Concerts
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Following the tremendous success of such music-driven shows as The Beatles’ Love and Michael Jackson’s MJ One, Cirque du Soleil is partnering with Universal Music Group Nashville for an acrobatics spectacular that will feature country music. The still-untitled touring show will launch in Nashville in July 2024 at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center and feature music from both contemporary and legendary country artists.
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“Nashville is the perfect location to launch our new show centered around country music,” Cirque du Soleil CEO Stéphane Lefebvre tells Billboard. “It’s a place where the genre has thrived and continues to evolve, making it a natural fit for our new theatrical touring show to debut, celebrating the roots and evolution of country music.”
The show marks Cirque’s first venture using country music. “Working with this new specific music genre challenges our creative team to innovate and come up with unique ways to interpret the music,” says Lefebvre. “It pushes the boundaries of what’s possible in live entertainment. Shows like Love and MJ One have taught us that the synergy between our extraordinary performances and the power of the music can create a powerful and captivating live experience, and we are convinced that pairing our expertise with the country music genre including artists from Universal Music Group’s vast repertoire, will be a successful collaboration.”
Lefebvre says it is too early to specify what songs or artists will be used in the show, but says, “Our goal is to create a captivating musical experience that resonates with our audience on a deep and emotional level. The heart of our show lies in the diverse selection of songs. We have carefully curated a blend of classic and new songs that touch upon a wide range of subjects. From heartbreak to love, good times and bad times, celebration, and friendship, our song choices are a reflection of the human experience in all its complexity.”
The music will be performed by live musicians and singers instead of licensing the existing recordings. “The live element adds an extra layer of authenticity and energy to the performance, enhancing the emotional connection with the audience,” Lefebvre says. “It will be a celebration of the evolution of country music and we aim to showcase the authenticity of the genre and how it has evolved over time.”
Though running in Nashville instead of Las Vegas, Lefebvre still expects the show to have an international appeal: “Country music also has a global fanbase, and its unique storytelling and melodies can resonate with people from all walks of life… Exploring the world of country music provides us with an exciting artistic challenge as well and the emotional depth, storytelling, and authentic charm of country music can be translated into breathtaking acrobatics, visual spectacles, and immersive storytelling.”
Madison Square Garden Entertainment (MSG Entertainment) had revenue of $142.2 million in the quarter ended Sept. 30, down 3% year over year, as it started its first full fiscal year as a standalone live entertainment company.
MSG Entertainment, which spun off from MSG’s Sphere and MSG Networks businesses in April, had lower event-related revenue and faced a tough comparison to the prior-year quarter. Not only did the prior-year quarter benefit from some concerts that were rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Madison Square Garden enjoyed a 15-show run from Harry Styles from Aug. 20 to Sept. 21, 2022, that grossed $63.1 million from 277,000 ticket sales, according to Billboard Boxscore.
The company saw “significant” merchandise spending from Styles’ fans at those shows, said Dave Byrnes, MSG Entertainment executive vp/CFO, during Tuesday’s earnings call, and per-capita merchandise spending was down last quarter as a result. Fan spending on food and beverage “was up meaningfully” in the latest quarter, however, and MSG Entertainment is seeing “strong in-venue spending from our guests,” he said.
Strong demand for concerts, also seen in Live Nation’s latest earnings results, will help MSG Entertainment achieve a low double-digit percentage increase in event bookings this fiscal year. The company is getting help from a new generation of musicians who have graduated from smaller buildings in its portfolio to its flagship venue, Madison Square Garden. “This fiscal year, there are a number of acts, including Olivia Rodrigo, Tyler Childers and Niall Horan, who previously performed at either The Beacon [Theatre] or Radio City [Music Hall] that will soon headline the Garden for the first time in their careers,” said Byrnes. What’s more, he added, “a number of these first-time acts” are playing multiple nights and experiencing “strong ticket demand for their entire run.”
Beyond the concert business, MSG Entertainment has high expectations for its family shows. The company has 187 planned shows of its Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall, up from 181 shows in the prior fiscal year. MSG Entertainment expects paid attendance of about 1 million, bringing the holiday run back to pre-pandemic levels. In addition, Cirque du Soleil’s holiday show is returning after it took the year off in 2022, with 66 shows scheduled across The Theater at Madison Square Garden and the Chicago Theatre.
