State Champ Radio tour
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Anita Baker has had it. After going on a tweet spree over the past few days decrying the harassment she said she’s been receiving from Babyface’s fans, the “Caught Up in the Rapture” singer announced on Tuesday morning (June 13) that she’s had it.
“After Silently, Enduring Cyber Bulling/Verbal Abuse & Threats of Violence from the Fan Base, of Our Special Guest/Support Act. In the Interest of Personal Safety. I will continue, The Songstress Tour, alone. Appropriate refunds will be made. Blessings,” Baker wrote alongside a new tour poster that doesn’t feature her former opener’s name on it.
The tour celebrating Baker’s four decades in the music business that kicked off in Florida in February — and is slated to run through a Dec. 23 show at Oakland Arena — had featured opening support sets from singer/songwriter/producer Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds. But after Edmonds was unexpectedly cut from a May 10 show at the Prudential Center in New Jersey due to reported technical issues that pushed that night’s start time by two hours, she said his fans have been relentlessly harassing and trolling her.
“I am truly sorry to my fans who have been waiting for us to hit the stage this evening at the Prudential Center,” Babyface wrote at the time. “I was asked not to perform in order to give Ms. Baker her space and time to perform her show in its entirety. My band an I are extremely saddened we didn’t get to perform for y’all tonight.”
In the series of tweets last weekend that stretched into the weekend and then Monday, Baker made it crystal clear that Edmonds was always the opening act and that she is fed up with the alleged taunting from his fans. Dubbing his followers “Kenny’s Crazies,” on Monday Baker made a direct plea to Babyface to stop the madness.
“Dearest one. You are Not, privy to *The Contracts*. Yes, Babyface is Special Guest/Support Act, on My Tour,” she tweeted. “This False Narrative, of A Co-headliner is creating Unrealistic Expectations & Aggression, from his fans towards me. He should tell you guys, the Truth.”
At press time it did not appear that Babyface had reacted to Baker’s tweets and a spokesperson for the singer had not returned a request for comment.
Baker’s tour is a celebration of 40 years in music and the anniversary of her debut album, 1983’s The Songstress. The dates also mark the first time the Ohio native is performing her classics live since winning back the right of her masters in 2021 with the help of Chance the Rapper. The next scheduled date on the tour is June 30 at the United Center in Chicago.
See Baker’s tweet below.
#AnitaBaker After Silently, Enduring Cyber Bulling/Verbal Abuse & Threats of Violence from the Fan Base, of Our Special Guest❤️/Support Act. In the Interest of Personal Safety. I will continue, The Songstress Tour, alone. Appropriate refunds will be made.Blessings🎁ABXO🎼 pic.twitter.com/P7OzVdiEPm— Anita Baker (@IAMANITABAKER) June 13, 2023
Anita Baker was excited to tour with the “Legendary” Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds on her The Songstress outing. That’s how she tagged the Grammy-winning singer/songwriter/producer in the tour poster for the 15-date run that began in February.
But after Baby was unexpectedly cut from a May 10 show at the Prudential Center in New Jersey after reported technical issues pushed that night’s start time by two hours — resulting in Edmonds getting yanked from the bill — she said Babyface’s fans have been relentlessly harassing and trolling her.
“I am truly sorry to my fans who have been waiting for us to hit the stage this evening at the Prudential Center,” Babyface wrote at the time. “I was asked not to perform in order to give Ms. Baker her space and time to perform her show in its entirety. My band an I are extremely saddened we didn’t get to perform for y’all tonight.”
The badgering has clearly gotten under Baker’s skin, as evidence by a dayslong tweet spree from the 65-year-old “Sweet Love” singer, who has made two things clear: Babyface was the opening act on her tour and she’s had it with the nonsense. “When A friend, is being attacked, by Your friends?… because, of Mis-information/fake news And, You have an Opportunity, to Say Something/Correct it? … It’s A Nice, thing. … It’s the Right thing to do. Reputation, Peace & Safety Matters,” Baker tweeted on June 9th along with a GIF of cartoon mouse Jerry (of Tom & Jerry fame) shaking a baby bird’s hands.
Things got heated over the weekend when Baker upped the ante, tweeting, “Out of Kindness & Community, you Gift them $200k worth of Production/that YOU Pay for… And, Still, they Complain & hold up, the show Annnd, Slander & *Villanize, Your name to social media blogs & press #Massa&Plantation.”
