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In May, regional Mexican act Grupo Frontera performed at Houston nightclub El Rodeo Disco to approximately 300 people. Three months later, in August, the act returned, and this time, much to the surprise of 19-year-old vocalist and bajo quinto player Adelaido “Payo” Solis III, the crowd had increased to 3,000. “I had to take off my in-ear to listen to everyone sing with us,” he remembers. “This was a dream come true.”
The experience would have been unfathomable a year ago, when Grupo Frontera was a local band from the Texas border town McAllen, creating music merely as a hobby. After recruiting Solis, fresh out of high school, into its now six-man ensemble — also comprised of Juan Javier Cantú, 29 (vocalist and accordionist), Julian Peña Jr., 26 (percussionist and animator), Alberto “Beto” Acosta, 30 (bajo quinto), Carlos Guerrero, 28 (drums), and Carlos Zamora, 32 (bass) — the group officially launched this March with an independently released debut EP that contained four cover songs, including Diego Verdaguer’s “La Ladrona.” “When choosing our covers, we decided to focus on timeless pop songs,” says Peña.
But it was a one-off released just one month later — their norteño rendition of “No Se Va,” a 2019 single by Colombian folk-pop group Morat — that catapulted them to fame. “We practiced that song just 16 hours before recording it,” says Peña. “Payo began singing it, then I added rhythms with the congas, and then Beto followed with the bajo quinto, and we all stared at each other thinking, ‘Wow, this sounds cool.’ We practiced it three times on a Wednesday, and the next day we recorded it live in one take.”
Following its release on April 28, its music video gained steam on YouTube on the heels of the EP, though at first the band still “didn’t understand why” it was performing so well, says Peña. “Then we went on TikTok.” Its engagement has sustained momentum on the platform, ultimately exploding due to a video from September that shows a suave man named Elmer and his dance partner, Erika, moving in rhythm to the song in Chihuahua, Mexico. The clip, which has now amassed more than 12 million views, “gave the song the push it needed to get to another level,” says Peña.
“No Se Va” debuted on Billboard‘s Hot Latin Songs chart in September and has since climbed to No. 4. Meanwhile, the track became only the fifth regional Mexican song in Hot 100 history, reaching a No. 57 high after entering the all-genre songs chart in early October. “Honestly, I think it was the seasoning that we put with the congas,” Cantú says of its runaway success. “It doesn’t sound like your typical norteño song; in fact, it sounds like something fresh with that reggaetón vibe.”
Despite Grupo Frontera’s success with its cover version, Morat’s original “No Se Va” has yet to appear on any Billboard charts (though the band did reach the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart in June with “Paris,” a collaboration with Argentine rapper Duki). While Grupo Frontera has not had any communication yet with Morat, Cantú insists the act deserves all the credit. “We wanted to pay tribute to a group that many of us admire,” he continues.
Amid all of its recent success, Grupo Frontera has added indie record label VHR Music founder Victor Ruiz as its manager. Ruiz — also the vocalist of Grupo Zaaz and manager of a handful of other Texas-based groups — additionally serves as the band’s booking agent and has already secured various performances in Texas, Arizona, North Carolina, New York, California, Florida and Mexico. Plus, he’s worked with the group to help boost its visibility, insisting on the importance of vlogging for each member. “I want them to get to the point that everyone can identify who’s who in the group,” he says. “People love seeing the intimacy of an artist, how they prepare for their shows and how they are behind the scenes.”
But beyond touring and vlogging, Grupo Frontera wants to keep testing its success as an independent act — even after multiple record labels have made generous offers, according to Ruiz. Adds Cantú: “I’m not saying that we won’t ever sign with a label but for now, we’re very happy this way. We want to see how far we can get as indie artists.”
Todd Spoth
The band plans to flood the space with new material, starting with a recent song titled “Vete.” Grupo Frontera aims to release at least five more original tracks before the end of 2022, with some help from reigning Latin Grammy producer of the year winner — and fellow McAllen native — Edgar Barrera. “I’m worried that they’ll become a one-hit wonder, and that’s why I tell them they need to release music constantly because if not, the momentum fades away,” Ruiz says.
“You’d think we’ve been playing together for 10 years, but we’ve only been out for eight months,” Cantú adds. “I still can’t believe everything that’s happening to us.”
A version of this story will appear in the Nov. 5, 2022, issue of Billboard.
How is Taylor Swift going to pull this off?
Her new “Eras” tour, promising a journey “through all the musical eras of my career,” was announced Tuesday (Nov. 1) and will visit U.S. stadiums beginning in March 2023. But to consider what this tour’s setlist might resemble is like trying to understand the true size of our galaxy — there’s just so much … of everything.
There are synth-pop bangers, the acoustic slow burns, the twangy throwbacks, the fan-worshiped deep cuts — not to mention the fact that Swift has dropped six No. 1 albums totaling 86 new or previously unreleased songs since her last roadshow, the Reputation Tour, in 2018.
Where does one even begin to cobble together an ideal setlist that can represent her prolific catalog and celebrate her latest world-beater in Midnights? Right here, that’s where!
Below is our dream setlist, which visits all 10 of her studio albums, keeps past tour tendencies in mind, and still makes the spectacle somewhat manageable. By our count, she could blast through all these hits and medleys in about two-and-a-half hours — a reasonable show length, considering it’s her first trek in nearly five years.
This set would surely bring incredible highs and torrents of tears — what more could a Swiftie want? Until then, we’ll keep dreaming!
What began as a grandson’s personal mission to preserve his Nana’s unpublished musical legacy turned into a passion project that led to an album, a documentary, a role in a Hollywood movie, and ultimately, a Latin Grammy nomination for best new artist.
