Rock
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Steely Dan has reportedly dropped out of a few of their tour dates with the Eagles due to illness. According to Indianapolis’ Indy Star, Don Henley told the crowd at Gainbridge Fieldhouse that Steely Dan frontman Donald Fagen had been hospitalized, before thanking fellow rocker Steve Miller for filling in at the last minute. “The show must go on,” Henley […]
The 1975‘s Matty Healy has made responding to outrage over his latest provocations a near-nightly set piece during his band’s current Still… At Their Very Best U.S. tour. And, on Monday night (Oct. 9) in Dallas he was at it again, pulling out some notes to give his most extensive comments yet on the dust-up unleashed in July when he criticized the Malaysian government’s anti-LGBTQ laws and kissed bassist Ross MacDonald during a set at Kuala Lumpur’s Good Vibes Festival.
“I don’t mind hollow shallow accusations of being racist and stuff like that, it kind of allows the show to do what it’s designed to do — expose inconsistencies and hypocrisies,” the singer said after apologizing to the crowd for drawing the “short straw” on a night when he had a lot on his mind.
He then went on to mention the band getting banned in Malaysia after the kiss incident and said that although the fine people of Texas had nothing to do with it, “Unfortunately there’s so many incredibly stupid people on the internet that I’ve just cracked,” he said, noting during the 10-minute rant that “everyone” has been telling him to stop talking about Malaysia. So, of course, he promised to talk about it “at length” during the show at Dickies Arena; the band has been asked to pay damages by the event’s promoter after the festival was cancelled in the wake of the kiss.
“I am pissed off, to be frank,” Healy said, reading notes from his phone. “The 1975 did not waltz in Malaysia unannounced, they were invited to headline a festival by a government who had full knowledge of the band with its well publicized political views and its routine stage show,” he said, adding that the organizers’ familiarity with the band’s outspoken, unpredictable nature was the “basis” of their invitation.
“Me kissing Ross was not a stunt simply meant to provoke the government, it was an ongoing part of the 1975 which has been performed many times prior,” he explained. “Similarly we did not change our set that night to play, you know, pro-freedom of speech or pro-gay songs. To eliminate any routine part of the show in an effort to appease the Malaysian authorities’ bigoted views of LGBTQ people would be a passive endorsement of those politics. As liberals are so fond of saying ‘silence causes violence, use your platform’ so we did that.”
That’s where things got complicated, according to Healy, noting that he believed that Malaysian authorities got angry because “homosexuality is criminalized and punishable by death in their authoritarian theocracy. That is the violent reality obscured by the more friendly term ‘cultural customs.’”
The singer seemed to suggest that the response was pretty much what he’d expect from such a regime, but that the “liberal outrage” against his band for “remaining consistent” with their pro-LBGTQ stage show was the most puzzling part of the reaction. “Lots of people, liberal people, contended that the performance was ‘an insensitive display of hostility against the cultural customs of the Malaysian government, and that the kiss was a performative gesture of allyship,’” he said.
“To start the idea of calling out a performer for being performative is mind-numbingly redundant as an exercise. Performing is a performer’s job,” he continued. “The stage is a place for artists’ expressions which are inherently dramatized. That’s why people go to f–king shows.” He then went on to say that other liberal voices argued that the kiss itself was a “form of colonialism,” and that the 1975 were following the tradition of “evil white men past” by forcing their Western beliefs on the Eastern world before going into a digression about the 17th century behemoth East India Trading Company.
“To call The 1975’s performance colonialism is a complete inversion of the word’s meaning,” he said. “Colonialism is the practice of forcible occupation and economic exploitation. Once again, the 1975 was INVITED into the country to headline Malaysia’s music festival in an effort to capitalize on our popularity so they could make money.”
Saying they were powerless against a government he claimed briefly imprisoned them over the incident, Healy also struck out other unnamed artists who he said took to Twitter to criticize his band in a “bizarre mangling of colonial identity politics merely served as an expedient way to express their own disappointment with the festival’s cancellation because it would be in poor taste, surely, to lament a loss of performance.”
The speech, which also included an aside about the United Arab Emirates’ “human rights abuses against the enslaved workers who built their soccer facilities — as well as a swing at the conservative Supreme Court’s Ruling curtailing women’s reproductive freedom in America — ended with Healy lashing out at the “contradiction at the heard of liberals’ outrage over our supposed cultural insensitivity. Their unconditional belief in inclusivity and tolerance has led them to indirectly support a government which is intolerant of their own existence.”
Check out Healy’s speech below.
