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When Taylor Swift plays Indianapolis for the ninth time in her career this weekend – performing three sold-out Eras Tour dates at the 70,000-capacity Lucas Oil Stadium – she’s returning at the very top of her game.
And Indy knows games. After all, the Midwestern capital city has hosted the Super Bowl, eight Final Fours (with a ninth set for 2026) and countless college tournaments across all sports – not to mention its 11 professional teams and a century-plus of the Indy 500 car race under its belt.
So how does a sports-forward city such as Indianapolis shift gears to welcome hundreds of thousands of Swifties to town instead of, say, 70,000 Colts fans on any given Sunday? The trio of Lucas Oil concerts were announced in August 2023, but the city’s wheels began spinning months before that.
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“We formed a local organizing committee, much like we do ahead of a major sporting event, to involve community partners to make sure that this was more than a concert,” Chris Gahl, senior VP of marketing/communications for Visit Indy, tells Billboard. “And so, over the last 18 or 20 months, a group has been meeting to think about and worry about how we welcome the anticipated 200,000 visitors and fans to our city.”
That huge swath of tourists is all coming to cheer for Swift – and while her arena is entertainment and not sports, when the music business is keeping score (like on the Billboard charts, for instance), she’s typically in the winners’ circle. On our most recent year-end charts, Swift was our overall top artist of 2023 and has ranked in the year-end top 10 in 14 of the last 16 years. She’s also tied with Drake for the most Billboard Music Awards wins of all time, picking up 39 prizes over her two decades in the industry.
And beyond the numbers, from its start in March 2023, The Eras Tour has been nothing short of an athletic feat. Swift is carrying a three-and-a-half-hour production of live singing and dancing, performing as many as four consecutive nights at a time across the world for almost 20 months. Beyond her Kansas City Chiefs star boyfriend Travis Kelce, we’ve seen professional athletes marveling at the endurance her concert must require, with Houston Texans defensive lineman J.J. Watt saying after attending opening weekend in Arizona: “She did not stop the whole time. There was no intermission. There was no halftime. There was no TV timeouts. The longest break she took was maybe three minutes for a costume change. And she was singing, dancing, entertaining the entire time — 70,000 people hanging on every single word and move she was making. … And she crushed it. And she didn’t even look tired. I was tired and I was just sitting there!”
With stats and stamina like hers, maybe Swift is a better fit for a sports town like Indy than it would appear at first glance. And to match her undefeated record, the city went especially big with signage for the Eras Tour dates – like, six-figure investment and 350-feet big – including a 34-story decal of the pop star (approved by Swift’s team) splashed across the JW Marriott, Indy’s largest hotel. They’ve also temporarily renamed 32 downtown streets after Swift songs, so visitors can take a stroll down Bad Blood Boulevard, All Too Well Way and, of course, Cornelia Street. And in a move sure to relieve fans desperate for a souvenir who don’t want to spend their entire night in a line, the adjacent Indiana Convention Center – typically home to massive fan experiences during major sporting events – has transformed its Exhibit Hall I into a pop-up merch stand, open to all Swifties from Wednesday to Saturday, no concert ticket required.
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And the Taylor Effect can be felt beyond the tourism board’s efforts. Local sports bars are playing their part too: The Slippery Noodle – a nearly 175-year-old bar and restaurant sitting a convenient three blocks from the stadium – is setting up a Swift-themed mocktail bar for young fans, complete with an accompanying friendship bracelet and glittery straw, as well as a “Dad’s Lounge” for any parents or partners delivering kids and spouses to the stadium and looking for a spot to chill for three and a half hours or so.
“We do have a couple of staff members that are Swifties, so I think they’ll be prepared to do some trading,” Slippery Noodle co-owner Sean Lothridge laughs to Billboard when asked whether his team will be armed with the Eras Tour’s trusty friendship bracelets. “It’s kind of something new for me. I don’t really know the Swifties as well, but I’m trying my best to learn a little bit about it.”
Over the summer, Lothridge got used to a different superstar woman drawing crowds to his bar, when a certain WNBA rookie came to town. “The Caitlin Clark effect with the Fever was tremendous,” he says, adding that fans were coming in from all over the country to go to Indiana Fever games at the nearby Gainbridge Fieldhouse. “We were getting good crowds from her fans, so she’s been a good boost for the city.”
This weekend’s concertgoers are also traveling from all over, with Gahl telling Billboard that 81% of the Indy ticket-holders are coming from outside the state of Indiana – presenting a massive opportunity to paint the sports town in a brand-new light, or introduce it to first-timers. The biggest difference between the Eras Tour weekend versus a high-stakes sporting event, Gahl notes, is that everyone should leave Lucas Oil Stadium a winner.
