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The eight year hiatus of The Empire of the Sun is officially over with the dawn of their new era, ‘Ask That God.’ The duo shares their reasoning behind dissolving the band then coming back, the intimate themes of ‘Ask That God,’ their thoughts on Mac Miller sampling their music for “The Spins,” working with PNAU and more!
Luke Steele:
So he’s gonna be on the next record. We’re gonna throw that out there Billboard
Katie Bain:
Manifesting that here.
Luke Steele:
Yep.
Katie Bain:
It starts right here. Okay.
Luke Steele:
Paul McCartney, if you’re listening. Got some songs for you. Hello. We’re Empire of the Sun, and you’re watching
Nick Littlemore:
Billboard News.
Katie Bain:
Very excited to have you here in the studio. Was it always inevitable that there would be a new Empire of the Sun album?
Luke Steele:
It was a little bit touch and go there.
Nick Littlemore:
No, it was always inevitable. As to when.
Luke Steele:
Yeah. I guess-
Nick Littlemore:
That’s the question.
Katie Bain:
Okay.
Nick Littlemore:
The Empire will go on. It’s not like there’s other empires before that have, all, you know, folded. We will keep going. So
Katie Bain:
Sure. Why was this the right moment?
Luke Steele:
We’ve been working together for 20 years, over 20 years, so I think we had to get to that point where we said, enough is enough. I’ve had it with you, Nick, go my own way. You know, we had to turn all the computers off. We had to shut everything down. And even though the pandemic was, you know, horrible for the band, I think it was a bit of a blessing because we got to step away. You know, for 20 years we built this castle, and it was time for us to abandon, kind of abandon the dream and let it all get covered in raids, to then come back again and realize what we loved about it so much in the first place.
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MELBOURNE, Australia — Roger Field returns to the live music industry with a new venture, Further Afield.
The former Live Nation Asia Pacific president helms the advisory business, which will guide clients looking to interact with live events, with a focus on business development, market insights and industry advocacy.
His approach, Field explains, is built on creating new ways to “connect the previously unconnected.”
Also, the Melbourne-based executive will leverage his know-how on advocating with government on live events.
“My previous role leading an APAC organization of 300-plus people and tens of millions of dollars turnover gave me the privilege of dealing with prime ministers, premiers, politicians, media and peak bodies,” he comments, “leading to a significantly improved appreciation of the capability, scale and value of the live industry.”
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Prior to splitting with LN in late 2023, Field was regularly identified as one of Billboard’s international power players, a key figure in live entertainment who led the concerts giant’s presence across Australia and New Zealand, before taking the reins in a pan-Asia Pacific role.
Field logged 13 years with the company, joining in 2010 at the launch of Live Nation Australia. Two years later, LN acquired Michael Coppel Presents, reuniting the concerts specialists (Field had worked with Coppel in 2003). The promotions would come, with Field elevated from vice president of promotions to chief operating officer, then CEO for Australia and NZ.
Another elevation came in 2020, when Field was appointed LN president, Asia Pacific, a new position.
At the height of the pandemic, in mid-2020, Field was appointed to a leadership role for the Live Entertainment Industry Forum (LEIF), created to help safely reactivate concerts, sports and shows of all kinds as restrictions across the country were eased, and he was part of a music industry delegation that helped secure a A$250 million federal government “lifeline” for the music industry.
During his time leading LN’s affiliate, Field oversaw stadium tours for likes of Taylor Swift, Coldplay, U2 and Red Hot Chili Peppers, the business diversified with its VIP offering, brand partnerships with the likes of National Australia Bank, Telstra and American Express, formed strategic partnerships with government and private entities including Secret Sounds, and added a slew of venues to LN’s portfolio.
“The live events industry isn’t particularly easy for outsiders to understand and navigate, and I see this as a huge, missed opportunity,” he says of his new business. “I’m already working with some fantastic clients, and my time away has reaffirmed that there are so many opportunities for adjacent markets, private equity and venture capital to proactively engage with the live events industry.”
The Midwest Princess is about to be crowned in the U.K.
Based on midweek sales and streaming data captured by the Official Charts Company, Chappell Roan is heading for her first No. 1 with The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess (Island), her long-brewing 2023 debut LP.
Released last October last year, Roan’s rise has been at times brisk, and blistering, following the breakthrough of her single “Good Luck, Babe!,” currently at No. 2 on the Official U.K. Chart; a support slot on Olivia Rodrigo’s GUTS tour; and the Willard, Missouri native’s explosive set at Lollapalooza, which a spokesperson has described as the festival’s biggest daytime set ever.
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According to the OCC, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess lifts 3-1 on the Official Chart Update, thanks to the release of a vinyl variant. Two cuts from the LP have impacted the U.K. Top 40: “HOT TO GO! “(peaking at No. 19) and “Red Wine Supernova” (No. 38).
Charli xcx’s BRAT (Atlantic) summer continues to heat up. The British artist and producer’s sixth studio album is forecast to rise 6-2, its equal peak position, as the single “Guess” jostles to become the U.K.’s No. 1 single.
