Concerts
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Playing in a trio is not without precedent for Sting; he was in this little band called the Police, after all. But his Sting 3.0 tour — which began during the summer in Europe and opened its North American leg Tuesday night (Sept. 17) with the first of two shows at the Fillmore Detroit — has been a welcome return to the format after a good 16 years of touring with different and varyingly larger configurations.
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“My inclination is always to try and surprise people in the songs I write or in the format I present the song,” he told Billboard via Zoom from New York, between the 3.0 tour legs. “I don’t think anyone was expecting a trio. “I’ve worked with these big seven, eight-piece bands, and it’s a bit like driving a Bentley. It kind of drives itself, and it’s comfortable. So I decided I would put myself out of my comfort zone in order to get something on the back end that wasn’t guaranteed — a risk, if you like.
“I’m enjoying the challenge, and it’s also fun looking, watching the audience go, ‘Wow, there’s only three people up there. We were expecting a bigger band’ and then enjoying the sonic clarity of it.”
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Sting is joined in the endeavor by longtime guitarist Dominic Miller and drummer Chris Maas, a Luxembourg native who’s previously worked with Mumford & Sons, Maggie Rodgers and the Pierces. And while Sting fessed up to being “kind of anxious all the way up to the first show” in Europe, he quickly shed any doubts he may have had — or, perhaps, any lingering PTSD from the legendary combativeness within the Police.
“Halfway through that first gig I realized this is exactly what I want to do,” he said, explaining that, “There’s a space that you have been instruments — the clarity, the mutual listening between the members of the band, the risk factor, stripping the songs down to their basic essence and having them work. You take all the fat away, but the basic structure of the song is very satisfying.
“We’ve had a blast. There’s no let-up here. You can’t cruise. You have to be right on the money the whole time. But the songs are holding up. The singer’s holding up…’” And so, he added, is the player. “I began to notice how good I am at singing and playing the bass, actually,” he said with a chuckle. “I’ve forgotten how well I did that.
“Nothing is impossible with a trio, I realize that,” he added. “And it’s not as if I’m completely new to the format. But I am surprised at how adaptable the songs and the arrangements are. It’s been so enjoyable.”
The couple of thousand or so fans in Detroit on Tuesday certainly shared Sting’s exuberance, generating a give-and-take energy that sustained throughout the 20-song, hour-and-45-minute performance, and these unquestionable highlights from it.
A nice balanceNot unusually, Sting and company did a fine job of combining the Police and his solo work, with eight of the former’s best-known songs in the setlist — including a ferocious rendition of “Driven to Tears” topical messages flashing across the video screen to “protest” and “react.” Sting’s “Desert Rose,” meanwhile, was sandwiched in the middle of a non-stop, main set-closing segment that began with the Police’s “Walking on the Moon” and “So Lonely” and finished with muscular arrangements of the Synchronicity hits “King of Pain” and “Every Breath You Take.”A boatload of hitsSting doesn’t have to work hard to keep ’em coming, of course. Using a headset microphone and playing a few songs seated, he also delivered Police favorites such as the show-opening “Message in a Bottle” and “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic,” an extended “Can’t Stand Losing You” and a long, rhythmically shifting version of “Roxanne.” From the solo front, meanwhile, came “If I Ever Lose My Faith in You,” “Shape of My Heart,” “All This Time” and “Englishman in New York.” For the show-ending “Fragile,” meanwhile, he put aside the bass and played acoustic guitar to send the crowd home “quiet and thoughtful.”
Deep cuts we loveSting mined 1991’s The Soul Cages for “Made About You” and “Why Should I Cry For You?,” both singles but not quite on A list status. From 2003’s Sacred Love, meanwhile, he plucked the solemn “Never Coming Home,” which he introduced as a musical note left by a woman as she was leaving her husband. The latter was also one of the night’s instrumental highlights, as Sting and Miller closed with an arresting, jammy outro.
