Blur, Bob Dylan, Simply Red To Play 2023 Lucca Summer Festival
The month-long Lucca Summer Festival, one of the most anticipated musical events in the Italian summer has confirmed its stellar line-up for 2023 which will see legendary artists performing across the city in historical venues. This year’s line-up features Blur, Robbie Williams, Bob Dylan, Lil Nas X, Norah Jones, KISS, The Chemical Brothers, Placebo, Jacob Collier & Snarky Puppy, OneRepublic, Simply Red, Sigur Rós, Pat Metheny and Generation Sex. The festival takes place just west of Florence between 29 June and 28 July. Tickets for all concerts are available now from the event’s official website.
Buy Blur vinyl and merch at the Dig! store.
The festival’s history boasts some incredible names since its inception in 1998. The Rolling Stones took to the Lucca stage in 2017 to a sell-out crowd of 55,000 marking their emphatic return to Italy during their No Filter tour. The prestige of the festival continues with icons such as David Bowie (2002), Elton John (2019) and Bob Dylan (2015) previously gracing the Tuscan city, giving this festival a wealth of history and importance in the Italian and European concert calendar.
Legendary Britpop band Blur will be performing a very spectacular show next to the breath-taking City Walls on Saturday July 22 as part of one of the year’s most anticipated tours. It will be their only concert in Italy this year and the first show in the country since 2013. The event will see Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon, Alex James and Dave Rowntree reunite to perform iconic songs such as Parklife, Beetlebum, Country House and Song 2. With all shows in the UK sold out, this could be the only opportunity for British fans to see one of the most influential bands in history.
Robbie Williams will also be gracing the stage by the historic City Walls on Friday July 28 as the English pop star returns after triumphant sold-out performances at Lucca in 2015 and 2017. Amassing over 85 million albums sold worldwide, 13 number one albums in the UK (the most for any solo artist, matched only by Elvis Presley) and 18 unprecedented and unmatched BRIT Awards, he has cemented himself as one of the greatest performers of his generation.
The festival continues in the beautiful Piazza Napoleone, Lucca’s main square. Bob Dylan, who featured in the very first edition of Lucca Summer Festival in 1998, will perform on Thursday July 6. He will entertain audiences with songs from his recent critically acclaimed album, Rough and Rowdy Ways, amongst favourites from his impressive catalogue.
Mick Hucknall returns to the festival with Simply Red on Saturday July 1. Audiences will be able to hear all of their best-loved classics, including Stars and Holding Back The Years, making for a groovy, energetic evening.
The line-up also welcome multi-platinum rapper with billions of streams and winner of two Grammy Awards, Lil Nas X. He shocked the music world with the debut single with Billy Ray Cyrus, Old Town Road which holds the record for the most weeks at #1 in the history of the Billboard chart Hot 100. The iconic hip-hop singer and songwriter will be in concert on Thursday, 20 July.
Lucca Summer Festival is a must-see festival for music fans across the continent. With travel as easy as a short flight to Florence from London terminals, the festival offers a unique concert experience like no other. Accompanied by the luscious Italian coastline and surrounded by the infamous Tuscan wine region, visiting the festival can be combined into a magical summer escape.
Buy Blur vinyl and merch at the Dig! store.