Touring
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Zac Brown Band kick off their 2023 From the Fire Tour in Columbus, Ohio, on June 30.
The 24-date amphitheater outing, produced by Live Nation, will conclude in November with two dates at Tampa’s Mid-Florida Credit Union Amphitheater. It follows the group’s 2022 Out in the Middle Tour. Openers on the Grammy-winning group’s 10th North American trek will be King Calaway, Marcus King and Tenille Townes.
“This past year was monumental, and we’re thrilled to bring all that momentum with us into 2023 and onto the ‘From the Fire Tour,’” Brown said in a statement. “We are all like family in this band and having the opportunity to bring our music from city to city is something we never take for granted. We can’t wait to be back out on the road with our fans.”
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In addition to the From the Fire tour dates, ZBB will also headline the C2C: Country to Country festival, which takes place in Glasgow, Dublin and London in March. Additionally, the band will play a number of U.S. festivals, including Milwaukee’s Summerfest and Chicago’s Windy City Smokeout. On Major League Baseball’s Lou Gehrig Day, ZBB will perform a Cincinnati Reds post-game benefit concert with a portion of proceeds from every ticket sold going to founding band member John Driskell Hopkins’ Hop On A Cure Foundation, which is dedicated to finding a cure for ALS.
From the Fire Tour tickets go on sale to the general public Dec. 16 via www.zacbrownband.com. A Citi card pre-sale starts Dec. 14, the same days as a fan club presale. A Spotify pre-sale begins Sept. 15. Ticket information is available on the band’s website.
2023 TOUR DATES:
Friday, June 30, 2023 – Columbus, OH – Nationwide Arena+
Saturday, July 1, 2023 – Hershey, PA – Hersheypark Stadium+
Friday, July 14, 2023 – Toronto, ON – Budweiser Stage
Saturday, August 5, 2023 – Canton, OH – Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium#
Sunday, August 6, 2023 – Indianapolis, IN – Ruoff Music Center+
Friday, August 11, 2023 – Syracuse, NY – St Joseph’s Health Amphitheater at Lakeview^+
Saturday, August 12, 2023 – Bethel, NY – Bethel Woods Center for the Arts^+
Sunday, August 13, 2023 – Saratoga Springs, NY – Saratoga Performing Arts Center^+
Saturday, August 19, 2023 – Boston, MA – Fenway Park+
Saturday, September 2, 2023 – Gilford, NH – Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion+
Sunday, September 3, 2023 – Gilford, NH – Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion+
Saturday, September 16, 2023 – Wantagh, NY – Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater+
Sunday, September 17, 2023 – Wantagh, NY – Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater+
Thursday, October 5, 2023 – Raleigh, NC – Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek~+
Friday, October 6, 2023 – Baltimore, MD – Merriweather Post Pavilion#~+
Saturday, October 7, 2023 – Holmdel, NJ – PNC Bank Arts Center~+
Thursday, October 12, 2023 – Denver, CO – Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre#+
Friday, October 13, 2023 – Denver, CO – Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre#+
Saturday, October 14, 2023 – Salt Lake City, UT – USANA Amphitheatre+
Friday, October 20, 2023 – Irvine, CA – FivePoint Amphitheatre+
Saturday, October 21, 2023 – Irvine, CA – FivePoint Amphitheatre+
Thursday, November 2, 2023 – West Palm Beach, FL – iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre+
Friday, November 3, 2023 – Tampa, FL – MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre+
Saturday, November 4, 2023 – Tampa, FL– MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre+
ADDITIONAL 2023 PERFORMANCE DATES:
Friday, March 10, 2023 – Glasgow, UK – C2C: Country to Country*
Saturday, March 11, 2023 – Dublin, IE – C2C: Country to Country*
Sunday, March 12, 2023 – London, UK – C2C: Country to Country*
Sunday, March 17 – Tuesday, March 19, 2023 – Willowbank, Australia – CMC Rocks 2023*
Sunday, June 2, 2023 – Cincinnati, OH – Cincinnati Reds Post-Game Benefit Concert*
Friday, June 23, 2023 – Milwaukee, WI – Summerfest 2023^*
Saturday, June 24, 2023 – Cadott, WI – Country Fest 2023*
Sunday, July 16, 2023 – Chicago, IL – Windy City Smokeout*
Sunday July 23, 2023 – Newton, IA – Hy-Vee INDY CAR Weekend*
+Special Guest King Calaway
^Special Guest Marcus King
~Special Guest Tenille Townes
Walker Hayes recently concluded his first headlining arena tour in November, and he’s already preparing to head back on the road in 2023, beginning April 13 when his new Duck Buck Tour launches in Rosemont, Illinois.
