State Champ Radio

by DJ Frosty

Current track

Title

Artist

Current show
blank

State Champ Radio Mix

8:00 pm 12:00 am

Current show
blank

State Champ Radio Mix

8:00 pm 12:00 am


Las Vegas

Page: 2

HipHopWired Featured Video

Source: Mireya Acierto / Getty
Public Enemy and Ghostface Killah will be on the star-studded lineup for DJ Cassidy’s upcoming Las Vegas residency.
For those aiming to attend DJ Cassidy’s “Pass The Mic Live!” residency at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas, Nevada, the lineup just got more impressive. It was announced that Public Enemy and Ghostface Killah would appear along with Raekwon, Jermaine Dupri, Da Brat, Too $hort, and Warren G as rotating guests. The legendary Hip-Hop group from Long Island is slated to appear for one of the three nights of the residency. They will be part of the show along with Slick Rick, Doug E. Fresh, Fat Joe, and Ja Rule. “Pass the Mic Live!” will take place on July 5-6, 12-13, and 19-20 at Planet Hollywood’s Bakkt Theater.

“This will be unlike any other show you’ve seen, and a show that people want to continuously come back to see more than once and night after night,” DJ Cassidy said in an interview, “because every show is a unique experience with one-of-a-kind collaborative moments, which is part of why the special guests are such an important piece to the puzzle.” He also discussed the significance of Public Enemy’s appearance on the bill. “They’ve done one other show in the U.S. in the last seven years, and so this is quite a big deal for them, and it’s quite an honor to have them, as it is to have everyone. And Flavor Flav lives in Las Vegas, so he’s now a hometown hero.” Public Enemy will be a part of the show on July 6.

Caesars Entertainment and Live Nation are producing the events, along with Loud and SRC Records founder Steve Rifkind. DJ Cassidy hopes to channel the spirit of Las Vegas’ storied entertainment history going back to the days of The Rat Pack and Elvis Presley for these concerts as another landmark for Hip-Hop culture. “There is not a lot of hip-hop in the Las Vegas residency space, and I am very cognizant of that,” says Cassidy, “and I take this responsibility very deeply. It’s really important to all of us to create something not only that represents Hip-Hop in a special way, but from a broader perspective, to create something that can be talked about in the future in the same sentence as the other performers and shows that I mentioned.”
.

HipHopWired Featured Video

Nas is a long way from his days in the famed Queensbridge housing projects and the debut of his classic debut album, Illmatic and later this summer, a celebration will be in order. Nas will honor the 30th anniversary of Illmatic by way of a trio of shows in Las Vegas backed by an orchestra.
The 30th anniversary of the release of Illmatic took place this past April with the rapper, real name Nasir Jones, taking to Instagram to bring light to the milestone.

As reported by Billboard, Later this summer, Nas will be joined by the Las Vegas Philharmonic Orchestra for a trio of shows to perform the 1994 classic complete with the backing of live instrumentation.
This isn’t the first time the Queens, N.Y. star has done so, performing with the National Symphony Orchestra for Illmatic‘s 25th anniversary. Employing a similar format, The King’s Disease artist aims to do the same with an entirely new backing band.
“Las Vegas has always served as a creative outlet for my music, and these performances will take that to the next level,” Nas said to Billboard in a statement. “I am excited to partner with the Las Vegas Philharmonic to bring this first-of-its-kind performance to Encore Theater and to showcase my music to my fans in Las Vegas in a whole new way.”
The shows take place on August 29, August 31, and September 1.
Tickets for the event are on sale this Friday (May 24) at 1 PM ET/10 AM PT. Please visit Ticketmaster for purchase here.

Photo: Billboard / Getty

All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.
Weekends With Adele is off and running. After taking a break to recover from illness, Adele resumed her Las Vegas residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace on Friday (May 17).

Weekends With Adele continues through June 15 and picks back up in October. Adele is also scheduled to perform a string of shows in Germany this summer.

Trending on Billboard

Keep reading for details on where to get tickets to see Adele live, and how much you can expect to pay for the most affordable (and most expensive) tickets.