It’s Miller time“Dominic is just loving the harmonic freedom he has, and the colors he’s creating are extraordinary,” Sting said, and that was borne out all show long, as Miller, employing an array of tasteful effects, used the space between Sting’s bass and Maas’s drums to paint an array of rich chordings and instrumental passages that elevated just about every song. His dexterous but discreet plucking filled in for the piano from the recorded version of “Every Little Thing She Does is Magic” and he created his own interpretation of the Arabic break from “Desert Rose.” And his solos during “Driven to Tears and “So Lonely” were nothing short of heroic.
Some fresh fareSting, Miller and Maas recorded a new single, “I Wrote Your Name,” that’s been played throughout the tour and was formally released on Sept. 6. “It’s a romantic song,” he told the Detroit crowd. “It’s also quite noisy.” And with its punchy energy and raspy vocal (from “being in the middle of a tour and being fatigued”) certainly recalls the Police’s early release.
“It’s a surprising record from me — very, very basic, like maybe four and a half chords,” Sting said, adding that, “I’d like to make (an album) with this trio. I’ve got the bare bones of a few things. Playing every night, it’s still very experimental, so a lot of things are happening that weren’t planned and that’s the territory I will draw from to make a new album. It’s very exciting.”
Who needs words?Sting remained one of rock’s kings of call-and-response, leading several singalongs throughout Tuesday’s shows. He gave the fans an opening during “Every Little Thing…,” then said he’d invented the wordless “little improvisation” at the end of “Can’t Stand Losing You” when the Police played the now-defunct Detroit club Bookie’s during November of 1978. There was another extended give-and-take towards the end of “Walking on the Moon” and, of course, during the jazzy breakdown in “Roxanne.”
And lest we forget, he IS StingAfter recalling some of his history playing Detroit, Sting told the crowd, “I’m gonna sing a song about my home now,” explaining with smile that, “I’ve a little house in the English countryside — it’s more of a castle, really,” about two miles “down the hill” from Stonehenge. He said that when the Englishman is in England, “if you knock on the door, I’ll make you a cup of tea,” indicating that he’s been taken up on that offer in the past. He went on to say that “the other nice thing about my house is it’s surrounded by barley fields, and at harvest time — see where I’m going with this? — it’s surrounded by what looks like a sea of gold.” That, of course, led into a performance of “Fields of Gold.”
The trio plays Detroit again on Wednesday and will be in North America through mid-November, including performances at the Bourbon & Beyond festival on Thursday in Louisville and the Ohana Festival Sept. 28 in California. The full itinerary can be found at sting.com/tour. The Sting 3.0 opening night performance in Detroit included:Message in a BottleIf I Ever Lose My Faith in YouEnglishman in New YorkEvery Little Thing She Does Is MagicFields of GoldNever Coming HomeMad About YouWhy Should I Cry for You?All This TimeDriven to TearsCan’t Stand Losing YouI Wrote Your NameShape of My HeartWalking on the MoonSo LonelyDesert RoseKing of PainEvery Breath You TakeEncore:RoxanneFragile
The plans to transform the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid, Spain, into a new musical epicenter have encountered an unexpected setback. Following successful shows by artists like Karol G, Taylor Swift and Luis Miguel, the football club Real Madrid announced on Friday (Sep. 13) that it has decided to suspend scheduled concerts at its official venue until 2025, though no specific date was provided.
“Real Madrid C. F. hereby announces that it has decided to provisionally reschedule the calendar of events and concerts at the Santiago Bernabéu. This decision is part of a series of measures that the club has been taking to ensure strict compliance with current municipal regulations during concerts,” the club stated in a press release published on its website and social media.
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“Despite the soundproofing of the Santiago Bernabéu and the additional measures that have been put in place, compliance with these regulations by the various organizers and promoters has been hampered by the challenge of meeting all the requirements,” the statement added. “Real Madrid will continue to work to ensure that during concerts there are the precise conditions in the production and broadcasting of sound that allow concerts to be held at our stadium.”
The affected concerts include those of Dellafuente and Aitana, originally scheduled for Nov. 15 and Dec. 28-29, respectively, and Lola Índigo’s, scheduled for March 22, 2025, Real Madrid said, stating that all of these would be rescheduled. The Music Bank Festival, which was to bring K-pop stars like BOYNEXTDOOR, KISS OF LIFE and aespa on Oct. 12, has been definitively canceled.