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Ingrid Andress will provide direct support on the 22-show tour, with Breland, Ray Fulcher, Nicolle Galyon and Chris Lane opening select shows. “More Hearts Than Mine” hitmaker Andress recently released the album Good Person, while Breland (known for his collaboration with Dierks Bentley and HARDY on “Beers on Me”) recently released the project Cross Country. Fulcher has penned numerous hits for Luke Combs and released the project Larkin Hill Mixes in 2021.
On May 5, Galyon and Lane will make a special appearance at the coveted Denver-area venue Red Rocks Amphitheatre. Galyon is known for penning songs including Dan + Shay’s “Tequila,” Lee Brice’s “Boy” and Morgan Wallen’s “Thought You Should Know.” Earlier this year, she released her debut album, firstborn. Lane has notched Country Airplay hits including “Fix,” “Big, Big Plans” and “I Don’t Know About You.”
The Duck Buck Tour takes its name from a lyric on the title track of his recent album Country Stuff: “I like shooting ducks and bucks.” Since then, the Duck Buck logo has popped up on Hayes’ merch, in music videos and on his social media.
“I can’t wait to get back out on tour,” Hayes said via a statement. “Headlining an arena tour for the first time this past year was a dream come true. The whole family was able to come out and the road has become our new home away from home. All the fans that have come out or will come out are making this dream a reality. I owe it all to them, and this next tour will be the biggest and best. I don’t take for granted that they spent their hard-earned money on my shows, and I plan to make it well worth It!”
A presale for Walker Hayes Fan Club members will launch Dec. 13 at 10 a.m. local time and will run through Dec. 15 at 10 p.m. General tickets will go on sale Dec. 16 at 10 a.m. local time.
Last year, Hayes earned his first No. 1 Country Airplay hit with “Fancy Like,” which also reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song has also earned a Grammy nomination at the upcoming ceremony, for best country song. His current single, “Y’all Life,” is at No. 32 on the Country Airplay chart.
See the dates for the Duck Buck Tour below:
April 13 Rosemont, IL Rosemont Theatre*April 14 Peoria, IL Peoria Civic Center*April 20 Evansville, IN Ford Center*April 21 Rogers, AR Walmart AMP*April 22 Oklahoma City, OK Paycom Center*April 27 University Park, PA Bryce Jordan Center#April 29 Wilmington, NC Live Oak Bank Pavilion#May 4 Wichita, KS INTRUST Bank Arena+May 5 Morrison, CO Red Rocks Amphitheatre+June 2 Gilford, NH Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion#June 3 Boston, MA Leader Bank Pavilion#June 9 Jacksonville, FL Daily’s Place Amphitheater#June 10 Boca Raton, FL Mizner Park Amphitheater*June 17 Irving, TX The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory*June 22 Camdenton, MO Ozarks Amphitheatre#June 23 Nashville, TN Ascend Amphitheater#June 24 Orange Beach, AL The Wharf Amphitheater#July 28 Raleigh, NC Red Hat Amphitheater*July 29 Charlotte, NC Charlotte Metro Credit Union Amphitheatre*Aug 3 St. Louis, MO Saint Louis Music Park*Aug 4 Indianapolis, IN TCU Amphitheater at White River State Park*Aug 5 Sterling Heights, MI Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre*
+Chris Lane and Nicolle Galyon
# Ingrid Andress and Ray Fulcher
*Ingrid Andress and BRELAND
Few things faze Noah Assad, Bad Bunny’s manager. But even he admits that launching a stadium tour barely three months after an arena tour was a bit daunting.
“We knew it was going to be a learning experience and something none of us had done before,” Assad says now, “but we went for it and worked through it with the help of old and new partners and set new industry standards.”
Bad Bunny ends the year as the top touring act of 2022, grossing $373.5 million from 1.8 million tickets across 65 shows, according to Billboard Boxscore, and that number doesn’t even include his last 20 Latin American stadium shows. This makes Bunny — born Benito Martinez Ocasio — the first act who doesn’t perform in English to ever top the year-end tally.
World’s Hottest Tour broke venue revenue records in 12 of the 15 U.S. markets that it hit, including Chicago and Washington, D.C., and New York, where he played Yankee Stadium. All told, the North American leg of tour averaged $11.1 million per show – the biggest per-show average gross by any artist in any genre in Boxscore history (dating back to the late 1980s).