“We’re currently on sale with more concerts at our venues than we were at this time last year for the second half of fiscal ’23,” said Byrnes, “and of those on-sales, a majority of those tickets are already sold, and sell-through on those shows is currently up [a] high single-digit percentage as compared to the second half of fiscal ’23.”
MSG Entertainment repurchased about 3.5 million shares during the quarter, including repayment of a delayed draw term loan facility from Sphere Entertainment with 1.9 million shares. About 1.6 million shares were repurchased at $31.20 per share as part of the secondary underwritten offering by Sphere Entertainment in September.
Looking forward to the full year, MSG Entertainment reaffirmed its previous guidance of revenue from $900 million to $930 million and adjusted operating income of $160 million to $170 million. It lowered guidance for operating income to $85 million to $95 million, down from $100 million to $110 million.
Shares of MSG Entertainment fell as much as 9.8% to $27.55 on Tuesday morning before recovering to $29.09 by midday, a 4.7% decline from Monday’s closing price.
Fiscal first quarter financial metrics:
Revenue of $142.2 million, down 3% year over year.
Operating loss of $33.4 million, up 196% year over year.
Adjusted operating loss of $700,000, down from a $11.5 million operating profit.
Net loss of $50.7 million, up 183% year over year.
The singer-songwriter’s career-spanning trek set a new playbook for superstar tours.
“I got drive, I don’t need a car.”
That line from the second verse of Doja Cat’s No. 1 single “Paint the Town Red” succinctly captures how determined she was to rev up the audience during the second stop on her first-ever headlining arena tour.
Kicking off with a sold-out evening at San Francisco’s Chase Center on Halloween (Oct. 31), Doja Cat’s The Scarlet Tour touched down at Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena on Thursday night with opening act Doechii. The venue was packed from the floor all the way up to the rafters thanks to a fervently loyal fanbase whose colorful attire also spoke volumes about their feelings for the singer-songwriter.
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Doechii performs onstage as Doja Cat Kicks Off The Scarlet Tour on Oct. 31, 2023 in San Francisco, Calif.
Dana Jacobs/Getty Images for Live Nation
Red, of course, was the color of the evening. The attire ranged from two gentlemen sporting matching long-fringed vests to a woman strutting around in a striking red sequined V-necked mini-dress. There were also longtime loyalists wearing cow-print clothing in honor of Doja’s 2018 breakthrough single “Mooo!” — and even reciting the lyrics as they walked by one another. There were also plenty of fans sporting cat ears.
As the venue darkened, fan anticipation immediately transformed into a deafening roar as Doja Cat took the stage in a red, form-fitting bodysuit to belt out “WYM Freestyle.” And for the next 90 minutes, an energetic Doja Cat gave as good as she got in return from an enthusiastic, cell-filming audience that unflaggingly sang and rapped along with her every step of the way.
Divided into five acts, the 24-song setlist is primarily centered around Scarlet. In addition to “Paint the Town Red,” which received a rollicking response from the crowd, among the other album tracks that had fans in a frenzy were “Demons” (accompanied by a huge black spider hovering over her), “Shutcho,” “Ouchies,” and show closer “Wet Vagina.” But Doja Cat also reached back to 2021’s Planet Her to perform tracks including “Kiss Me More,” “Woman,” “Ain’t Shit” and “Need to Know” as well as “Say So” from 2019’s Hot Pink album.
Doja Cat kicks off The Scarlet Tour on Oct. 31, 2023 in San Francisco, Calif.
Dana Jacobs/Getty Images for Live Nation
Vocally strong throughout, Doja Cat agilely traversed between singing and rapping while effortlessly shifting from up to midtempo and ballad then back up again. Getting her dance on as well, including a little twerking, you could see that a confident Doja Cat was having fun — and eager to make sure her fans were too. Also complicit in keeping the audience on its feet and igniting a steady stream of screams and shout-outs (“Yes, girl!”; “You’re soooo good!”) were Doja Cat’s supple and sensuous dance crew, fire bursts and other special effects plus video screen graphics depicting such images as shattered glass and a female silhouette adorned with wings.
