concert
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If you’ve seen Lana Del Rey headline a festival then you are aware that the singer draws a massive crowd. That truth will be told again on June 20 when LDR headlines her first-ever U.S. stadium show at Boston’s iconic Fenway Park. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and […]
Madonna wrapped her Celebration Tour with a massive free concert in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Queen of Pop closed her global trek with a record-breaking show at Rio’s Copacabana Beach on Saturday (May 4), drawing more than 1.6 million fans to the majestic site. Although Copacabana Beach has seen larger crowds during past New […]
The Lovers & Friends Festival in Las Vegas has been canceled due to dangerous weather conditions, organizers have announced.
The one-day music festival at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds was scheduled to take place on Saturday (May 4) with a star-studded lineup including headliners Usher, Janet Jackson and Backstreet Boys.
On Friday night (May 3), the festival’s organizers shared a message on social media explaining that the outdoor event was being called off because of a high wind warning issued by the National Weather Service.
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“The National Weather Service has now issued a High Wind Warning, including dangerous 30-35 mph sustained winds with gusts potentially more than 60 mph,” organizers wrote. “Following advice from the National Weather Service and in consultation with local public officials, we must make the safest decision for our fans, artists, and staff, and cancel tomorrow’s Lovers & Friends Festival.”
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Organizers added, “This was an incredibly heartbreaking decision to make as we are aware that fans have traveled from all over the world to enjoy this incredible lineup of superstars and have been looking forward to this event for several months. We’ve worked hard to create an amazing event for you, and we are just as disappointed as you are.”
Fans who purchased their tickets directly through Front Gate Tickets will receive a refund within 30 days, organizers said.
The Lovers & Friends lineup also included Lil Wayne, Snoop Dogg, Gwen Stefani, Nas, Alicia Keys, Nelly Furtado, Ludacris, Mary J. Blige, Ciara, TLC and Timbaland. As part of the festivities, Lil Wayne was scheduled to perform Tha Carter III in its entirety and Usher was set to celebrate the 20th anniversary of his classic album Confessions.
Read the full statement from the Lovers & Friends organizers on Instagram below.
Los Angeles-based musician mk.gee played back-to-back sold out shows this week at the Fonda Theater in Hollywood, and the performances were no-frills: no opener, no banter, no visuals.
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In fact, mk.gee could hardly be seen amidst the spotlight placed directly behind him for the entire show on Wednesday (April 24). He let his music do all of the talking instead, and while this description might sound uninspired, the real effect was anything but. mk.gee’s performance was more captivating and enigmatic than even his recorded music — a show that kept the spotlight fixed on the artist’s work rather than the artist himself.
After releasing his latest album, Two Star and the Dream Police, on Feb. 9, mk.gee (real name: Mike Gordon) has been amassing his own brand of mysterious indie stardom. He’s always been a musician’s musician, beloved by everyone from Frank Ocean to Anderson .Paak dating back to 2018’s sunnier album Pronounced McGee. But the singer, songwriter, guitarist and producer had yet to hit the radar of many current listeners until Two Star debuted.
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This is likely because he keeps to himself. It’s clear mk.gee is not chasing algorithms or clout or money. He rarely does interviews or shows his whole face in photos. The most he’s ever been seen really was when he played guitar in Dijon’s music videos for Absolutely, the acclaimed 2021 album that he co-wrote and co-produced, or the recent time he played on Jimmy Kimmel Live! Even then, viewers in the YouTube comment section were calling him a “Batman of Music.”
It’s refreshing — and shocking — to see a musician like mk.gee in 2024, and his elusiveness and focus on his craft is not something I believed could still work in an era of shameless and constant self-promotion. With mk.gee, the music is enough. What a relief that is.
He came with just two bandmates (Andrew Aged and Zack Sekof), a hard set-up to pull off, especially when the focal point of the performance is on the musicality of the artist on stage. Playing through songs from Two Star, the three musicians improvised over the tracks, patiently and incisively, bringing new emotional heft to songs that already oozed with it to begin with. Sometimes this would go on for minutes longer than the recorded version’s run time, especially after “Are You Looking Up” which marked the end of the set before he came back for an encore, and it was always felt like a gift to hear the trio keep going.
If the set could be compared to anyone else’s, it would probably be that of musical polymath James Blake or of Bon Iver’s 22, A Million performances, which have similarly used backlighting and an artful mix of programmed and ad-libbed playing.
While I was hoping to hear some tracks from Pronounced McGee and The Museum of Contradiction (2020), mk.gee’s set was much more uniform as simply a showcase of Two Star songs, and I could forgive those exclusions for the sonic consistency this choice brought to the show. All in all, mk.gee’s was an incredibly focused, sparse presentation that kept his musicianship centerstage at all times. It’s a must-see for concert lovers, especially those who seek live talent over visual pageantry.
See the setlist for mk.gee’s L.A. show on April 24 below.
“New Low”
“How Many Miles”
“Dream Police”
“You got It”
“Rylee & I”
“Dimeback”
“Candy”
“I Want”
“Are You Looking Up”
—
“Alesis”
“Candy”
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Jelly Roll “righted a wrong” to a fellow performer and offered up a brand new song during a concert Wednesday night (April 24) on the eve of the NFL Draft in Detroit.
