tour
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Jack White never does things the typical way. Take, for instance, the idiosyncratic roll-out of his latest solo album, No Name, which initially was secretly released on July 19 as a free, unlabeled vinyl to unsuspecting customers at his Third Man Records stores in Detroit, Nashville and London. Though he did release it commercially on August 1 as a blue-colored vinyl LP exclusively to independent record stores, and then as a digital download on August 2, his plan to promote the sneak-attack album is just as unconventional.
In an Instagram post on Tuesday (August 13), White explained his plan for an equally sneaky tour in support of the LP, which will take him to small clubs, back yard BBQs and a few festivals to pay the bills. In another surprise, the tour has already begun, but you won’t know if he’s coming to your town because shows will be announced with little advance notice.
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“Hello, and love to all the peoples of the world out there. Lotta folk asking about when we are going to announce ‘tour dates,’ well, we don’t know what to tell you but the tour already started at the Legion a couple of weeks ago,” White wrote of a gig he played at the cozy American Legion Post 82 in Nashville to raise money for a new sound system for the venue. “People keep saying that these are ‘Pop up shows’ we’ve been playing, well, you can call them whatever you want, but we are on tour right now. These are the ‘shows.’”
White and his current band also played a 1,000-capacity show at Detroit’s Saint Andrew’s Hall in his native town on August 5 that served as a kind of album release show for No Name.
The proof is in the pudding, including another pop-up in Nashville on Tuesday night at the 575-capacity The Basement East club, where he tore it up, eliciting urgent questions from fans such as, “Can you perform in my basement, the sound will be absolutely s–tty [fire emoji].” The unorthodox outing is in keeping with White’s longtime allergy to following the rules, from the strict red, white and black color scheme for his previous band, the White Stripes, to the shortest concert ever — a single note — by the Stripes in Newfoundland, Canada in 2007 that consisted of a single note and a cymbal crash.
White continued, “We won’t really be announcing dates in advance so much, we will mostly be playing at small clubs, back yard fetes, and a few festivals here and there to help pay for expenses. Shows will be announced as close to the show date as possible, some shows we won’t even decide to do until that morning. I also want to walk through orchard fields and grab apples off of trees at will and fill my belly full of that fruit if the desire strikes me. I’m looking for that cool breeze you know? Lots of love and rock and roll to you all and you are blessed for giving that love to others, we hope that we see you out on the road soon, if not let’s get coffee and a slice of pie sometime? Music is sacred.”
At press time the only official date on White’s tour itinerary is an appearance at the Desert Daze festival in Rancho Las Perris, CA in October.
Check out the poster and footage from Tuesday night’s show below.
Sheryl Crow is apologizing to her fans after not being at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium over the weekend for a previously announced opening slot on Zach Bryan’s The Quittin’ Time Tour. According to a social media post from Crow, it seems that fans who had anticipated seeing the singer/songwriter open those shows potentially were not properly […]
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A celebratory tour from Lauryn Hill and The Fugees scheduled to take place throughout the summer and fall has been canceled, according to Variety. Per the publication, ticket holders received messages from Live Nation on Tuesday (Aug. 6) that reads, “Your event has been canceled. A refund will be on its way to your account soon.” […]
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Zach Bryan had an unexpected visitor during his Thursday (July 25) The Quittin’ Time tour concert in New Orleans’ Caesars Superdome.
During Bryan’s set, one fan rushed the stage while Bryan was performing.
Though notably surprised, Bryan seemed to played it cool, removing his in-ear monitors, and then shaking hands with the fan. As other members of Bryan’s band then stepped between Bryan and the fan, the fan held his hands up in triumph, leading the crowd to cheer and some audiencemembers to raise their hands and hats into the air as well. The bandmembers then nudged the fan back toward the stage exit.
Bryan then walked to the microphone and said, “I got no f–kin’ idea who that was.”
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The “I Remember Everything” hitmaker also said, “Don’t sneak on this stage man,” but quickly added, “That kid is a legend,” before continuing on with his set.
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Bryan’s The Quittin’ Time Tour launched in March with shows at Chicago’s United Center, and will wrap in December with shows at Tulsa, Oklahoma’s BOK Center. Among the artists opening for Bryan throughout the tour on various dates are Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Sheryl Crow, Turnpike Troubadours and Sierra Ferrell.
Bryan isn’t the only artist who had a fan rush the stage last night. Jason Aldean was performing in Savannah, Georgia at the Enmarket Arena on his headlining Highway Desperado Tour, when a fan rushed the stage while Aldean was performing. The fan was quickly carried offstage by security guards, while Aldean remained center stage at his microphone.
Aldean’s Highway Desperado Tour launched in May in Oklahoma, and will run through October. The tour features guests Hailey Whitters and Lauren Alaina in select cities as well as Chase Matthew, Austin Snell, and Dee Jay Silver across all dates.
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Last weekend (July 13-14), reggae and dancehall legend Buju Banton rocked New York’s UBS Arena for two bombastic sold-out shows — his first U.S. performances in 13 years. As it turns out, those two shows were just the beginning of Gargamel’s massive Stateside comeback.
