Concerts
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Joe Jonas has made one of the items of his bucket list come true. On Friday (July 7), the Jonas Brothers singer had the chance of a lifetime to perform on stage with Billy Joel at London’s BST Hyde Park, and took fans behind the journey on social media in a video posted to his […]
Another weekend, another hail of objects hurled at artists on stage. In the concerning trend of fans heaving objects at performers during concerts, Harry Styles and Drake became the latest acts to get some unwanted action from the front section when they were hit with projectiles in the middle of their recent shows.
Billie Eilish knows a thing or two about being pelted and speaking to The Hollywood Reporter on the red carpet at the world premiere of Barbie on Sunday (July 9) in Los Angeles, the singer said she gets the impulse behind the action, but that it’s definitely not cool.
“I’ve been getting hit on stage with things for like, literally, six years, I don’t know why this is like new,” said Eilish, who contributed the song “What Was I Made For?” to the Greta Gerwig-directed film’s soundtrack. “People just get excited and it can be dangerous.”
Brother and collaborator Finneas added that he thinks fans aren’t always trying to land a direct hit on the act when they throw, say, a sex toy on stage — as was the case recently at a Lil Nas X show, where the rapper reacted with a joke when a fan launched an anatomical bedroom aid at him during his Lollapalooza Stockholm set. And it’s not like they’re going all 19th century and hurling tomatoes and rotting fruit at performers, he noted.
Billie said it’s mostly smart phones being pitched in an effort to get a selfie. Either way, she said, “it’s absolutely infuriating when you’re up there. I have mixed feelings about it, because when you’re up there it blows. But you know it’s out of love and they’re just trying to give you something. You’re in a vulnerable position, but I’ve been getting hit with stuff for like years.”
Whatever the purpose, Finneas looked dead into the THR cameras with a very important message: cut it out. “Don’t do it — we get it, but don’t do it,” he said, with Billie backing him up. “Don’t throw things on stage, but we love you; it’s very sweet,” she said.
The siblings weighed in following a rash of recent incidents in which overzealous fans have been breaching the stage with foreign objects. In addition to Styles getting hit in the face with something on Saturday during his Vienna show and Drake taking a cell phone to the arm last Wednesday during the Chicago kick-off of his tour with 21 Savage, several other stars have suffered similar fates lately.
Bebe Rexha was hit in the face by a phone during a New York show, while Kelsea Ballerini was struck with a bracelet, with both acts leaving the stage briefly following the incidents; Rexha was taken to the hospital after her June 18 phone episode, which opened up a cut above her eye.
Watch Eilish and Finneas discuss concert etiquette below (begins around 2:10 mark).
Billie Eilish & Finneas tell The Hollywood Reporter on the pink carpet of the #Barbie World Premiere that they felt “inspired” to write a song after watching the film pic.twitter.com/nXgi0LINL0— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) July 10, 2023
A bomb threat derailed a concert Saturday night (July 8) at Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC), shutting down the venue before the main act, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, could take the stage.
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According to multiple reports, Metric and Garbage completed their opening sets, but the High Flying birds got their wings clipped when the site was abruptly evacuated just ahead of their headline slot.
An announcement before 10 p.m. said the show would not go on due to “circumstances beyond our control,” according to a report from Jim Shahen of the Albany Times-Union.
Adds reporter Jon Campbell, who was in the room: “The stage was all set for Noel Gallagher. Then a guy came on stage and said: ‘Due to circumstances beyond our control, the show will not continue.’”
Weird things happening at SPAC (Saratoga Performing Arts Center, for non locals). The stage was all set for Noel Gallagher. Then a guy came on stage and said: “Due to circumstances beyond our control, the show will not continue.” pic.twitter.com/EUqZ83IGkD— Jon Campbell (@JonCampbellNY) July 9, 2023
“We have no idea what happened tonight,” Garbage posted on its official Twitter channel. “We were just all evacuated and we were concerned for everyone !!! I’m sorry we have no real information. We were just told there was an emergency evacuation!!!!”
We have no idea what happened tonight. We were just all evacuated and we were concerned for everyone !!!I’m sorry we have no real information . We were just told there was an emergency evacuation!!!!— Garbage (@garbage) July 9, 2023
The situation now has clarity, with officials confirming the closure was in response to a “bomb threat.”
“Out of an abundance of caution, the concert at Saratoga Performing Arts Center was suspended at 9:40 pm and concert attendees were evacuated without incident. K9s completed a sweep of the venue after the crowd exited, with negative results,” reads a statement from the NY State Park Police.
The venue, operated by Live Nation, had a particularly eventful weekend. Sunday’s performance of Kidz Bop was delayed due to “inclement weather in the area,” with organizers urging guests to “seek shelter in the venue.”