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At 95, Angela Alvarez is fulfilling a lifelong dream that began in her native Cuba, where she learned to sing and play the piano early on, and later took on the guitar and started writing her own songs.
“I loved music very much,” Alvarez tells Billboard Español in a video-call from her home in Baton Rouge, Louisiana — where the work of her husband, a mechanical engineer in the sugar industry, took her decades ago. “When I was a child, I had two aunts that played the piano and taught me how to sing. Whenever there was a family gathering, I was the artist; they made dresses for me and I always liked to perform.”
It’s something that kept growing with her. So when she was about to graduate high school and her father asked her what she wanted to do next, she didn’t hesitate: “I want to be a singer.” Not finding that kind of life suitable for his only daughter, he said, “No. You sing for the family, but not for the world.”
“I loved him very much and I obeyed him — I did not insist,” Alvarez says with a sweet, infectious smile, not a hint of resentment in her voice. She decided to put her dreams on the back burner, eventually finding happiness in marriage and a family of her own. (Alvarez had four children and today is the grandmother of nine and the great-grandmother of about 15, she says beaming with pride.)
But music was always there for her, as it helped her cope with the ups and downs of life: from love and motherhood, to a months-long separation from her children after the Cuban Revolution triumph, when she was supposed to travel to the U.S. with them but was not allowed to board the plane; to her relentless efforts to reunite her family and the eventual loss of her beloved husband and, years later, of her only daughter — both to cancer.
“I think that music is the language of the soul,” says Alvarez, who estimates that she has written around 50 songs, including “Romper el Yugo” (Break the Chains,) “Añoranzas” (Yearnings,) “Mi Gran Amor” (My Great Love”) and “Camino Sin Rumbo” (I Wonder Aimlessly,) all included in her 15-track, self-titled debut album, independently released (via Nana Album LLC) in June, 2021.
“If I could break the chains that imprison you with such great might / How happy I would be, I would sing a hymn of peace,” she sings to Cuba, in Spanish, in the 1969 Afro Cuban tune “Romper el Yugo”.
“I wonder aimlessly, how sad it makes me / I wonder aimlessly finding nothing / I look for solace, I look for peace”, she cries in “Camino Sin Rumbo,” a Cuban Bolero-Son she wrote in 1978 after her husband’s passing.
Angela Alvarez & Carlos José Alvarez
Bryony Shearmur
Listening to many of these songs while growing up was especially impactful on her grandson Carlos José Alvarez, a professional musician based in Los Angeles who attributes his love of music largely to his Nana, as her grandchildren call her. As Angela was getting on in years without ever recording any of her work, he had an “epiphany” that made him fly quickly to Louisiana to document each and every one of her songs, for “the legacy of our family.”
“I didn’t know there were so many, I had no idea,” Carlos recalls on the same video call, laughing as he recounts the conversation he had with his grandmother about finally recording those songs. “When I got back to L.A., that’s when it clicked. I called her up and I said, ‘Nana, do you want to do this?’ First she said, ‘¡Yo no voy para Los Ángeles! ¿Pa’ qué?’ (‘I’m not going to Los Angeles! For what?’) And I say, ‘To record your album!’ And she’s like, ‘OK, I’m there!’”
But a few more years went by as he kept “waiting for the perfect moment” to undertake the project, while juggling family and work. Then, during a trip to Spain, a fire was lit under him by his close friend, producer Misha’al Al-Omar, who looked him in the eye and bluntly asked him: “Are you waiting for her to die? […] Whatever you need, let’s go do it.”
“I owe that man the credit for waking me up,” Carlos says of Al-Omar, also a producer on the album. “I got back from Spain, I called her, and I said ‘Nana, I’m already doing your arrangements. You’re coming to L.A. We’re doing this.’”
With his grandmother on board, he started calling musicians he knew to help bring the project to life. “These are friends of mine and people that I admire, the best of the best,” Carlos says of the professionals he recruited. “I play them her music and they just can’t believe it. They’re like, ‘We’re in!’ They were blown away. They were like, ‘These are her songs? These sound like classics, but I’ve never heard them before!’”
Angela Alvarez
He also contacted Cuban-American actor and musician Andy Garcia, who was very impressed, and immediately on board. So much so, in fact, that he not only served as executive producer and narrator of a documentary on Alvarez, Miss Angela, but also invited her to appear in his Father of the Bride remake as Tía Pili (Aunt Pili), and to sing “Quiéreme Mucho” (Love Me a Lot) as part of the soundtrack.
“Her story just blew me away — she represents a generation, perhaps our greatest generation of Cubans,” Garcia says of Alvarez in Miss Angela. The quote comes as Garcia is introducing Alvarez before her concert at the historic Avalon in L.A — her first ever concert, on the day of her 91st birthday — where the actor also played the bongós with the band.
“Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in finally making a teenage girl’s dream come true and welcome the star of tonight’s show singing her own songs, the extraordinarily talented and sublimely beautiful, Mrs. Angela Alvarez,” Garcia continues.
In a written statement, Al-Omar tells Billboard Español that working with Angela and Carlos was always a “labour of love” for everyone involved. “It was never about money, or recognition, dimensions that can really get in the way of doing things for ‘the right reason’. And the simplicity of that purpose made it a lot easier to stay focused on what’s important,” he noted.
As for how Angela Alvarez ended up with a nomination to the Latin Grammys in one of the most coveted categories, her grandson explains that it was Al-Omar’s idea. “He said, ‘You know how fitting and incredible it would be if she was nominated for best new artist at her age? You know the message that that would send to the world?’” Carlos recalls. “And we laughed about it! We sent it, and two days ago I was checking on my neighbor’s cat, and I’m standing there and I get text messages: ‘Congratulations!’ And I’m like, ‘For what!?’ And it hit me, based on the person who was writing, and I said ‘No way!’ […] It’s unimaginable”.