Fresh off his three CMT Music Awards earlier in the month, Jelly veered from the night’s planned setlist at the Fillmore Detroit to add “Kill a Man,” a track from his chart-topping 2023 album Whitsitt Chapel. He explained to the crowd that the night’s opening act — Canadian singer-songwriter Madeline Merlot — had sung backup on the recording but wasn’t credited because, “I didn’t know if she’d want to be associated with my white trash ass.” The two are on the same label (BBR Music Group), and Jelly Roll pronounced himself “such a fan of hers and her voice. I love everything about you, Miss Madeline Merlo.”
He then invited her on stage to perform the song with him, letting her take lead on the second verse.
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Merlo, who’s been releasing music since 2014, was a second season contestant on NBC’s writing competition show Songland. Her most recent EP, Slide, came out during 2022, while a new single, “Time + Faith,” was released last September and reached No. 6 on Billboard Canada’s Country Songs chart.
Jelly Roll also used the special small-venue show — dubbed The Night Before, but not an official NFL Draft event — to preview a brand new song, “Liar,” a muscular rock track that he said was destined for his next album. He and his eight-piece band muffed the opening — “We’ve never done this before, so… we’re figuring it out,” he noted — but started over and made their way through on the second attempt. “Should I put it on the new album or what, Detroit?,” thes singer teased afterwards, to unanimous approval from the 3,000 fans in attendance.
He also urged those fans to post videos of him performing the song online immediately so that his wife, Bunnie XO, who was on the West Coast taping episode of her Dumb Blonde podcast, “will see it before I get off stage.”
The rest of Wednesday’s show — which was introduced by Public Enemy hype man Flavor Flav — included Jelly Roll hits such as “Dead Man Walking,” “Halfway to hell,” “Smoking Section,” “Son of a Sinner,” “Bottle and Mary Jane,” “She,” “Wild Ones,” “Same Asshole” and “Need a Favor,” plus a rendition of Toby Keith’s “Should’ve Been a Cowboy” in tribute to the late country icon. It also featured his usual medley of rap favorites by Eazy-E, Eminem, Outkast and Biz Markie.
The Detroit concert presented by Audacy’s WYCD served as a warm-up for Jelly Roll’s Stagecoach festival performance on Friday (April 26). He also has dates currently booked into October, including his own Beautifully Broken Tour with Warren Zeiders and Alexandra Kay and a pair of stadium shows with Morgan Wallen in Tampa on July 11-12.
Shakira did not lie when she announced on social media: “se viene la loba” (the she wolf is coming). The Colombian superstar unveiled the dates to the North American leg of her 2024 Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran tour on Tuesday (April 16), just on the heels of revealing the big news during her surprise […]
On Thursday night (April 11), the Barclays Center in New York City was electrified by the presence of Bad Bunny. The arena, filled to its 19,000-person capacity, buzzed with anticipation as the Puerto Rican superstar kicked off the first show of his three-night stint in the city.
“New York has been very important in my career, where dreams come true,” Benito told his fans in his native Spanish during the performance. “Being on the tour feels really amazing, going to each place and seeing it, all the cities, but New York, it’s something else. It feels more amazing than usual. Seeing all those PR and DR flags makes it even more special. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for being here, it means a lot to me.”
Bad Bunny — who wore Prada sunglasses, a velour suit, and a gold cross necklace — delivered a dynamic performance that was an amalgamation of music and spectacle. It included a grand orchestra, an equestrian entrance, a surprise appearance by Bryant Myers to perform “Seda,” a jigsaw-like stage that transformed into the Brooklyn Bridge, and, of course, a repertoire of his biggest hits. (Here’s the complete setlist of the tour, which slightly changed to add “Amorfoda” and “Tití Me Preguntó.”)
This was part of his Most Wanted Tour — in support of his Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana album — which kicked off on Feb. 21 in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Live Nation-promoted tour is halfway through its schedule, with forthcoming performances in cities including Austin, Texas (Apr. 26-27), Atlanta, Ga. (May 14-15), and Miami, Fla. (May 24-26). See the full dates here.
According to Billboard Boxscore, the tour has already been a commercial success, grossing $84.2M and selling 282K tickets over its first 18 shows. It has consistently sold out venues, demonstrating Bad Bunny’s continued widespread appeal.
Here are five standout moments from the first night of Bad Bunny’s Most Wanted Tour at the Barclays Center:
The Grandeur of an Orchestra
Olivia Rodrigo closed out her epic four-night stand at New York’s Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night (April 10) by bringing out yet another surprise guest. The final show on the first North American run of Rodrigo’s GUTS tour found the singer sharing the stage with Jewel, who joined her for a run through the […]
As she continues the North American leg of her Celebration Tour, Madonna is currently holding court in Miami for her three-day takeover (April 6, 7, and 9) at the Kaseya Center. During Sunday night’s show (April 7), the Queen of Pop surprised her fans with a special guest and good friend, Ricky Martin. Explore See […]