Basilica Block Party's rebirth in 2024 to feature old faves Counting Crows, Goo Goo Dolls
The location will be different, but a lot of the names on the lineup for the Basilica Block Party's 2024 relaunch will look familiar to partygoers from years past.
Counting Crows and the Goo Goo Dolls top off the list of performers unveiled Thursday by block party organizers for their decidedly retro-leaning, homogenous Aug. 2-3 music fest at Boom Island Park in Minneapolis.
Other names on the schedule include: Christian-themed rock acts Needtobreathe and Judah & the Lion; "How to Save a Life" hitmakers the Fray; "American Idol" 2012 winner Phillip Phillips; and balladic newcomers Dean Lewis and Ingrid Andress, the latter the lone woman on the main-stage lineup.
Rapper Nur-D and members of St. Paul and the Minneapolis Funk All-Stars will bring a little diversity to the schedule on the all-local second stage, where other names listed include Run Westy Run, the Black Widows, Cindy Lawson, the Ocean Blue, the Mary Jane Alm Band, She's Green and Whiskey Rock 'n' Roll Club MPLS. Only one Twin Cities act, Yam Haus, is scheduled for the main stage. There will not be a third stage at this year's party as in past years.
Thursday's lineup announcement arrives with ticket info, too: Two-day block party passes will be $159, one-day passes cost $89, and both options go on sale March 22 at 10 a.m. via basilicablockparty.org.
As was announced last month, the block party has to move from its usual location outside the historic Basilica of St. Mary because of a construction project tying up the large parking lot where the event's main stage was housed, on property owned by Xcel Energy.
"We like the idea of the basilica being on the move and reaching other parts of the city, instead of always asking everyone to come to us," the Rev. Daniel Griffith, pastor and rector of the Basilica of St. Mary, told the Star Tribune.
The party was sidelined in 2020 because of the pandemic, returned in 2021 under lingering COVID-19 fears, then was sidelined for the past two years. This year would have been the event's 30th year if not for the hiatuses.
Other changes for the block party this year: It was moved to the first weekend of August from its usual slot in early July, when the newly revived Taste of Minnesota is being staged in downtown Minneapolis. A new talent buyer was brought in, too, with Twin Cities Summer Jam co-founder Jerry Braam filling the role previously held by Live Nation, which took the reins for a few years from longtime promoter Sue McLean & Associates.
One other change finds longtime partner Cities 97 out as the block party's radio sponsor, and adult-contemporary station KS95 is in alongside public alternative outlet the Current. Each of this year's headliners, however, hark back to old Cities 97′s playlists.
The Goo Goo Dolls — who will top off the Friday schedule — had their biggest hits in the late '90s with the rock ballads "Name" and "Iris." They previously played the party in 2013. Saturday's finishers Counting Crows also had their radio heyday in the '90s with "Mr. Jones" and "A Long December" and were previously seen at the block party in 2004 and 2009.
Those names might have also fit in with the lineup at the competing Minnesota Yacht Club, which Lollapalooza promoter C3 Presents will stage July 19-20 at St. Paul's Harriet Island Regional Park with a lineup also laden with '90s rock hitmakers, including Red Hot Chili Peppers, Alanis Morissette, the Black Crowes and the Offspring.
Some of the other repeat players on the basilica party lineup: The Fray and Phillips were both part of the event's 2016 lineup, Needtobreathe played in 2017, and Judah & the Lion were there in 2018.
The move to Boom Island could be a new draw for partygoers. Located across the Mississippi River from the North Loop district with scenic views of the downtown skyline, the park previously hosted the Rock the Garden bash in 2016. It can accommodate almost twice as many concertgoers as the usual basilica party site, should the extra room be needed.
Here's how the Basilica Block Party 2024 schedule breaks down for each day:
Friday, Aug. 2
Main stage: Goo Goo Dolls, the Fray, Dean Lewis, Red Clay Strays, Yam Haus.
Local stage: Run Westy Run, Black Widows, the Ocean Blue, Whiskey Rock 'n' Roll Club MPLS, Parishes, Cindy Lawson.
Saturday, Aug. 3
Main stage: Counting Crows, Needtobreathe, Judah & the Lion, Phillip Phillips, Ingrid Andress.
Local stage: St. Paul and the Minneapolis Funk All-Stars, Nur-D, Mary Jane Alm Band, She's Green, the Muatas.