On Monday night (Oct. 9), Olivia Rodrigo decided to spill her guts all over The Theater at Ace Hotel. For the spontaneous and intimate concert (held for American Express cardholders), the 1,600 capacity venue in downtown Los Angeles was transformed into Rodrigo’s own world complete with decadent floral arrangements, photo opps at every turn, mini lipsticks disguised as pill capsules (think Spy Kids) her favorite Midori matcha on hand — plus a custom taco truck on standby for a post-show bite.
As fans eagerly took their seats, at promptly 8:15 p.m. an announcer reiterated that all funds from the night’s ticket sales would be donated to Rodrigo’s newly launched nonprofit, Fun 4 Good, which supports women and girls globally. The voice then introduced Dan Nigro – Rodrigo’s co-writer and producer – and the star herself.
“We made this entire album together over the course of a year,” said Rodrigo, taking in the crowd. “We haven’t played these songs for anyone, really.”
“And we get to tell stories that will make Olivia very uncomfortable…” added Nigro with a laugh.
During the hour-long set, the pair did both – not only performing songs off Rodrigo’s acclaimed second album Guts (plus one track from her debut album Sour) and recalling how each one came together, but also answering previously submitted fan questions read from purple notecards.
Rodrigo’s biggest reveals included that she’s most excited to play “All-American Bitch” on tour and that “Love Is Embarrassing” was a last-minute addition to the album, forcing Nigro to complete it in just five days. As for him, he confessed to being “on an island” when it came to choosing a lead single, rooting for “Bad Idea Right?” since it shows Rodrigo’s more sarcastic side.
Given the high-pressure situation of following up a breakout debut like Sour, it makes sense that one word kept popping up in their dialogue: “toil.” Which, considering Rodrigo’s self-noted proclivity for choosing four-letter album titles, could very well be in the running for her third.
Below are the stories behind each song she and Nigro performed.
“Vampire”
[Trigger warning: this article contains descriptions of domestic violence, as well as sexual and physical abuse.]
Evan Rachel Wood has further detailed what she said was the years of physical, sexual and emotional abuse she allegedly suffered at the hands of her ex-fiancé, disgraced shock rocker Marilyn Manson (born Brian Warner).
In a new interview with the Navigating Narcissism podcast, Wood broke down why it took her so many years to face the reality of the violence she says she endured during the relationship, telling host Dr. Ramani Durvasula that before the larger #MeToo movement gained traction in 2017, her nervous system, the stress and the “weight of it all” became so intense that the Westworld star began to have stress seizures.
“When I realized what a physical impact this was having on me and it was making it nearly impossible to just move about my life normally and comfortably and safely… that was such a breaking point for me,” Wood added.
Manson has repeatedly denied all accusations from Wood and several other women who have claimed that the singer engaged in ritual sexual, physical and mental abuse, with many of the lawsuits filed against him so far over the allegations either dropped, dismissed or settled. In addition, in May a Los Angeles judge dismissed much of Manson’s defamation lawsuit against Wood, ruling that many of its claims were barred under a California law aimed at protecting free speech.
Wood first began dating Manson when she was 18 and Manson was 37, describing the intense relationship in the 2022 HBO documentary Phoenix Rising in terms of the older musician immediately “lovebombing” her with notes and texts after their first meeting and describing her as his “soulmate” and himself as her “vampire.” In the film she alleged that Manson tied her up and tortured her ritualistically, lashing her to a “kneeler” bench and hitting her “over and over” with a Nazi whip from the Holocaust before shocking her welts and private areas until she broke the bench in half.
Though she didn’t mention Manson during 2018 testimony to Congress about her abuse, in February 2021 Wood for the first time named her abuser, writing, “I am here to expose this dangerous man” in reference to the performer whose stock-in-trade has been shocking audiences with graphic, disturbing images and lyrics and depicting himself as a debauched agent of chaos. In speaking to Durvasula, the actress said she essentially had to “play dead” and “give him something that was undesirable” in order to make it feel like it was Manson’s idea to let her go as part of her difficult attempt to separate from him.
“There was a moment where I was like, ‘I’m so afraid of this person, I’ve been threatened so many times, either with blackmail or with force and if I stay here because I’m too scared to leave, I feel like I’m dead anyway’,” Wood said. “Staying felt like a death sentence, leaving also felt terrifying because something could happen to me or he could come after me. I felt like either way I feel dead so I may as well try to escape,” she said of her decision to try and disentangle herself from the performer she said often behaved in a “cult leader” fashion.
Describing “reactive abuse” where she said Manson pushed her to the edge of a breakdown — including one time where she claimed the singer told someone in his inner circle that she had slit her wrists “for attention” — Wood said Manson would try to “get ahead” of any allegations against him by putting out a “completely different” story to pre-empt her claims.
