A SECOND WAVE OF SUMMER FESTS

More than 100,000 fans turned out to see headliners SZA (Wasserman), Kraftwerk (CAA) and Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds (Primary Talent) over the weekend at the annual Fuji Rock festival in Niigata, Japan.

The biggest outdoor music event in the country, Fuji typically features more than 200 artists from around the world performing on seven main stages. Kraftwerk (pictured) performed a show-specific cover of "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence" by Japanese icon Ryuichi Sakamoto, who died in 2023. He was a longtime friend of the German electronic-music pioneers.

In related news, the second wave of high-profile summer festivals kicks into high gear this week. In Germany, from 7/31 to 8/3, Wacken 2024, dubbed "the mecca of heavy metal culture," will drive the local population from 2,000 to 75,000. ITB clients the Scorpions and Korn lead the barrage.

In Chicago, it’s Lollapalooza time again, 8/1-4. SZA, The Killers (WME) and blink-182 (CAA) will headline a bill rounded out by Megan Thee Stallion (who replaced original headliner Tyler, the Creator), Hozier (WME), Stray Kids (JYP), Future x Metro Boomin and Melanie Martinez (CAA). The event's T-Mobile-sponsored main stage will have its audio, lighting, video and stage production powered by a hybrid battery system to reduce the need for biodiesel generators. The move comes in partnership with Live Nation’s sustainability initiative Green Nation.