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Taylor Swift’s former leader The Tortured Poets Department (EMI) should complete a podium, up 4-3 in its 16th week on the tally.
Following its official release, White Stripes frontman Jack White could net his sixth U.K. top 10 album with No Name (Third Man), new at No. 6 on the chart blast. The White Stripes frontman got tongues wagging last month when vinyl copies of the record were mysteriously handed out customers at Third Man Records in three cities.
Finally, Ye — the artist formerly known as Kanye West — and Ty Dolla $ign could nab a top 10 debut with VULTURES 2 (YZY), which surprised dropped on early Saturday after plenty of uncertainty. It’s predicted to debut at No. 9. The first VULTURES album peaked at No. 2 in February.
All will be revealed when the Official U.K. Albums Chart is published late Friday, Dec. 9.
Five days and a few thousand miles between gigs — and the formal release of his new album, No Name — gave Jack White a good excuse to show one of his homes where his heart is.
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Just two days after playing the Pentaport Rock Festival in South Korea, White and his quartet were on stage Monday night (Aug. 5) at Saint Andrew’s Hall in his native Detroit, tearing through a characteristically frenzied, nearly 100-minute show that served as the album release celebration for No Name.
White released the 13-song set secretly on July 19, when white-cover copies were slipped, for free, into customer bags at Third Man Records stores in Detroit, Nashville and London. The album was formally released last Friday, the same day tickets for the Detroit show were put on sale (and, with less than 1,000 available, sold out instantly).
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Among the notables on hand were White’s wife Olivia Jean, John Fogerty (who played in the Detroit suburbs the previous night) with his wife and manager Julie and members of his band and touring party, and Major League baseball all-star Kirk Gibson, now a broadcaster for the Detroit Tigers. (White took in a game on Sunday, shortly after arriving from overseas.)
The atmosphere was festive, both on stage and off, and certainly more intimate than Detroit’s nationally televised Michigan Central opening concert White performed at in June. “That’s my town! That’s my town, right there!” White declared after an enthusiastic early-show call-and-response during “That’s How I’m Feeling,” one of seven No Name tracks included in the 21-song setlist.
The largely more straightforward, hard-rocking material — including “Old Scratch Blues,” “Morning at Midnight,” “Where’s the Rumpus?,” a joyous “Underground” and “Archbishop Harold Holmes,” with a vocal cadence not unlike fellow Detroiter Eminem — fit well alongside the garage-derived material from his White Stripes days, too, though he did touch on solo favorites such as “Love Interruption,” “Why Walk a Dog?” and “Lazaretto,” bisecting the latter’s funky gait with a furious freak-out jam.
And White paid tribute to some other Michigan heroes, the Stooges, with a room-shaking rendition of “I Wanna Be Your Dog” sandwiched between portions of the White Stripes’ “Cannon.”
While White had played at the venue, a Detroit music landmark, prior to his White Stripes days, it marked the first time he’d been on stage there in more than two decades. “I’ve seen so many shows in this building, but I’ve never really played here,” he told the crowd. And before the White Stripes’ “Hotel Yorba,” meanwhile, he quipped that “I have to be careful; the last time I played this song in Detroit I got married” — referring to his on-stage proposal and marriage to Olivia Jean on April 8, 2022, on the opening night of his Supply Chain Issues Tour at the nearby Masonic Temple Auditorium.
He also shouted out his 93-year-old mother, who he said was watching from the Saint Andrew’s balcony. Mostly, though, White and the band — longtime bassist Dominic Davis, keyboardist Bobby Emmett and Raconteurs/Greenhornes drummer Patrick Keller — turned in ferocious treatments of everything they touched, filling the performances with improvisations, vamps and musical asides without ever losing control of the songs. Keeler’s style in particular brought a garage-y kind of propulsion to the mix but with chops that elevated the likes of “Ball and Biscuit,” “The Hardest Button to Button,” “Little Bird” and “Hello Operator.”
White reached back even deeper to one of his early bands, The Go, with “Keep on Trash” before offering “Broken Boy Soldier” and “Steady, as She Goes” from the Raconteurs. “Seven Nation Army,” of course, brought the show to a momentous end, with White finishing atop his amplifiers, swinging his resonator guitar off his shoulder to salute the crowd.
“Thank you for all the love you gave tonight,” he told fans who clearly would have stayed for another 100 minutes if he offered it. “I hope we gave as much love back to you. Music is sacred!”
White next heads to Gothenburg, Sweden to play at the Way Out West festival on Thursday, Aug. 8, the start of a three-day run that includes shows in Norway and Denmark. His only other concert on the books right now is during October at Desert Daze in Lake Perris, Calif., with the exact date still to be announced.