Where to Get Adele Tickets

The final round of tickets to Adele’s Las Vegas residency sold out at Ticketmaster last year, but fans can find plenty of resale tickets on Vivid Seats, StubHub and SeatGeek.

How much do Adele tickets cost? Right now, tickets are in high demand, which means prices are skyrocketing. Most of the tickets for May and June range from approximately $570-$770, and up to $3,000 for the most expensive tickets.

If you want to see Adele perform over Memorial Day weekend, tickets are approximately $600 and up at StubHub and Vivid Seats, and prices are likely to get higher as the holiday weekend approaches. (Want a discount on tickets? Use code BB2024 to save $20 off $200 or more at Vivid Seats.)

Weekends With Adele runs from May 17 until June 15 and resumes in October through the end of November.

Adele’s Germany shows will take place between Aug. 2 and Aug. 31. Resale tickets are available on StubHub and Vivid Seats for around $100 to $150 for the cheapest tickets, but most of the seats are priced closer to the $300-$500 range, and over $1,000 for some shows.

The “Hello” singer will travel overseas for a round of summer shows at the Open Air Arena in Munich, Germany, Adele announced in January.  

“So a few months ago I got a call about a summer run of shows,” she wrote on Instagram at the time. “I’ve been content as anything with my shows in London’s Hyde Park and my residency in Vegas, so I hadn’t had any other plans. However, I was too curious not to follow up and indulge in the idea – a one off, bespoke pop-up stadium designed around whatever show I want to put on?”

See below for a full list of dates.

Weekends With Adele Dates:

May 18 – The Colosseum at Caesars Palace

May 24 – The Colosseum at Caesars Palace

May 25 – The Colosseum at Caesars Palace

May 26 – The Colosseum at Caesars Palace

May 31 – The Colosseum at Caesars Palace

June 1 – The Colosseum at Caesars Palace

June 7 – The Colosseum at Caesars Palace

June 8 – The Colosseum at Caesars Palace

June 14 – The Colosseum at Caesars Palace

June 15 – The Colosseum at Caesars Palace

Oct. 25 – The Colosseum at Caesars Palace

Oct. 26 – The Colosseum at Caesars Palace

Nov. 1 – The Colosseum at Caesars Palace

Nov. 2 – The Colosseum at Caesars Palace

Nov. 8 – The Colosseum at Caesars Palace

Nov. 9 – The Colosseum at Caesars Palace

Nov. 15 – The Colosseum at Caesars Palace

Nov. 16 – The Colosseum at Caesars Palace

Nov. 22 – The Colosseum at Caesars Palace

Nov. 23 – The Colosseum at Caesars Palace

Adele’s Germany Concert Dates:

Aug. 2 – Open Air Arena in Munich Germany

Aug. 3 – Open Air Arena in Munich Germany

Aug. 9 – Open Air Arena in Munich Germany

Aug. 10 – Open Air Arena in Munich Germany

Aug. 14 – Open Air Arena in Munich Germany

Aug. 16 – Open Air Arena in Munich Germany

Aug. 23 – Open Air Arena in Munich Germany

Aug. 24 – Open Air Arena in Munich Germany

Aug. 30 – Open Air Arena in Munich Germany

Aug. 31 – Open Air Arena in Munich Germany

05/17/2024

It wasn’t all dancing bears at Dead & Co.’s debut Sphere show (though the bears were there!). Here are our favorite moments from show 1.

05/17/2024

All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.
It’s already been 20 years since The Killers gave us hits like “Mr. Brightside” and “Somebody Told Me” from their debut album Hot Fuss. To celebrate the milestone, the band is headed to their hometown of Las Vegas where they’ll take over the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, joining the running list of current artist residencies in Sin City.

Explore

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

The band is currently slated to play for 10 shows, but they won’t be held consecutively — you can catch the “When We Were Young” band on Aug. 14, 16, 17, 21, 23, 24, 28, 30, 31 with their last show taking place Sunday, Sept. 1. All performances will take place in the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, where you can book a room to see the show. With ongoing travel deals, you can also score 20% off during the hotel’s Vegas Vacation promo or you can get 30% off when you book your stay 30 days or more in advance.