Angela couldn’t believe it either. “It was a very big but very beautiful surprise, and I thought afterwards that all my dreams came true. At 95, but that doesn’t matter,” she says, laughing.
Now both grandmother and grandson plan to attend the Latin Grammy celebrations in Las Vegas the third week of November — where Alvarez is scheduled to perform at the Best New Artists showcase on the 15th, and attend the awards ceremony on the 17th.
“I hope this entire project inspires young people to sit down and talk to their elders. Ask them questions. Ask them about the dreams they had once upon a time. They will be surprised at what they will find,” Carlos concludes. “If we don’t ask them, they won’t tell us, and their wisdom and dreams will leave with them.”
Kimberly Yatsko
Lainey Wilson’s career has been developing at breakneck speed. In three short years, she’s gone from releasing her debut major label EP to being the top nominee at Nov. 9’s CMA Awards.
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In 2019, she released Redneck Hollywood on Broken Bow Records/BBR Music Group, followed by 2021’s full-length, Sayin’ What I’m Thinkin.’ On Friday, Bell Bottom Country — a nod not only to her freewheeling form of music, but also to what has become her signature ‘70s hippie style – comes out.
“This record is still me sayin’ what I’m thinking, but in a different way,” the Baskin, Louisiana, native says in her distinct Southern drawl, while seated at Red Light Management’s Nashville office. “I feel like I’ve grown leaps and bounds in the past few years. I wrote all the songs for my last record in 2016, 2017. I’ve lived a lot of life since then.”
That’s an understatement. Not only did Wilson earn her first No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart last year with the hard-earned wisdom of “Things a Man Oughta Know,” but she followed it this year with the two-week No. 1 collaboration “Never Say Never” with Cole Swindell. “Things a Man Oughta Know” earned song of the year at the 2022 ACM Awards, while Wilson also picked up the best new female artist honor.
Wilson’s tireless work ethic was forged from a childhood spent on a farm, filled with crops and horses. She furthers her brand as a hard-working, small town girl-made-good with the heart-on-her-sleeve determination found in the top 25 Country Airplay hit “Heart Like a Truck.”
Heading into November’s CMA Awards, Wilson earned six nominations in her first year as a nominee, including album of the year (Sayin’ What I’m Thinkin’), female vocalist of the year, new artist of the year, song of the year (“Things a Man Oughta Know”), vocal event and video of the year (“Never Say Never”). These nominations put her in elite company with Glen Campbell, Brad Paisley and Kacey Musgraves, all of whom earned six nods during their first CMA Awards. In addition, she’s branched out with a role in the upcoming season of the hit series Yellowstone, which will also feature music from her new album.
Bell Bottom Country continues her forthright style of music — a little hippie, a little edgy, solidly country and all heart. She co-wrote 13 of the album’s 14 tracks.
“I feel like I have truly found myself as a singer, as a songwriter, and I think that that’s what this record is gonna show,” she says. “It’s kind of pulling back the layers to saying what I’m thinking, but just digging a little deeper.”
Wilson talked with Billboard about her new album, being the top-nominated artist leading into the CMA Awards, and landing a role on Yellowstone. She also offered an update on her father’s health, shared some road stories and discussed her future music plans.
This has been a whirlwind year for you: No. 1 hits, six CMA Awards nominations. How are you holding up?
It truly feels like as soon as we can’t have another big blessing, we do. For so long, I could not get a publishing deal to save my life. I couldn’t get a record deal to save my life. The funny thing is, what I’m doing now is what I’ve always done. It’s just about timing.
Being this year’s most-nominated artist, in your first year of nominations — how does that feel?
First of all, just being invited is crazy in itself, much less being nominated, but then being most nominated? It’s hard for me to even fathom people knowing my name — because for so long they didn’t.
Is there a particular category that means the most to you?
Song of the year to me is huge ‘cause “Things a Man Oughta Know” has already done so much for me. We took that home with the ACMs, and it’d be pretty cool to take it home for the CMAs too, ‘cause that would seal the deal of, “Wow, this song was supposed to be written and heard.” The female vocalist [of the year] nomination is a crazy one to me, because I feel like I’m just getting started.
Miranda Lambert, who is also nominated for female vocalist, has been a strong supporter of yours.
Absolutely. I think me and her knew pretty much immediately that we were gonna be friends. She got my phone number from someone and texted me and just said she loved what I was doing. I couldn’t believe it — I don’t think any female who has moved to Nashville to do country music can say that Miranda Lambert did not influence them. She’s like Loretta Lynn 2.0, she’s paved the way. She does things how she wants to and doesn’t care what people say. That’s something she’s really taught me.
What else has she taught you?
We’ve talked about how the Idnternet can be a mean place. People are gonna have their opinions of you, but it’s really none of your business. And her work ethic. I’ve been on the road for a few years now and I’m tired. But she tells me, “You can do it…You gotta figure out how to stay grounded, stay focused, have your therapist on speed dial.” It’s a cool life we get to live, but it’s not normal and it’s got its own challenges.
How have you learned to balance it?
This year, I have slept in my own bed a total of [10] nights. We got a bus a few months ago and that has changed the game because for years we were in a van, in an F-450 flatbed truck with a trailer. So even if it’s just full of stinking boys on the bus, having that place to go to that is constant has been great. I try to meditate; I have fun with my band. We’re out here doing what we love to do and we realize how far we have come.