“You usually have two teams — sometimes four teams — that are taking sides, if you will, and advocating that their team wins,” he says. “In this case, it’s a commonality – and that is the love for the artist and her music. So whereas we’ve created different zones or restaurants or bars to align with a certain team in the past for major sporting events, this is a uniter. This is one city, one event, one weekend, all for the same artist and music, and it’s the capstone to her [U.S.] tour. So it feels like there’s even more unity and programming and everyone collecting for one common goal.”
For the next three nights, everyone entering the stadium is rooting for the same side: Team Taylor.
One of sustainable touring’s pioneering acts, the Dave Matthews Band, is reporting several successes in that realm following its latest tour. The band’s summer tour, which wrapped in early September at The Gorge Amphitheatre in Quincy, Wash., unrolled the group’s “On the Road To Zero Waste” initiative, done in partnership with Live Nation. According to […]
Jimmy Fallon is the latest guest to take on the Hot Ones challenge, eating increasingly spicy wings as host Sean Evans asks questions. However, it’s hardly Fallon’s first rodeo. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news He often incorporates a Hot Ones segment with Evans on his Tonight Show, […]
Sabrina Carpenter celebrated Halloween at her Short n’ Sweet tour stop in Dallas, Texas, on Wednesday (Oct. 31) and rocked not one, not two, but three different costumes. In addition to dressing as a Playboy Bunny and Tinker Bell, Carpenter also rocked a black off-the-shoulder catsuit and curly blonde hair to channel Olivia Newton-John’s character […]
Do you love basketball as much as Kurtis Blow? Probably not. The rap legend bridged generations as he collaborated with Brooklyn rapper Lola Brooke and West Coast producer Hit-Boy for a modern take on his classic record “Basketball,” which reached No. 71 on the Billboard Hot 100 in April 1985.
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DoorDash partnered with the NBA, WNBA and Kurtis Blow to celebrate the start of the 2024-2025 NBA season. The music video — shot by Dave Meyers and his daughter Cassidy on the streets of New York — features WNBA legend Sue Bird and Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart of the New York Knicks.
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DoorDash announced a multiyear partnership renewal on Monday (Oct. 28) that extends the company’s role as the official on-demand delivery platform partner of both the NBA and WNBA. The partnership first tipped off in 2020, with DoorDash becoming the first-ever partner in the on-demand category.
DashPass, DoorDash’s membership program, will serve as the official partner of NBA and WNBA Experiences, which offer a wide range of customized and immersive fan experiences at marquee events throughout the NBA and WNBA calendar year. These premium experiential packages include access to NBA and WNBA events alongside unique off-the-court programming such as player and legend meet-and-greets, behind-the-scenes tours, concerts and hospitality hubs designed to reach global fans of the game.
“Since joining forces with the NBA and WNBA in 2020, we’ve brought meaningful experiences to basketball fans, and I couldn’t be more excited to see what we build together this season and beyond as we deliver even more value to fans with DashPass,” said Kofi Amoo-Gottfried, CMO at DoorDash, via a press release. “With the season officially underway, we wanted to celebrate basketball’s impact on culture, and what better way to do that than reviving a hit classic that’s synonymous with the game? Working with Kurtis to bring this to life was an unmatched experience, and we hope fans enjoy the reimagined hit – and its nod to the past, current, and future of basketball – as much as we do.”
“Our partnership with DoorDash is rooted in a shared commitment to deliver unique and elevated experiences that celebrate NBA and WNBA fandom year-round,” said Kerry Tatlock, Executive Vice President of Global Marketing Partnerships and Media, NBA. “We look forward to expanding our collaboration, leveraging our partnership to unlock even more opportunities to bring our fans closer to the game.”
Watch the new take on a hip-hop classic above.
Madonna is voting blue. The Queen of Pop took to Instagram on Thursday (Oct. 31) to share a series of photos from her recent trip to Paris. “Paris was so FUN! ?? . It was hard to leave, but I had. to come home to V.O.T.E. ????,” she wrote in the caption. “@kamalaharris For. President!!!! […]
You can add ska-punk legends Fishbone to the increasingly lengthy list of musicians who are not fans of Donald Trump. The veteran band released a pointed broadside against convicted felon Trump on Thursday (Oct. 31), just days before the Nov. 5 presidential election.
“Proud to have this new song out… it was actually written back in 2017, but never got on tape until now. Sad part is that it’s only gotten worse,” the band wrote on Instagram about the bubbling verbal takedown “Racist Piece of S–t” (also tagged as “RxPxOxS” to seemingly beat censors.)
