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Playboi Carti, A$AP Rocky & Travis Scott to Headline Rolling Loud Miami 2023

Though Rolling Loud won’t touch down in New York this year, the festival will return to its home turf of Miami in July with a mega lineup starring A$AP Rocky, Travis Scott and Playboi Carti.

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Slated for July 21-23 at the Hard Rock Cafe, Rolling Loud Miami will return to the city for its eighth year, which previously housed household acts including Future, Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole and more. This year, the renowned festival tags in Lil Uzi Vert, Lil Yachty, 21 Savage, Kodak Black, City Girls, Offset and Don Toliver. Many prominent rookies will also grace the stage, including Ice Spice, Coi Leray, Central Cee and GloRilla. Rolling Loud also is also bringing in new faces, enlisting Bryson Tiller, Foushee, Turnstile and Billboard Hot 100 entrant Pink Panthress.

Tickets and passes go on sale Friday (April 14) on Rolling Loud’s website.

In March, Rolling Loud headed to California, where Travis Scott, Future and Playboi Carti served as headliners. Lil Wayne was a special guest and delivered a laundry list of hits including “Uproar” and “Lollipop.” Rolling Loud will take their talents internationally as they embark on a Thailand festival this weekend. The headliners include Cardi B, Travis Scott and Chris Brown, with additional performances by Rick Ross, Fat Joe and more.

Rolling Loud canceled its New York festival due to “logistical factors” in mid March. “For the last few years, we’ve made some legendary moments happen in Queens,” the statement read. “Sadly, due to logistical factors beyond our control, Rolling Loud will not return to New York in 2023. But don’t worry, this isn’t ‘goodbye,’ more like ‘see you later.’ We’ll be back in New York when the time is right. In the meantime, we invite all of our New York fans to meet us in Miami July 21-23 for our biggest, best festival of the year. Love you all! Rolling Loud forever!”

See the full lineup below.

Watch Stephen Colbert Blast Kid Rock’s Anti-Bud Light Stance With ‘Shaft Beer’ Parody

Stephen Colbert took aim at Kid Rock‘s transphobic response to trans activist Dylan Mulvaney’s team-up with Anheuser-Bush’s Easy Carry Contest in the cold open to Tuesday night’s (April 11) The Late Show in a parody ad for “Shaft Beer.”

The piece began with a brief bit of news footage of the backlash against the beer giant issuing a personalized, commemorative gift can for influencer Mulvaney. It then cut to the now-infamous video posted by Rock in which he attempted to obliterate 12-packs of Bud Light with a semi-automatic rifle.

“Are you tired of woke beer that blurs gender lines?” a manly voiceover asks amid images of a rainbow Bud Light float at a gay pride event in the Colbert video. “Want to drink the beer that you were assigned at birth? Then reach for Shaft Beer, the only brew that comes in a can shaped like a penis so you know just who it’s for,” it continues as manly men grab a hold of the cans and raise the hyper-masculine brew to their lips.

“Pop one open and put it in your mouth,” the narrator encourages amid an image of two dudes hanging out around a grill with their fingers wrapped tightly around the phallic cans. “Shaft harkens back to a golden time when men knew how to do man stuff, like grab-a–ing in the shower. So tug on a Shaft today.”

And, if that’s too much for your beer gut, the fake promo adds another option: Shaft Light. “It’s the same beer, but in a can the size of Kid Rock’s penis,” it promises of the two-inch mini version.

Though Rock never mentions Mulvaney (or the word “trans”) in his video, the brew-ha-ha appears to have been kicked off earlier this month when transgender TikTok star and social media influencer Mulvaney shared a video of herself participating in Bud Light’s Easy Carry Contest for the end of the NCAA’s March Madness. In the clip, she revealed that the company helped her celebrate her “365th day of womanhood” with “possibly the best gift ever” — a commemorative can of Bud Light with Mulvaney’s face on the side.

Bud Light parent company Anheuser-Busch told Billboard in a statement that the commemorative cans bearing Mulvaney’s face are “not for sale.” That didn’t stop right-wing commentators and country stars including Travis Tritt and John Rich from saying that they would boycott the many products from the world’s leading beer seller, which also include the brands Busch, Stella Artois, Michelob Ultra, Hoegarden and dozens of others.

