The Roots Announce NYC Edition Of Roots Picnic With D’Angelo, John Mayer, Wu-Tang Clan, David Byrne, Nile Rodgers
For the past eight years, the Roots have brought their Roots Picnic festival to their Philadelphia hometown. And for the first time ever, as Billboard reports, the group will expand the festival to New York, the city where they now work as the Tonight Show house band. A two-day version of the Roots Picnic will come to Bryant Park 10/1-2, and it has a lineup that’s both all-over-the-place and pretty great.
The Roots will headline the first day of the show, and the top of the bill also features D’Angelo and John Mayer. That day will also see performances from people like Kevin Gates, Jeremih, Emily Wells, and the great stand-up Jerrod Carmichael. But it’s the second day where things get really interesting. The Roots will again headline, but this time they’ll be backing up fellow performers in what’s being billed as “a salute to New York.” They’ll play behind the Wu-Tang Clan, David Byrne, and disco genius Nile Rodgers, and the bill also includes local standbys like Swizz Beatz, Deerhoof, and EPMD. And it’ll also include Roots rapper Black Thought’s “live mixtape” which will also feature Styles P, Freddie Gibbs, Royce Da 5’9″, and J. Period. (Maybe we shouldn’t count on Gibbs showing up, though.)
Check here for all the details.