GARDEN PARTIES
Coolest concerts for all fans coming to venue
Ifyou like popular music, any kind of popular music, from hip-hop to rock to country, TD Garden has a concert on its calendar aimed at you. A quick look at the schedule of shows at the Garden reveals an astounding range of artists, from Lorde to Childish Gambino.
Typically, Bay Staters look to Fenway Park and Gillette Stadium for the megastars, but the Garden will sell as many concert tickets as those venues this year. In 2017, the arena hosted 42 concerts. It will be hard to top that in 2018, but the venue already has 33 on the books — 12 more than the average over the past decade.
Here are five acts representing the spectrum of pop music on their way to the Garden.
• Lorde, tomorrow: In 2014, at Boston Calling, a 17-year-old Lorde stared down a lightning storm. Due to danger, the festival cleared the grounds for over an hour. Miraculously, thousands of fans returned to see Lorde do the new millennium’s “The Times They Are a-Changin.’” (What else would you call “Royals”?) It’s hard to underplay how charismatic this anti-pop star is. Now 21, Lorde has become a phenomenon. Before you declare pop to be dead, listen to “Melodrama.” She will have no problem thrilling a sold-out Garden.
• Depeche Mode, June 9: If you’re looking for rock ’n’ roll with an alternative edge, U2 and Radiohead are the obvious picks. Both will play two-night stands at the arena this summer. But go with Depeche Mode. Last year, the band that invented new wave (withdrawn, they only popularized and perfected it) released “Spirit,” a rebellious, rancorous gem of an album. To hear the single “Where’s the Revolution” with 10,000 others will be a grand and slightly goth catharsis.
• Paul Simon, June 15: This summer, Simon will begin Homeward Bound, his farewell tour. If you dig him, you need to see him. At 76, the icon isn’t bluffing. Simon and his ace band can still put on a masterclass in folk, pop and globe-trekking melodies and rhythms. Also of note, Elton John is bidding life on the road goodbye with his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, which stops at the Garden in October and November.
• Shania Twain, July 11: Oh, stop pretending you don’t like a Shania Twain song. If you had a heart, two ears and a pulse in the ’90s, you have happily hummed along to “You’re Still the One” in your dentist’s office. Like Garth Brooks, Twain has finally decided to give up life as a recluse and play a few shows. For a woman who has still sold more albums than Taylor Swift, that’s a big deal. Like your country more crusty and rocking? Later in July, the Eagles play back-toback nights.
• Childish Gambino, Sept. 12: How is it that Donald Glover, the dude who played Troy on “Community,” is the coolest hip-hop artist of the day? I can’t answer that — especially considering his recent album, “Awaken, My Love!” from his alter ego Childish Gambino, has more in common with Parliament’s weirdest ’70s jams than Lil Yachty or Post Malone. The artistic sprint Glover began in 2017 by winning two Emmys and two Golden Globes for his show “Atlanta” will continue with a sure-to-be mind-bending tour.