No further details were provided. Billboard Español attempted to contact the communications department of Real Madrid C.F. but did not receive a response at the time of publication.
On their social media accounts, Aitana and Lola Índigo quickly reacted to the news. Aitana immediately announced new dates for her shows, which will now be on June 27 and 28, 2025, while Índigo stated that she would announce new dates as soon as she has them.
“We are sad, but everything is postponed until 2025 and I am sure it will be incredible,” a visibly affected Aitana said in a video posted on her Instagram account. “It’s a blow, but we will come back stronger next year, promised!” expressed Lola Índigo. Fans flooded their accounts with messages of support, although the dismay over the wait was evident.
FACUA, a Spanish non-governmental and non-profit organization that fights for consumer rights, posted the following message on X (formerly Twitter): “If you are one of those affected, you have the right to get your money back and to be compensated for transportation and accommodation expenses that you have incurred and are non-refundable.”
With a capacity of up to 65,000 people, the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium opened its doors to musical events last April with the show Locos por la Música, followed by a series of concerts from Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour on May 29-30, and Karol G’s four closing shows of her Mañana Será Bonito Tour from July 20-23. Other major concerts at the venue were those of Duki (June 8), Manuel Carrasco (June 29) and Luis Miguel (July 6-7). The last act to perform there was the group Aventura, on Sep. 7-8.
The Bernabéu Stadium, which hosts one of the largest football teams in the Spanish capital, is located in the Chamartín district, right on Paseo de la Castellana, a mainly residential area. The noise level generated by the shows is not the only issue; the traffic and massive crowds have also been noted as a problem.
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Despite having to pay more for everyday goods and services, Americans feel like they’re in a better place financially than earlier this year. How they choose to increase and cut back their spending, though, varies from music to vacations to groceries.
The data show consumers are generally in a good place. The latest numbers from University of Michigan’s survey of consumers released today (Sept. 13) show consumer sentiment is the best since May and 40% above its June 2022 low. Deloitte’s financial well-being index rose for the third straight month in August and has risen from 95.9 to 102.6 over the last year, which suggests that consumers are feeling good enough about their finances to increase spending on a range of products and services.
Listen to travel and leisure companies and you’ll get the impression that inflation-weary, cash-strapped consumers are holding close to their wallets. In August, Airbnb missed earnings and warned of slowing demand, while Booking.com told investors that it expected slower growth in the number of nights booked by customers. Disney’s theme parks are seeing softer demand. Comcast’s Universal theme park revenue fell 11% in the most recent quarter after having a record 2023.
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The concert business, though, doesn’t share the malaise of theme parks and vacation rentals. “We don’t see [a slowdown],” Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino said Tuesday (Sept. 10) at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia & Technology Conference in San Francisco. “And you almost hate saying it, because everyone else is saying it, but we do think we have a very unique product.” Live Nation, the world’s largest concert promoter and ticketing company, had a record second quarter with total revenue of $6 billion, up 7%, and expects 2024 will be a record year.
Concerts have the advantage of creating a more visceral reaction than other types of entertainment. And because it’s in-person and live, Rapino explained, it’s a unique experience with a competitive advantage. “[Fans] want to connect with that artist,” he said. “There’s no digital duplicate replication here. You cannot watch that show at home. You do not get goosebumps when you watch it on Apple TV.”
Live music isn’t totally immune to economic woes, of course. Numerous tours — including The Black Keys and Jennifer Lopez — have been cancelled due to poor ticket sales. Festivals ranging from Desert Daze in California to Beale Street Music Festival in Memphis pulled the plug in 2024 due to economic reasons. And as Billboard has documented in recent years, the financial strain of touring artists following the pandemic has been very real. Higher costs for transportation, fuel and food have forced artists to economize and cut back on expenses to turn a profit.
Fans are still spending dearly on a small number of superstars, though. Surge pricing used in the Oasis on-sale inflated the cost of primary tickets beyond many fans’ comfort zones. Sphere in Las Vegas has drawn high-spending fans to residencies by U2, Phish and Dead & Co., and The Eagles’ upcoming shows should do similarly well. Prices to Adele’s final residency performance at The Colosseum at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas before an indefinite hiatus soared beyond $17,000 for top-tier seats.