Colbert also hit on the topic in his monologue, alluding to the raft of “toilet stuff” Republican lawmakers have been laser focused on lately as conservative politicians in Iowa, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Tennessee have passed bills addressing bathroom use for trans people amid other attacks on the rights of trans people.

He also mentioned a recent anti-trans bill in Florida, noting that Republican lawmaker Webster Barnaby referred to living in a society with trans people as akin to watching an X-Men movie earlier this week. “It’s like we have mutants living among us on planet Earth,” Barnaby said in a hearing. “We have people that live among us today on Planet Earth that are happy to display to display themselves as if they were mutants from another planet. This is the planet Earth!”

Colbert noted that the X-Men are from planet Earth. “Second, if you are against trans people, why would you compare them to incredibly cool superheroes with laser eyes, indestructible skeletons or who control the weather with sexiness?” he wondered. “Most importantly, the entire message of all these movies is that society should accept everyone, no matter their differences.”

Colbert also said that late Marvel genius Stan Lee said that he created the X-Men characters as a metaphor for civil rights, and that the franchise is explicitly a “gay-rights parable.” The host, who played a clueless conservative blowhard for a decade on The Colbert Report, then reported that “right-wing nutjobs” are not just focused on bathrooms, but also on beer.

He ran a headline showing some conservatives calling for a boycott of Bud Light over its celebration of Mulvaney, then doubled down on Rock’s video. “The charge was led by conservative thought leader Kid Rock,” he said before playing the video again and adding that Texas congressman Dan Crenshaw also tried to “get in on the dumb” with his own viral video attempt.

In Crenshaw’s case, though, the video didn’t mean what he thought it meant. The former Navy SEAL tried to prove his anti-Bud bona fides by saying that he was going to throw out every Bud Light in the house. After fumbling around and failing to find a Bud in his mini fridge, though, Crenshaw mumbled, “Well, I guess that was easy.” Colbert then cited some internet sleuths who saw some Karbach beers front and center in the shot — like Bud and Bud Light, Karbach is made by Anheuser-Busch.

Check out the Late Show videos below.

NPR Quits Twitter Over ‘Government-Funded’ Label

National Public Radio is quitting Twitter after the social media platform owned by Elon Musk stamped NPR’s main account with labels the news organization says are meant to undermine its credibility.

“NPR’s organizational accounts will no longer be active on Twitter because the platform is taking actions that undermine our credibility by falsely implying that we are not editorially independent,” NPR said in a statement Wednesday.

Last week, Twitter labeled NPR’s main account as “state-affiliated media” on the social media site, a label also used to identify media outlets that are controlled or heavily influenced by authoritarian governments. Twitter later changed the label to “government-funded media” and gave it to at least one other public news organization, the BBC.

“We are not putting our journalism on platforms that have demonstrated an interest in undermining our credibility and the public’s understanding of our editorial independence,” NPR’s statement said.

The Public Broadcasting Service said Wednesday it has also stopped tweeting from its main account because of its new label and has no plans to resume. PBS said: “We are continuing to monitor the ever-changing situation closely.”

NPR’s main account had not tweeted since April 4. On Wednesday, it sent a series of tweets listing other places to find its journalism.

The company said NPR journalists, employees and member stations can decide on their own if they want to keep using the platform.

NPR’s chief communications officer, Isabel Lara, said in an email that “NPR journalists and employees will decide on their own if they wish to remain on the platform, same for NPR member stations as they’re independently owned and operated.”

NPR does receive U.S. government funding through grants from federal agencies and departments, along with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The company said it accounts for less than 1% of NPR’s annual operating budget.

Twitter’s new labels have often appeared arbitrarily assigned. It tagged NPR with the “state-affiliated” label after Musk participated in a public conversation about NPR on Twitter, and then deleted mention of NPR, but left up BBC, on a web page where it described why they should not get that label.

Since then, it has given NPR, BBC and some other groups a “government-funded” label but hasn’t done the same for many other public media outlets, such as their counterparts in Canada and Australia.

In an interview Tuesday with a BBC technology reporter at Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters, Musk acknowledged that the British news organization “is not thrilled” about the state-affiliated labels and asked the reporter for feedback.