“Here’s the thing, this song pulled no punches… if you are a fan of this band from the start, you know we have never been shy of speaking our truth,” they wrote on Instagram of the track whose lyric video features a cascade of news headlines about the deadly January 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters.
And, indeed, the lyrics to the two-tone takedown are precise and concise. “I see you coming down the street/ With tiki torches and hate speech/ You’re not a proud boy/ You’re just a F$@k Boy/ Drinking the kool aid Of a mad orange king,” singer Angelo Moore spits in reference to the white supremacist rally Charlottesville in 2017 in which neo-Nazis spewed antisemitic and racist hates speech at an event where Trump said there were “very fine people on both sides.”
The song continues with lyrics aimed at one of the celebrity supporters of the former reality star, before getting to the pointed chorus. “Another Kid Rock/ With all the hate talk/ Murder Sickness global crisis coup d’état vanilla isis/ Ohhhh.. you’re just a racist piece of s–t,” Moore sings, adding, “The Power zombies said/ Let’s put this lie to bed/ Here’s an ignorant pillow for your empty racist head.”
“As artists, this is our platform, be it music, art or words. If you don’t agree, that’s fine,” Fishbone said in their statement. “Just don’t come in here telling us to shut up and dribble, you are talking to the wrong brothers. We speak our reality and if you are still “undecided” well, maybe this song and perspective will open you up with a straight up call out of what is at stake.”
The Los Angeles group has long made standing up to racism and fascism part of their brand, mixing uptempo party jams with conscious lyrics on their beloved 1988 second album, Truth and Soul, including on the punk blitz “Subliminal Fascism” and funk rocking “Ghetto Soundwave.”
In an email interview with Rolling Stone, founding keyboard/trombone player Christopher Dowd said he knew he had to write a song about Trump a decade ago when Trump announced his first run for the White House. “The timing of this release couldn’t be more perfect,” Dowd told the magazine. “With Election Day five days away, maybe hearing this song, if you are ‘undecided,’ will trigger your subconscious to think about who could win and what that would look like to the country and the world. One person in a leadership position can automatically make you guilty by association. So will you want to be associated and represented by a person with non-apologetic racist tendencies or a person that doesn’t?”
The post ended with an urgent plea to vote on Tuesday (Nov. 5)in the election that pollsters continue to say is a near dead-heat between Vice President Kamala Harris and twice impeached Trump.
Listen to “Racist Piece of S–t” below.
In a year when creative content from Japan is attracting attention in global markets, a singer with potential for international pop stardom has appeared in the J-pop scene. The budding artist’s name is Hibiki, and she sings the festival song “Desire” for the 37th Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF 2024), one of Asia’s largest film festivals.
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Based in Kyushu in southern Japan, the young singer enrolled in university in April this year. She co-wrote “Desire,” her debut single released Oct. 23, an up-tempo dance track with Jersey club beat and lyrics all in English. “I know you are just a hater,” Hikibiki sings with her emotive, resonant voice, unleashing her thoughts on haters and online flame wars. A portrait of a strong young woman comes across from skillful vocalization and determined gaze, ready to step out onto the global stage.
Billboard Japan chatted with the rising star, who remains mostly shrouded in mystery with little background information available, about her musical roots and future goals as an artist.
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What are you studying at university?
Sustainability tourism. Simply put, it’s about things like Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and regional development through tourism. Most of the students at my university are doing interesting things; I have friends who have launched student groups and businesses. A professor there is a former UN employee, so we get to hear the inside story of how the SDGs were created.
Were you drawn things like singing and entertainment from a young age?
Yes, I’ve loved music since I was little. I started fiddling with the Electone electronic organ when I was two and started learning how to play it properly when I was three. I apparently said I wanted to play music myself.
Which artist do you remember liking in a conscious way?
My dad would play music in the car, and I used to sing along to the Spice Girls’ “Wannabe.”
How did you learn English?
I started going to English conversation classes when I was a toddler, and used to enjoy English in a game-like way. But I was bad at it as a subject from junior high to high school and couldn’t keep up. I’m working hard now. [Laughs] I’ve been familiar with English for a long time, though, so I can pronounce words kind of like a native speaker.
What other instruments besides the electronic organ do you play?
When I was in junior high, I joined the brass band and played the flute and percussion for three years. There were only nine of us in the band, so we changed parts depending on the song. In first year junior high, our brass band was given the opportunity to perform as the opening act for [J-pop megastars] DREAMS COME TRUE. That was a wonderful experience.