Consumers continue to spend on recorded music, too. According to the RIAA’s mid-year report, the parts of the business that involve direct consumer spending — subscriptions, physical formats and digital downloads — rose 4.7% in the first six months of 2024. Subscription revenue improved 5.1% and surpassed 60% of total recorded music revenue. Spending on physical music formats fared even better, rising 12.7% on the strength of a 17.0% increase in vinyl sales. Download spending, an increasingly inconsequential part of the business, fell 15.8%.
Segments that don’t represent consumer spending — ad-supported streaming, synchronization royalties and SoundExchange royalties — rose just 0.9%. Ad-supported on-demand streaming, the biggest component of the non-spending segment, rose just 1.7%. (SoundExchange royalties include ad-supported streaming in addition to satellite radio royalties, which stem from direct consumer spending, and cable radio stations, which do not.) Synchronization royalties — it reflects the money flowing into advertisements and TV and film production — dropped 9.8%.
Elsewhere in the entertainment business, spending is mixed. U.S. movie ticket sales were down to $3.6 billion from $4 billion, though the pop culture sensation of Barbie and Oppenheimer in the summer of 2023 made for a tough comparison. U.S. video game revenue is expected to rise about 2.2% to $47 billion in 2024, according to market research firm Newzoo.
While consumer are looking to splurge on entertainment, they’re much more price conscious about everyday items. According to the consulting company McKinsey, people are cutting back on spending on essentials — especially gasoline and fresh produce — as well as home improvement and domestic flights.
During a 1980 presidential debate, Ronald Reagan posed a now-famous question: “Are you better off than you were four years ago?” In 2024, many Americans feel they were better off in 2020 — even though the economy was crippled by the pandemic that year. The music industry is better off today than four years ago. And although recorded music growth has slowed this year, 2024 will be better than 2023, too.
As three wildfires rage throughout Southern California, electronic music festival Nocturnal Wonderland has been canceled due to its proximity to the blazes.
Produced by Insomniac Events, the festival was set to take place this weekend (Sept. 14-15) at the Glen Helen Amphitheatre in San Bernardino, Calif. But producers announced Wednesday (Sept. 11), that the festival will not happen because of the Line Fire, which is burning near the venue.
“We are saddened to inform you that new fires in the San Bernardino area have ignited over the last 35 hours and are now approaching the Glen Helen Amphitheatre,” the festival announced on social media. “The health and safety of festival attendees and staff is our highest priority. After further discussions with local authorities, due to the impact of the fires surrounding the venue, we will be unable to proceed with Nocturnal Wonderland.”
The statement notes that ticketholders will receive an email regarding ticket refunds in the coming days, along with information about how ticketholders can support local firefighters and the residents of affected areas.
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The Line Fire has been burning in the San Bernardino National Forest since Sept. 5, and expanded to 34,659 acres burned as of Sept. 11. As reported by the San Bernardino Sun, local authorities announced on Wednesday that “the worst is getting behind us” in terms of getting the fire contained. Two other fires, the Airport Fire and the Bridge Fire, are currently also burning in Southern California, forcing evacuations and affecting air quality throughout the region.
These blazes continue on the tail end of a signficant heatwave, which gripped the region over the last week and brought temperatures up to 112-degrees in parts of the city. Amid this heatwave, the Hollywood Bowl lost power on Sept. 8 and was forced to cancel a show by singer-songwriter Vance Joy. The region also experienced a 4.7 magnitude earthquake at approximately 7:30 a.m. local time on Thursday (Sept. 12).
Nocturnal Wonderland is Insomniac Events’ longest running festival, with the 2024 iteration having scheduled featured performances by artists including Kaskade, RL Grime, Slander, Flosstradamus and other genre-spanning electronic acts.
In the comments section of the announcement, Insomniac Events Founder Pasquale Rotella wrote, “My thoughts and prayers go to all those affected by the fires. Heartbroken about the cancellation. Your support means the world. Can’t wait to celebrate together in the future.”
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds have announced their 2025 North American tour, marking their first set of performances in the region since 2018.