“Our goal was simply to be as truthful and accurate as possible,” Musk said. “So I think we’re adjusting the label to be ‘publicly funded,’ which I think is perhaps not too objectionable. We’re trying to be accurate.”

Machine Gun Kelly Is Bringing His Cleveland Mainstream Sellout Concert to Theaters

Missed out on seeing Machine Gun Kelly on tour? Fans now have the next best thing, as the rock star’s Cleveland stop of his Mainstream Sellout Tour will be coming to theaters next month.

Machine Gun Kelly: Mainstream Sellout Live from Cleveland: The Pink Era will follow Kelly as he performs a sold out concert at the FirstEnergy Stadium on Aug. 13, 2022. Directed by Sam Cahill, who helmed Kelly’s Hulu documentary Life in Pink, the film will see the star performing tracks such as “Bloody Valentine,” “Lonely,” “El Diablo,” “My Ex’s Best Friend,” “Till I Die,” “I Think I’m Okay,” and more. The film will also feature behind the scenes moments and likely a few cameos from the celebrities who joined Machine Gun Kelly onstage during the show (Avril Lavigne, Travis Barker, Willow, Trippie Redd).

“Machine Gun Kelly’s remarkable journey from Cleveland to meteoric superstardom and back to where it all began gives us an unfiltered look at the emotion and rawness of coming home,” Kymberli Frueh, svp of programming and content acquisitions for Trafalgar Releasing, said in a statement. “We are so lucky that this moment was captured so it can be shared with fans across the globe.”

Machine Gun Kelly: Mainstream Sellout Live From Cleveland: The Pink Era will be in theaters for one night only on May 13. Theater locations and tickets are available at MainstreamSelloutMovie.com.

Watch the trailer above.

Stephen A. Smith Capes For Donald Trump, Says He Wouldn’t Vote For Him

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The Semafor Media Summit

Stephen A. Smith is one of the most notable sports pundits in modern times but he largely isn’t thought of as someone who offers opinions on politicians. However, the veteran ESPN host made a statement that he doesn’t think Donald Trump is racist but says he’d stop short of voting for him should he become a presidential candidate again.

Stephen A. Smith recently appeared at the Semafor Media Summit on Monday (April 10) and spoke about a variety of topics during the chat. Smith shared that he and Trump used to have a friendship that involved the pair talking about sports before the business mogul’s presidency. However, Smith says that while he no longer speaks with Trump, he doesn’t believe his old associate has racist tendencies.

“I think he’s changed, but I will tell you this: I think when people call him racist and stuff like that, I’ve never thought of Trump that way. He’s not against black people, he’s against all things not named Trump,” Smith said.

Smith went on to add that while he shares conservative political views and isn’t above voting for a Republican Party candidate, he would withhold his vote from Trump.

Check out a portion of Stephen A. Smith speaking at the Semafor Media Summit below.

Photo: Michael Loccisano / Getty

SBS Entertainment & OVG Announce Partnership to Bring Latin-Focused Live Events to New Markets

SBS Entertainment, the live event arm of Spanish Broadcasting Systems, and global venue development company Oak View Group (OVG) have inked a multi-year strategic agreement, the companies tell Billboard.

The deal, which has been in the works for two years, is described as an effort to “reimagine the live industry landscape” and an opportunity to reach new markets with Latin-focused music events.

Founded in 2015, OVG has grown to work with more than 400 venues worldwide. The deal with SBS marks the first time they’ve teamed up with a Latin company that focuses on producing and promoting large-scale live events. For 16 years now, SBS has produced L.A.’s Calibash, the best-known urban Latin festival in the U.S. that has boasted J Balvin, Daddy Yankee and Karol G as headliners over the past few years. It also produces the New York-based Mega Bash concert (presented by SBS radio station La Mega 97.9), which in December will take place for the first time at UBS Arena — marking the first event announced under the partnership.

Conversations about a possible partnership began when New York’s OVG-developed UBS Arena, which opened in November 2021, was still under construction. It was then that Mark Shulman, the facility’s senior vp of programming, invited the SBS Entertainment team to tour the grounds.