The Scarlet Tour’s next stop is Friday night (Nov. 3) in Las Vegas at T-Mobile Arena. Additional stops on the 24-city tour include Phoenix (Nov. 8), Dallas (Nov. 16), Atlanta (Nov. 19) and Brooklyn, New York (Nov. 29) before wrapping in Chicago (Dec. 13). Opening for Doja Cat on the later shows will be Ice Spice.
It’s been a busy week in New York for Reneé Rapp. Between singing “For Good” for the 20th anniversary of Wicked with fellow singer-songwriter Lizzy McAlpine on Monday (Oct. 30), or serenading Lola Tung with “One Less Lonely Girl” while dressed as Justin Bieber on Tuesday (Oct. 31), the rising star has made the most of her time in the Big Apple.
But during her sold-out performance at the Avant Gardner in Brooklyn on Thursday night (Nov. 2), Rapp brought out her biggest guest yet — pop superstar Kesha. The pair performed a vamped-up, rocked-out version the latter’s 2010 hit “Your Love Is My Drug.”
A little more than halfway through her headlining set, Rapp spoke to her rapt audience about the influential artists who inspired her throughout her life. “I want to talk about the people who, musically, personally, and professionally, I look up to and regard so highly,” she said. “They shaped who I was as a kid, and made me want to be sexy, and funny, and exciting, and outrageous, and loud and, most of all, really f–king sexy. So what better way to honor one of those women, [than] by doing one of their songs?”
Rapp proceeded to perform a sped-up rock version of the pop single, much to the crowd’s delight. But as she reached the song’s second verse, she called Kesha out onto the stage — dressed in all black with a pair of tinted sunglasses and a leather jacket, Kesha acoompanied a visibly stunned Rapp onstage for a rousing performance of the song. “I f–king love you, Reneé,” Kesha declared as they reached the song’s bridge.
Once the song was over, Rapp couldn’t contain her excitement any longer. “Getting to sing with one of your idols, who is unapologetically perfect is so insane,” Rapp said giddily to the crowd. “We just sang a song, like, ‘lovesick crackhead,’ and I’m gonna cry. Oh f–k that was so cool!”
Check out two clips of Reneé Rapp and Kesha duetting to “Your Love Is My Drug” below:
High School Musical star Drew Seeley and American Idol season 19 finalist Grace Kinstler lead this year’s cast for “Love Actually Live,” the Broadway-style show that combines songs inspired by the hit holiday film with scenes from the movie itself, for a one-of-a-kind musical and cinematic experience.
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Seeley and Kinstler will be joined on stage by America’s Got Talent Season 17 Golden Buzzer winner, Madison Taylor Baez; The Voice finalist and viral YouTube star, Chris Mann; Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies actress, Cheyenne Isabel Wells; and Nina Nelson, from girl group, Citizen Queen, in addition to an ensemble cast of stage and screen veterans.
This year’s show celebrates the 20th anniversary of Love Actually, the star-studded romantic comedy that has become a festive favorite for the holidays. It’s been five years, meantime, since production company For the Record launched “Love Actually Live,” with the show once again returning to the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Los Angeles.
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As scenes from the movie air on a big screen, the cast of singers will be joined by a live band on stage, to deliver Christmas classics and songs from the Love Actually soundtrack, like “Christmas Is All Around,” Kelly Clarkson’s “The Trouble with Love Is,” and Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now.” Organizers say to expect a “multimedia concert celebration” of the film, that “transforms the Wallis’ Bram Goldsmith Theater into a giant, immersive cinema for the modern day.”
Co-produced by Shane Scheel and The Wallis, “Love Actually Live” has played to nearly 45,000 people since its first run in 2018, with celebs like Demi Moore, Catherine O’Hara, Tom Hanks and Halle Bailey spotted in the audience.
Tickets for the show are available at TheWallis.org, with prices ranging from $69 to $119 for previews November 22 to November 28, and $79 to $139 for all performances November 29 to December 30.
Amazon
As for the original movie? Love Actually is currently available on Blu-ray/DVD on Amazon starting at just $7.99 (as of this writing). You can also watch Love Actually online by renting it on Prime Video.
