State Champ Radio Concerts
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Jimmy Buffett canceled his planned concert in Charleston, S.C., on Saturday (May 20) with his Coral Reefer Band after telling fans on Thursday (May 18) that he is dealing with some undisclosed health issues. In a Facebook message to his Parrothead nation, Buffett, 76, said the show at Credit One Stadium would be rescheduled with […]
There’s a reason that Garth Brooks won entertainer of the year a record-setting seven times from the CMA Awards. It’s because he simply has few peers when it comes to live performance.
Brooks proved that again Thursday night (May 18) at the opening night of his Garth Brooks/Plus ONE residency at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. The 2 1/2-hour performance spanned 33 songs and combined the best of his previous one-man show at The Wynn — which ended in 2014 after running for five years — and the full-band, three-year stadium tour that he completed last year that drew more than three million people.
Brooks started off solo backing himself on acoustic guitar, under the guise of saying he needed to sound check how the room sounded full of people. He opened with Bob Seger‘s “Against the Wind,” which he sang partially a cappella. While it’s understandable to focus on his overall talents as an engaging entertainer and his almost supernatural ability to connect with his audience, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that his voice is a tremendously supple and powerful one, which he proved over-and-over throughout the night. He followed with “Don’t Close Your Eyes,” from Keith Whitley, one of his other musical heroes, and his own 1995 hit, “She’s Every Woman,” before bringing on his 11-piece band for a muscular, full-bodied “Rodeo.”
For the rest of the evening, he nimbly toggled back and forth between solo and band performances in what seemed to be a spontaneous set list. While his band was in fine form throughout, they especially shone on a particularly menacing “The Thunder Rolls.” His permanent Plus One, wife Trisha Yearwood, also joined him for four songs, showing off her peerless vocals throughout, but especially on “Shallow.”
Unlike the Wynn show where he narrated a version of his life from the perspective of his youth with a sense of awe of the musical marks his early influences had left on him, this time when he referenced George Strait, James Taylor and Seger, it was as often as a peer. That includes a moving segment where he recounted how stunning it was for him to hear his holy trio sing his own songs back to him when he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. It also proved a clever device to perform three of his biggest hits: “Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old),” “The River” and “That Summer.”
Audience members had to lock up their phones upon entry, which meant no photos, no video, and, certainly, no recording. The simple move kept everyone in the moment, but also allowed Brooks to debut a stunning new song, a dark ballad about finding pleasure in the pain, without worrying it would show up online within minutes.
But the moments of darkness were few (and included a stripped-down, emotional version of “Wolves” from 1990’s No Fences) because, as Brooks has said for decades, there is no one having more fun at his shows than him. His exuberance at being back on stage, embraced by adoring fans who gave him a long standing ovation simply for walking out before he sang a note, was palpable at every turn. Brooks joked earlier in the day that tonight would be the worst of the 27 shows in his 2023 residency; on Friday morning (May 19), he added an additional 18 shows for 2024 that go on sale later this month. If that is the case, fans attending upcoming concerts have got plenty to look forward to as opening night will be hard to beat.
See below for the full setlist from the residency’s opening night.
“Against The Wind”
Less than five hours before Garth Brooks kicks off his new Las Vegas residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace on Thursday night (May 18), he swears he doesn’t know what his first song will be.
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But the superstar loves flying without a net. “It’s exciting, right?” he says, talking to Billboard in the afternoon before Garth Brooks/Plus ONE opens. “But still, you’re not in this business as long as I‘ve been without having some kind of sense about you. So the net is the people that come see us. They’ve got me. They want to see me fly without a net because they’ve got me if I fall, but I think they like it as much as I do.”
And, he adds, making it up as he goes along is a chance to learn something new about himself as a performer more than 30 years in. “I don’t want to go to a gig, check the boxes and say good night. I want to come off the stage knowing something about me that I didn’t know when I came out there,” he says.
The run comes nine years after his five-year residency at Wynn’s Encore Theater concluded in 2014. Like that show, Garth Brooks/Plus ONE is largely a one-man show, but the Plus ONE gives him latitude to bring different guests up every night. His band will be seated in the audience, so when the mood strikes, he can bring them up to do a full-throated, muscular version of a song like “Callin’ Baton Rouge,” rather than a stripped-down acoustic set. Or his wife Trisha Yearwood could join, as could other entertainers. But as he also explained, the music is the ultimate Plus ONE that has been with him his whole life.