“When you look where [UBS] is located and [the] diversity nearby, Latin music should be a core of what this building is built on,” says Shulman. “I reached out to SBS, being such a leader in live events, and brought out their entire team so they could experience it from its early days. That began the explorations of what the possibilities might be. What started as a New York discussion quickly turned into a national discussion.”

But it wasn’t until last year that the national deal was sealed, and it happened when Francesca Bodie, president of business development at OVG, and Alessandra Alarcón, president of SBS Entertainment, met at Billboard‘s Women In Music 2022 event (both women were honored that year).

“I knew Mark had a relationship with SBS, but Alessandra and I just sat together at the event and said, ‘Wouldn’t it be great to work together?’ The fact that our venue in Palm Springs will do over 20 Latin shows this year, we thought, ‘This is not just a New York thing, this is going to be a nationwide opportunity,’” says Bodie. “We could’ve easily done a one-year commitment but doing a multi-year deal instead was a no-brainer. They have the team that can execute these marquee events and we have state-of-the-art arenas in the U.S and in the world. It was just a natural fit.”

“In our continuous dialogue with OVG about where to take the shows next, we suspect we’re going to be bringing our marquee shows to other markets,” says Christopher Martinez, director of business affairs at SBS. “We are focusing a lot on growing our heritage brands. There’s also a focus on regional Mexican and we’re planning on bringing one-off shows to Austin and also to Palm Springs. We’re definitely looking at expanding and not just focusing on reggaeton.”

The deal between SBS Entertainment and OVG comes at a time when Latin music continues to see global growth across multiple metrics, particularly in touring. The top 25 Latin tours of 2022 grossed $990.8 million and sold 8 million tickets (based on Billboard‘s Boxscore reporting period of Nov. 1, 2021-Oct. 31, 2022). Moreover, in 2022, Latin music outpaced growth in the overall industry with a 24% increase, totaling $1.1 billion in revenue, according to the newly-released RIAA U.S. Latin revenue report, which also highlights an all-time high in terms of market share for the genre at 6.9%.

“Companies like OVG are prioritizing the Latin space and now see the value of partnering with media companies like us because we are the general market now,” says Martinez. “We’re seeing people responding to what the new normal is [with] respect to Latin music.”

Adds Bodie, “As we look at the way we want to continue to anchor and prioritize [Latin], it is critically important that we have alignment with SBS.”

With OVG venues under development in the United Kingdom and Brazil, Bodie hopes to keep expanding their deal with SBS by developing Latin-focused content and activations in those markets. “We’ll definitely talk about what those opportunities will look like in the future.”

John Mayer Concedes His Song Rumored to Be About Taylor Swift May Be ‘a Little B-tchy’

John Mayer is speaking out about one of his much talked-about songs. At a recent concert, the 45-year-old singer-guitarist conceded that his 2013 track “Paper Doll” — widely believed to have been written about Taylor Swift — may have come from a slightly angry place.

“I wonder if people don’t like it because it sounds a little pissed off,” he told his crowd at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, Calif., while nonchalantly strumming on his guitar during the stop on his Solo acoustic tour. “I don’t really like ‘pissed off’ as a song. I think it was more [about] hurt.”

“Is there something about it that’s a little b-tchy?” he continued. “There might be. I try not to give b-tchiness in the songs, it happens sometimes. I guess I don’t do it very well — sarcastic b-tch — but I didn’t really see it. I guess it is sort of a little bit like, ‘Meehhh.’”

Since its release, the public has generally believed that “Paper Doll” was written about the pop superstar. Swift and the “Your Body is Wonderland” singer dated briefly in 2009 when she was 19 years old, and afterward seemed to sing about the breakup in her Speak Now ballad “Dear John.”

“I’ll look back and regret how I ignored when they said ‘run as fast as you can,’” Swift sings on the track, which Mayer later called “cheap songwriting” in an interview.

So, when Mayer sang about someone who was “22 girls in one, and none of them know what they’re runnin’ from” on “Paper Doll,” fans thought he was shading Swift. And now that she and Joe Alwyn have reportedly split after six years, some Swifties think the timing of Mayer’s performance of the song might have been a little pointed.

“You know who the real enemy here is? John Mayer….Guy literally played Paper Doll on the day of the breakup rumours,” tweeted one Swiftie, while another wrote that his song choice was “filling me with rage.”