Professionally, this has been a glowing year for you, but personally, your dad has been through a tough health battle this year, including multiple surgeries and losing an eye. How is he doing?
He’s doing good. He just got to come home, praise Jesus. My mom and dad were my first believers, and I couldn’t wait to call them and tell them about the [CMA Awards] nominations. That was some of his encouragement to start feeling better and to work hard in rehab. I told him, “You’re gonna walk the red carpet with me,” and he is going to. He’s been building up his strength and that’s given him something to look forward to.
Listening to Bell Bottom Country, you proudly display your personality and background on songs like “Grease.” Where did that song come from?
“Now you’re cookin’ with grease” is a saying my momma always used, [which meant] “now we’re getting somewhere.” All these little sayings that my family has said my entire life somehow make their way into my music. I can’t escape it, really.
You have a song on this album, “Those Boots (Deddy’s Song),” dedicated to your dad. What did he think of it?
I remember every morning as a kid, before my daddy went to work, I’d pull his pants leg over the top of his boots for him. I was just a little girl, but I felt like there was purpose in it, like I was helping him out. I wrote it with Trent Tomlinson and Terri Jo Box. It took us four times to write it because we wanted it to be right and true to my story. He’s a man of very few words, but when I first started writing songs, the only way I knew he would like a song is if his toe was tapping. When I played this he started tapping his toes, so I thought, “OK, we got his approval.” And then he said, “That’s pretty dang good.”
Jay Joyce produced this album. How did that partnership come about?
A friend of mine lived down the street from Jay’s studio and kept putting a bug in Jay’s ear. I think eventually Jay was like, “Who the hell is this girl you keep talking about?” I went and hung out in the studio two or three times before I even played music for him. I think it was the third time we hung out, I walked through the studio doors and he threw me his guitar and told me to play something. I played him “Working Overtime” and half of “Rolling Stone.” I remember leaving there thinking it was kind of like going on a date and not knowing if there is going to be another date. So I sent him a text later that day saying I wanted to work with him. You know — first move. And he texted back, and just said, literally, “Let’s do it.” I call him the mad scientist; he just throws everything in a pot and mixes it up and it comes out totally a thing of his own.
Bell Bottom Country is a great title. Where did the love of bell bottoms start?
I love everything throwback. I feel like things that are throwback come with a good story. If you walk in my house, you’ll see my daddy’s old rodeo chaps hanging up on the wall or my mom’s China cabinet. I’m a bit of an old soul. I’ve been wearing bell bottoms every day for at least six and a half years. Now they are kind of starting to come back, which I love.
Bell bottoms are such an essential part of your brand. Where are your favorite places to find them?
A lot of people will send them. Free People, of course, they’ve always got good bell bottoms. I do sometimes find clothes in vintage shops — mostly tops. I’m pretty curvy and I think a lot of the folks in the ‘70s were not, because I can’t fit ‘em up over my dang thighs.
This year, you had a No. 1 hit with the Cole Swindell collaboration, and have a current hit with HARDY on “Wait in the Truck.” You chose not to have collaborations on this project.
There’s definitely songs that I was like, “I could hear a feature on this.” But I think you gotta be careful with how many features you do. Who knows, maybe eventually after the record is out there for a little bit, kind of coming back and maybe putting a feature on one or two would be cool. I want people to know that I’m here to take care of business and share my story, but collaborations are important. Cole took a chance on me. That’s what HARDY’s doing, too, and I appreciate them for it.
You end the album with the 4 Non Blondes hit from 1993 “What’s Up (What’s Goin’ On),” written by Linda Perry. Why was that important to include?
I’ve always been a fan of that song, and Linda Perry is just cool — a cool producer, cool songwriter. I got to sit down and talk with her a bit last fall. She’s one of the most intimidating people I’ve ever met. She means business and I appreciate that about her. I’ve played that song for years now in my shows. As soon as people hear it, their hands go up and it feels like everybody in the building is on the same page. So we just put our little country spin on it.
You also have a role on Yellowstone as Abby. What drew you to the role?
I made myself a promise that if any door opened that was gonna give me an opportunity to share more of my music with the world, then I was gonna say yes without even thinking about it. I met [show creator] Taylor [Sheridan] at a horse wrangling competition in Vegas and we exchanged numbers. I sent him music and they used two of my songs in the show. During the pandemic, I went to the Yellowstone Ranch and played an acoustic show for the cast and crew. Taylor called me in February and said, ‘I want to create a character for you. I want you to dress how you dress, sing your songs and be you.’”
Besides the character you portray, who is your favorite Yellowstone character?
Probably Beth. And on the show and outside the show, [actor Kelly Reilly] has become a dear friend. She’s one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. I thought she was gonna put me in a headlock before I met her.
Will any of the songs from this album be in the upcoming season?
Yes, “Watermelon Moonshine,” and several others.
You are heading on tour with Luke Combs next year. The two of you have known each other for years.
I met him in 2014. I was living in my camper, so he’s one of the few people who has seen me and known me as “camper trailer Lainey.” He cut a song of mine that we wrote together called “Sheriff You Want To.” For the longest time, it was paying my light bill, so every now and then I would send Luke a picture of my check and say, ‘Thanks for paying my light bill.” He’s just stayed true to himself—he sings how he sings and he looks how he looks–and I will say it’s given me the courage to do the same.
Did he reach out to you after the CMA nominations?
I can’t even remember, but I know that he reached out to me about going on the road with him and just said it was a long time coming. I’m just so glad that he remembers, coming over to my camper and drinking my cold drinks and using my AC [laughs]. I knew that we were gonna go on the road together at some point. I think the timing is perfect. I know he’s excited and proud for me, too.