She further detailed what she has said was the abusive behavior she suffered while living with Manson during the relationship that lasted until she was 22, including him allegedly isolating her from others for days on end, escalating threats and her “getting in trouble” for such perceived slip-ups as giving guests water in plastic bottles instead of glasses.
“You and him and a mound of cocaine and he would keep you up and stay awake just berating you,” Wood said, “telling you everything that was wrong with the world and the people around you, everything you were doing wrong, all the ways you were failing him and failing yourself, the suspicions he had towards you, he would start wrecking the house. It was this non-stop onslaught of words and monologues, this constant stream of negativity that I felt like I couldn’t escape and couldn’t stop… it’s where the brainwashing and abuse started taking place. He wouldn’t stop until you gave in or started agreeing with everything he was saying or making the phone calls he wanted you to make.”
Wood described the yearslong process of healing from the trauma of the relationship, saying that while she was initially being “groomed” by Manson as they were going public, the reaction she saw was “very shaming and very blaming,” with the attention seemingly focused solely on her and not Warner. “Here’s this like sort of young harlot Lolita-type home wrecking party girl that’s come in and ruined everything,” she said of how she perceived the relationship was being described, rather than a focus on how much older Manson was and whether it was “somewhat inappropriate” for the then-married singer to be pursuing her; Manson was married to burlesque performer Dita Von Teese from 2004-2007.
Elsewhere, Wood said Manson coerced her into splitting with her mother — allegedly taking notes on her conversations with her mom — as a further attempt to isolate her and, as she said is typical with cults, convince her to not believe negative things she read about him. “Cults do the same thing when they’re like, ‘don’t read anything about the cult online’… it’s the same kind of psychology of up is down and down is up.”
She said at one point Manson demanded Wood kick her lifelong best friend out of her house, sending one of his “flying monkeys” (his assistant) with her, and having that person record the interaction so that he could confirm Wood had done what he told her to as part of his desire to control her actions.
At press time a spokesperson for Manson had not responded to Billboard‘s request for comment on Wood’s interview, though a source close to the singer said that “most of the false claims” made by Wood in her interview “have already been disputed within Brian’s ongoing lawsuit against her, and that the “new tales she is spinning” will likely be added to that case as well.
In a previous filing related to Manson’s defamation suit against Wood, he stated that he was in a romantic relationship with the actress until 2010 — after meeting her in 2006 — that they were engaged to be married and during that time they “carried on a loving and consensual relationship. Eventually, like many couples, we broke up. I never abused, assaulted, raped, or threatened Wood or her family as she has since contended”; Manson stated that any accusations of abuse, assault, rape or threats are “unequivocally false.”
Watch Wood on the Navigating Narcissism podcast below.
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Stories about sexual assault allegations can be traumatizing for survivors of sexual assault. If you or anyone you know needs support, you can reach out to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN). The organization provides free, confidential support to sexual assault victims. Call RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Hotline (800.656.HOPE) or visit the anti-sexual violence organization’s website for more information.
U2 have been advocates for peace and justice for nearly a half century. Which his why it was not surprising that during Sunday night’s (Oct. 8) show at the new Sphere in Las Vegas singer Bono took time out to acknowledge the devastating aftermath of a brutal surprise assault by Hamas militants early Saturday morning o Israel that has so far resulted in the deaths of more than 700 Israelis, including 260 killed at the Supernova desert dance festival.
“In the light of what’s happened in Israel and Gaza, a song about non-violence seems somewhat ridiculous, even laughable, but our prayers have always been for peace and for non-violence…” the band wrote on Instagram next to a video of Bono introducing their enduring 1984 tribute to late civil rights icon Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “Pride (In the Name of Love),” which they added to the middle of setlist.
“But our hearts and our anger, you know where that’s pointed. So sing with us… and those beautiful kids at that music festival…,” he added with a hitch in his voice about the 3,500 people who were attending the rave just miles from the Gaza border. In the accompanying clip, Bono updated the song’s lyrics, singing, “Early morning, Oct. 7, as the sun is rising in the desert sky/ Stars of David, they took your life/ But they could not take your pride/ Could not take your pride/ Could not take your pride,” as the band rushed into the song’s uplifting chorus.
The U2 tribute came after the multi-pronged attack from Hamas militants from Gaza, who surprised Israelis during the Sukkot Jewish holiday with an early morning attack from the air, sea and land that prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called an act of war.
To date, in addition to the dead and 2,400 wounded Israelis — as well as an as-yet-undetermined number of kidnapped civilians and members of the military — the fast-moving, escalating conflict has also resulted in more than 560 dead and 2,700 wounded in Gaza.