Today (July 15), Billboard can exclusively reveal that the Grammy-winning superstar is mounting a 14-date U.S. arena trek dubbed ‘The Overcomer Tour.’ Three-time Grammy-nominated R&B singer-songwriter Fridayy will serve as the tour’s special guest. Produced by AG Touring, a Black-owned company, in association with Gargamel Music and XO Management, The Overcomer Tour will kick off on Aug. 24 at Amerant Bank Arena in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and visit major U.S. cities such as Houston, Atlanta and Boston, before concluding on Nov. 17 at Barclay Center in Brooklyn, NY.
Fans can purchase tickets at Banton’s official website. Pre-sale begins Wednesday, July 16 at 10 a.m. local time; General onsale starts Friday, July 19 at 10 a.m. local time.
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“In each state of the United States of America, you have different synergy of people, different melting pot of ethnicities coming together. And when the music that they love comes around, they react in one harmonious way, just enjoying themselves,” Banaton tells Billboard via Zoom during a rehearsal break that was later crashed by the legendary Marcia Griffiths. “That’s a remarkable feeling to share among the masses. After not being here for quite some time, I look forward to reigniting that passion and euphoria.”
And it has been quite some time since the star last performed in the States. Just one day after he won the 2011 best reggae album Grammy for his timeless Before the Dawn, Banton’s criminal trial kicked off in Tampa, FL. He was ultimately convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute five or more kilograms of cocaine, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking offense and using communication wires to facilitate a drug-trafficking offense, and sentenced to 10 years in federal prison.
The now 50-year-old spent eight years in Georgia’s McRae Correctional Institution and regained his freedom on Dec. 7, 2018. Since his release, Banton signed with Roc Nation and launched a pair of Grammy-nominated LPs: 2020’s Upside Down 2020 and 2023’s Born for Greatness. He has also appeared on several major film soundtracks — including 2020’s Bad Boys for Life and 2024’s The Book of Clarence — and returned to touring around the world, most notably with 2019’s Long Walk to Freedom concert in Kingston, Jamaica, his first post-release performance.
As he prepares to head back on the road, Banton is letting the music lead the way. “Music knows no time, so we don’t have a clock inside the rehearsal room,” he says. “We just do what the music calls us to, and when we feel like we’ve accomplished something, we call it a day and then resume the next day and reconvene.”
With a career that spans nearly 40 years, Banton has an extensive catalog to pull from. He has sent 12 projects to the top 10 of Reggae Albums, including 1997’s eight-week chart-topper Inna Heights. From “Make My Day” and “Champion” to “Wanna Be Loved,” “Blessed” and “Buried Alive,” Banton has soundtracked nearly four decades of dancehall and reggae, bringing the two genres to myriad global audiences and defining multiple generations along the way. Of course, such a deep discography complicates the task of crafting a tour setlist, and Banton isn’t particularly keen on remaining married to a particular collection of songs.
“My catalog is rather extensive, so to highlight one or two songs would be cheating a lot of people and will also be putting my foot in my mouth,” he jokes. “I don’t want to suffer from that deadly disease — foot and mouth disease. You don’t want to catch it! I try to make the masses a part of what I am doing in whatever way I can. We also try to poll to find out what’s the favorite in each territory. It’s important. In modern times we have so much tools, back in the day we didn’t have all this at our fingertips. I want to do more.”
Of course, with a new tour comes new music, and Banton promises a new album that’s “100% dancehall, hardcore roots reggae, something fi yuh skank on, fi di gyal dem bruk wild!” As Banton tells it, “the music needs help and that’s not a secret,” so, with his new record and tour, he hopes to “reignite the passion of reggae music and let [people] know it hasn’t died.” While he hasn’t decided if he wants to prioritize collaborations on the new album, he looks fondly at “Body Touching Body” and “Party Girls,” his two 2023 Victoria Monét duets. “I tried some R&Reggae with Victoria Monét and it was rather successful,” he reflects. “I like that mix of R&B and reggae.”
“I have been in this business since I was 19 years old making reggae music for the world. It’s been 36 years, going on 37 years,” Banton says. “I just [want to] lift up the name of the true and living creator and say ‘Hi’ and greetings and ‘I love you’ to all the good people who come out to see Buju Banton and have been supporting me throughout my struggles.”
Find the Overcomer Tour dates below.
Aug. 24 — Ft. Lauderdale, FL — Amerant Bank Arena
Aug. 25 — Tampa, FL — Amalie Arena
Aug. 27 — Washington, DC — Capital One Arena
Aug. 30 — Boston, MA — TD Garden
Sept. 1 — Philadelphia, PA — Wells Fargo Center
Sept. 6 — Hartford, CT — XL Center
Sept. 8 — Atlanta, GA — State Farm Arena
Sept. 12 — Houston, TX — Toyota Center
Sept. 13 — Dallas, TX — American Airlines Center
Sept. 15 — Phoenix, AZ — Footprint Center
Sept. 18 — Inglewood, CA — Intuit Dome
Sept. 23 — San Jose, CA — SAP Center
Sept. 29 — Chicago, IL — Allstate Arena
Nov. 17 — Brooklyn, NY — Barclays Center