What are some of your other favorite road stories?
I’ve had so many like embarrassing moments where like I’ll get out there and my platform [shoe] will break, and then I’ll have to take the shoes off and play the show barefoot. One show I was playing in, I think South Louisiana, a dang wasp landed on the microphone right there at my nose. I might have said a cuss word in the microphone, and nobody else saw the wasp, they just thought I was cussing.
What other kinds of albums do you dream of putting out?
I grew up going to bluegrass festivals with my grandparents, so I’d love to do a bluegrass album at some point, maybe a gospel-bluegrass record. It’d be cool to have Alison Krauss on there, Billy Strings and Molly Tuttle, who played acoustic guitar on this album with “Wildflowers and Wild Horses.” I’d love to do a redneck Christmas record. I haven’t written any Christmas songs, but I’ve got a list of ideas.
KYIV, UKRAINE — “Respect my borders,” the large entry stamp reads, pressed in bold black block letters down my forearm.
Here, a massive courtyard is flanked on one side by a crumbly brick building well over a hundred years old and on the other side by the yellowing building’s new, stainless-steel addition. Techno is pulsating through the open door of the building — the leading techno club in Kyiv, Ukraine.
The space officially has no name. Located at the edge of Kyiv inside a former brewery, the club’s logo and de facto identifying mark is a mathematical sign, ∄, used in high-level calculus to indicate the value for a formula that does not exist. It also reflects the club’s interest in self-promotion — nonexistent. For pronunciation and reference, Kyiv’s techno community knows ∄ as “K41,” a moniker that combines the venue’s street name and building number.
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And in keeping with the ∄ symbol’s meaning, team members at the club don’t want to insert themselves into the club’s bigger story — they prefer to remain anonymous and peripheral to their venue and community. “Instead,” several from this group explain to Billboard, “we are all just members of the ∄ team.”
Though initially intended to remind guests that despite the world of possibility inside the club, personal boundaries are to be observed and respected, my entry stamp’s commandment has taken new meaning since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February. It is a reminder that Ukraine is in an existential fight for its existence.
The ongoing invasion ended ∄’s latest season, called Dance.Delivery, just two days before its scheduled opening weekend in this past February. But on Oct. 15, after nearly eight months of war, ∄ reopened its doors to Kyiv for the first time and revived the canceled season, in a defiant display of Ukrainian resiliency during the war.
At the Oct. 15 event, hundreds of club goers clad mostly in black revel on the dance floor. For many, their first time clubbing in nearly eight months provides an outlet for joy and the release that comes from dancing together. “The crowd today is different,” one of ∄’s team members says. A palpable lightness filled the space. “Less naked bodies,” she quips. “Maybe because it’s the first event, maybe it’s because of the music today; it’s calmer.”
Much of the building’s original texture is preserved. Dancefloors and soundsystems are woven into the brewery’s architecturally complex interior, which has been fashioned into nine separate dance spaces that can altogether host upwards of 15,000 attendees. Original 1870s-era logo mosaics are juxtaposed against glittering glass-and-tile DJ booths and pits that once housed enormous copper brewing vats are transformed into vast, pool-like seating areas.
The front lines of the war are hundreds of miles from the Ukrainian capital. And while the city is slowly removing the concrete-and-sandbag checkpoints and steel vehicle obstacles it had scrambled into place during the early days of the Russian invasion, the decision to reopen ∄ and revive its aborted season did not come easy.
On Oct. 10, just days before the planned reopening, early morning blasts shook the Ukrainian capital awake as Russian rockets and missiles struck civilian targets in Kyiv and other cities throughout Ukraine. The attack in Kyiv killed at least eight people and wounded scores of others. ∄’s team wrestled with their desire to revive techno in Kyiv. Could they kick off the canceled Dance.Delivery season? Should they go forward with the event?
All of Ukraine is currently under martial law, a response to the Russian invasion that provides the legal framework necessary for curtailing movement during the war. Military-age males are not allowed to leave the country and large gatherings like sporting events are forbidden.
Kyiv’s ∄ club
Kateryna Smirnova
After deciding to move ahead, ∄’s team members opted to cap the first installment of Dance.Delivery at a few hundred attendees, opening just one of the venue’s spaces to keep the event intimate and out of concern for guest safety amidst potential Russian shelling. And rather than throwing a typical night event, the space opened in the afternoon and closed its doors before 10 p.m. in order not to run afoul of Kyiv’s city-wide nighttime curfew restrictions.
Practical hurdles had to be overcome as well. During the early days of the Russian invasion, ∄’s team members took advantage of the former brewery’s thick concrete and brick architecture, transforming the building into an ersatz bomb shelter and temporary housing for the displaced. Sound equipment and DJ booths were moved to make space for bunkbeds and cots.
One of ∄’s sound engineers voiced his worry that sound equipment might not work because of humidity exposure during its nearly eight months of storage. “If the electricity cuts out because of a blackout or any other reason,” he says, hinting at the slight but genuine possibility of an explosion somewhere in the city, “we have backup generators. We’ll be fine.”
The first installment of Dance.Delivery was thus undoubtedly far from typical — but it was a defiant and resounding success. As afternoon turned to evening, dancers gradually fill up ∄, with a mishmash of fresh, youthful faces mixed in with ∄’s veteran crowd all moving to sets by Ukrainian artists Cantrust and Human Margareeta. Three flavors of dress prevailed: blacks and whites, leathers and fishnets, and not much at all.
A Small But Growing Scene
Ukraine’s techno scene is smaller than scenes in other European cities, but it’s burgeoning — and no less fervent. Though relatively new, ∄ offers a space for the kind of easy abandon enjoyed by techno communities in Berlin or London. At the former brewery in Kyiv, clubbers and dancers enjoy the freedom to experience music, dance and community, restricted only by the boundaries other visitors make for themselves, boundaries that are scrupulously respected.