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Want to hear Taylor Swift’s music under the gentle glow of candlelight? Nothing beats the Eras tour, but if you’re looking for a non-conventional way to experience the Grammy winner’s song catalog, then you might want to attend this candlelit musical tribute to the pop star launching in New York and Los Angeles next month.
Fever’s Candlelight: A Tribute to Taylor Swift will take place at St. Ann & the Holy Trinity Church in Brooklyn on Friday, Nov. 17. The event will feature the Highline String Quartet, with shows offered at 6:30 p.m. and 9 p.m.
“Shake It Off,” “Cardigan,” “Love Story,” “Blank Space,” “Enchanted,” “Wear Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” “Invisible String,” “All Too Well,” “Wildest Dreams,” “Lover” “I Knew You Were Trouble” and “You Belong with Me” are included on the tentative performance list.
Tickets for Candlelight: A Tribute to Taylor Swift are selling out, so act fast to secure your spot. If you miss the chance to get tickets for Nov. 17, there’s another show planned for Jan. 12, 2024.
Prices range from $35-$65, although most of the cheaper tickets are sold out. Tickets are also available for concerts in Philadelphia, Connecticut and Poughkeepsie, N.Y. (there’s also a Broadway Sings Taylor Swift event in New York on Nov. 13 and Nov. 21. Get tickets here.)
West Coast Swifties can also buy tickets to the candlelight concert tribute taking place in Los Angeles next month. Candlelight Koreatown: A Tribute to Taylor Swift Los Angeles will be held at the historical Immanuel Presbyterian Church on Saturday, Nov. 18. Tickets are priced from $40-$70.
Fever’s Candelight Concerts series “brings the magic of a live, multi-sensory musical experience to awe-inspiring locations” that are usually not used for concerts.
Past and present candlelit concerts have featured tributes to Adele, Amy Winehouse,ABBA, BTS, Beyoncé, The Beatles, Coldplay and more.
The “Biggest Party in the South” is back for 2024.
Pepsi Rock the South 2024 will return to Cullman, Alabama for a three-day festival July 18-20 withheadliners Eric Church, HARDY and Jelly Roll along with Oliver Anthony, Parker McCollum, Flatland Cavalry, Warren Zeiders, Priscilla Block, Wyatt Flores, Nelly, Gavin Adcock, Nate Smith and more throughout the three-day event.
As Rock the South continues to grow, organizers have increased the festival site by over 45 percent, invested in infrastructure improvements for campers, and added ways to beat the heat with the Honky Tonk Hideaway, a large-scale air-conditioned Nashville Broadway Experience outfitted with an acoustic stage, line-dancing lessons and more.
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Tickets will go on sale Friday (Nov. 3). Pre-sale registration is now open and ends Wednesday (Nov. 1) at 10 a.m.
“After being named the Alabama Tourism Department’s Event of the Year, we’re excited to announce this year’s event, building on the success of our record-breaking 2023 and are prepared for 2024 to be the most incredible year yet,” said Nathan Baugh, Pepsi Rock the South partner. “Our biggest focus is always producing an incredible event with music’s biggest names. We love hearing the level of impact Rock the South has in our County and regionally.”
“Crafting the lineup for Pepsi® Rock the South 2024 has been an incredible journey. We’ve listened to our fans and aimed for the stars,” said Shane Quick, partner of Pepsi Rock the South. “This year, we’ve brought together an amazing lineup of artists that truly reflects what our fans want to ensure they have an unforgettable three days. We have so many great things in store for Rock the South 2024.”
Learn more at rockthesouth.com.
Joe Jonas helped a Jonas Brothers band member say “I do” on Sunday night (Oct. 29) — in front of thousands of fans. In a video shared to TikTok by user @recessionobsession, the sibling trio stopped their concert at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., to share what happened when they asked their percussionist, Molly Lopresti, […]
The crowd at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium was in for a surprise Saturday night (Oct. 28). They paid to see Ed Sheeran‘s Mathematics Tour and got a bonus: an unannounced appearance by The Killers‘ Brandon Flowers. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Sheeran and Flowers performed a Killers […]