Bunny also became the only artist to ever launch separate tours each topping $100 million in the same calendar year. His stadium tour launched after he played his 35-date El Ultimo Tour Del Mundo, an arena tour that earned $116.8 million from 35 shows.
So, how did an artist who only records in Spanish, who is signed to an independent label and has only been five years in the market achieve this feat? To find out, Billboard spoke with agents, promoters and producers to piece together the ingredients of Bunny’s spectacular touring success.
The seeds for World’s Hottest Tour, which ends with sold out shows Friday (Dec. 9) and Saturday (Dec. 10) at Mexico city’s Estadio Azteca, were sown April 15, 2021, when tickets went on sale for Bunny’s April 2022 arena tour. The tour sold out in a matter of hours, says Jbeau Lewis, one of Bunny’s agents at UTA, with some 200,000 to 300,000 people in virtual queue in individual arenas trying to score tickets, and it became clear how much demand there was for Bad Bunny concerts.
“I remember vividly Noah having a discussion that day and saying, ‘We have to hold some stadiums for next year.’ We saw the unprecedented demand for [2022 arena tour] Ultimo Tour del Mundo,” says Lewis. “And knowing that tour was going to be nine months away and that Benito had plans to release more music, the only way to provide enough supply to alleviate the demand was to move to bigger venues. And that’s when we started working on it.”
Last year Assad signed on with Henry Cardenas of Cardenas Marketing Network (CMN), Bunny’s longtime promoter who was already doing his arena tour who’d been booking him since he played 1,000-people club shows back in 2017 and 2018 in cites like New York and Miami. Cardenas brought in Live Nation, which has vast experience with stadiums, as his partners in the U.S.
In the U.S., the biggest challenge was not the prospect of selling out stadiums; Lewis felt very confident that wouldn’t be an issue if they stuck to those markets where Bunny had strongest demand. Scheduling was the problem, given that the tour was being booked just 15-16 months in advance, and MLB and NFL teams already had dates locked down. Assad and Bunny were also adamant that he not play more than two dates per city, so fans wouldn’t think that one market was preferred over another.
In the end, they settled on 15 U.S. cities and tickets went on sale before the tour design even was finalized, something tour producer Roly Garbalosa says is unusual. “Normally for a tour this big, you design, then look for the markets. Not here. Here we just went.”
Bad Bunny hit road Aug. 5 with a massive production hauling his massive “beach,” palm trees, LED screens and of course, the contraptions needed for his flying stunt, where he gets on top of a small island with a palm tree and soars over the crowd, singing all the way. While a typical tour will take about 20 cargo trucks, Bunny traveled with up to 36, carrying 100 tons of equipment. While CMN and Live Nation promoted the entire U.S. trek of the tour, in Latin America CMN took over seven concerts. The others went to independent promoters Assad has long worked with in the past, including Bizarro in Chile, Westwood Entertainment in Mexico and Dale Play in Argentina.
“Noah has a code of honor,” says Fede Lauria, the founder of Dale Play, who promoted Bunny’s two shows at Velez Sarsfield Stadium in Buenos Aires. “I promoted Benito’s first tour here in Luna Park in 2016. This time, it’s been the biggest production I’ve ever done. We sold 90,000 tickets, but I would have sold 900,000. We sold out in half an hour. I had over a million people in virtual line trying to buy tickets.”
For Latin America, Bunny again insisted on his no more than two shows per city rule. He also insisted that his show had to be exactly the same as what his fans saw in the U.S. This is easier said than done. Usually, promoters will pay artists their guarantee plus the cost of local production. But Bunny couldn’t rely on local production for such a technically complicated show. Many countries and venues simply don’t have the equipment necessary to replicated what can be done in state-of-the-art stadiums in the U.S. And many local promoters can’t afford to pay the costs of importing production and still break even, especially in countries that are suffering from massive devaluation. So, instead of modifying the show to meet local production standards, “He took all his equipment, put it inside a 747 jet, and took it with him,” Cárdenas says. “And he paid for that.”
Even then, says Garbalosa, adjustments were required. Bunny’s flying stunt in the U.S. is done commonly by hitching the equipment to the lights and towers. Because many stadiums in Latin America don’t have that capability, “We had to rent cranes and place them outside the stadium,” says Garbalosa.
Bunny traveled through Latin America with the 747 cargo jet for his more than 100 tons of equipment; a passenger jet for his 130-plus crew and personnel and a private jet for himself and his immediate five-to-six-person team. And he paid those costs.