Attention Kidz Bop fans at SPAC: Due to inclement weather in the area, we are sheltering in place at the venue.Please continue to monitor our social media pages for further information. pic.twitter.com/yBDtZxVpNW— Live Nation Saratoga (@livenationtoga) July 9, 2023
Gallagher is touring in support of his band’s latest album Council Skies, which last month debuted at No. 2 on the Official U.K. Albums Chart, denied the crown by Foo Fighters’ But Here We Are. The Foos ended Gallagher’s record streak of 10 consecutive No. 1 studio albums dating back nearly three decades, including all seven LPs with Oasis and the previous three with High Flying Birds.
Pittsburgh has a problem. The entire world is clamoring for a glimpse of Beyoncé’s eye-popping Renaissance World Tour, including the mayor of Steel City. In a statement posted to social media this week, Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey wrote that he was “deeply disappointed” that Beyoncé made the difficult decision to cancel the tour’s stop in […]
Taylor Swift’s record-breaking Eras Tour has dominated the world since it first kicked off back in April, and the stadium-sized trek is showing no signs of slowing down. Between Swift’s mind-boggling success and the positive economic impact of her tour stops on the cities that she visits, even politicians and government officials are clamoring for […]
Well, at least it isn’t human cremains this time. Pink is once again going viral for accepting an unorthodox present from a fan in the crowd at one of her concerts, but luckily, instead of a plastic bag containing the remains of someone’s mom, this gift was simply a large wheel of Brie cheese. In […]
Pink encourages throwing fistfuls of glitter in the air, but she (understandably) draws the line at throwing your dead relative’s cremated remains at her shows. The 43-year-old pop star was left stunned at her Sunday (June 25) BST Hyde Park show in London after someone in the audience lobbed a plastic baggie of gray powder […]
This was supposed to happen three years ago. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of her 2000 seminal debut album — Who Is Jill Scott? Words and Sounds Vol. 1 — the singer-songwriter announced she would tour and perform the entire Hidden Beach Recordings project in 2020. Then, along came the pandemic.
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But the wait was worth it for the 17,500 screaming fans who greeted the three-time Grammy winner at the Los Angeles stopover on her relaunched anniversary tour. Strolling onto the stage at the sold-out Hollywood Bowl, garbed in a sparkly pantsuit accented by a colorful kimono, a smiling Scott said to resounding applause, “Hello everybody. Welcome to the 23rd anniversary of Who Is Jill Scott? Words and Sounds Vol. 1. It’s a great pleasure to present this to you.”
And from there, Scott took fans all the way back to day one, beginning with the double-platinum album’s opening tracks “Jilltro,” “Do You Remember” and “Exclusively.” Then, the first of several massive sing-alongs erupted as she segued into her first-charting single, “Gettin’ in the Way,” followed by her second single and first top 10 hit on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, “A Long Walk.” As Scott glided into the latter track’s fitting first verse (“You’re here / I’m pleased”), one fan shouted, “She’s not playing tonight!”
That jubilant fervor continued throughout the rest of the night as Scott lovingly wound her way through more standouts from her first album. These included “He Loves Me (Lyzel in E Flat),” which has become a Scott concert staple, “The Way,” “Honey Molasses,” “Love Rain,” “The Roots (Interlude),” “Slowly Surely” and “Watching Me.”
Watching and hearing Scott perform her breakthrough album, several realizations came to mind. First, her vocals are just as stunning as they were 23 years ago. The way she flexes those muscles on songs like “He Loves Me,” hitting operatic-type notes, still brings fans to their feet. Second, her insightful lyrics about life, love, relationships and self-empowerment are just as on-point as they were 23 years ago. She also possesses the innate ability to connect one-on-one with fans even while performing in front of thousands of them. Plus, she’s still having fun, as evidenced by the way she interacts with her backing band and three background singers, letting them do their thing as she does hers.
At one point during the show, as the conga player and the drummer laid down percolating solos, Scott exclaimed, “This is live music, MFs! There’s nothing MP3, ABC … none of that s—, about it.”
Warming up the crowd for Scott during an unseasonably chilly night were DJ Diamond Kuts and the Adam Blackstone Band. The latter brought out two special guests as well. Roc Nation artist Dixson performed covers of Bill Withers’ “Just the Two of Us” and D’Angelo’s “Untitled (How Does It Feel”), while Jon B delivered two of his hits, “Someone to Love” and “They Don’t Know.”
The next stop on the Who Is Jill Scott? Words and Sounds Vol. 1 anniversary tour is in Concord, Calif. on June 24.
Gorillaz‘s The Getaway 2023 tour will no longer take place, as the the virtual group have canceled the run of shows, the quartet announced Wednesday. The tour would have seen the band play four dates across the United States in Los Angeles, Austin, Chicago and Boston from Sept. 10 to 19, but on Wednesday, Ticketmaster […]
It’s time to add another one to the list! Keeping in line with cities that have already been graced by Taylor Swift’s blockbuster Eras Tour, Minneapolis, Minn., will be temporarily renamed “Swiftie-apolis” in honor of Swift’s two sold-out shows in the city. “We are embarking on what will be one of the most exciting weekends […]