The “New Light” singer did, however, say in a 2019 Instagram Live that “Paper Doll” actually wasn’t about the person that “100% of people” believed to be the song’s inspiration. “The person they thought it was about brought a certain amount of superficial pop culture back-and-forth about it. But the song was not about that person, and I could never tell anybody that’s not true because then I would be breaking my rule that songwriters don’t say who their songs are about or not about.”

This isn’t the first time Mayer has turned heads by performing a song linked to Swift on his ongoing acoustic tour. In March, he performed “Half of My Heart,” a duet originally recorded with the 33-year-old singer-songwriter, for the first time in years that fans could recall.

Watch Mayer discuss “Paper Doll” in a fan-captured video below:

Dylan Mulvaney Calls Out ‘Bullying’ Online Following Bud Light Backlash: ‘I’m an Easy Target’

With musicians such as Kid Rock, Ted Nugent and Travis Tritt all calling for a boycott of Bud Light and Anheuser-Busch products following their partnership with transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney, the “365 Days of Girlhood” star is ready to share her side of things.

Mulvaney was a guest for the latest episode of Onward With Rosie O’Donnell on Tuesday (April 11), where she appeared to respond to the ongoing backlash against her work with brands including Bud Light and Nike. “I have tried to be the most uncontroversial person this past year, and somehow, it has made me controversial still,” she told O’Donnell. “I think it comes back to the fact that these people don’t understand me, and anything that I do or say then somehow gets taken out of context and used against me. And it’s so sad, because everything I try to put out there is positive.”

While Mulvaney didn’t directly address the Bud Light boycott or Nugent and Tritt during the interview, O’Donnell did in her introduction, specifically calling out Kid Rock’s video in which he shot an assault rifle at three cases of Bud Light.

“Kid Rock had to take an assault weapon and shoot the boxes of beer, proving what? Beer companies have been supportive of the LGBTQIA community for decades!” O’Donnell declared, dumbfounded. “This is not the first time! Who do you think sponsors Pride? C’mon. Gay people, trans people, we drink beer, too, man! Put down your gun, Kid Rock, it’s in bad taste — especially after what happened at the school in Nashville.”

Mulvaney did speak about watching Drew Barrymore receive exceptional amounts of online hate for embracing her on her talk show, and how that moment was indicative of the larger issue at hand. “It’s bullying in the fact that they want anyone who associates themselves with trans people to be under fire,” she said. “They want to essentially shame people into thinking that if you associate with someone like me, you are to be laughed at, and you are now the crazy one. Because you’re ‘giving in’ to someone’s identity, or just acknowledging their existence.”

As for why right-wing trolls seem to specifically target her, Mulvaney shared her own theory. “I’m an easy target is because I’m still new to this,” she said. “Going after a trans woman that’s been doing this for, like, 20 years is a lot more difficult. So I think maybe they think there’s some sort of chance with me … but what is their goal?”

The star went on to say that since beginning her public transition over a year ago, she has watched as transphobia has “gotten so bad for the community,” especially in relation to legislators around the country passing a record number of anti-trans bills. “I’m just like, ‘We just have to stay alive,’” Mulvaney said. “This is the time, I think, for not only just everyday straight people, but we need every letter of the alphabet to show up for us, because I think it’s all hands on deck.”

The interview comes shortly after Mulvaney shared a video across her social media platforms as a response to the ongoing backlash. The clip, from Mulvaney’s Day 365 Live cabaret show at New York’s Rainbow Room in March, sees the star singing “No One Is Alone” from Stephen Sondheim’s 1987 musical Into the Woods. “It’s hard to see the light now, just don’t let it go,” the TikTok star wrote in the caption, quoting the track. “This song felt fitting for the week I’ve been having. All is well! Cheers.”

Listen to Mulvaney’s interview with O’Donnell below:

Convicted Fraudster Billy McFarland Promises To Bring Back Frye Festival

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Magnises and Emir Bahadir Host THE WHITE PARTY

Billy McFarland, the convicted fraudster behind the disastrous unraveling of the Fyre Festival, made an announcement this past weekend that should raise eyebrows. McFarland is promising to bring back the festival and used social media to share the news.