Trending on Billboard

Tickets to The Killers’ residency are sold out on Ticketmaster (the official ticketing distributer), but that doesn’t mean you can’t still get tickets to The Killers: Live in Las Vegas. There are some cheap ticket sites including resale options such as StubHub, Vivid Seats and Seat Geek that are selling tickets to The Killers 2024 Vegas residency, but with how popular the shows are it’s bound to sellout quickly.

Keep reading to learn how to find tickets to The Killers Vegas 2024 residency online.

How to Get Tickets to The Killers: Live In Las Vegas Online

Below, we rounded up the best online ticket sites that are offering deals and offers on tickets to see The Killers residency.

StubHub

StubHub is one affordable option that is offering Killers tickets online for as low as $135 (at the time of this writing). You can customize ticket options based on date, price and seating area in the venue. Each purchase is also backed by the site’s FanProtect, which you can learn more about here.

Vivid Seats

Vivid Seats has tickets to The Killers’ Las Vegas residency from $118 and you can use the interactive map to choose where you want to sit. The site also lets you sort options based on prices and how good of a deal you’re getting. Every purchase is covered with Vivid Seats’ 100% Buyer Guarantee and you can see what’s included here. Bonus offer: orders of $200+ are can receive $20 off when you use the code BB2024 at checkout.

Seat Geek

Seat Geek has tickets for as low as $157 with each option ranked on a scale of 1-10 based on how good of a deal it is. Tickets that are rated a one are considered the worst deal and options that are a 10 are the best deals. You can also choose to include fees in the prices to avoid surprises at checkout. First purchases can also get $10 off orders of $250+ with the code BILLBOARD10 at checkout.

Are The Killers Touring In 2024?

The Killers are not going on tour, but they are making appearances around the globe at some of the biggest festivals. Besides their Las Vegas Residency, the band is also traveling to Governor’s Ball Music Festival, Boston Calling, Lollapalooza, Outside Lands Music Festival and more. Check here to see the full list of appearance dates.

The Lovers & Friends Festival in Las Vegas has been canceled due to dangerous weather conditions, organizers have announced.
The one-day music festival at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds was scheduled to take place on Saturday (May 4) with a star-studded lineup including headliners Usher, Janet Jackson and Backstreet Boys.

On Friday night (May 3), the festival’s organizers shared a message on social media explaining that the outdoor event was being called off because of a high wind warning issued by the National Weather Service.

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

“The National Weather Service has now issued a High Wind Warning, including dangerous 30-35 mph sustained winds with gusts potentially more than 60 mph,” organizers wrote. “Following advice from the National Weather Service and in consultation with local public officials, we must make the safest decision for our fans, artists, and staff, and cancel tomorrow’s Lovers & Friends Festival.”

Trending on Billboard

Organizers added, “This was an incredibly heartbreaking decision to make as we are aware that fans have traveled from all over the world to enjoy this incredible lineup of superstars and have been looking forward to this event for several months. We’ve worked hard to create an amazing event for you, and we are just as disappointed as you are.”

Fans who purchased their tickets directly through Front Gate Tickets will receive a refund within 30 days, organizers said.

The Lovers & Friends lineup also included Lil Wayne, Snoop Dogg, Gwen Stefani, Nas, Alicia Keys, Nelly Furtado, Ludacris, Mary J. Blige, Ciara, TLC and Timbaland. As part of the festivities, Lil Wayne was scheduled to perform Tha Carter III in its entirety and Usher was set to celebrate the 20th anniversary of his classic album Confessions.

Read the full statement from the Lovers & Friends organizers on Instagram below.

