More concert announcement news this week:
Shawn Mendes (June 21, 2019, Xcel Energy Center): No, that date is not a typo. The Toronto pop strummer of "Mercy" and "Stitches" fame has booked his next tour all the way out through next summer, giving Twin Cities fans more than a year to plan ahead for his next local appearance. Mendes won't even be a teenager anymore by the time the show rolls around. Tickets for the St. Paul date (which falls on a Friday night) go on sale next Saturday, May 19, at 10 a.m. via Ticketmaster or the arena box office for $27-$87.
J. Cole (Sept. 19, Target Center): After making his local debut as an arena headliner at Xcel Center last July, the North Carolina rapper and one-time Soundset headliner will take on the sports arena across the river touting his new album, "KOD." Tickets are $40-$100 and go on sale Saturday via AXS.com, with pre-sale options starting Wednesday. Cole's success with hits such as "Work Out" and "Déjà vu" has largely been credited to music streaming sites and other viral means, and it shows no sign of slowing, as the new album broke first-week records at both Spotify and Apple Music.
Smashing Pumpkins opener (Aug. 19, Xcel Center): With ticket sales for the much-ballyhooed reunion tour proving less than smashing, the Pumpkins have announced Toronto's electro-rock mainstays Metric as the opener for their outing, including the St. Paul stop. Led by dynamic frontwoman Emily Haines, Metric has been off the road since 2017 while Haines dropped a solo album. The band has gone over well twice before playing to big crowds in the Twin Cities, after headlining Rock the Garden in 2013 and opening for Imagine Dragons in 2015, also at Xcel Center.