What kind of music did you listen to growing up, starting with the Spice Girls?
In junior high, I listened to [J-pop] artists like Superfly and MISIA. I got into Western music in high school. I had the opportunity to go on a two-week homestay in Canada in my second year junior high. I found out about it through some flyers from school. But the cost of travel and such are quite expensive, you know? We weren’t a particularly wealthy family, but my mother said she wanted me to have an experience that will give me a broad perspective.
That’s something to be grateful for.
That was my first trip abroad. At the time, Ed Sheeran’s “Shape of You” was popular. The experience reminded me that I like English. You can communicate with people from different cultures, and above all, the music is so cool. At the time, I enjoyed music on YouTube.
What made you want to become an artist or singer?
I’ve always loved to sing. Then one day, I had a sudden urge to learn how to sing. I wanted to get a bit better at it, even as a hobby. I was in the chorus in high school and also started taking vocal lessons on the side. I started to think that singing on stage was fun, and that it’d be nice if I could make a career out of it.
In high school? That’s pretty recent.
Yes, it is. I started auditioning and entering contests from there. That’s how I first got started, which led to where I am today.
It goes to show that being able to take action and taking the first step is important.
Whether I passed or not, my views in terms of music broadened through the experience and left a deep impression on me. The fact that more and more people said they like my songs gave me confidence.
By the way, are there any singers you look up to as role models?
I’d say Dua Lipa. She has a voice that no one else can imitate, and her songs have a retro feel to them. I admired her amazing performance at the Grammys. Dua Lipa has this beautiful way of expressing things through the lingering sound at the end of her words. Also, if we’re talking about songs, Zedd is another favorite. I went to my first-ever music festival this year, GMO SONIC, and he was awesome. I also like Tyla and Sabrina Carpenter. I listen to them all the time while I’m going places.
What are you particular about in terms of your own singing and other aspects of your individuality?
I recently discovered that when I sing with feeling, I can make better use of the techniques I have. I try to focus on immersing myself in the world of the lyrics as I interpret them. I think my low voice is my strong point, and I’ve developed techniques that make the most of that.
When did you become interested in writing your own songs and lyrics?
I recently began understanding the profundity of lyrics through co-writing. The lyrics of songs in Japan are so distinct. It feels so interesting to me.
How did your debut single “Desire” come about?
Producers Mitsu and hito and I made a rough demo in about an hour using “space language” [i.e. fitting random words into a melody], and when the entire co-writing team listened to it later on we all thought was good. So we worked together to make a full-length version straight away.
The opening line, “I know you are just a hater,” has quite an impact. How did you come up with it?
The song was already hard-hitting when it was still a demo, so when I was singing it in space language, I was thinking about making the most of that slightly hateful feel it had. We’d changed the song’s title to “Desire” from the temporary one and I’m glad the lyrics connected to that word.
How did “Desire” become the festival song for TIFF 2024?
While we were working on the song, hito, one of the producers, said, “I have a feeling this will work!” and pitched it. I was so happy when it was chosen. The entire process of the tie-in becoming a reality was really quick.
The timing couldn’t be better, since Hiroyuki Sanada’s SHOGUN won a record 18 Emmy Awards and global interest in talent from Japan is on the rise.
The media was filled with articles about that alongside the news about “Desire” being chosen as the TIFF 2024 song. That was amazing.
What sort of artist do you want to be in the future?
I want to become someone like the Asian version of Dua Lipa, but since I’ve loved singing since I was little and love music, I don’t want to end up just idolizing someone. I want to become someone else’s idol next.
—This interview by Fukuryu first appeared on Billboard Japan
Jelly Roll will make his Austin City Limits debut on Saturday (Nov. 2), with the premiere of a six-song set that includes his Billboard Country Airplay chart top 5 hit “I Am Not Okay,” as well as chart-toppers including his four-week No. 1 Country Airplay hit “Need a Favor.”
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In an early look at the performance, Jelly Roll tells the audience just before launching into “I Am Not Okay,” “The thing about these shows are, is that it’s more than a concert, it’s more than music. It’s bigger than me, it’s bigger than the music, it’s about the message. It’s about redemption, it’s about second chances, it’s about being OK with not being OK sometimes.”
At one point during his ACL appearance, he tells the crowd about how he grew up watching the show, recalling that he had posters of artists including Willie Nelson and George Jones on his walls at home. He also pays homage to Austin by making the “Hook ‘Em Horns” hand sign, a symbol honoring the University of Texas at Austin Longhorns.
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To date, Jelly Roll has earned five No. 1 Billboard Country Airplay hits, and with his new album, Beautifully Broken, the Antioch, Tenn., native reached new career heights, with the set debuting at No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart.