She doubled-down a bit later on Sunday, adding, “It was 9:30pm. *Contractually?… It was WAAAY Past time 4 the Headline Performer, to be On Stage/Anita Baker Support Act did Not Perform. I have No Contract with Support Act Not my Call I Did what i was *Contracted 2 do & Love, as Headline Performer, of my Sold Out Concert.”
The dust-up appeared to stem from Babyface fans who assumed the singer was co-headlining the tour — Baker’s first in nearly 28 years — and that she had made the decision to scotch his set, though the dates were clearly labelled as a celebration of her four decades in music.
Baker’s gloves really came off on Monday, when she seemed to lose patience with the trolling from the fans she dubbed “Kenny’s Crazies” and asked the singer to step in and call them off. “Dearest one. You are Not, privy to *The Contracts*. Yes, Babyface is Special Guest/Support Act, on My Tour,” she tweeted. “This False Narrative, of A Co-headliner is creating Unrealistic Expectations & Aggression, from his fans towards me. He should tell you guys, the Truth.”
She continued to troll the trollers for wanting to “fight a 65 yr. old Woman,” and then seemed to take the fight to another level, writing, “#And, here is what its All about… P.R. for One Person, whi [sic] needs it. And one person who does not,” before adding, “YES… Cyber Bullies, will not Silence me. I will continue to speak.”
Baker appeared to run out of patience around midday Monday, when she again asked Edmonds to tell his fans to stop while suggesting that someone behind the scenes was ginning Baby’s fans up, writing, “There is A White man, behind these Grown Black Men… harassing Me & Gaslighting, My Fans. Because he Cant take over, this Tour… sO? He wants to Destroy it. Kenny’s Crazy Narcissist call off, your Boys.”
At press time it did not appear that Babyface had reacted to Baker’s tweets and a spokesperson for the singer had not returned a request for comment.
Baker’s tour commemorates 40 years in the music game and the anniversary of her debut album, 1983’s The Songstress. The tour dates also mark the first time the Ohio native is performing her classics live since winning back the right of her masters in 2021 with the help of Chance the Rapper. The next scheduled date on the tour is June 30 at the United Center in Chicago
See Baker’s tweets below.
When A friend, is being attacked, by Your friends?… because, of Mis-information/fake news And, You have an Opportunity, to Say Something/Correct it?… It’s A Nice, thing.… It’s the Right🎁 thing to do.Reputation, Peace & Safety Matters🙏🏾abxo🎼 pic.twitter.com/nzE4Mk9PmQ— Anita Baker (@IAMANITABAKER) June 9, 2023
Out of Kindness & Community, you Gift🎁 them $200k worth of Production/that YOU Pay for… And, Still, they Complain & hold up, the show⏰ Annnd, Slander & *Villanize, Your name to social media blogs & press#Massa&Plantation pic.twitter.com/yO1UXvBKte— Anita Baker (@IAMANITABAKER) June 11, 2023
It was 9:30pm.*Contractually?…It was WAAAY Past time 4 the Headline Performer, to be On Stage/Anita BakerSupport Act ❤️did Not Perform. I have No Contract with Support Act❤️Not my CallI Did what i was *Contracted 2 do & Love, as Headline Performer, of my Sold Out Concert pic.twitter.com/es6PJGNOmz— Anita Baker (@IAMANITABAKER) June 11, 2023
Dearest one. You are Not, privy to *The Contracts*. Yes, Babyface is Special Guest❤️/Support Act, on My Tour. This False Narrative, of A Co-headliner is creating Unrealistic Expectations & Aggression, from his fans towards me. He should tell you guys, the Truth https://t.co/avBuMPO60b pic.twitter.com/oOeSVfg7DZ— Anita Baker (@IAMANITABAKER) June 12, 2023
This is What Haapens, When Grown Men/from @babyface Fan Base Threaten, You/A 65 yr old Woman & You ask him, to help Stop, the harrassment.#AnitaBaker … being Harrased/Threatened, Is *The Real Headline*… But, Massa’s Blogs, won’t print that. https://t.co/NdNEBmqmNi— Anita Baker (@IAMANITABAKER) June 12, 2023
There is A White man, behind these Grown Black Men… harrassing Me & Gaslighting, My Fans. Because he Cant take over, this Tour… sO? He wants to Destroy it.Kenny’s Crazy Narcissist@Babyface call off, your Boys https://t.co/z8M3JH3yUO— Anita Baker (@IAMANITABAKER) June 12, 2023
Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour moved back inside on Friday night (June 9), playing the first of two concerts at Detroit’s Ford Field, which has been hosting Swift’s home in the Motor City since 2011. A crowd of nearly 59,300 — including a significant number of travelers to the show — gave Swift a thunderous welcome […]
On the eve of the kick-off of their summer tour, Slipknot drummer Shawn “Clown” Crahan announced that he will not be joining the band for the time being in order to spend time with his wife as she deals with an undisclosed health issue. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts […]
SoCal punk veterans Social Distortion have postponed their planned 2023 North American summer tour in the midst of singer Mike Ness’ treatment for stage-one tonsil cancer. The “I Was Wrong” band announced the news on Wednesday (June 7), revealing that the previously announced tour slated to kick off on June 30 is being pushed back […]
Morgan Wallen had some long-awaited, great news for fans on Wednesday (June 7) morning. After cancelling six weeks of shows on doctor’s orders a month ago to go on vocal rest, the “Last Night” singer announced in an Instagram Story “we back.”
