Publication select ▼
ROYAL OAK — Michigan Lottery Arts, Beats & Eats presented by Flagstar Bank recently announced the musical lineup for the Aug. 29-Sept. 1 festival.
The Arts, Beats & Eats team also revealed the festival’s new logo, which they said pays tribute to the history and urban lifestyle of metro Detroit.
The artist, Nick Pizaña, said that the design, created with his signature cartoon style of vibrant colors, “harnesses the passion, creativity and community that merge together at Michigan Lottery Arts, Beats & Eats. Its vintage feel reminds us not only of this year’s coming event, but of the festival’s 28-year legacy and the memories and experiences it has created for Royal Oak and Southeast Michigan,” Pizaña said in a prepared statement.
Event Producer Jon Witz said that the music lineup for the weekend was chosen based on 600 submissions, and only the top 150 were picked to perform.
“I think we’ve got some great original bands that are headlining across many music genres. We are excited about the Neon Trees, Randy Howser, Sugar Ray and you know, I Love the 90s Tour,” Witz said. “We think it’s going to be an amazingly fun time to close the show on Monday with Vanilla Ice and many others.”
Joining Vanilla Ice with the I Love the 90s Tour to close the festival will be Rob Base, Young MC and C+C Music Factory.
Witz said that along with the headliners, audiences can expect to hear more moving performances from cover bands and tribute acts.
“I will say the tribute acts that we have, one or more each night, will be playing some of the best-sounding music of the weekend,” Witz said. “They really do the bands of the music they play justice.”
R&B singer turned rock star Terri Shü said that she is debuting her new sound of rock music with her band “Shü” at Arts, Beats & Eats. Shu’s grandfather was Motown great William Guest, of Gladys Knight and the Pips.
Shü’s career took off as an R&B singer, which was the music she previously performed at Arts Beats & Eats, but as of early 2024, she is now in a rock band.
“I usually didn’t do rock music back in the day with the circumstances of my grandfather being in a Motown group, Gladys Knight and the Pips, so they automatically categorized me in R&B for a while, and I recently branched back into alternative,” she said.
Shü said she started singing alternative music when she was in high school and wanted to get back to her alternative roots instead of continuing in the R&B genre.
“I guess the reason why I made that big switch, well, I guess it was a big switch to everybody else, is basically me getting back to my roots, rather than sticking with something that I wasn’t 100% in it in my heart,” she said. “Alternative is truly who I am.”
Through her band’s performance of covers and original music at Arts, Beats & Eats, Shü hopes her band can bring a carefree experience to the audience.
“I want to portray a carefree, I-don’t-give-a-heck environment, and that Black people can love rock too. I don’t like the stigma of Black people not listening to rock music, because a lot of us do,” she said. “I want to portray the freedom of loving music, and being carefree. I want to make the audience know it’s OK to do things outside of the box, and be a little crazy sometimes.”
Arts, Beats & Eats will be open 11 a.m. until 11 p.m. Friday, Aug. 29, through Sunday, Aug. 31, and 11 a.m. until 9 p.m. Monday, Sept. 1. Tickets will be sold for $7 in advance. Admission is free before 5 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 29, and $12 after 5 p.m. Every other day, admission costs $10 before 3 p.m. and $12 after 3 p.m. Cash and credit card transactions will be accepted at gate entrances. For more information, visit artsbeatseats.com.
You May Also Be Interested In