When Phish takes the stage at Sphere on Thursday to begin its four-night run at the cutting-edge new Las Vegas venue, it’ll do so armed with a bespoke production in keeping with its long history of head-turning concert innovation — which is why co-creative director Abigail Rosen Holmes‘ sentiment on the eve of the shows initially seems counterintuitive.
“We’re pushing a lot of technical boundaries, and we’re doing a lot of things that are somewhat new … but never done for its own sake, all done very specifically to achieve what we want to do creatively,” the live music veteran says of her work with Phish, which follows U2 as the second musical act to play Sphere since it opened last fall. “You should just walk in and think that it was amazing, and you had a great time. If you’re sitting there thinking about what it took for us to build it, then that’s probably not right.”

What Holmes wants fans to focus on is Phish “just being the band playing the best Phish music they can.” Phish has an extensive history of intricately produced “gags” — deploying a fleet of clones, turning Madison Square Garden into an underwater world replete with drone-powered whales and dolphins, or even doing a Broadway-caliber staging of its song cycle about the fantasy world of Gamehendge, to name a few — but Holmes says that since she first began conceptualizing the Sphere shows with the band and its frontman Trey Anastasio last July, they’ve eschewed such a creative direction.

Trending on Billboard

“We’re going to use all of the opportunities of this building — the audio, the visuals — and do it while supporting Phish truly playing music the way Phish plays music,” she says. “That became really the guiding star for everything that we thought about creatively. How do we create visuals and use all the technology of this space — and not impede Phish being able to play anything they want any way they want on the night?”

It’s a marked contrast from U2, which kept its show more or less the same for each of the 40 nights it played Sphere, and designed impressive song-specific visuals for several key tracks. That Phish will mix up its show for each gig on a four-night run — not repeating a single song — is a given; what that looks like in a venue with Sphere’s epic visual capabilities is less familiar territory.

Abigail Holmes

Rene Huemer

Still, in Holmes and the Montreal-based multimedia studio Moment Factory, whose Sphere team is led by the show’s co-creative director Jean-Baptiste Hardoin, Phish has secured a creative crew that’s up to the paradoxical task of orchestrating an advanced, immersive sensory experience to accompany a band whose musical signature is improvisation. Holmes started working with Phish in 2016, when she collaborated with lighting director Chris Kuroda on designs for the band’s touring show, and she conceptualized the live production for Anastasio’s 2019 side project Ghosts of the Forest; her career dates back to lighting work on Talking Heads‘ Stop Making Sense, and extends far beyond her concert résumé — she’s also worked with Janet Jackson and Roger Waters, among others — to architectural and installation projects, including a stint at Walt Disney Imagineering. “I feel like people often reach out to me for projects that don’t fall neatly into any really easy category,” she says, adding with a laugh, “People call me for their weird stuff.”

In Moment Factory, Phish united Holmes with kindred interdisciplinary spirits. The firm has worked with Phish several times dating back to 2015, including on its 2018 and 2021 Halloween gags and on its 2022 Earth Day show at Madison Square Garden — the one where the band turned the venue into an arena-sized aquarium. Like Holmes, Moment Factory’s work extends beyond its music clients — who include Billie Eilish and Halsey — and into airports, malls and more. But even so, Moment Factory producer Daniel Jean explains, “The challenge with Phish [at Sphere] was the biggest challenge we’ve ever faced […] to make sure that we create a show that is flexible and can react in real-time.” As Hardoin puts it, the team has been “trying to design the unpredictable.”

While Holmes and Moment Factory are tight-lipped about specific creative elements of the show, which they began workshopping in earnest last October, they share some broad strokes. Each night will have a loose theme, Holmes says, not unlike those that governed each concert in Phish’s 13-show Madison Square Garden “Baker’s Dozen” run in 2017. That choice “provided a little bit of a framework for a jumping-off point for ideas for the visuals,” she says, though she emphasizes it’s “not rigid in the song choice, it’s not rigid in the visuals.”

Those visuals will be twofold. Kuroda, the band’s longtime lighting designer, known for improvising his work along with the band’s jams, will continue that role at Sphere, utilizing a new version of his intricate rig designed specially for the venue. “The amazing rig that he has on tour was not a good fit into this building,” Holmes says. “It sits in front of the screen, it takes a lot of motors that would be in front of the screen. We realized pretty early on that that would have to change. I’m extremely excited to watch the new rig that’s designed for him in here. It plays a role in tandem with the screens instead of existing on its own.”

