By Gabriel Rom
From Paul Simon to John McEnroe this summer promises to be a busy one at the Forest Hills Stadium as world class music and professional tennis return to the historic venue.
Disclosure, a British electronic music group, will also be bringing its deep sound to the Forest Hills Stadium June 18.
The Grammy-nominated house music duo will play with a diverse group of acts for the one-night Wild Life music festival. The other performers include American rapper Anderson .Paak and his band the Free Nationals, Queensbridge hip-hop duo Mobb Deep and London electronic music band Dusky.
Tickets for the concert range from $39.50 to $69.50 and will go on sale this Friday at 10 a.m.
Two weeks later, Paul Simon, who met a certain Garfunkel at Forest Hills High School in his youth, will be playing at the stadium for the first time since 1970, his first appearance in 46 years. Simon will be playing a one-night concert June 30, organizers said.
The announcement follows the reintroduction of professional tennis to Forest Hills. 1977 marked the last year the U.S. Open took place at the stadium.
The West Side Tennis Club announced last week that the stadium will soon play host to the New York Empire tennis team, the newest member of the World Team Tennis league.
WTT, a lighter, more entertainment-driven take on professional tennis, features both men and women playing together on teams, and presents a signature mix of men’s and women’s singles, men’s and women’s doubles and mixed doubles.
World Team Tennis has not had a team in the city since the New York Sportimes moved to San Diego in 2014.
The empire’s coach will be John McEnroe, and its star player will be former U.S. Open Singles Champion Andy Roddick. The rest of the Empire’s roster will be filled in the March draft.
Forest Hills Stadium will seat 2,500 for the Empire’s six home matches, marking the first professional tennis event at Forest Hills Stadium since the final WCT Tournament of Champions in 1990.
“There are few more beautiful places to play tennis than Forest Hills, and it’s great to help bring professional tennis back to the facility for the 2016 Mylan WTT season,” said McEnroe in a statement published on the team’s website.
The stadium, which can accommodate about 12,000 to 13,000 concert-goers, will be configured to seat up to 10,000 spectators during the tennis matches, according to Bob Ingersole, tennis director of the West Side Tennis Club.
Reach reporter Gabriel Rom by e-mail at grom@