As much as he plans to hit the stage without a plan, Brooks does know that there are songs that people are coming to hear, and “99% of those are going to be Garth Brooks songs,” he says. So, unlike the Wynn show, which relied heavily on songs by artists like James Taylor, Cat Stevens and Bob Seger, who influenced him, it sounds like this show will still include vital covers since Brooks is a veritable human jukebox, but that more of the songs will come from his own voluminous catalog.
Attendees must lock up their phones and no videoing or taping is allowed during the show. Brooks says that gives him the freedom to perform previously unreleased material or songs that he is still in the process of writing. In fact, he vowed to play something brand-new the first evening. “It’s a laboratory,” he says.
He landed at Caesars after having serious discussions with a number of Las Vegas venues and a long courtship. “[Caesars executives] traveled to Nashville. We talked over dinners. We didn’t talk about business, we talked about children, talked about stuff like that. They made it sound very much that they were very interested in phone calls, texts,” he says. “They were going through some other stuff with some of their other entertainers, and when you would talk about that, their immediate response was, ‘We’re focused on you. This is a goal for us.’ It made you feel very wanted. And to be honest with you, it wasn’t an inexpensive deal for them. So they have gone above and beyond, which is very sweet, but it’s like Steve Wynn said: ‘Now all the pressure is on you.’ Now it’s up to you to get out there and hopefully make them feel it was worth it.”
Brooks has always been sensitive to ticket pricing, with his tickets to his non-Vegas shows rarely exceeding $100. But the tickets for this run go as high as $2,500 face value for the front row and are $10,000 for a pair on the secondary market. With no seat more than 145 feet from stage, the lowest ticket price in the 4,100-seat venue is $99 and tickets average out around $350. Brooks says he will continue his long tradition of “stubbing,” where crew members move fans from the farthest seats to a closer location for free.
“What I love about these guys, too, was we said, ‘Hey, look, it shouldn’t just be for the rich to enjoy. Let us still do our stub thing that we do.’ And they have allowed us to do that,” he says. “You understand that for them to make their money back, things have to happen in certain ways. But at the same time, we get to keep our same traditions as well. And my promise to everybody else, too, is if this is too expensive, I get it. We’ll do a dive bar somewhere for free. Or we’ll go play somewhere and hopefully get the ticket prices more around your thing.”
With the 2023 run of 27 shows already sold out, Brooks announced 18 new Colosseum dates for 2024 earlier Thursday. Fans who signed up through Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan program for 2023 and were locked out will get first dibs on 2024 tickets. The new Verified Fan on sale date is May 31.
The National are proving that you can go home again. Again. The group, whose members were all born and raised in Cincinnati, announced on Wednesday (May 17) that they are bringing back their Homecoming festival to the Queen City. The lineup for the 2023 event will feature the “Fake Empire” group headlining both nights — Sept. 15 and 16 — with Patti Smith & Her Band, The Walkmen, Arooj Aftab, Bartees Strange, Carriers and Ballard filing out the first night’s roster.
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The second day will find them joined by Pavement, Weyes Blood, Snail Mail, Julia Jacklin, The Drin and Leo Pastel on the Icon Festival stage at Smale park on the banks of the Ohio River.
Though the sad dad quintet have scattered to the wind and all live in different cities now, their lyrics and hearts have continually pulled them back to their Southern Ohio homebase. “When we launched Homecoming in 2018, we were overwhelmed by the response from the community and by our renewed sense of connection to our hometown,” they wrote in a statement in which they promised to play a unique set each night. “It was such an exciting, memorable weekend and we’ve long hoped to bring it back. We’re honored to return to Cincinnati five years later and be joined by so many of our favorite musicians and friends.
Single-day, weekend and VIP passes will go on sale on Friday (May 19) at 10 a.m. ET.
The first Homecoming took place in April 2018 and also featured two unique National sets, along with performances by Father John Misty, Feist, The Breeders, Julien Baker, Future Islands, Alvvays, Big Thief, Lord Huron, Moses Sumney and more; a 2020 edition was scotched due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The National released their ninth studio album, First Two Pages of Frankenstein, earlier this month.
Check out the Homecoming announcement below.
Live Nation has expanded its summer concert week promotion with the announcement of Festival Weekend pricing, which will allow fans to buy $99 all-in one-day tickets to more than a dozen festivals across North America. The special price plan will kick off on Friday (May 19) at 10 a.m. ET and last through midnight on May 22, or while supplies last.