Moment Factory contributed to the set design that ensured Kuroda’s lighting rig and Sphere’s screen could live in harmony. And furthermore, Sphere has provided an opportunity for the company to expand its early 2000s roots in multimedia to staggering proportions. “We’re basically VJ’ing on a 16,000-by-16,000-pixel ratio for Sphere,” Jean says.

Phish

Rene Huemer

The exact nature of those visuals remain under wraps until Phish takes the stage on Thursday night, but the creative process Holmes and Moment Factory describe sounds groundbreaking. In a nutshell, the Moment Factory team has created visuals and worked with Holmes to create a playback interface — not unlike the custom programming Kuroda has implemented over the years for his lighting rig — that will allow for real-time manipulation of the visuals that follow Phish’s musical impulses.

“It was a matter of, OK, how can we evolve this universe for eight to 20 minutes, with different parameters, wheter it’s the colors, whether it’s the saturation, whatever,” Hardoin says. “[Holmes] has a very good understanding of the music of the band. She’s able to modulate [the visuals] live, as lighting designers do.”

At the shows, Holmes will be executing the visuals, which will integrate generative content and use existing technologies in new ways, like Epic Games’ Unreal Engine, a platform that allows creatives in fields like gaming, television and live events to blend live-action video and CG. (“That’s been pushed very far past what’s been done in other places,” Holmes says of Unreal.)

For months, Holmes and her team have used the vast trove of Phish concert recordings to simulate how the Sphere visuals “might evolve during a jam … being quite careful to use multiple versions, because they’re going to be radically different,” she says. “The visuals go in real-time to support [the band] and follow them musically, not the other way around.”

Phish’s penchant for newness is, in Holmes’ estimation, what will define the band’s Sphere run — and it explains why the booking appealed to the band in the first place. While the band capped off its 40th anniversary year in 2023 with a New Year’s Eve production of its Gamehendge saga, comprised of some of its oldest material, Phish has a new studio album out this summer (Evolve, due July 12) and continues to introduce fresh material while rethinking its live presentation.

“When we think about this show, it’s today — it’s not referencing the past,” Holmes says. “This is a piece of them taking a huge risk and experimenting and trying something new, because that’s what they like to do.”

Anyone who’s read Mariah Carey‘s bestselling 2020 memoir, “The Meaning of Mariah Carey,” will know that the singer has often described her life as a “rollercoaster.” It’s a term that came up again Saturday (April 13) on the second night of Carey’s “The Celebration of Mimi” residency in Las Vegas, though unlike her at-times tumultuous career, this was one ride that you never wanted to end.

Explore

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

Taking place at Dolby Live inside the Park MGM Hotel, the 16-date residency is billed as a celebration in advance of the upcoming 20th anniversary of Carey’s critically-acclaimed album, The Emancipation of Mimi, though the festive affair felt more like a career-spanning retrospective of hits.

Trending on Billboard

Indeed, after a brief voiceover intro that referenced her “rollercoaster” life, Carey descended upon the stage to open with “Vision of Love,” her Billboard No. 1 debut single from 1990. What followed was a nostalgic journey through some of Carey’s biggest hits, each in chronological order of when they were released, and many accompanied by a story or quip about how the song came to be.

Introducing “Dreamlover,” Carey reminisced about rehearsing with Aretha Franklin at 1998’s Divas Live concert, where Franklin remarked that she “loved” the song, and playfully suggested that the two perform the track instead of their scheduled duet instead. While the Divas Live setlist went ahead as scheduled — sans “Dreamlover” — Carey said she couldn’t believe the song got the Queen of Soul’s approval. “I was like ‘Oh my god,’” Carey squeaked in mock surprise on stage. “Ms Franklin was talking to me!“

Backed by a four-piece band, eight dancers and three background vocalists (including Trey Lorenz who duets with Carey on “I’ll Be There”), the songs are interspersed with old interview clips from each album cycle and motivational quotes on screen narrated by Carey herself.