The story included a photo of Wallen sitting on the back seat of his fishing boat, arms outstretched, with the message “Also, the doc cleared me to talk and sing… we back.” That was the best-case scenario after Wallen announced on May 9 that he would have to put his tour on ice for more than a month to rest his strained voice, crossing off shows through June 17.
“I’m just gonna go ahead and get straight to it. I got some bad news from my doctors at the Vanderbilt Voice Center yesterday. After taking 10 days of vocal rest I performed three shows last weekend in Florida and by the third one I felt terrible,” the singer said at the time.
“So I went in and go scoped yesterday and they told me that I re-injured my vocal cords and that I have vocal fold trauma,” he added in the intense video. Wallen said his doctor’s advice was that he go on vocal rest for six weeks.
“They told me that if I do this the right way, I’ll get back to 100% and they also said that if I don’t listen and I keep singing, then I’ll permanently damage my voice,” Wallen said of his doctor’s diagnosis of vocal fold trauma after playing three shows in Florida, where he reinjured his vocal cord. “So for the longevity of my career, this is just a choice I had to make. I hate it. But I love you guys, and I appreciate all the support that you always give me.”
Wallen said his plan was to listen to his doctors, who advised him to not to talk at all, but cleared him to make the tour cancellation announcement. In addition to the cancelled shows, Wallen also had to skip out on last month’s Academy of Country Music Awards and push his 2023 festival appearances to 2024.
At press time the next scheduled date on Wallen’s One Night at a Time tour with HARDY, ERNEST and Bailey Zimmerman — according to the singer’s official website — was a June 22 show at Wrigley Field in Chicago. At the time of the cancellations, a Wallen spokesperson said tickets for the original dates will be honored for all rescheduled performances, with a 30-day refund window open at the point of purchase when the new dates are announced.
Wallen made news after canceling a planned show at Oxford, MS’s Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on April 23 after his opening acts performed and just moments before he was to take the stage. “I thought I was going to be good to go and I just wasn’t,” he said in a message to the 60,000 disappointed fans who were sent home that night without seeing him.
It’s been an emotional few weeks for the Foo Fighters as the band has played its first run of shows without longtime drummer Taylor Hawkins. After a year of privately mourning their late timekeeper and emotional heartbeat — who died at age 50 last March while the band was on tour in South America — […]
Queens of the Stone Age announced the dates for their upcoming summer/fall 2023 North American tour, which the band has dubbed The End is Nero. The 28-date outing is slated to launch of August 3 at the Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill in Sterling Heights, MI and includes stops in Toronto, Pittsburgh, Portland, Atlanta, Nashville, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Denver, Portland and Vancouver before winding down with an Oct. 8 show at Aftershock in Sacramento.
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The East coast portion of the tour will feature support from Phantogram and The Armed, while Viagra Boys and Jehnny Beth will be on board for the Midwest and West coast shows. “The End Is Nero tour is an invitation from Joshua Homme, Troy Van Leeuwen, Michael Shuman, Dean Fertita and Jon Theodore to come celebrate the end of the world, which we hear is ‘in a month or two,’” read a statement from the band announcing the shows. “They would like to encourage the obscene and the clean, the outcasts and the weirdos, and anyone and everyone in between to attend, this is where you belong. Leave your judgment at the door, bring anything and everything else.”
