BY GEORGE VARGA | george.varga@sduniontribune.com
Willie Nelson is set to go on the road again with Bob Dylan and John Mellencamp for the first time since the three founders of Farm Aid toured together in 2009.
The 2024 edition of Nelson’s Outlaw Music Festival will cover 27 cities, coast to coast, between its June 21 opening date in an Atlanta suburb and its concluding Sept. 20 date in Bridgeport, Connecticut. It will include four California dates: July 29 at San Diego’s North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre; July 31 at the Hollywood Bowl; Aug. 3 at Mountain View’s Shoreline Amphitheatre; and Aug. 4 at Wheatland’s Toyota Amphitheatre.
The first 10 dates will feature Nelson, Dylan and Robert Plant & Alison Krauss. The remaining 15, starting in San Diego, will see Mellencamp stepping in for Plant & Krauss. Celisse, Brittney Spencer, Billy Strings and Southern Avenue will alternate as opening acts on different dates of the tour.
Nelson will turn 91 on April 29 and released his most recent album, “Bluegrass,” last September. Dylan will turn 83 on May 24 and released his most recent album, “Shadow Kingdom,” last June. Mellencamp, the junior member of this touring triumvirate, will turn 73 in October and released his most recent album, “Orpheus Descending,” last June.
The three troubadours first famously shared the stage at the first Farm Aid benefit concert in 1985. Their most recent San Diego region concert together was a 2009 show at The Diamond, the 14,000-capacity stadium that is the home of the San Diego Padres’ Single-A farm team, the Lake Elsinore Storm.
The July 29 Outlaw Music Festival tour stop at North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre will be Nelson’s second San Diego performance in barely three months. His 2024 Willie Nelson & Family Tour includes an April 22 date at The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park. Nelson will also perform at the 2024 Stagecoach County Music Festival in Indio on Saturday, April 27.
Tickets and VIP packages for all of this year’s 25 Outlaw Music Festival concerts go on sale to the general public at 10 a.m. Friday at Ticketmaster.com. A pre-sale will begin today, Tuesday, at 10 a.m. on both websites for Citi card holders, using the password OUTLAW24.
A Live Nation ticket pre-sale begins at 10 a.m. Wednesday, using the password ENERGY.
