H.E.R. to Curate and Headline ‘Lights On’ R&B Festival in September

By Jem Aswad

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – H.E.R., who won Grammys for Best R&B Album and Performance earlier this year , will curate and headline the inaugural “Lights On” festival — which, not surprisingly, is loaded with up-and-coming R&B colleagues including Jhené Aiko, Daniel Caesar, Summer Walker, Ari Lennox and more. The festival, in partnership with Live Nation Urban, will take place at the Concord Pavilion in Concord, California on Saturday, Sept. 14.

In addition to the above artists, the festival also features Kiana Ledé, DaniLeigh, Melii, Lucky Daye, Marc E. Bassy, LONR, Tone Stith, bLAck pARty and Rayana Jay. Pre-Sale tickets will be available for purchase Wednesday, June 12; General On-Sale tickets will be available on Friday, June 14.

“Concord Pavilion is the ultimate venue. It is the perfect place to bring people from all over the [San Francisco] Bay,” said H.E.R. in the announcement. “I have many memories watching shows and DREAMING I’d be able to perform there. The Bay Area is my home…..it’s a dream come true to host my festival there.”

The upcoming festival will feature two stages that will host music acts, as well as a third stage dedicated to providing a platform for emerging filmmakers. It will also feature activations from local visual artists, vendors and food trucks. According to the announcement, H.E.R.’s “vision is to build an event that will provide a platform for and showcase various disciplines of the arts, not just music.”

“It’s an honor to be able to help this amazing artist execute her vision,” said Shawn Gee, president of Live Nation Urban. “It’s especially refreshing for us because most of the recent artist-curated festivals like Dreamville, Roots Picnic, Astroworld, Camp Flognaw and others are curated by men; we haven’t seen many female owned and curated artist festivals, especially in hip-hop & R&B.”