The tour is in support of the group’s upcoming eighth full-length studio album, In Times New Roman…, the follow-up to 2017’s Villains. The album drops on Matador Records on June 16 and according to a release, on the eve of release QOTSA have invited fans to attend their MIDNIGHT CLUB parties at record shops and pubs in 23 countries. The parties start at 11 p.m. on June 15 and will feature giveaways, exclusive merch including limited-edition colored vinyl and in a few select locations signed merch and ticket giveaways; click here for locations of CLUB events.
Citi pre-sales began Tuesday morning (June 6) and run until 10 a.m. local time on Thursday (June 8), with the public on-sale kicking off on Friday (June 9) at 10 a.m. local time.
Check out The End is Nero dates below:
August 3 – Sterling Heights, MI @ Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill*
August 4 – Toronto, ON @ Budweiser Stage*
August 5 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE Outdoors*
August 7 – Bridgeport, CT @ Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater*
August 8 – Philadelphia, PA @ TD Pavilion at the Mann*
August 9 – Washington, DC @ The Anthem*
August 11 – Portland, ME @ Cross Insurance Arena*
August 12 – Queens, NY @ Forest Hills Stadium*
August 15 – Raleigh, NC @ Red Hat Amphitheater*
August 16 – Asheville, NC @ Rabbit Rabbit*
August 18 – Atlanta, GA @ Fox Theatre *
August 19 – Nashville, TN @ Ascend Amphitheater*
Sept. 16 – Chicago, IL @ Riot Fest
Sept. 17 – Minneapolis, MN @ The Armory**
Sept. 19 – Omaha, NE @ Steelhouse**
Sept. 20 – Kansas City, MO @ Starlight Theatre**
Sept. 22 – Indianapolis, IN @ TCU Amphitheater at White River State Park**
Sept. 23 – St. Louis, MO @ Saint Louis Music Park**
Sept. 24 – Louisville, KY @ Louder Than Life
Sept. 26 – Rogers, AR @ Walmart AMP**
Sept. 27 – Oklahoma City, OK – The Criterion**
Sept. 29 – Denver, CO @ Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre**
Sept. 30 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Great Saltair**
Oct. 2 – Portland, OR @ Veterans Memorial Coliseum**
Oct. 3 – Vancouver, BC @ Pacific Coliseum**
Oct. 4 – Seattle, WA @ Climate Pledge Arena**
Oct. 6 – San Francisco, CA @ Bill Graham Civic Auditorium**
Oct. 8 – Sacramento, CA @ Aftershock
*Phantogram and The Armed support
**Viagra Boys and Jehnny Beth support
Tool are hitting the road this fall. The prog rockers announced the dates for a North American tour on Tuesday morning (June 6), including their first Canadian shows since 2019. The fall outing will compliment the band’s previously announced summer festival gigs with six weeks of new non-fest shows slated to kick off on Oct. 3 in Loveland, CO at the Budweiser Event Center.
The two-month fall outing will include gigs in Salt Lake City, Spokane, Portland, Vancouver, Calgary, St. Paul, Milwaukee, Boston, Philadelphia and Montreal before wrapping up with a pair of shows on Nov. 20-21 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.
Tickets for all the non-festival shows will go on sale on Friday (June 9) at 10 a.m. local time, with additional Tool Army memberships recently opened up; exclusive pre-sale tickets for members will go on sale at 10 a.m. local time on Thursday (June 8). The band — who are touring in support of what was their first full-length release in 13 years, 2019’s album Fear Inoculum — will kick off the run on Sept. 22 with a slot at the Louder Than Life Festival in Louisville, KY and also play the Aftershock Festival on Oct. 6 in Sacramento, CA and the hard rock desert superfest Power Trip on Oct. 8 in Indio, CA.
Singer Maynard James Keenan made news last month when he wore what appeared to be drag during a set at Daytona Beach’s Welcome to Rockville Festival, that seemed at first to be a reaction to the series of controversial bills signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis recently that ban minors from attending drag shows. But the vocalist who often wears women’s clothes and bizarre costumes on stage later said the choice was personal, not political.
