Concerts
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Taylor Swift kept “Timeless” in the vault for 13 years, then brought it to the stage just a week after its release on Speak Now (Taylor’s Version). The track about an ageless romance — a never-before-heard gem until the star dropped her re-recorded Speak Now on July 7 — is new to fans, but easily […]
07/14/2023
Now that the Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour has ended, a slew of competitors is racing up the road to $940 million.
07/14/2023
Bud Light is launching its inaugural Bud Light Backyard Tour summer concert series, featuring headliners OneRepublic, Midland, Dashboard Confessional and Bush. The four-city tour, for fans 21 and older, launches in Nashville on Aug. 10 with headliner OneRepublic and opening act Lindsay Ell.
Country trio Midland will headline a concert in Oklahoma City, Okla., on Aug. 15; followed by Dashboard Confessional in St. Louis, Mo., on Aug. 17; and Bush on Aug. 29 in Charlottesville, Va. Dee Jay Silver will serve as the DJ for the dates in St. Louis, Oklahoma City and Charlottesville. Tyler Braden is also set as an opener on the concert series.
According to Todd Allen, Bud Light’s vp of marketing, the yet-to-be announced venues will range in capacity from 1,000 to 3,000. Tickets are free, and fans can enter to win tickets at budlightbackyard.com.
“We really want to deliver an intimate vibe, and deliver that backyard experience where you’re hanging out with your friends, your family, listening to your favorite artists. So we want try to bring these artists closer to fans through these shows,” Allen tells Billboard.
Allen also notes Bud Light’s history in the music space, referencing the brand’s previous Bud Light Dive Bar tours with artists including Post Malone in 2019, and Bud Light Sessions over the years with artists such as Brad Paisley, Jason DeRulo, Jack Harlow and Teddy Swims.
The tour news comes as Bud Light’s parent company, Anheuser-Busch InBev, has seen sales decline following backlash against the Bud Light brand after transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney posted a video to Instagram on April 1 showing a customized, commemorative Bud Light can featuring Mulvaney’s face sent to her by the company. Artists including Kid Rock, John Rich and Ted Nugent then called for a boycott of the brand or pledged to stop stocking it at their bars and backstage. As a result of the boycott, Bud Light fell from its position as the top-selling beer in America in June.
With the upcoming summer shows featuring performances from country music artists including Midland, Ell and Braden, Allen tells Billboard of Bud Light’s relationship with the country music audience, “First and foremost, we care deeply about all of our customers. I’ve been across this country, visiting with consumers, visiting with our wholesalers, visiting with partners. Consistently, the No. 1 thing people tell me about is the love and passion they have for this brand, and that what they want and expect from Bud Light is to get back to what we do best, and that’s being the beer of easy enjoyment, and that means bringing family and friends together over live music.
“That’s why we’re getting back to what we’re doing with the Bud Light Backyard Tour,” Allen adds, “and we’re going to do that with our country music fans, the same thing we’ve been doing for the past 40 years.”
Billboard reached out to teams for Midland and Ell for additional comments regarding the upcoming shows and the controversy that has surrounded the Bud Light brand. In a statement to Billboard, Ell said, “As an artist who always wants to use my voice for good, I have spent the past few years learning as much as I can about marginalized communities and how we, as humans, can work together to lift each other up. When deciding who to work with or what brands to partner with, I tend to lean into partnerships that encourage larger conversations surrounding the power of considering humanity before all else, including gender or race. Because of that, I recognize that we, as a nation, are in a phase of learning and that we’re inevitably not going to get it right every time. But I also know that doesn’t mean we should stop trying to teach ourselves how to love others better. I am looking forward to the Bud Light Backyard Tour in Nashville and hope that together, OneRepublic and I will bring both music and important conversation to fans there.”
Midland said via a press release, “We’re looking forward to showing up and rocking out for our fans at the Bud Light Backyard Tour. We can’t wait to perform for fans in Oklahoma City, reminding everyone that live music is even better when we can kick back in the backyard with an ice cold beer and all of our friends.”
English metal legends Judas Priest are playing Power Trip festival in Indio, California, after rocker Ozzy Osbourne announced Monday that he would not be performing at the metal-themed festival produced by Goldenvoice.
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Osbourne had been scheduled to perform alongside AC/DC, Guns N Roses, Tool, Metallica and Iron Maiden Oct. 6-8 but pulled out of the festival Monday, telling fans in an Instagram message “My original plan was to return to the stage in the summer of 2024, and when the offer to do this show came in, I optimistically moved forward. Unfortunately, my body is telling me that I’m just not ready yet and I am much too proud to have the first show that I do in nearly five years be half-assed.”
He continued, “The band that will be replacing me on Power Trip will be announced shortly. They are personal friends of mine and I can promise that you will not be disappointed.”
Power Trip is taking place at the Empire Polo Field, the same site used to host the annual Coachella music festival, as well as the annual Stagecoach country music festival. It follows the Goldenvoice-produced Desert Trip festival in 2016 that was headlined by the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Roger Waters, Neil Young, Bob Dylan and The Who. Ticket prices start at $599, covering all three days. Single-day tickets are not currently for sale.