Like U2, Madonna decried the “devastating” attack in a post, saying that watching “all of these families and especially children herded, assaulted and murdered in the streets is Heartbreaking.” The violence also resulted in Bruno Mars cancelling a planned concert in Tel Aviv on Saturday. On Sunday, President Biden said he had been in touch with Netanyahu to express “my full support for the people of Israel in the face of an unprecedented and appalling assault by Hamas terrorists. We will remain in close contact over the coming days. The U.S. will continue to stand with the people of Israel.”
Watch U2’s tribute below.
Lizzo definitely checked off an item on her bucket list over the weekend. After being a fan of Incubus since she was a teen, the 35-year-old musician got the chance to perform alongside the California rock band during its Friday (Oct. 6) concert at the Hollywood Bowl — after which she shared her excitement on […]
Shania Twain may be an indisputable country queen, but what she really wants to do is rock. The “Giddy Up!” singer lived out her ultimate rock and roll fantasy on Saturday (Oct. 7) when she hopped up on stage with the Foo Fighters at the Austin City Limits Festival to help the band rip through […]
Staind returns with its first studio album in more than a decade, as Confessions of the Fallen debuts at No. 4 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart (dated Oct. 7), securing the group its sixth top 10 on the tally. The new set sold 11,000 copies in the U.S. in the week ending Sept. 28, according to Luminate.
Also in the top 10 of the new Top Album Sales chart, the latest releases from Kylie Minogue, The Rose, Tom MacDonald & Adam Calhoun and Cannibal Corpse all arrive.
Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales. The chart’s history dates back to May 25, 1991, the first week Billboard began tabulating charts with electronically monitored piece count information from SoundScan, now Luminate. Pure album sales were the sole measurement utilized by the Billboard 200 albums chart through the list dated Dec. 6, 2014, after which that chart switched to a methodology that blends album sales with track equivalent album units and streaming equivalent album units. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
The Confessions album was preceded by a pair of hits on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart, “Lowest In Me” and “Here and Now.” The former hit No. 1 in August, spending two weeks in charge, and it marked the band’s fifth No. 1 and first leader since 2011’s “Not Again” ruled for seven weeks.
Of Confessions’ first-week sales, physical sales comprise 7,000 (5,000 on CD and 2,000 on vinyl) and digital downloads comprise a little over 4,000.
Confessions marks the first studio release for the group on BMG, after its six studio albums from 1999 through 2011 were all released through either Elektra or Atlantic.
While Staind hasn’t issued a studio set since Sept. 2011, its frontman, Aaron Lewis, has been busy notching hits on Billboard’s since the spring of 2011. Lewis has scored a total of five solo albums on Top Album Sales, including the chart-topping Sinner in 2016. His most recent solo release, Frayed at Both Ends, debuted and peaked at No. 5 last year.
At No. 1 on Top Album Sales, Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts spends a third straight week atop the list with 23,000 copies sold (down 49%).
Kylie Minogue’s new studio album Tension bows at No. 2 with 19,500 sold – her biggest sales week in nearly 20 years. It’s the third top 10-charting effort for Minogue.
V’s Layover falls 2-3 with 12,000 sold (down 45%). The Rose nabs its first top 10-charting set on Top Album Sales as Dual launches at No. 5 (10,500), Tom MacDonald and Adam Calhoun join forces for their second top 10 set as The Brave 2 launches at No. 6 (10,000) and Cannibal Corpse rocks in at No. 7 with Chaos Horrific (8,500; the band’s third top 10).
Rounding out the top 10 of the new Top Album Sales chart is three former No. 1s: Taylor Swift’s Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) (9-8 with 7,500; down 18%), Swift’s Midnights (11-9 with just over 7,000; down 8%) and NewJeans’ 2nd EP ‘Get Up’ (holding at No. 10 with 7,000; down 16%).
In the week ending Sept. 28, there were 1.559 million albums sold in the U.S. (down 6.6% compared to the previous week). Of that sum, physical albums (CDs, vinyl LPs, cassettes, etc.) comprised 1.232 million (down 7.8%) and digital albums comprised 327,000 (down 2.1%).
There were 537,000 CD albums sold in the week ending Sept. 28 (down 6.5% week-over-week) and 686,000 vinyl albums sold (down 8.8%). Year-to-date CD album sales stand at 25.586 million (up 0.6% compared to the same time frame a year ago) and year-to-date vinyl album sales total 34.099 million (up 19.4%).
Overall year-to-date album sales total 73.825 million (up 6.1% compared to the same year-to-date time frame a year ago). Year-to-date physical album sales stand at 60.080 million (up 10.5%) and digital album sales total 13.745 million (down 9.7%).