“No other artist does that,” says Cárdenas.” I will say it in plain English: He’s the only artist who invests that kind of money in his production in Latin America.”
What that decision translates to is less money for the artist. Shows in the U.S. make more because ticket prices are higher and the cost of production, in this case, can be far less.
“But he said, my fans deserve the same show,” Cárdenas says. “It will pay off in the future.”
In some ways, you could say it’s already paying off.
“I’ve been doing this for 30 years,” adds Garbalosa, the production manager. “I’ve never worked with an artist that creates this kind of frenzy.”
AEG Presents, a global leader in concert promotion and artist development, on Thursday (Dec. 8) announced an official strategic partnership with K-pop touring and marketing company Powerhouse.
The two live music companies, which have worked together on many successful K-pop artists over the past 13 years, will collaborate on all aspects of the live K-pop business including touring, production, marketing and media across every level.
“In the course of last two decades, K-pop has grown to be one of the most popular genres in the global music industry.,” says C.S. Hah, Powerhouse chief executive and president. “The K-pop market has proven its depth and width to be more matured than ever, and I hope our launch of this formal partnership with AEG Presents can help K-pop grow to reach new horizons across the regions.”
AEG Presents and Powerhouse started their successful relationship in 2010, producing the SM Town concert at Staples Center, regarded as the first blast of K-pop in the U.S. and selling out 12,500 tickets in a matter of minutes. Since then, the two companies have collaborated on historic K-pop tours including two for BTS — the 2017 Wings arena tour in North America and the group’s Love Yourself arena world tour the following year — as well as MONSTA X’s massive 2018 The Connect world tour.
“C.S. Hah and Powerhouse have a track record that speaks for itself,” commented Gary Gersh, AEG Presents president of global touring and talent. “Powerhouse has tapped into what’s becoming an ever-expanding international market for K-Pop, and we are thrilled to build upon an already strong foundation between the two companies.”
Added Adam Wilkes, president and CEO, AEG Asia Pacific: “Powerhouse and AEG Presents have a great history together, and our collaboration has only become more extensive as the barriers continue to evaporate between global music markets. This feels like a logical progression in our ongoing partnership.”
Over the last five months, Powerhouse and AEG Presents have produced and promoted four massive tours for some of the most popular K-pop groups: BLACKPINK, Tomorrow X Together, ENHYPEN and ATEEZ. This year, BLACKPINK sold out 14 North American arenas, plus an additional 10 in the U.K. and Europe. Tomorrow X Together performed eight sold-out shows in two months. ENHYPEN sold out seven arenas in October 2022, and ATEEZ sold out 11 arenas on their North American tour which ended earlier this month. All four of those artists expect to tour the rest of the world in 2023.
AEG Presents UK has appointed Chris Wareing to senior vp of global touring and hired Paris Harding as a promoter, the company announced on Thursday (Dec. 8).
Wareing — a leading hip-hop, rap and R&B promoter as well as the founder of the annual Gods of Rap tour — joins AEG with the view of expanding the company’s hip-hop and rap presence across the globe. Wareing joins AEG from SJM Concerts, where he served for the last 10 years as a promoter. Harding brings with him a wealth of skills and experience in the rap space and also served as a promoter at SJM Concerts.
“Having worked alongside Chris for a number of years and admired his presence from afar, I couldn’t be more thrilled to have him join our team,” said AEG Presents UK CEO Steve Homer in a statement announcing the hires. “He’ll be working closely with myself and my colleague Gary Gersh [president of global touring and talent, AEG Presents] at an international level, to drive our footprint in these important genres forward. It’s rare to come across talent at the level he and Paris exhibit and I couldn’t think of a better way to close out a stellar year.”
In his own statement, Wareing added, “I’m excited to kick off the New Year with a new challenge booking globally with AEG. I admire the vision and work of the company and I’m looking forward to further driving their presence in the hip hop and rap space.”
Def Leppard and Mötley Crüe are hitting the road for another co-headlining tour. On Thursday (Dec. 8), the rock bands announced that they will be trekking across the United States in 2023, with Alice Cooper as a special guest for the series of dates.
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“After finally getting back on the road this past summer, we’re beyond thrilled to bring this massive tour to a global audience including some special dates in America!” Joe Elliott of Def Leppard said in a statement.“We had an incredible time playing The Stadium Tour in North America this summer and we truly can’t wait to take the show around the globe with The WORLD Tour in 2023,” Mötley Crüe added in a joint statement. “Crüeheads, get ready because we have a few amazing U.S. dates set for you!”