Taylor Swift is rounding out her European leg of The Eras Tour, and she surprised fans with five new openers to her London shows. What do you think of her additional openers? Let us know in the comments below! Tetris Kelly: With only eight more European dates on her Eras Tour, Taylor Swift recruits five […]
Charli XCX marked her 32nd birthday with some famous friends. Keep watching to see who and how she was celebrated! Tetris Kelly:Brat summer continues as Charli XCX celebrates her birthday with her new collaborator and some other music friends. We have the details. Charli and Billie just dropped the “Guess” remix that has everybody talking. […]
Will Shaboozey be able to hold on to his No. 1 spot from Morgan Wallen and Post Malone? Tetris Kelly:This is the Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 for the week dated Aug. 10. Billie is back in the top 10, while “Please Please Please” falls to nine. Chappell Roan hits a new No. 8 peak, […]
The Kid Laroi’s re-routed tour of Australia will visit arenas across the country this November.
Announced Monday (Aug. 5), Laroi will embark on a seven-city, eight-date tour starting Monday, Nov. 11 at Gold Coast Home Of The Arts, before moving on to Brisbane, Sydney, Perth, Adelaide, Hobart and wrapping up Nov. 29 and 30 at Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena.
Migos founding member Quavo and controversial west Sydney drill unit OneFour will join the singer and rapper on the trek, produced by TEG Live.
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The rescheduled jaunt replaces an earlier, trans-Tasman stadium visit that was penciled in for February 2024, but was subsequently shelved.
“I’M COMING BACK HOMEE & BRINGING SOME FRIENDS WITH ME,” he writes on social media. “Thank you for being so patient with me & I’m sorry that this took so long. I love you guys beyond words & I promise we’re gonna make this special!!!!!!”
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Raised in inner-city Sydney, now based in Los Angeles, the singer, songwriter and rapper last played arenas in Australia in May and June 2022, for his End of the World Tour, produced by Handsome Tours and TEG Live.
The First Time Australia Tour will support Laroi’s debut full-length LP of the same name, which dropped Nov. 10 through Columbia/Sony Music, and opened at No. 3 on the national ARIA Chart. Album track “Girls” last week nabbed a piece of history, by being recognized with the very first Australian Chart #1 Award, celebrating homegrown successful on the Australian charts.
General public tickets will go on sale from Aug. 8 at 1pm local time via ticketek.com.au.
As a teen, the Gadigal-born artist with Kamilaroi roots smashed records on the elevator to the top. His debut mixtape F*ck Love from 2020 went to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 a full year after its release. Aged 17 at the time Laroi (born Charlton Kenneth Jeffrey Howard) was the first solo male Australian to hit No. 1 since Keith Urban’s Fuse in 2013.
When F*ck Love (Savage) ruled over the ARIA Albums Chart in February, 2021, the Kid was anointed as the youngest Australian solo artist to do so, at 17 years, 5 months and 22 days.
Along the way, he’s accumulated a collection of awards includes ARIAs and NIMAs, several Billboard Music Awards and a Grammy Award nomination for best newcomer.
The Kid Laroi’s “The First Time Australian Tour 2024“Nov. 11 — Gold Coast Home Of The Arts, QldNov. 14 — Brisbane Entertainment Centre, QldNov. 16 — Sydney Commbank Stadium, NSWNov. 20 — Perth Rac Arena, WANov. 24 — Adelaide Entertainment Centre, SANov. 27 — Hobart Mystate Bank Arena, TasNov. 29 + 30 — Melbourne Rod Laver Arena, Vic
*Supported By Quavo And OneFour
Lollapalooza day one in Chicago was the place to see unforgettable performances. Megan Thee Stallion, Chappell Roan, Benson Boone, Kesha and loads more took to the stage to stun fans. Take a peak in this segment of ‘All Access!’ Tetris Kelly: From Chappell Roan to Thee Stallion Lollapalooza day one in Chicago was the place […]
TWS helped launch the GRAMMY Museum’s ‘HYBE: We Believe In Music’ Exhibit where it showcased various artifacts from HYBE’s K-Pop groups from BTS, SEVENTEEN, and more. Keep watching for a sneak peek!
TWS:
Seeing the footsteps of so many of the senior groups made us realize that we should be great artists too.
Tetris Kelly:
TWS helped kick off the GRAMMY Museum’s ‘HYBE: We Believe In Music’ Exhibit, which is open today, in Los Angeles. And Billboard and the band were on site to bring you all the access.
TWS:
I grew up watching and listening to K-pop at a very young age.
Tetris Kelly:
TWS, one of HYBE’s newest groups that debuted in January of this year, and joins the ranks of some of the epic K-Pop global groups to be featured at the GRAMMY Museum.
TWS:
So I am very honored to be here today at the GRAMMY Museum and to see the bracelets we wore on display.
Tetris Kelly:
Along with their bracelets, the exhibit, which runs through September 15th, displays outfits, accessories and artifacts from HYBE groups that span two decades. SEVENTEEN, LE SSERAFIM, ENHYPEN, TOMORROW X TOGETHER, and of course, BTS, have all contributed to the exhibit. It also features items from some of their newer groups, BOYNEXTDOOR, &TEAM, and their newest group, KATSEYE.
TWS:
I want to say, we’re working hard to show our various sides in our performances and on stage, so please look forward to it. We’re trying our best, thank you!
Tetris Kelly:
TWS helped celebrate the launch of the exhibit by doing a Q&A and giving fans a performance.
TWS:
Every moment is a precious opportunity for us. Thank you.
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