Local Fort Worthian Sammy Kidd of Garage-Punk band Mean Motor Scooter to perform a solo performance on day one. Juma Spears and Francine Thirteen are also set to perform at The Modern Art Museum for the fest’s opening day
Fortress Festival is excited to reveal the final additions to the 2018 music lineup, including Chromeo, who will headline and close out Day 1 of the second annual event. The festival is set to take place Saturday April 28 and Sunday April 29, in Fort Worth’s renowned Cultural District. Weekend and single-day ticket are available for purchase at www.FortressFestival.com/tickets.
In its continued partnership with the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, the festival also announces a series of performances featuring local music acts will take place inside the Museum’s auditorium, noon to 3 p.m. April 28. Performers participating include Fort Worth’s up-and-coming rapper Juma Spears, who released his debut album Knowledge Is Power last spring; a solo set by Sammy Kidd of Fort Worth-grown garage rockers Mean Motor Scooter, who was recently awarded “Artist of the Year” and “Band of the Year,” by Fort Worth Weekly after the release of their debut full-length album, Hindu Flying Machine; and “ritual-pop” songstress Francine Thirteen who just won “Best Live Act” at the 2017 Dallas Observer Music Awards.
These special performances at the Modern’s auditorium are entirely free to attend. Interested attendees must RSVP in advance through dedicated links that will go live on April 1, as space within the auditorium is limited to only 250 total spots per show. Fortress ticket-buyers will have the first opportunity to RSVP to these auditorium performances when tickets become available, so those interested in attending are encouraged to purchase a festival ticket now to ensure they have the best opportunity to secure a seat.
Be sure to follow Fortress Festival’s social channels—on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/FortressFestivalTX and on Instagram and Twitter at @FortressFest—leading up to April 1 to access the needed RSVP links to secure a seat at each of these three special sets, as well as to stay up-to-date on all Fortress Festival news and announcements.
Fort Worth’s Cultural District is home to many museums such as the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth and the Kimbell Art Museum. The festival welcome’s North Texas internationally acclaimed headliners alongside some of today’s hottest up-and-coming music acts, as well as a variety of local artists and boundary-testing music pioneers. Performers including Father John Misty, Courtney Barnett, De La Soul, RZA, The Voidz, and tUnE-yArDs, will take the stage in addition to Saturday’s headliner, Chromeo. The Canadian electro-funk duo is currently preparing for the spring release of their highly-anticipated fifth studio album, Head Over Heels, the follow-up to 2014’s White Women.
The performances at the Modern’s auditorium are a new addition to the event, which will also include a reimagined festival footprint and layout. This year the event will be held on the spacious lawn featuring two outdoor main stages adjacent to the Will Rogers Coliseum. The new featured non-overlapping sets allow attendees the ability to watch every minute of performances from both main stages.
The overall change to the festival layout has been made in an effort by organizers to address attendees’ concerns from the festival’s inaugural year regarding the distance and overall entry process between the main stages. This new floorplan will feature a completely unified layout, and interested patrons can effortlessly leave the festival and visit the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth using their festival wristband for not only the free auditorium shows on Saturday, but also general access to the Museum throughout normal festival hours both days of the fest. Continuing the tradition established last year, both general admission and VIP passes offer free access to the Modern’s galleries during the festival. Specific admission hours will be announced at a later time.
The Fortress Festival 2018 performance schedule along with the finalized festival sitemap and layout will be revealed closer to the festival dates and can be found at www.FortressFestival.com:
SATURDAY, APRIL 28
Chromeo
De La Soul
RZA ft. Stone Mecca
Chicano Batman
The Voidz
Rapsody
Hurray for the Riff Raff
Waxahatchee
Shabazz Palaces
Jay Som
Bedouine
Cure for Paranoia
Juma Spears**
Sammy Kidd (of Mean Motor Scooter)**
Francine Thirteen**
SATURDAY, APRIL 29
Father John Misty
Courtney Barnett
tUnE-yArDs
Lee Fields & The Expressions
The Texas Gentlemen
Vandoliers
Ronnie Heart
Midnight Opera
Henry the Archer
Andy Pickett
Pearl Earl
**Indicates these music acts are only performing through the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth’s music performance series in the Museum’s Auditorium on Saturday, April 28
An limited number of single-day passes to the festival are available at early-bird pricing for just $44 and $110 for general admission and VIP. Once this limited allotment of discount passes are sold, regular prices increase to $59 and $149 for general admission and VIP single-day passes. Festival parking passes are also available for purchase for just $15 per day or $25 for a two-day pass.
In addition to single-day pass options and parking passes, there is an extremely small allotment of two-day VIP passes still available for purchase for the early-bird price of $225, although regular-priced two-day general admission passes cost $99. VIP pass holders will experience special perks, including exclusive events, preferred viewing areas, free parking, expedited entry, exclusive food and drink offerings, dedicated lounges and restroom facilities, discounts on merchandise from the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, memberships, programs, and additional amenities that will be announced in the coming weeks.