The U.S. dates will commence on Aug. 5 with a show at the JMA Wireless Dome in Syracuse, N.Y., and will make stops in Columbus, Ohio; Fargo, N.D.; Omaha, Neb.; and Tulsa, Okla. before concluding in El Paso, Texas, on Aug. 18 at the Sun Bowl Stadium. The new set of dates are tacked onto the end of the bands’ previously announced global portion of The World Tour, which will kick off in February with a pair of dates in New Jersey before heading to Mexico, South America, Europe and the United Kingdom.Fans who wish to purchase presale tickets to The World Tour will need a Citi card; cardmembers will have presale access through the Citi Entertainment program starting on Tuesday, Dec. 13, at 10 a.m. local time until Thursday, Dec. 15, at 10 p.m. local time. General on-sale to the public will begin on Friday, Dec. 16, at 10 a.m. local time.
See the full list of dates for The World Tour below.
Def Leppard & Mötley Crüe Tour Dates:
Feb. 10 Atlantic City, NJ – Hard Rock Live at Etess Arena ^
Feb. 11 Atlantic City, NJ – Hard Rock Live at Etess Arena ^
Feb. 18 Mexico City, Mexico – Foro Sol ^
Feb. 21 Monterrey, Mexico – Estadio Banorte ^
Feb. 25 Bogotá, Colombia – Simón Bolívar Metropolitan Park ^
Feb. 28 Lima, Peru – Estadio Nacional ^
March 3 Santiago, Chile – Estadio Bicentenario de La Florida ^
March 7 São Paulo, Brazil – Allianz Parque ^
May 22 Sheffield, England – Bramall Lane ^
May 25 Mönchengladbach, Germany – SparkassenPark ^
May 27 Munich, Germany – Koenigsplatz ^
May 29 Budapest, Hungary – MVM Dome ^
May 31 Krakow, Poland – Tauron Arena Kraków ^
June 2 Prague, Czech Republic – Prague Rocks
June 3 Hannover, Germany – Expo Plaza ^
June 7 Solvesborg, Sweden – Sweden Rock Festival
June 9 Hyvinkää, Finland – RockFest
June 11 Trondheim, Norway – Trondheim Rocks
June 14 Copenhagen, Denmark – Copenhell
June 18 Dessel, Belgium – Graspop Metal Meeting
June 20 Milan, Italy – Ippodromo SNAI San Siro ^
June 23 Lisbon, Portugal – Passeio Maritimo de Alges ^
June 24 Rivas-Vaciamadrid, Spain – Auditorio Miguel Ríos ^
June 27 Thun, Switzerland – Stockhorn Arena ^
July 1 London, England – Wembley Stadium ^
July 2 Lytham, England – Lytham Festival
July 4 Dublin, Ireland – Marlay Park ^
July 6 Glasgow, Scotland – Hampden Park ^
Aug. 5 Syracuse, NY – JMA Wireless Dome ^
Aug. 8 Columbus, OH – Ohio Stadium ^
Aug. 11 Fargo, ND – Fargodome ^
Aug. 13 Omaha, NE – Charles Schwab Field Omaha ^
Aug. 16 Tulsa, OK – H.A. Chapman Stadium ^
Aug. 18 El Paso, TX – Sun Bowl Stadium ^
^ with Alice Cooper
After the pandemic shutdown that darkened theaters on the Las Vegas Strip from February 2020 until July 2021, the “Entertainment Capital of the World’ is now amid a new golden era of entertainment. After opening both Allegiant Stadium and Resorts World Theatre in 2021, now in their first full year these two new venues and the existing Dolby Live performed top in their class according to Billboard’s year-end Boxscore charts thanks to residencies by Silk Sonic, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga and more. And that boom’s expected to continue for the foreseeable future.
“Coming back as strongly and swiftly as we have has been such a surprise because we didn’t know what to expect,” says John Nelson, senior vp of Concerts West/AEG Presents, Las Vegas, which books the Resorts World and select Allegiant Stadium shows. “It taught us that we can’t always tell what’s just ahead of us. But Vegas is changing. If you interpret that definition of entertainment more broadly to include sports and spectacles, Vegas is continuing for the next decade as the entertainment capital of the world with F1 in 2023 and Super Bowl coming in 2024.”