Billy McFarland sent out a tweet on Easter Sunday (April 9) simply stating that the festival will make its return but few other details were shared.

“Fyre Festival II is finally happening. Tell me why you should be invited,” McFarland tweeted.

When one user asked why McFarland wasn’t still jailed for stiffing investors, McFarland fired back saying, “It’s in the best interest of those I owe for me to be working. people aren’t getting paid back if i sit on the couch and watch tv. and because i served my time.”

McFarland leaned into the snark and attacks on his character, showing an unflinching focus on truly getting Frye Festival back on its feet. As some might recall, the original event went afoul with patrons promised certain amenities that didn’t add up to what they actually received. Further, the event dragged the names of others, chiefly, rapper Ja Rule.

It isn’t known how Billy McFarland intends to fund the next Fyre Festival or if he’s found some new investors. Stay tuned.

Photo: Patrick McMullan / Getty

Kenny Rogers’ Posthumous Album ‘Life Is Like a Song’ Is Coming Soon

The late Kenny Rogers‘ first posthumous album, Life Is Like a Song, is set to release June 2 via UMe.

Rogers, who notched a successful career in pop music with the band First Edition in the 1960s and then transitioned into a solo country music career that ultimately earned him membership into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013, died on March 20, 2020, from natural causes at the age of 81.

Life Is Like a Song marks the first non-holiday studio album from Rogers in a decade, and his only non-compilation/non-reissued full-length album to be released on vinyl since 1991. The project will include songs that were deeply personal to the late singer-songwriter, and will be available digitally as well as on CD and vinyl.

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Curated and executive produced by Rogers’ widow, Wanda Rogers, the album includes eight never-before-heard recordings, spanning from 2008 to 2011. A digital deluxe version of the project will include two bonus tracks: a cover of the classic “At Last,” and the Buddy Hyatt-penned original “Say Hello to Heaven.”

“I think the record is fabulous, and it is going to make Kenny so proud,” said Wanda Rogers via a statement. “These songs are such a beautiful reminder of his love ‘for the feelings a song can make’ for a person. He would often say that he wanted his songs to be ‘what every man wants to say, and every woman wants to hear.’ I think there are a lot of those moments on this album. This is a very special record to me and our family because it really tells the story of our life together, and I feel his fans will also relate to it in a big way because it walks the listener through the seasons of life that we all experience in one way or another. There is joy, there is love, there is family, there is uncertainty, there is pain, there is faith … it’s emotional and real. This is the kind of music Kenny loved to make.”

Two songs from the album are available now for streaming: “Love Is a Drug,” co-written by Rogers’ longtime musical partner and former New Christy Minstrels bandmate Kim Carnes, as well as Rogers’ rendition of The Temptations’ hit “I Wish It Would Rain.”

The album also features a collaboration between Rogers and his longtime friend and collaborator Dolly Parton, who together notched the enduring hit “Islands in the Stream.” In the mid-aughts, they teamed up again for “Tell Me That You Love Me,” produced by Tony Brown. The song originally appeared on a 2009 compilation.

The album also includes Rogers’ rendition of the Lionel Richie-penned song “Goodbye,” which also previously appeared on the same 2009 compilation. The album also features Rogers’ rendition of Eric Clapton’s “Wonderful Tonight,” while “Am I Too Late,” originally recorded for Rogers’ 1977 album, Daytime Friends, gets reimagined as a duet with Kim Keyes.

Perhaps the fulcrum of the album is the previously unreleased “Catchin’ Grasshoppers,” a tribute to Rogers’ twin sons with his wife, Justin and Jordan. Written by Laura McCall Torno and Earl Torno, with production work from Rogers and Randy Dorman, the song honors Rogers’ children and the memories he made with them.

See the tracklist for Life Is Like a Song below:

  1. “Love Is a Drug”
  2. “I Wish It Would Rain”
  3. “Am I Too Late” (with Kim Keyes)
  4. “Tell Me That You Love Me” (with Dolly Parton)
  5. “Straight Into Love” (with Jamie O’Neal)
  6. “Wonderful Tonight”
  7. “Catchin’ Grasshoppers”
  8. “That’s Love to Me”
  9. “I Will Wait for You”
  10. “Goodbye”