For Vlad Shast, an exuberant 40-something drag queen and one of the club’s wide ensemble of standout regulars, ∄ is a profoundly meaningful space — and not just because of the music. “Before K41 opened, I never felt like I had a place where I belonged,” Shast explains between stints on the dancefloor. Shast has been fixture at ∄ since the space opened in 2019 and is closely involved with ∄’s ХІТЬ, a word that translates to “lust,” and the name of a regular queer party series the club held before the Russian invasion.
“I can show my inner creator and be fully accepted by people around me. I can be truly myself, truly me,” he says of ∄’, twirling the edge of a translucent gossamer dress he made in February before the Russian invasion, specifically for the first installment of ∄’s Dance.Delivery season. “After the beginning of the war, I didn’t have time to realize how much [the club] meant to me,” Shast adds, brushing strands of an ornate, homemade headdress made of woven black zip ties away from his face.
But, he acknowledges, at first, after the rocket attacks, he couldn’t imagine going back to ∄. “I felt like I would be dancing on people’s graves,” he says.
After deep conversations with ∄’s organizers and friends, Shast concluded that reopening is a question of prioritization. Following the rocket attacks in the capital, “we were so focused on the dead,” Shast says. And while this is entirely understandable for a community so directly faced with the challenges of war, “we should be focused on the living,” he says.
The decision to reopen is one that Shast appreciates. It was only during the middle of the party, “when I had a moment by myself, that I fully felt what the Russians took away from me,” Shast says. The invasion, he continues, took away the “ability to share my art, my ability to connect with my people, my ability to connect with my community.”
For him, this night on ∄’s dancefloor was a celebration of life, not a commemoration of death.
A Tie to Berghain and German Ravers
The space has a deep connection to Germany. ∄’s founders tapped the same group that designed the world capital of techno — Berlin’s Berghain — for their space. In 2020 and 2021, Berliners took weekend trips to Kyiv en mass to escape Germany’s strict Covid lockdowns and Berlin’s shuttered techno clubs.
Cognizant of both the techno scene’s particular proclivities as well as the increasingly international audience that ∄ pulls into its orbit — international acts including LSDXOXO, Ben UFO, and DJ Stingray have all played there — the club passes out fliers to partygoers in Ukrainian and English that explain how various drugs can interact if taken together, how to prevent overdosing and hangovers, and how to navigate sexual consent while partying. Other cards carefully explain what to do if stopped by police, citizens’ rights, and how police in Ukraine are allowed to interact with people on the street.
Several of ∄’s team members sought refuge in Berlin during the early days of the Russian invasion. And though grateful for the initial support Germany offered Ukrainians fleeing war, many Ukrainians who came to Germany had what they call a profoundly frustrating, even maddening experience during their stay.
“Before the Russian invasion, I thought Europeans were very privileged,” a ∄ team member explains over a beer at ∄’s bar. “Affordable health insurance and a high standard of living” are certainly things to be admired, she says, draining her beer and setting it resolutely on the bar counter. “But now I know that Ukrainians are the ones that are privileged.”
When asked why, she stares me dead in the eye. In this war, “Ukrainians know that pacifism is not an option,” she says, voicing frustration with some European countries commonly heard in Ukraine — and with Germany in particular.
Kyiv’s ∄ club
Kateryna Smirnova
Exasperation is felt particularly acutely towards the clamoring for the laying down of arms and calls for immediate peace — viewpoints many on the ∄ team call increasingly out of step with the reality of battlefields in Ukraine, where civilians are regularly targeted and where evidence of brutal Russian war crimes in recently liberated towns and villages is steadily mounting.
Though some of ∄’s approximately 130 team members are still abroad, many have returned to Ukraine, homeward journeys that brought them back to a country at war. Their reasons for returning are myriad, but the ∄ team member at the bar says that some of their security staff enlisted in the Ukrainian army and are now fighting at the front lines.
∄ is throwing everything it has behind its friends and family fighting at the front. This first Dance.Delivery event ultimately raised 150,855 Ukrainian hryvnia (nearly $4,100) through donations at the door. The money went towards the Hospitallers paramedic group, a Ukrainian organization of volunteer paramedics.
Just two days after the first installment of Dance.Delivery, another series of explosions ripped through downtown Kyiv, striking cultural sites, one of the city’s primary power substations, and other non-military infrastructure. The attack killed at least four people and injured dozens more — a stark reminder that despite the weekend’s semblance of normalcy, conflict elsewhere in the country has not ended.
“Our building survived two world wars,” one of ∄’s team members explains. “I hope it will survive this war too.” Yet, despite the air raid alarms and the explosions, for a single night, both ∄ and Kyiv were alive — and dancing.
You may know her for Tik Tok videos, which have accumulated over 148 million followers and over 11 billion likes. Still, Charlie D’Amelio is heading into uncharted territory: The 18-year-old social media maven released her first single and music video, “If You Ask Me To,” on Tuesday (Oct. 25); after the song premiered on the season 2 finale of The D’Amelio Show, a Hulu docu-series following D’Amelio and her family.
The pop song was produced by Greg Keller, who also co-wrote the track with D’Amelio, Austin Saxton, Emi Seacrest and Michael Schiavo. Andrew Sandler, who has visuals for Nicki Minaj, Ariana Grande, and Machine Gun Kelly, helmed “If You Ask Me To,” which depicts teenage heartbreak and the ups and downs of being in love with someone.