Among the 13 festivals on the list are the Roots Picnic in Philadelphia (June 2-4) featuring Ms. Lauryn Hill, Diddy, Dave Chappelle and Lil Uzi Vert, The Governors Ball (June 9-11), with Lizzo, Haim, Odesza, Lil Baby and Kendrick Lamar the Afro Nation Afrobeats fest in Miami (May 27-28) with Burna Boy, Wizkid, Rema, Fireboy DML and more.
Other festivals getting the $99 treatment are Adjacent (Atlantic City, May 27-28), Lavender Wild (Toronto, June 4), Broccoli City (Washington, DC, July 15-16), FairWell (Redmond, OR, July 21-23), TidalWave (Atlantic City, August 11-13), Catbird (Bethel, NY, August 19-20), One Fine Day (Philadelphia, Sept. 9), FORMAT (Bentonville, AR, Sept. 22-24), Sound on Sound (Bridgeport, CT, Sept. 20-Oct. 1) and Greenville Country (Greenville, SC, Oct. 20-22); the offer is available for a limited weekend and on a first-come, first-served basis.
The $99 all-in price includes all fees upfront, with taxes applicable by city and state.
Live Nation previously announced the return of $25 all-in tickets for more than 3,800 shows across North America this year. The weeklong program that rolled out earlier this month offered limited-time low-dough tickets specials for shows by more than 300 acts, including Janet Jackson, Fall Out Boy, Don Toliver, Maroon 5, Shania Twain, Snoop Dogg and many more.
Falls Festival, one of Australia’s top touring fests, will skip its 2023/24 edition.
Secret Sounds, the Live Nation-affiliated producers of Falls Festival, announced Wednesday (May 17) that the annual event would not go ahead this December and next January in either of its three locations – Melbourne, Byron Bay and Fremantle.
“After an impressive 28 years ringing in the New Year with some of the world’s biggest acts, the Falls team are today switching on their OOOs and taking this New Years’ season off to rest, recover and recalibrate,” read a statement posted to social media.
It’s the third time in the past four years the event has been nixed, after the 2020 and 2021 events were scrapped due to the pandemic.
Falls is one of the hottest tickets on the calendar, and, in a typical year, is held during the summer holiday with legs in Victoria, New South Wales and Western Australia.
A long-running show at Marion Bay in Tasmania was officially discontinued during the health crisis, and organizers last year walked away from ambitions to host a Falls Birregurra in Murroon, country Victoria, citing a time-consuming and expensive application process. The pre-NYE event went ahead at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne, with Arctic Monkeys and Lil Nas X among the headliners.
“We send huge love and appreciation to all our patrons for their ongoing support and for the great vibes they brought to the 2022/23 events,” the Falls statement continues. “You really are the heart and soul of Falls Festival, and we look forward to updating you with our plans when the time is right.”
Spearheaded by Jess Ducrou and Paul Piticco, Falls Music & Arts Festival originated in 1993 as a one-day concert in Lorne, Tasmania under the banner Rock Above The Falls. In the years since, the likes of Iggy Pop, Jack Johnson, Billy Bragg, the Black Keys, Blondie and many more have graced its stages.
Beyoncé is showing appreciation to her mom on Mother’s Day. Queen Bey took to Instagram on Sunday (May 14) share a loving post featuring a large photo of Tina Knowles-Lawson displayed onstage at the superstar singer’s Renaissance tour stop at Brussels’ King Baudouin Stadium. The post also included a short video of Knowles-Lawson excitedly cheering […]
Taylor Swift was looking out for her fans on Saturday (May 13) during night two of her Eras Tour stop at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field. The 33-year-old pop superstar stopped mid-performance during a shortened version of “Bad Blood” to seemingly call out a security guard. As seen in a fan-captured video, Swift noticeably lingered near […]
Janet Jackson fans bumped into an unexpected special guest in the audience at the PNC Music Pavilion in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Friday night (May 12). Tom Cruise was in attendance, much to the delight of those around him — including Jackson, who shared a snapshot on Saturday of the two of them together backstage. […]
Is Taylor Swift‘s reference to the Eagles in “Gold Rush” about the band, or is it about the football team? At Eras Tour night one of three at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field on Friday (May 12), Swift officially answered that burning question. Swift addressed the audience as she was getting set up to begin her […]