The Wild God Tour will begin on April 15 at Agganis Arena in Boston, Massachusetts, and will travel to major cities such as Brooklyn, Chicago, Toronto, and San Francisco.
The tour supports the band’s latest album, Wild God, which debuted at No. 5 on the Official U.K. Albums Chart and No. 2 on the ARIA Albums Chart.
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Produced by Nick Cave and longtime collaborator Warren Ellis, Wild God features contributions from Luis Almau and Radiohead’s Colin Greenwood, who has also stepped in as the band’s touring bassist for their U.K. and European shows due to Martyn Casey stepping back for health reasons.
Discussing the band’s latest offering, Cave shared, “I hope the album has the effect on listeners that it’s had on me. It bursts out of the speaker, and I get swept up with it. It’s a complicated record, but it’s also deeply and joyously infectious.”
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“There is never a master plan when we make a record. The records rather reflect back the emotional state of the writers and musicians who played them. Listening to this, I don’t know, it seems we’re happy.”
Joining the tour as a special guest for select dates in Boston and Brooklyn will be St. Vincent. Her most recent album, All Born Screaming, debuted at 86 on the Billboard 200, continuing her streak of successful releases. Her 2021 album, Daddy’s Home, peaked at No. 16 on the Billboard 200.
Pre-sale tickets for Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds’ 2025 North American tour will be available starting Tuesday, Sept. 10, at 10 a.m. local time, with general ticket sales opening on Friday, Sept. 13.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds 2025 North American Tour Dates:
April 15 — Agganis Arena, Boston, MA (with St. Vincent)April 17 — Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY (with St. Vincent)April 19 — Masonic Temple, Detroit, MIApril 21 — The Anthem, Washington, DCApril 23 — Meridian Hall, Toronto, ONApril 24 — Place Bell, Montreal, QCApril 26 — The Met, Philadelphia, PAApril 28 — The Salt Shed, Chicago, ILApril 29 — The Salt Shed, Chicago, ILApril 30 — Miller High Life Theatre, Milwaukee, WIMay 2 — Palace Theatre, Columbus, OHMay 4 — The Armory, Minneapolis, MNMay 5 — Kansas City Music Hall, Kansas City, MOMay 7 — Mission Ballroom, Denver, COMay 10 — Theater of the Clouds, Portland, ORMay 11 — Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver, BCMay 12 — The Paramount Theatre, Seattle, WAMay 14 — Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, San Francisco, CA
For more information and to purchase tickets, visit Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds’ official website.
“How come it’s not tomorrow?” The Weeknd closed with a song about heaven featuring that lyric Saturday night in São Paulo, Brazil, leaving fans awaiting new album Hurry Up Tomorrow asking the same. (How come they can’t get Hurry Up Tomorrow … tomorrow? Especially that one song about “dancing in the flames”?)
The one-night-only concert on Sept. 7, livestreamed on YouTube, featured several tidbits of new music from Abel Tesfaye. Concertgoers and viewers at home got to hear tracks never before played live mixed in with chart toppers; the collective chatter had “Abel” trending on social media throughout the evening.
The Hurry Up Tomorrow tracklist has yet to be unveiled, and Tesfaye didn’t introduce songs by name at Saturday night’s event at Estádio MorumBIS.
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Based on what was teased during the show, though, a few presumed new titles include “Dancing in the Flames,” “Run Away” and “In Heaven.”
Highlight “Dancing in the Flames” — heard in part by some in São Paulo during soundcheck earlier in the day, and making its wide debut about 30 minutes into the concert — has the hallmarks of a hit from first listen.
Tesfaye’s voice soars over an indelible synth line, singing of an odyssey where “We’re dancing in the flames/ It’s indescribable.” (Press play on the video below to stream the concert starting at the “Dancing in the Flames” timestamp.)
A special appearance from Brazilian superstar Anitta had the São Paulo crowd going wild.
Playboi Carti also appeared on The Weeknd’s stage at Estádio MorumBIS, treating the audience to a performance of Travis Scott’s “FE!N,” plus an unreleased track that’s possibly called “Timeless.”
Hits like “Blinding Lights” and “Save Your Tears” sparked massive crowd sing-alongs toward the end of the set. “I want you to scream so loud they can hear you in Rio,” Tesfaye encouraged.