“I’ve been cross-dressing since long before these clickbait-junkie dupes were out of diapers,” he told The Messenger. “And that’s really all there is to it. I’m not a political fella — had nothing to do with Florida.”
Check out the dates for Tool’s 2023 fall tour below.
Sept. 22 — Louisville, KY @ Louder Than Life Festival
Oct. 3 Loveland, CO @ Budweiser Event Center
Oct. 6 — Sacramento, CA @ Aftershock Festival
Oct. 8 — Indio, CA @ Power Trip
Oct. 10 — Salt Lake City, UT @ Delta Center
Oct. 12 — Idaho Falls, ID @ Mountain America Center
Oct. 14 — Nampa, ID @ Ford Idaho Center
Oct. 15 — Spokane, WA @ Spokane Arena
Oct. 17 — Eugene, OR @ Matthew Knight Center
Oct. 19 — Portland, OR @ Moda Center
Oct. 20 — Tacoma, WA @ Tacoma Dome
Oct. 22 — Kelowna, BC @ Prospera Place Arena
Oct. 23 — Vancouver, BC @ Rogers Arena
Oct. 25 Edmonton, AB Rogers Place
Oct. 27 — Calgary, AB @ Scotiabank Saddledome
Oct. 29 — Winnipeg, MB @ Canada Life Center
Oct. 31 — St. Paul, MN @ Xcel Energy Center
Nov. 1 — Milwaukee, WI @ Fiserv Forum
Nov. 3 — Knoxville, TN @ Thompson-Boiling Arena
Nov. 4 — Charleston, WV @ Charleston Coliseum
Nov. — 6 Rochester, NY @ Blue Cross Arena
Nov. 7 — Allentown, PA @ PPL Center
Nov. 10 — Uncasville, CT @ Mohegan Sun Arena
Nov. 13 — Manchester, NH @ SNHU Arena
Nov. 15 — Boston, MA @ TD Garden
Nov. 16 — Philadelphia, PA @ Wells Fargo Center
Nov. 19 — Montreal, QC @ Bell Center
Nov. 20 – Toronto, ON @ Scotiabank Arena
Nov. 21 — Toronto, ON @ Scotiabank Arena
Lewis Capaldi apologized to fans in a lengthy Instagram post on Monday (June 5) in which he revealed that he’s taking the next two weeks off to spend time at home with his family in the lead-up to the Glastonbury Festival later this month. Capaldi, 26, regretted to inform them that he was canceling upcoming planned shows in Glasgow, Dublin, London and Norway in the coming weeks to “rest and recover.”
“This is a really difficult message and one that hurts me a lot to have to type. But I’m really sorry to say that I’m going to have to cancel all commitments from now until I play Glastonbury,” he wrote of the festival that takes place from June 21-25 at Worthy Farm, with Capaldi slated to take the stage on the 24th. “It’s been such an incredible time leading into this new album, and seeing all of the support from everyone has been beyond anything I could have ever dreamed of,” he added.
“That said, the last few months have been full on both mentally and physically, I haven’t been home properly since Christmas and at the moment I’m struggling to get to grips with it all. I need to take a moment to rest and recover, to be at my best and ready for Glastonbury and all of the other incredible shows coming up so that I’m able to continue doing what I love for a long time to come.”
Capaldi, who has bee touring in support of his Broken By Desire to Be Heavenly Sent album — which just notched a second week atop the U.K. album charts — said he needs to take some time over the next few weeks to be “Lewis from Glasgow for a bit,” and spend time with his family and friends and “do normal life things that are an important part of me feeling better. I hope everyone understands.”
The “Wish You the Best” singer has spoken in the past about the impact of fame on his mental health as well as his struggles with Tourette’s syndrome and panic attacks related to his rapid rise to the top of the charts, which were chronicled in his Netflix documentary Lewis Capaldi: How I’m Feeling Now.
The singer lamented the cost to fans who spent money on tickets, travel and hotels to the scotched shows, “which I appreciate more than ever with how difficult things are economically,” he wrote. “So I’m extremely sorry for the impact this will have,” he added. “The fact that you’re willing to come out and spend your time, money and love on these shows is beyond comprehension and I feel incredibly lucky.”
Lewis concluded by assuring fans that he’s getting “all the help and support” he needs from his team at this time. “I take none of this for granted and can’t wait to be back doing it again.”
See Capaldi’s note below.