Judas Priest toured extensively in 2022 and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame that year, but does not currently have any shows on the books for 2023. The band is booked to play a European tour in spring 2024. Led by vocalist Rob Halford, Judas Priest has toured extensively with Osbourne and had been scheduled to tour with him in 2022 before that tour had to be postponed for health reasons.
Osbourne’s health struggles also led to a March announcement that he was canceling his upcoming 2023 U.K. and European tour dates due to a spinal injury.
“My singing voice is fine. However, after three operations, stem cell treatments, endless physical therapy sessions, and most recently groundbreaking Cybernics (HAL) Treatment, my body is still physically weak,” Osbourne wrote on Instagram at the time.
Rock power trio Boygenius announced dates for a fall 2023 tour that will take the group from coast-to-coast in support of its 2023 full-length debut album, the record. The group comprised of singer/songwriters Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus will set up shop at some iconic venues on the five-date swing, including New York’s […]
The Red Hot Chili Peppers and Ms. Lauryn Hill will headline the 2023 Global Citizen Festival in New York’s Central park on Sept. 23. The lineup of this year’s event on the Great Lawn will also feature Megan Thee Stallion, Conan Gray and Stray Kids.
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The free, ticketed event will focus on the organization’s drive to end extreme poverty now, with interested fans encouraged to earn passes by joining the movement and taking action on the Global Citizen app (or here) to help the organization’s work to level the playing field for women and adolescent girls around the world, combat climate change and continue the fight against the global food and malnutrition crisis.
According to a statement announcing this year’s lineup, for the first time in a generation, the number of people living in extreme poverty is on the rise. “The 2023 Global Citizen Festival campaign takes aim at the major issues perpetuating extreme poverty, including the impacts of climate change on the Global South, the inequities affecting women and girls around the world, and the global hunger crisis, and will call on governments to protect and defend advocates everywhere,” read the statement. “The campaign will unite millions of voices, amplified by the world’s biggest artists, to demand urgent action from world leaders gathering in New York City for the United Nations General Assembly in September.”
After this year’s COP27, G7, World Bank spring meetings and Paris climate finance summit failed to deliver any tangible results or disrupt the world’s “unjust systems,” Global Citizen CEO/co-founder Hugh Evans said in the statement that, “complacency can’t win. If we want to see breakthroughs on development and climate change, we need the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, and all G7 nations to meet the urgency of the hour. Every single citizen has a vital role to play, and together, we must be laser-focused on driving results and impact in September.”
Global Citizen began holding concerts around the globe beginning in 2012 with a goal of ending global poverty. It has long attracted a variety of A-list acts, including last year’s lineup featuring Metallica, Charlie Puth, Jonas Brothers, Måneksin, Mariah Carey, Mickey Guyton and Rosalía performing in Central Park and Usher, SZA, Stormzy and Tems are among the headliners for a sister event in Ghana’s capital, Accra.
See the lineup announcement below.
The co-founders of Farm Aid are bringing the annual benefit for the country’s family farms back to the midwest this fall. Neil Young, John Mellencamp and Willie Nelson announced on Monday that the 2023 Farm Aid will return to the Indianapolis, IN area on Sept. 23 for the third time in the event’s 38-year history.
The show at Ruoff Music Center in Noblesville will mark Young’s first in-person attendance since 2019 after the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer took several years off from appearing live due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to the principles, other performers this year include: Farm Aid board member Margo Price, fellow board member Dave Matthews with Tim Reynolds, the Grateful Dead’s Bobby Weir & the Wolf Bros. featuring the Wolfpack, Lukas Nelson, Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats, Allison Russell, The String Cheese Incident, Particle Kid and more acts to be announced later.
Young did not attend in in 2021 or 2022 due to the pandemic; the 2020 event was presented online.
“We are honored and excited to bring the Farm Aid experience back to Indiana,” said Seymour, IN native Mellencamp in a statement about the first Farm Aid in the state in more than 20 years. “My home state holds deep meaning for me and for the generations of family farmers who have dedicated their lives to caring for the Earth and bringing us good food.”
Since launching in 1985, Farm Aid has raised more than $64 million to support programs that help family farmers.
Farm Aid first IV took place in 1990 at Indianapolis’ Hoosier Dome, with Elton John, Iggy Pop, Bonnie Raitt and Guns N’ Roses joining the three principles and returned in 2001 — shortly after the Sept. 11 terror attacks — with a lineup featuring then-new board member Matthews, as well as Martina McBride, the Doobie Brothers, Susan Tedeschi, Arlo Guthrie and more. Last years’ event in Raleigh, N.C. featured Chris Stapleton, Sheryl Crow, Rateliff, Russell, Charley Crockett, Brittney Spencer and others.
A limited number of pre-sale 2023 tickets will be available beginning at 10 a.m. ET on Wednesday (July 12); the pre-sale ends at 5 p.m. on Thursday (July 13), or when pre-sale tickets are sold out. General admission tickets will go on sale on Saturday (July 15) at 10 a.m. ET. here.
“Family farmers have the solutions to some of our toughest challenges,” Nelson added in a statement. “As we face a changing climate, farmers in Indiana, across the Midwest and all over the country are farming in ways that create more resilient farms to build healthy soils and protect our water.”
According to a release, this year’s event will honor Indiana family farmers and others who are taking on climate change using regenerative, organic and sustainable farming practices.
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.