The Weeknd’s Hurry Up Tomorrow album cover was revealed just hours before the show, as well as a preorder link for the set, which is the third part of a trilogy preceded by After Hours and Dawn FM. Although vinyl and CD orders can be put in now, Hurry Up Tomorrow‘s release date hasn’t been announced.
Watch a replay of Saturday’s entire concert here, courtesy of The Weeknd’s YouTube channel.
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It’s a busy week in the Billboard zeitgeist. After hosting the 2024 Billboard R&B Hip-Hop Power Players event, the Billboard Hip-Hop Live concert went down in Brooklyn at the Xanadu roller rink on Friday night (Sept. 6).
Amazon Music’s Breakthrough Artist BigXthaPlug hit the stage first, around 9:40 p.m. ET, to set the tone for the night as hundreds of fans got settled in to the new Bushwick venue.
BigX emerged following a cross-country trip from the West Coast with his Texas-sized swagger in a white soccer jersey, but quickly ditched it for his signature shirtless look.
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The Dallas native ran through cuts like “Big Stepper” and his latest hard-hitting single, the aptly-titled “The Largest.” He had some fun with the audience when betting his DJ that the left side of the crowd would be louder than the right, and BigX’s pockets ended up leaving a little heavier than expected after winning the $2,000 wager.
The 26-year-old hit his two-step onstage and continued to perform the Dazz Band-sampling “Whip It,” “Level” and “Mmhmm” in his heavy, bellowing Southern drawl. The latter served as BigX’s first Billboard Hot 100 entry earlier this year when it peaked at No. 63. He closed things out with his breakout anthem, “Texas,” while over 1,500 miles from home.
Next up, the scorching Bossman Dlow hit the stage around 10:10 p.m. ET. Big Za rocked snow white jeans and a matching letterman jacket with his signature ski goggles off to the side like he was ready to hit the slopes.
“Mr. Pot Scraper” gave fans a taste of the motivational anthems that were to come before heating up while jumping around from “Piss Me Off” to the braggadocios “Talk My Shit.” The Florida rapper clearly has the streets on lock as the crowd was in the palm of his hand.
“Finesse” sans GloRilla set the table for “Get in With Me,” which drew the loudest ovation of any track from the audience in the building as the temperature was turned up several notches.
Dlow’s inspirational raps went a cappella for the first go around as fans belted the “Yep” part of his “Juggs fiendin’/ Phone ringing/ N—s hating” verse right back at him. He spun the block to perform his top 50 Hot 100 banger a second time with the booming DxnteMadeIt instrumental to give the people what they came for.
Just shy of 11 p.m. ET meant it was time for the night’s headliner, the eccentric Teezo Touchdown, who painted a more romanticized aesthetic while blending the worlds of rap, rock and R&B.
Rocking a red tank top and a matching furry cherry bucket hat that LL Cool J would be jealous of, which went along with his rose bouquet microphone, Teezo served as a palate cleanser that took fans in another direction with his shrewd creativity.
It was a night of reflection for Teezo Touchdown — in the most positive way. Coming off of winning Billboard‘s 2024Rookie of the Year honors and celebrating the one-year anniversary of his How Do You Sleep At Night? debut this weekend, Teezo took a moment to look back and realize how far he’s come as an artist in this labor of love.
“Last night I was awarded the Billboard Hip-Hop R&B Rookie of the Year award. What a year it’s been, right,” he said. “I went on my first sold-out headlining Spend the Night Tour, and on Sunday (Sept. 8) it will be the one-year anniversary of my How Do You Sleep At Night debut album.”
Teezo fired away with cuts from his critically acclaimed debut while delivering live performances of “Impossible,” “Too Easy” and “Out of Respect.” He broke the set up with Travis Scott’s forgotten Utopia dance-leaning “Modern Jam.” Teezo had everyone throw their twos in the sky while returning to his debut to bring the show across the finish line with “Familiarity,” “Third Coast” and the trippy “Stranger.”
As Adele prepares for her final concert before stepping away from the spotlight for a “long time”, ticket prices have soared to record highs.
