indicative of how our Spartanburg embraced them," Drakulic said. "They are such a legendary group and true performers; we're honored to have them."
Ticket costs begin at $30 per seat.
Location: 385 N Church St. (Spartanburg)
Tim McGraw: Standing Room Only Tour at Bon Secours, May 16
Tim McGraw will bring over three decades of classic hits to Greenville as his 13th headlining tour arrives at BSWA on May 16.
The actor and three-time Grammy Award winner has 10 albums that have reached number one on Billboard's top country album charts. Tickets can be found at ticketmatster.com for what is expected to be an electric evening of country music in Greenville.
Location: Bon Secours Wellness Arena; 650 N. Academy St. (Greenville)
The Vegabonds with Wim Tapley and The Cannons, June 8 -- The Radio Room
The Vegabonds are no strangers to Greenville, as they are constant staples at many arts festivals around the area and state. The intimate and acoustic space of Radio Room will host the five-member Southern rock band with Alabama ties.
Americana/Rock band Wim Tapley and The Cannons are also on the marquee for the evening. Their most recent album, "Red Room," was released in February 2024.
Location: The Radio Room; 110 Poinsett Hwy (Greenville)
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Rock the Country at the Anderson Sports & Entertainment Center, July 26-27
Rock and country music collide for a two-day festival in Anderson as Kid Rock, Jason Aldean and Miranda Lambert headline an event encouraging car and RV camping and featuring 25 food and beverage vendors. Tickets for this concert can be found at rockthecountry.com.
"Anderson gets to showcase the asset that it is and we're excited to see the folks who are visiting from other states and to welcome those who have not experienced the area before," said Marty Elliot, owner of Ready Room Collective, a group that facilitates booking musical acts across the Upstate.
She expects the event to host around 25,000 people each day.
Location: 3027 Martin Luther King Blvd. (Anderson)
Blink-182: One More Time Tour at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena, July 29
Drumming-extraordinaire Travis Barker and Blink-182 bring their San Diego roots to the South as the 30-year rock band brings their "One More Time" tour to Greenville, which debuted at number one the week following its release on Billboard 200.
Most known for their 2000s smash hit single "All the Small Things," Blink-182 is responsible for the pop-punk sound influence of the millennium alongside bands Nickelback and Creed.
Location: Bon Secours Wellness Arena; 650 N Academy St.
Kem, Aug. 17, Peace Center
As part of Motown Records' resurgence in the early 2000s, Kem, a neo-soul and R&B legend, brings hit singles "Love Calls" and "I Can't Stop Loving You." After beginning as a table waiter and wedding band singer, Kem earned R&B Single of the Year in 2005 from Billboard Music.
His catalog includes work alongside R&B legends Ronald Isley, Patti LaBelle, Toni Braxton, and more.
Location: Peace Center; 300 S. Main St. (Greenville)
The Smashing Pumpkins: The World is a Vampire, Aug. 27 -- CCNB Amphitheatre
The Smashing Pumpkins are two-time Grammy Award winners in 1997 and 1998 and are known for the creativity and innovation in their music videos.
Amidst the Alternative Rock group's breakup in the mid-2000s, they are heavily responsible for the influence of artists such as Third Eye Blind, My Chemical Romance, and Panic! at the Disco.
Tickets can be found on ticketmaster.com.
Location: CCNB Amphitheatre at Heritage Park; 861 SE Main St. (Simpsonville)
Hootie & The Blowfish, Summer Camp with Trucks Tour, Sept 21 -- BSWA
The Columbia, South Carolina natives bring Darius Rucker and Mark Bryan to Greenville for a stop on the Summer Camp with Trucks Tour.
After breaking up for nearly a decade, Hootie & The Blowfish continued their mainstream success again in 2019 with their latest release, "Imperfect Circle." The Alternative Rock, Blues, and Pop band won two Grammy Awards in 1996 for Best New Artist and Best Pop Performance by a Duo with "Let Her Cry."
Tickets can be purchased at ticketmaster.com.
Location: Bon Secours Wellness Arena; 650 N Academy St.
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– A.J. Jackson covers the food & dining scene, along with arts, entertainment and downtown culture for The Greenville News. Contact him by email at ajackson@gannett.com, and follow him on X (formally Twitter) @ajhappened. This coverage is only possible with support from our readers. Sign up today for a digital subscription.
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Top Upstate summer concerts include Hootie, Miranda Lambert, Kid Rock