The Nov. 2 episode featuring Jelly Roll’s debut performance will also feature husband-and-wife duo The War and Treaty performing songs including “Blank Page” and “Leads Me Home.”
Jelly Roll’s Austin City Limits debut comes as ACL is celebrating its 50th anniversary season, honoring five decades of presenting music’s top artists. The 50th season has already featured performances from artists including Kacey Musgraves, Black Pumas, Maggie Rogers, Nickel Creek and Brittany Howard.
Get an exclusive early look at Jelly Roll’s ACL appearance with his performance of “I Am Not Okay” below:
A week after Beyoncé appeared at a rally for Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign in the singer’s hometown of Houston, the Democratic candidate’s rival Donald Trump still seemed focused on the 32-time Grammy winner’s full-throated endorsement of the sitting Vice President.
Taking the stage in an orange and yellow safety vest on Wednesday (Oct. 30) in Green Bay, WI, the twice impeached former President told the crowd, “four nights ago they got Beyoncé… uhhhh Beyoncé,” as he paused while audience appeared to boo the singer who has sold more than 350 million records as a solo act and with Destiny’s Child. “They got Beyoncé,” he sighed a second time. “We don’t need Beyoncé, we don’t need anybody… all you got is me, and I don’t have a guitar.”
The Harris campaign reposted the Beyoncé-bashing moment, which came on the same day that convicted felon Trump rolled out a bizarre attack on Pres. Joe Biden that found the former reality TV star climbing into a Trump-branded garbage truck and riding around in circles on an airport tarmac while wearing the vest. The stunt appeared to be the Trump campaign’s attempt to capitalize on a gaffe by Pres. Biden, who caused a stir on Tuesday night when he seemed to compare Trump’s supporters to garbage while commenting on a racist joke made at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally earlier this week in which the comedian compared Puerto Rico to a “floating island of garbage.”
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The White House quickly tried to do damage control by clarifying that Biden was referring to the sexist, racist attacks launched by a series of speakers at Trump’s MSG rally on Sunday, not Trump’s supporters; the event also included an off-color joke by the same comedian that Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce could be the “next O.J. Simpson,” a remark that disgusted Swifties. “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters,” Biden said in a video of his controversial remarks. “His, his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American. It’s totally contrary to everything we’ve done, everything we’ve been.”
The offensive comments at the Trump rally quickly resulted in a number of Puerto Rican born superstars endorsing Harris, including Bad Bunny, Ricky Martin and Jennifer Lopez — whose parents were born on the island nation — as well as reggaetón legend Don Omar, who endorsed Harris on Tuesday. In addition, Nicky Jam rescinded his previous Trump endorsement on Wednesday and lined up behind Harris.
The Beyoncé mention at the rally where Trump once again vowed to the the “protector of women” — even, as he added, “whether the women like it or not” — was coupled with Trump bragging that “we don’t need Beyoncé.” Though the Harris campaign never said that the R&B legend would sing at the Houston event, Trump told the Green Bay crowd, “They said, ladies and gentlemen, they said Beyoncé’s coming to sing and she came but she didn’t sing. And then Kamala came on as Beyoncé was leaving without singing even one song and they booed the hell out of both of them”; there is no evidence supporting his claim that the 30,000-plus Harris supporters booed Beyoncé’s appearance.
“I’m not here as a celebrity,” Bey told the Houstonaudience in her introduction of Harris. “I’m not here as a politician. I’m here as a mother. A mother who cares, deeply, about the world my children and all of our children live in. A world where we have the freedom to control our bodies. A world where we’re not divided. Our past, our present, our future merge to meet us here.”
Trump frequently denigrates A-listers who either don’t support him or who line up behind his rivals, and he continues to seem peeved at the many music stars who’ve endorsed Harris, an increasingly long roster that includes Bruce Springsteen, Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish and Finneas, Barbra Streisand, Cardi B, Charli XCX, Cher, Eminem, Katy Perry, Megan Thee Stallion, Olivia Rodrigo and many more. Early on in Harris’ 11th-hour bid, Beyoncé gave her permission to use the 2016 track “Freedom” as the campaign’s theme song; the singer’s camp then sent a cease-and-desist to the Trump campaign in August after it used the song in a social media video that was later deleted from campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung’s X account.
And, after Taylor Swift endorsed Harris last month following what experts deemed the VP’s decisive win in the single debate Trump agreed to, the 78-year-old former President posted an all-caps response reading, “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT.”
See Trump’s crowd boo Beyoncé below.