Formerly Park Theater at MGM, Dolby Live features Live Nation residency shows such as Lady Gaga Jazz + Piano, Silk Sonic and Usher, topped the category for venues from 5,000 to 10,000 capacity with 478,000 tickets grossing $114.5 million over 98 shows according to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore. There, Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak’s Silk Sonic played 51 shows throughout the year, grossing $50.4 million; Usher played 25 shows with $24.1 million gross; and Lady Gaga capped out her run with 9 shows bringing in $12.9 million.
“The Vegas entertainment community worked tirelessly behind the scenes to get entertainment back up and running again,” says Amanda Moore-Saunders, senior vp of Las Vegas residencies for Live Nation. “It’s mind-blowing to know that our team booked and marketed over 900 shows in Las Vegas in 2022, with residencies from the biggest artists in the world such as Adele, Gaga, Shania [Twain], Miranda [Lambert], Usher and many more, plus now we have Garth Brooks to look forward to in 2023; not to mention booking 13 of the 15 concerts at Allegiant Stadium this year with sell-out shows from BTS, Metallica, Bad Bunny and more.”
Allegiant Stadium, which debuted with sold-out shows from Illenium and Garth Brooks in July 2021 — also signifying the return to touring after the pandemic — grossed $182.5 million with over 1 million tickets sold from 24 shows in 2022. The new stadium with 65,000 seats has opened the city up to large touring shows, which previously passed by Las Vegas. Top 10 grossing tours, including Live Nation’s Bad Bunny, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Def Leppard & Mötley Crüe and The Weeknd and AEG’s Elton John and The Rolling Stones all played the venue in its first 15 months. BTS ($35.9 million), Bad Bunny ($22.1 million) and The Rolling Stones ($14.8 million) were the venue’s top earners.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” says Chris Wright, general manager of Allegiant. “I’ve seen venues turn around in markets but this is such a unique thing. The Raiders are fantastic partners. With the city and the state’s foresight to invest in this building, so many entities are all truly pulling together, working in the same direction for common success. One of the things I truly have come to love about the city is all of these disparate entities are not so disparate. People work together here to make something successful. And it’s really amazing to watch. I don’t think a lot of cities have that dynamic.”
Wright, who was previously vp and general manager of Oakland Coliseum and Oracle Arena, knew that the idea of a stadium in Las Vegas was already a risk, coupled with the task of opening a venue of that scale in the middle of a pandemic.
“There were a number of people with lots of experience who understood the business who had questioned whether a stadium in Vegas would truly do significant business. And here we are,” says Wright. Allegiant almost doubled the numbers of its closer competitor SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. SoFi grossed $107.8 million over 11 shows with 547,000 tickets sold. SoFi and Allegiant, both newcomers, joined State Farm stadium in Arizona in establishing a touring route.
“We fit into a routing through L.A. and Arizona — sitting in the middle [that works for artists to] add another date. But more than that, we have the ability to draw people to come to shows in Las Vegas who see the same shows elsewhere,” Wright says, noting that given the city’s vast entertainment offering it is easy for consumers to build multi-show Vegas weekends — a stadium show, a residency, a sporting event and more. But for the newcomer, getting the right content is an important piece of the puzzle and that came from building a team with strong relationships.
“[Our opening strategy] was an ‘everything’ strategy, our relationships with Live Nation and AEG were instrumental to bringing shows into the stadium and demonstrating that it works,” says Wright. “[We built a team] that canvases all avenues of the music industry — promoters, agents who we have relationships with, managers who we have relationships — constantly going at every opportunity and advancing forward. On a day-to-day basis, you just want to grab as much as you can and you’re constantly trying to move on events.”
With so much demand within the city and the number of venues available to book, getting the right content becomes increasingly difficult as many acts will do residency engagements prior to going on tour.
“It’s definitely competitive. I think if someone is going out on a stadium tour without factoring in a residency component, or a festival play, then I think it makes perfect sense to play Allegiant Stadium. It gets a little more complicated when someone is trying to calculate the impact of a residency either in front of their tour or behind their tour,” Wright says. “But we’ve gotten to the point now where people recognize you can do a stadium play and then come back and do a residency and be wildly successful doing that. I think one complements the other.”
For theaters under 5,000 capacity, newcomer AEG’s Resorts World Theatre, opening in 2021 with residencies from Katy Perry (40 shows, $24.7 million), Luke Bryan (18 shows, $10.5 million) and Carrie Underwood (18 shows, $12.4 million), grossed $55,272,018 over 87 shows with 326,510 tickets sold.