Because the concert went through Carey’s catalog in chronological order, crowd-pleaser “Hero” was performed early on in the show rather than as her usual encore. But the revised setlist offered other surprises as well, like Carey’s memorable cover of Badfinger’s “Without You,” which the singer typically only performs internationally, and “Looking In,” the poignant Daydream album closer that Carey last performed in 2013.

The loudest cheers were saved for the Butterfly era, which Carey has called her “favorite” and “most personal” album. Perched on a pink and lavender couch elevated high above the stage, the singer ran through a medley of the album’s R&B cuts, including “Babydoll,” “Breakdown” and “The Roof,” which Carey recently remade for her MasterClass course. After an uptempo mashup of “Honey” and “Heartbreaker” (from the Rainbow album) it was time for the main event.

Denise Truscello

When The Emancipation of Mimi was released in 2005, critics hailed it as Carey’s “comeback album,” following muted reactions to 2002’s Charmbracelet, and her movie soundtrack Glitter, which was released on September 11 (neither of those albums were performed at the residency, though Carey’s dancers break out some moves during a Glitter/Charmbracelet interlude that serves as a set change). Mimi though, was an immediate hit with fans, spawning two number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100, while sending Carey across a world tour that took her as far as Tunisia and Japan.

Here in Vegas, the album was showcased in all its glory, with Carey rising from the stage in a glamorous gold gown to the refrains of “I Wish You Knew,” an old-school soul ballad with a spoken-word bridge that’s a favorite among the singer’s lambily. That was followed by a one-two punch of “It’s Like That” and “Say Something,” which kept the already buoyant crowd on its feet.

Getty Images for Live Nation

Though Mimi was released in 2005, the songs sounded just as fresh and relevant as they did (almost) 20 years ago. Case in point: Carey opened “Shake It Off” with an interpolation of Bryson Tiller’s “Don’t,” which samples the track in its second verse. Carey has said she wanted to create something “timeless” with The Emancipation of Mimi, and the residency proves she has more than succeeded.

Though Carey is known for sprinkling some “diva” moments into her shows, she largely eschews the antics this time around in favor of letting the music speak for itself. The singer has been known to be wheeled or carried off-stage by dancers, but this time she walks(!) in heels(!) by herself(!) in between costume changes (of which there were five on the night). Carey walking herself backstage is a small detail of course, but in a way, it perfectly incapsulates the feeling of the show.

While Carey has performed in Vegas before, she has never sounded or looked better. And while other artists of her caliber would rest on familiar songs or arrangements, Carey continues to push herself with musical director Daniel Moore, to offer deep cuts for the fans, while reinventing her hits in new and novel ways.

And then there’s the walking thing.

Closing the show in a nude mesh Swarovski gown, Carey capped the triumphant night with The Emancipation of Mimi’s signature songs, “We Belong Together” and “Fly Like a Bird,” before the curtains began to slowly close on the star-lit stage. Standing solo before the sold-out crowd, the superstar waved farewell, then picked up her dress and shuffled her stilettos offstage, unaccompanied — and unfazed.

If The Emancipation of Mimi was about freeing Carey from her past, the “Celebration of Mimi” residency is about seeing her legacy forward. No one has ever doubted the singer and songwriter’s talent, but two decades removed from her landmark album, Mariah Carey is proving that she can still do it all on her own — and on her own terms — high heels and all.

Adele has rescheduled a run of dates of her popular Weekends With Adele Las Vegas residency that were originally slated to take place in March. In a post on X on Tuesday, the singer announced that the postponed dates at the Colosseum in Caesars Palace will now take place on the final weekend of October, […]

Lady Gaga is headed back to Las Vegas for a summer run of more Jazz & Piano shows. The singer announced the news on Tuesday morning (March 19), revealing that she will be back on the stage at the Dolby Live theater at Park MGM for eight shows between June 19 and July 6. Explore […]