Frederik Meijer Garden Summer Concert Lineup 2015 Announced: Pricing and On Sale Dates
Since the amphitheater at Frederik Meijer Gardens opened in 2003, the venue has been one of the hottest summer concert locations in West Michigan. The venue, which holds only 1900 people, has been able to get commitments from major recording artists, despite its small size. The 2015 Summer Concert Lineup once again contains many famous recognizable names, and has also expanded into comedy and live dance performances.
Tickets for the events go on sale to the general public on May 9th at 9am. There is a pre-sale for Frederik Meijer Gardens members taking place on April 25th at 9am. The venue has received some criticism due to this ticketing policy, as many concerts sell out before the public is given a chance to buy tickets.
Here is a look at the full lineup with prices (member pre-sale, member price, public sale price)
June 3: Grand Funk Railroad, Matthew Curry $47/$50/$52
June 17: Indigo Girls $49/$52/54
June 18: Michael Franti & Spearhead, Nattali Rize, Notis $40/$43/$45
June 21: Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue $37/$40/$42
June 24: Gary Clark Jr. $35/$38/$40
June 29: Del McCoury Band, Bela Fleck, Abigail Washburn $45/$48/$50
July 3: Pink Martini $44/$47/$49
July 5: The Doobie Brothers $72/$75/$77
July 6: Mat Kearney, Judah & The Lion $36/$39/$41
July 9: Sweet Harmony Soul, Movis Staples, Patty Griffin, Amy Helm & The Handsome Strangers $42/$45/$47
July 13: Pat Benatar, Neil Giraldo $62/$65/$67
July 15: The New Pornographers, Thao & The Get Down Stay Down $30/$33/$35
July 16: Steve Miller Band $87/$90/$92
July 19: Coblie Caillat, Christina Perri $58/$61/$63
July 29: Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion America the Beautiful Tour $70/$73/$75
July 30: Brandi Carlile, Anderson East $44/$47/$49
July 31: The Beach Boys, The Temptations $72/$75/$77
August 2: Harry Connick Jr. $90/$93/$95
August 3: Diana Krall $78/$81/$83
August 5: Lyle Lovett and His Large Band $63/$66/$68
August 6: An Evening With Dancing With The Stars $68/$71/$73
August 9: Umphrey’s McGee $38/$41/$43
August 10: Under the Sun Tour with Sugar Ray, Better than Ezra, Uncle Kracker, Eve 6 $50/$53/$55
August 13: Styx $64/$67/$69
August 21: Vince Gill $55/$58/$60
August 26: Brian Regan (Comedy Stand Up) $50/$53/$55
August 27: Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club $53/$56/$58
September 2: O.A.R., Allen Stone $55/$58/$60
September 4: John Hiatt, The Comobo, The Taj Mahal Trio $48/$51/$53
September 7: Tony Bennett (20th Anniversary Celebration) $105/$108/$110
The final stop of the tour will help celebrate Frederik Meijer Garden’s 20th anniversary, which is actually occurring in April. This marks the 10th year in a row that Lyle Lovett has performed at the venue. The Beach Boys played Frederik Meijer Gardens last year as well. Brian Regan’s show in August marks the first time a solely stand-up show has graced the Summer Concert series.
If you’re planning on going to any of these concerts, I would start planning buying a full year membership now. Last year’s lineup of concerts saw 25 of the 30 shows sellout, including 16 sellouts before the general public sale. This includes 9 concerts selling out in less than one hour. With limited capacity and some strong names, this year’s lineup and figures shouldn’t be much different.
Members save on each ticket and have no official limit on the number of tickets they can purchase. I say official because the venue’s homepage does say it monitors re-sales of tickets, as a popular method is to pay the membership fee and sell the pre-sale tickets much higher than face value.
In 2014, Frederik Meijer Gardens sold 96.2% of all allotted concert tickets. This was easily made possible with 25 sellouts. Back in 2013, the venue sold only 85% of its tickets for the summer concert series. Last year got a boost from strong names like Sheryl Crow, Santana, and John Legend.
Members of the park also get free admission to the Tuesday Evening Music Club, which features regional musicians in the months of July and August. The lineup for the 2015 Summer Concert Series is:
July 1: WazoBia, The Piano Cottage, Afro Zumba
July 8: Matt Gabriel, The Mickeys
July 15: Wisaal, Sumkali
July 22: AG Silver, Chain of Lakes
July 29: Organissimo, River City Jazz Ensemble
August 5: Mid-Life Crisis, Serita’s Black Rose
August 26: Ralston and Friends
Membership has its benefits aside from the concert ticket pre-sale. Members also get free admission or discounts at over 200 sculpture parks, botanical gardens, and arboretums in the country. This includes free admission to places in Detroit, Saginaw, Mount Pleasant, Battle Creek, South Haven, Lansing, and Holland. Members also get a 10% discount in the gift shop and enjoy free admission to Frederik Meijer Gardens all year long. A membership to Frederik Meijer Gardens costs $25 for students and $40 for an individual adult. Dual memberships for two adults is $65, while a basic family membership costs $75.
Frederik Meijer Gardens opened in 1995 and remains one of the most visited places in West Michigan with 600,000 annual visitors. The Summer Concert Series continues to see growth in attendance. The venue recently was part of the letter “G” in our A to Z guide to events in Michigan for the Spring season. We also profiled Frederik Meijer Gardens as part of the Bank of America Free Museums program. When not going to the venue for a concert, consider checking out the other exhibits for free if you have a Bank of America card, good the first full weekend of every month. The remaining days for the year are May 2 and 3, June 6 and 7, July 4 and 5, August 1 and 2, September 5 and 6, October 3 and 4, November 7 and 8, and December 5 and 6.
What do you think? Do you plan on attending any of the concerts? Are the prices for some of these shows too high? Are Frederik Meijer Gardens’ pre-sale policies fair when the public never gets a chance to buy tickets? Let us know in the comments below. Thanks for reading and sharing.