D’Amelio says that the song tells a story with characters rather than a true story about herself. “I wanted to use this as a time in my life where I don’t have to talk about true experiences — so much of my life is so out there,” D’Amelio tells Billboard.
As someone who rose to stardom through her dancing, D’Amelio has always been heavily involved with music. Still, she never really got a chance to experiment with making a song or creating a video from scratch, which led the superstar down this new path. “I fell in love with the process throughout,” D’Amelio says, “Which is why putting this song out is so important to me.”
Just below, the social media star chats with Billboard about her new single, what it was like working with a team to create music, some of her favorite artists and more.
I see you worked with Greg Keller and Austin Saxton. What was that like for you?
For me, it was awesome working with them. They let me kind of put what I wanted into the song, and I got a lot of freedom from this, making it fun for me to experiment with what I liked and what I get to put out with my first song. And I think that that was something that was super fun, that they let me take the front seat. But obviously, they’re the professionals, and they know what they’re talking about. So they were there to guide me the entire time. And you know, we all pitched in to writing the song and figuring out what would be best for the music video and everything. And I was just very thankful that they gave me that freedom within the creative.
How would you describe yourself as an artist?
I think for me, I would like for this journey to be ever-changing and grow with me. You know, I wanna be able to try and experiment within styles and everything, and I feel like that’s the best part — working with the people that I work with. They’re able to give me that freedom to create whatever comes naturally to me and go from there and never have to feel like I’m stuck in a box where I have to make one type of music. And I think that’s something that really means a lot to me.
Who are some of the people you listen to growing up and even now that motivate you in music?
Sam Smith, Adele, my sister (Dixie) obviously, Billie Eilish. Growing up doing a lot of contemporary dance, a lot of those artists were artists that I danced to — that’s the type of music that drew me in, which led me to create “If You Ask Me To,” and kind of tie it all together..I wanna give it to other people, so they’re able to enjoy it as well.
You’re a famous Tik-Toker. What do you want people to know about you outside of TikTok?
I think I want people to see me for me as a person and what my character is, and what I’m made up of rather than my TikTok videos — which aren’t always spot on for who I am all the time. I think with this song and the show that my family and I have, you see a little bit more of kind of the process. I feel like people’s perceptions of me are going to change as I change and grow up, and I’m here to live my life. And however people take that, I just let them because that’s not fully up to me how other people perceive me.
You’ve accomplished a lot for someone very young. What’s next for you?
I think for me, I’m planning on figuring it out as I go. You know, that’s the most amazing part. I wanna see what I’m able to make next and where the vibe goes. And if it comes together to be an album. And if it’s a little venue that I sing at once to see how it is — I mean, I’m ready to kind of try it all, and I’d love to be able to do bigger things within music. But I wanna see what’s next for me, creation-wise.
What is the reaction you’re hoping people get after listening to the song and watching the music video?
I want people to be able to relate their own experiences into music. I think when you listen to it, I hope that you feel something and if it relates to a point in time in your life where, “oh, this is kind of similar,” use it. I love music that makes you feel, music that makes you think.
I think it’s such a powerful thing that you can use in so many ways, and I hope people enjoy it. Whatever it is to them, my connection with the song is going to be different from everyone else’s, and everyone else is just going to differ from each other. So I hope that people take from it what they need and what helps them connect with it.
Much of the electronic music industry is currently in or en route to Amsterdam, with the city’s longstanding ADE conference launching tomorrow (October 18.)
Happening in the Dutch capital since 1996, the five-day Amsterdam Dance Event is the world’s largest dance music industry conference, and the one that many in the scene call not only the most fun, but the one where the most business gets done.
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2022 marks ADE’s first full-fledged iteration since 2019, with the pandemic forcing ADE fully online in 2020 and only partially live in 2021. This year, say ADE organizers Meindert Kennis and Jan-Willem, the event is not just back, but also bigger than ever, with 10,000 industry professionals expected for the expansive conference and 600,000 fans in town to take in the hundreds of consumer facing shows and arts and culture programming happening through this Saturday, October 22.
In an effort to make the conference more useful for more people, for the first time this year it’s divided into Pro and Lab conferences, with Pro programming catered towards established industry members and Lab focused on those just getting their foot in the (club) door.
“Lab is a conference for people making the first steps in the industry, to help them educate themselves and to help them with the first steps to become a pro within a few years,” says Kennis. “Having this healthy ecosystem is one of the main ideas we wanted to implement before the pandemic that survived during our off years.”
Meanwhile, the dizzying number of music events happening in venues throughout the city are hosted by global brands including AMF, Secret Project, DGTL, Spinnin, We Still Believe, Defected and many (many) more, all working under the ADE umbrella. (Local officials do not permit any event to happen during the week unless it has ADE approval.) Altogether, the new music, business initiatives, party brands and other campaigns launching this week will help set the sound for the year to come in electronic music.
“There’s going to be something people talk about afterwards like, ‘I know the first moment I heard that and that broke through was at at ADE,’” says Kennis.
Here, Kennis and Willem discuss getting the massive event back in action this week.
Beyond the changes to how you’ve structured the conference, what are the biggest things happening at ADE this year?
Kennis: I think the biggest thing is that we’re back, and we’re back in full effect. The good thing is not just that we’re hearing everyone is coming back, but we see it in the ticket sales. That’s very exciting, especially after a few years of relative silence — that the industry is back and that they’re coming [to Amsterdam] in full effect. We’re thrilled about that.
Willem: All the small and big industry partners are coming back too. That’s a really comfortable feeling, knowing the momentum is still there.
As you’ve been organizing this thing, have you found that some issues are more crucial this year?