“Resorts World stepped up and made this enormous commitment to build the greatest theater in Las Vegas during a pandemic. They followed through and they did it. They did it on time and we opened and coincided with Vegas’ reemergence. Every day we’re grateful, surprised and happy with what’s happening,” says Bobby Reynolds, senior vp of AEG Presents Las Vegas.
Reynolds says standards across the city have been raised since the pandemic: “The city is firing on all cylinders, whether it’s entertainment or hotels — 20 months, a billion dollars. It is refreshing to see that pent up demand we thought was going to be there really is.”
He continues, “Katy’s show is beautifully produced. It’s huge. It’s massive, it’s larger than life by design. Luke’s concept for his show is so flexible and moves around so well. It’s so impressive with the risers of the stage, and of course, his catwalk that comes over the audience and Carrie’s show with its water feature and pyro. Everyone came in and did their own thing. Kevin Hart coming in to shoot for his next streaming special is a big feather in our cap and he is coming back on New Year’s Eve. I’d be surprised if Kevin didn’t return for more shows.”
In the highly competitive over 15,0001-plus-capacity category, T-Mobile Arena, which is located within the Park MGM campus, took fourth with $124.7 million grossed over 58 shows and 731,000 tickets sold.
George Strait played shows on Dec. 3-4, 2021 and Feb. 11-12, combining to $10.1 million; Daddy Yankee grossed $4.1 million on Aug. 6 and 20; and My Chemical Romance took in $2.3 million on Oct. 7.
“MGM Resorts is home to the industry’s premier entertainment venues [like Dolby Live and T-Mobile Arena]. The success we’ve seen the past two years is a true testament to our employees, event partners, and loyal entertainment and sports fans who enjoy the array of experiences we offer,” says Chris Baldizan, MGM Resorts International’s executive vp of entertainment. “We have hosted some of the world’s preeminent artists and sporting events over the years and look forward to delivering more exciting content in the months and years ahead.”
Live Nation Las Vegas president Kurt Melien concludes, “[We] are uniquely positioned to support live entertainment at every level including residency programming and big arena and stadium business, to our clubs and theaters, as well as a strong pipeline of festivals. We’ve been able to support artists as they bring more concerts and more creativity than ever to the city.”
Celine Dion opened up to fans about a serious health struggle she’s been facing that will result in all her 2023 dates being pushed back to 2024 or cancelled entirely. In an emotional video posted on Thursday morning (Dec. 8), the 54-year-old singer described her battle against a rare neurological disorder called “Stiff-Person Syndrome,” which she said has caused uncontrolled and serve muscle spasms.
“As you know, I’ve always been an open book. And I wasn’t ready to say anything before,” said a solemn Dion, seemingly on the verge of tears in the brief video. “But I’m ready now… ’I’ve been dealing with problems with my health for a long time, and it’s been really difficult for me to face these challenges and to talk about everything that I’ve been going through.”
Fighting to keep her composure, Dion said she was recently diagnosed with the “very rare” disorder that affects one in a million people. While her team is still learning about the condition, she said they now know that SPS has been causing all the spasms that she’s been having. “Unfortunately, these spasms affect every aspect of my daily life. Sometimes causing difficulties when I walk and not allowing me to use my vocal cords to sing the way I’m used to,” Dion said. “I have to admit it’s been a struggle. All I know is singing, it’s what I’ve done all my life.”
The immediate result is that she will not be able to re-start her tour in Europe in February as planned. In fact, she said, all of her spring 2023 dates will move to 2024 and 8 of her summer 2023 shows have been cancelled. The shows scheduled from Feb. 24 to April 11, 2023 will now move to March 6-April 22, 2024 and her summer 2023 shows slated for May 31-July 17 have been cancelled; a run of shows scheduled from August 26-Oct. 4, 2023 remain on her schedule as of now.
According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, SPS is a rare neurological disorder that has features of an autoimmune disease. It is characterized by “fluctuating muscle rigidity in the trunk and limbs and a heightened sensitivity to stimuli such as noise, touch, and emotional distress, which can set off muscle spasms. Abnormal postures, often hunched over and stiffened, are characteristic of the disorder.” People with SPS can be too disabled to walk or move and may be “afraid to leave the house because street noises, such as the sound of a horn, can trigger spasms and falls.” According to the Institute, the disorder affects twice as many women as men and science does not yet understand what cause it.
The current treatment is a regimen of anti-convulsants and valium and intravenous treatments aimed at reducing stiffness and lowering sensitivity to touch, noise and stress. The preferred treatments can improve symptoms, but a cure is not yet known and sufferers are often subject to frequent falls because of a lack of the usual defensive reflexes.