The British singer, known for her record-breaking hits like “Someone Like You” and “Hello,” recently announced that her last performance will take place on Nov. 23 at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, marking the end of her Weekends With Adele residency and the beginning of an indefinite hiatus.
Originally, tickets for the show ranged from $400 for regular admission to $1,000 for VIP passes. However, the demand has skyrocketed, with last-minute resale platforms such as Viagogo and Gametime reporting prices as high as $17,050 and $18,766, respectively, for top-tier seats.
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During her final Aug. 31 performance of a 10-show residency in Munich, Adele told fans, “I just need a rest. I have spent the last seven years building a new life for myself and I want to live it now.”
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“I want to live my life that I’ve been building and I will miss you terribly.”
She reiterated her decision to step back from music, stating that she has no current plans for a new album. This follows her most recent album 30, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in 2021 and featured the chart-topping single “Easy on Me.”
Adele’s Munich residency also saw emotional highlights, including a rare performance of “Chasing Pavements“—her 2008 breakout hit that earned her two Grammy Awards in 2009 for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and Best New Artist.
Throughout the residency, Adele also confirmed her engagement to Rich Paul on stage and praised rising star Chappell Roan, calling her “spectacular.”
As her Las Vegas residency comes to an end, the Nov. 23 concert is shaping up to be a historic event, with fans scrambling for tickets and prices reaching unprecedented levels. Many are willing to pay top dollar to witness Adele live, whose career highlights include three consecutive Billboard 200 No. 1 albums, before she takes her much-needed break.
Green Day experienced an unexpected pause at their Saviors Tour concert Wednesday night (Sept. 4) at Comerica Park in Detroit. The group abruptly ran offstage just as it began the bridge of “Longview,” as the crowd continued singing the song in the band’s absence. Reliable sources on site confirmed to Billboard that an unauthorized drone had […]
Chappell Roan fans in Tennessee just got a little bit of good luck, babe.
After realizing that resellers had torn through a chunk of the tickets to her upcoming concert in Franklin, Tennessee, making it difficult for actual fans to nab seats, the 26-year-old pop star took matters into her own hands. “Scalpers and bots bought up all the tickets, so we went through and canceled all the scalper tickets we could,” Roan explained in a pair of videos via Instagram Stories on Wednesday (Sept. 4).
The “Hot to Go!” artist went on to announce that she’d be selling those same tickets back to fans in a limited quantity, directing followers to an online Ticketmaster form where they can request spots at Firstbank Amphitheater on Oct. 1.
“I want to make sure that tickets go to people who actually want to come and are fans,” she continued. “This is the best solution that makes sense to me and my team. I know it’s confusing and it’s so annoying, but I’m genuinely so pissed about the scalper situation and think that people actually deserve to get to my show. This is a larger issue, and we’re dealing with it.”
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“I can’t wait to see people who actually deserve to be here,” Roan added. “It means everything to me.”
Roan is far from the first artist to speak out against ticket scalping, a problem that’s reached a fever pitch in the past few years post-pandemic. Many stars — including Taylor Swift ahead of her Eras Tour — have tried out systems of vetting customers before conducting ticket sales, but one of the only proven ways of preventing bots from buying tickets and reselling them at inflated prices has been dynamic pricing, which poses issues of its own.
The Missouri native is currently on tour in support of her debut album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, which recently reached a new peak at No. 2 on the Billboard 200. Ahead of her concert in Franklin, she’ll perform overseas in Manchester, Glasgow, Dublin, London and Berlin, as well as New York and Maryland back in the U.S.
Amid her rise to stardom this year, Roan has been open about feeling overwhelmed at the speed of her own ascent and recently had to set some boundaries with fans. “I’ve been in too many nonconsensual physical and social interactions and I just need to lay it out and remind you, women don’t owe you sh–,” she wrote in a statement on social media in August. “I chose this career path because because I love music and art and honoring my inner child, I do not accept harassment of any kind because I chose this path, nor do I deserve it.”
“I am specifically talking about predatory behavior (disguised as ‘superfan’ behavior) that has become normalized because of the way women who are well-known have been treated in the past,” she added at the time. “Please do not assume you know a lot about someone’s life, personality, and boundaries because you are familiar with them or their work online.”