Willem: We decided to focus on three main themes, and all the topics we are discussing are under these themes. It’s the business side of electronic music, meaning the whole value chain of electronic music. That’s still the most important part of the Pro conference. The other one is the future, all innovations and AI and metaverse related topics. The third is the world surrounding music, meaning all topics around sustainability, mental health and social impact. So basically, every panel and program within our conference is related to one of these three themes.
There are so few electronic industry conferences right now, and yours is such a big event. Does anything compare to ADE in terms of size and influence?
Willem: We are a foundation to improve electronic music in the Netherlands. We started ADE as a part of BUMA/STEMRA, the copyright organization in Holland. The reason why I’m stating this is: You don’t make a lot of money organizing these kinds of events with so many stakeholders and so many things to take care of. We don’t have this huge gate around our festival — everybody can be part of it. Which also means there’s a lot of a lot of work to align with everybody, to make sure everything is being organized correctly. Revenue goes directly to the producers of every event. So we don’t make any money out of that. I think that’s a reason why there’s not a lot of competition.
Kennis: Also, it has grown to be this way over 26 years. And as a nonprofit, we allow everyone to let ADE be what they want it to be, within quite a broad bandwidth. I think that makes it really special.
Are you finding that, industry wise, people from parts of the world are coming that didn’t before? I’m thinking of places like the MENA region. Are you seeing different areas show up that didn’t as much in years prior?
Kennis: That’s a good question. I believe that, for instance, countries like China aren’t able to come this year. They are technically, but apparently it’s a hassle. So it’s more that we’re expecting different parts of the world to not be able to come this year, given COVID scares or just a lot of paperwork being required. But we have to look into that afterwards to see the differences, because it’s really interesting.
Are there any COVID protocols still in place in the city or country?
Willem: No… I’ve been asking for quite a few months at local and national government levels, and they’re all like, “We don’t have anything, so don’t worry.” I was like, “I am worried, because we’ve got about 600,000 people coming in, and I don’t want to cancel.” But we’re now just before [the event] and there’s still no measures in place, so I think we’re going to be okay.
I remember that last year, you had to make some changes when new protocols were put in place at the last minute. 350 club shows went from being at night to happening during the daytime.
Willem: Last year, a month before ADE started, all events were shut down. The only way to really make them work is that they had to close at midnight.
Kennis: It was actually amazing.
Willem: We came out of a lockdown, then we had ADE, and then there was another lockdown. So everybody was just going mental [during ADE.] All the artists and venues swapped the entire schedule so everything happened during the day. That gave a feeling of togetherness, where everybody just worked together to make it happen, and that gave it a really special energy.
These five days were literally the only moment in Holland where people could go out and be together, touch each other in a club and express themselves, and we had so many good moments. We started on Saturday morning, we drove to a party. We came in at 11:00 in the morning, and had a croissant and some juice. All these fans and all these kids were pumped up and dancing, hugging each other. We were like, “F–k yeah, this is cool for 11:00 in the morning.”
Amsterdam Dance Event
Courtesy of ADE
I know you work closely with the city of Amsterdam to make this thing happen. Besides the absence oof protocols, have any shifts occurred at the government level following the pandemic?
Kennis: It’s good to notice that before COVID happened, part of the struggle was that nightlife and night culture wasn’t seen as culture by government stakeholders.
But now, since COVID, they realize, “Okay, this is more than just partying at night. It’s part of your expression, it’s part of your individual development, and it’s a really important part of your life, especially when you’re young and finding your identity.” Hopefully that will help us get more funding in the future to invest more in the development and educational programs.
That’s not a small thing, to actually affect the mindset around this often misunderstood culture on a government level.
Kennis: Unfortunately it took it took a pandemic to to make people realize it, but we do see change for the better.
Pop-punk lifers rejoiced upon the announcement that Blink-182 — the San Diego trio against which all other heavy-and-happy bands are measured — had reunited its classic lineup.
Guitarist Tom DeLonge is back after a split from bassist Mark Hoppus and drummer Travis Barker in 2014 (preceded by a split in 2005 and reunion in ‘09). While the band soldiered on with Alkaline Trio frontman Matt Skiba, releasing two LPs in 2016’s California and 2019’s Nine, it was never the same, the electricity (and poop jokes) among the core trio never replicated.
But now, the group is back together and promising a new album — a bouncy new single called “Edging” just dropped Friday. An accompanying new world tour is set to kick off next year, and some fans are surely already dreaming about what the ideal Blink 2.0 setlist might look like.
Us, too! So we went ahead and built this dream setlist: 25 songs that would more than satisfy the droves of millennials heading for arenas across the U.S. and beyond next year. This setlist, which we believe the band could pull off in about two hours — pretty standard for a legacy headliner — is informed by recent tours, fan sentiment and, moreover, what we think would be freaking awesome to see.
Here’s our best-case scenario on how the new Blink tour plays out. Happy moshing!
TikTok’s growing role in popular culture has caused countless songs to be resurrected over the past few years – including some recognizable rock from over a decade ago. While many of the app’s Gen Z users have been exposed to 2000s mainstays like Paramore and Arctic Monkeys thanks to recent releases, several tracks that were released years ago, and were classics to millennials, have found a new life on TikTok.
Some of these songs have soundtracked iconic television and film scenes, and now find themselves being discovered by a new audience; they’ve also inspired listeners already familiar with their charms to reminisce on simpler times, get up and dance. While some of these artists have taken breaks to embark on solo careers or focus on their mental health, their music lives on and encourages fans, new and old, to keep engaging.
Here are 10 rock songs from the mid-00’s that TikTok has revived.
Impressively, Lansbury received career-capping honorary awards from three of the four EGOT awards shows.