The Roots have announced two outdoor shows for this summer, marking their first UK dates for six years.
The hip-hop duo made up of Questlove and Black Thought will be headlining South Facing Festival at London’s Crystal Palace Park Bowl on August 2. The next day, they’ll be headlining further south for a show at Dreamland Margate.
De La Soul and The Pharcyde will be opening for the duo at both shows. Tickets will go on sale on April 5 – you can buy yours here.
While it’s been a while since The Roots released new music, given their last album ‘…And Then You Shoot Your Cousin’ came out in 2014, they’ve kept busy as the house band on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Meanwile, in 2021, they reissued their 1995 studio album ‘Do You Want More?!!!??!’.
These shows aren’t the only time The Roots and De La Soul have linked up recently. Last year, De La Soul paid tribute to their late bandmember Trugoy The Dove with a performance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon featuring The Roots, where they performed ‘Stakes Is High’.
The Roots are also the people behind the yearly festival Roots Picnic, which takes place in Philadelphia every summer.
The line-up for the annual Philadelphia music festival was revealed last month and featured the likes of Lil Wayne, Jill Scott, Nas, André 3000 and more.
However, Questlove had to step in to defend the inclusion of Sexyy Red on the line-up after it caused controversy due to her support for Donald Trump as well as comments of her being “trashy”.
“Damn…..hell hath frozen over when I like a Mel post. There is always that one aft on the show everyone hates because it serves as a reminder the hip hop THEY like is from 30 years ago. I mean I get it it but look: we gotta round and balance the day out: there are other stages & podcasts and events to see,” Questlove wrote in the comments section (per Stereogum).
