Kendrick Lamar will headline the inaugural Auckland City Limits. Photo: AFP
Next year’s Auckland City Limits festival will be headlined by Kendrick Lamar and The National.
The first line-up was announced today and other acts on the bill include US rapper Action Bronson, country singer Sturgill Simpson, indie act Cold War Kids, and blues-rock musician Grace Potter.
Many of the acts will touch down in New Zealand before heading to Bluesfest, which takes place in Byron Bay the following week.
New Zealand artists playing on the day include The Naked and Famous, Tami Neilson, The Phoenix Foundation, MAALA and Kinetic. The event will also see Che Fu perform a one-off performance of his acclaimed 2002 album Navigator in full.
The festival takes place across four stages at Western Springs Stadium on Saturday March 19. The line-up comprises 40 acts in total, with promoters promising that the rest will be revealed in December.
It takes after the well-known event Austin City Limits, which launched in 2002 and has grown into a two-weekend event, with more than 130 acts on their line-up.
Auckland City Limits is being organised by Campbell Smith’s company CRS, which was behind the Auckland leg of the Big Day Out festival. They’ve partnered with Live Nation and C3 Presents to bring the event to New Zealand.
Super earlybird tickets for Auckland City Limits are $99 and on sale from 9am, Wednesday November 4.
Auckland City Limits first line-up:
Kendrick Lamar, The National, Action Bronson, The Naked & Famous, Sturgill Simpson, Cold War Kids, Grace Potter, Lord Huron, The Phoenix Foundation, St. Paul & the Broken Bones, Houndmouth, Che Fu & the Kratez, Tami Neilson, Shakey Graves, MAALA, Kinetic.