Buju’s 15-date US tour starts August 23
Following his sold-out shows last weekend at the UBS Arena in Long Island, New York, Buju Banton will embark on The Overcomer — a 15-date tour of the United States starting August 23 in Fort Lauderdale.
That event takes place at the Amerant Bank Arena.
A release from Destine Media, publicists for the Grammy-winning artiste, shows him and his Shiloh Band are down to perform in arenas, venues with capacities similar to the UBS Arena — some 18,000 or more.
On previous tours of the US Buju Banton played a combination of reggae festivals, clubs, and high-profile venues such as the House of Blues.
According to Destine Media, he will be accompanied on the upcoming tour by Fridayy, an American singer-songwriter, with stops in Washington DC, Boston, Philadelphia, Hartford, Connecticut, Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, Phoenix, Inglewood, and San Jose, California, Chicago, and Brooklyn.
The final gig in Brooklyn on November 17 is at the Barclays Center, home to NBA team, the Brooklyn Nets. That has a capacity seating of 19,000.
Other notable venues on The Overcomer tour are Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida (21,500); Capital One Arena in Washington, DC (20,356); TD Garden in Boston (19,580); and Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia (21,000).
Last weekend’s shows in New York were the latest in a series marking Buju Banton’s release from prison in the US six years ago on drug-related charges. The first, in March 2019, was an epic affair dubbed ‘Long Walk to Freedom’ at the National Stadium in Kingston, Jamaica.
That was followed by similar events in The Bahamas, Barbados, St Kitts-Nevis, Grenada, and Trinidad and Tobago. Buju Banton has also performed in Europe.
Ronnie Tomlinson, principal of Destine Media, described the UBS Arena shows as “amazing” with “two totally different sets”. The first featured Nadine Sutherland and Gramps Morgan, while the second had Gramps Morgan along with rappers Fat Joe and Remy Ma.
Banton was surprised with a birthday cake during the second show. He turned 50 years old on July 15.