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.
Tickets to the Foo Fighters’ 2024 Everything or Nothing at All stadium tour went on sale on Friday (Oct. 6).
Read on for pricing info and more details on how to get affordable tickets online.
When Does the Foo Fighters Tour Start?
The Foo Fighters Everything or Nothing at All tour kicks off July 17, 2024, at Citi Field in New York. The band will perform two nights in New York before traveling to Boston; Hershey, Penn.; and Cincinnati. Other shows include Los Angeles, Portland and Seattle.
How to Get Tickets
Tickets went on sale at 10 a.m. ET and they’re selling fast. According to a post on band’s Instagram account on Friday, passes for shows in Boston, Hershey, Cincinnati and Minneapolis have already sold out.
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A limited number of tickets are still available for the Citi Field shows. If you act fast, you should be able to find a nice selection of tickets priced at around $200 and up. From what we’ve seen, ticket prices currently range from around $200-$400, and as low as $36 for nosebleeds seats. Tickets are available on Ticketmaster as well as Vivid Seats, StubHub and Seat Geek.
Foo Fighters Tickets
If you don’t feel like waiting until next year to catch the Foo Fighters on stage, the band will also be performing at this year’s Austin City Limits Festival, which will be held Oct. 6-7.
The Everything or Nothing At All tour marks a second round of shows for the Foo Fighters since the death of band member Taylor Hawkins in 2022.
After kicking off their first round of shows last year, frontman Dave Grohl penned an emotional message thanking fans for their support. “Now that we’ve returned from our first run of shows, I felt compelled to reach out and thank you all for being there for us,” he wrote at the time. “Every night, when I see you singing, it makes me sing harder. When I see you screaming, it makes me scream louder. When I see your tears, it brings me to tears. And when I see your joy, it brings me joy. But, I see you… and it feels good to see you, churning up these emotions together. Because we’ve always done this together.”
Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band will reboot their postponed 2023 tour in early 2024. After pulling the plug on all their 2023 dates last month to give the 74-year-old rock icon time to recover from peptic ulcer disease, Springsteen announced the rescheduled shows on Friday morning (Oct. 6).
The tour will now recommence on March 19 at the Footprint Center in Phoenix (a make-up for a show originally scheduled for Nov. 30), followed by a March 25 show in San Diego at Pechanga Arena through a Sept. 13 show at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore. All tickets for postponed shows will be valid for the newly announced dates, with fans encouraged to reach out to the ticketing company for each date about refunds.
The new dates for the group’s Canadian shows will be announced next week, all at the original venues. Ticketholders unable to make the new dates have 30 days to request a refund.
Peptic ulcer disease is fairly common, though painful, gastrointestinal condition that can cause severe abdominal pain as a result of an imbalance in the protective lining of the stomach.
“Bruce Springsteen has continued to recover steadily from peptic ulcer disease over the past few weeks and will continue treatment through the rest of the year on doctor’s advice,” read a statement released last week announcing the push of all 2023 dates to 2024.
Check out the rescheduled 2024 dates below.
March 19 — Phoenix, AZ @ Footprint Center (originally Nov. 30, 2023)
March 25 — San Diego, CA @ Pechanga Arena (originally Dec. 2, 2023)
March 28 — San Francisco, CA @ Chase Center (originally Dec. 10, 2023)
March 31 — San Francisco, CA @ Chase Center (originally Dec. 12, 2023)
April 4 — Inglewood, CA @ Kia Forum (originally Dec. 4, 2023)
April 7 — Inglewood, CA @ Kia Forum (originally Dec. 6, 2023)
April 12 — Uncasville, CT @ Mohegan Sun Arena (originally Sept. 16, 2023)
April 15 — Albany, NY @ MVP Arena (originally Sept. 19, 2023)
April 18 — Syracuse, NY @ JMA Wireless Dome (originally Sept. 7, 2023)
April 21 — Columbus, OH @ Nationwide Arena (originally Sept. 21, 2023)
August 15 — Pittsburgh, PA @ PPG Paints Arena (originally Sept. 12, 2023)
August 18 — Pittsburgh, PA @ PPG Paints Arena (originally Sept. 14, 2023)
August 21 — Philadelphia, PA @ Citizens Bank Park (originally August 16, 2023)
August 23 — Philadelphia, PA @ Citizens Bank Park (originally August 18, 2023)
Sept. 7 — Washington, DC @ Nationals Park (originally Sept. 29, 2023)
Sept. 13 — Baltimore, MD @ Oriole Park at Camden Yards (originally Sept. 9. 2023)