“I have a great team of doctors working alongside me to help me get better,” Dion said, adding that her “precious children” are standing beside her and giving her hope. “I’m working hard with my sports medicine therapist every day to build back my strength and my ability to perform again. But I have to admit it’s been a struggle. All I know is singing. It’s what I’ve done all my life and it’s what I love to do the most.”
Gathering her composure, Dion told her fans that she misses them terribly and that she misses performing for them. “I always give 100% when I do my shows,” she said. But my condition is not allowing me to give you that right now.” Dion said she’s hopeful that she is on the road to recovery and is spending all her time focusing on getting better. “I really hope I can see you again real soon,” she said emotionally at the end of the statement.
Back in April, Dion once again postponed her Courage World Tour citing a then-unnamed health issue that was causing severe and persistent muscle spasms. At the time, the European leg of her tour originally slated to kick off in May of this year (and last through late September) were pushed to February 2023 and slated to run through Oct. 4, 2023. In addition, her Las Vegas residency was cancelled in Oct. 2021 after she said she was suffering from spasms.
To see the full list of cancelled and rescheduled shows, click here.
Watch Dion’s full statement below.
This story is part of Billboard‘s The Year in Touring package — read more stories about the top acts, tours and venues of 2022 here.
At some point during Daddy Yankee’s ongoing La Ultima Vuelta tour, which kicked off this summer, publicist Mayna Nevarez looked around and took stock of what was happening around her.
“I was with him at sold out arenas in Seattle, Denver, Sacramento and, I swear, it brought tears to my eyes,” says Nevarez, who owns Nevarez PR in Miami and has been Yankee’s publicist for over 15 years. “For so long it was cities like Miami, Los Angeles, New York — big Latin hubs — and we forget that the United States is so much more than that.”
Daddy Yankee is no stranger to big tours; in 2007, for example, he played 17 U.S. shows, and in 2019, he played a fabled 12 sold-out dates at Puerto Rico’s Coliseo de Puerto Rico. But La Ultima Vuelta (The Last Tour) has been his biggest trek by far, selling over 1.1 million tickets for a $125.3 million in gross ticket sales during the tracking period, from Nov. 1, 2021-Oct. 31, 2022, landing him at No. 13 on Billboard’s Top Tours tally.
Yankee’s numbers point to Latin music’s potential for big touring success beyond Bad Bunny and beyond the cities that were long considered Latino strongholds. In 2022, Latin artists of all sizes and genres filled arenas, theaters and festivals, underscoring the huge potential and growing presence of Latin music across the country.
The fray, of course, is led by Bad Bunny, who tops this year’s Top Tours chart with a $373.5 million gross across 65 shows in arenas and stadiums with a combined attendance of nearly 2 million. Bunny’s World’s Hottest Tour broke venue revenue records in 12 of the 15 U.S. markets that it played, including Yankee Stadium, Chicago and Washington, D.C. The North American leg of tour averaged $11.1 million per show — the biggest per-show average gross by any artist in any genre in Boxscore history (dating back to the late 1980s).
At this moment in time at least, Bad Bunny is “a unicorn,” says Henry Cardenas, de CEO of CMN, which promoted Bunny’s U.S. tour in partnership with Live Nation. “No one does what he does.” But at a touring level, “What Bad Bunny really did is take Latin music to industry execs who aren’t Latin, and make them realize there was a viable market,” says Nelson Albareda, founder and CEO of marketing and promotion company Loud and Live.
Loud and Live, which is owned by Albareda, is a prime example of Latin’s growth in touring. The entertainment, marketing and promotion company was launched four years ago and in 2019, pre-pandemic, produced around 50 shows. This year, it came in at No. 14 on the Top Promoters chart, with $96.5 million in gross ticket sales for 386 shows.
“Overall, touring is definitely stronger, and shows are doing better, including in emerging markets like Seattle, Salt Lake City,” says Albareda. “Secondary markets are here to stay and it’s not just the A acts. It’s not a fluke. I think you’ll see the Kansas City, Minneapolis, Nashville, Raleigh, Salt Lakes also do well. The Latino population is now much greater and definitely they’re in every city.”
This allows for vertical growth that may not be always visible on the touring charts. Loud and Live’s roster, for example, includes touring stalwarts like Ricardo Arjona, who ends the year at No. 63 on the Top Tours list ($31.5 million gross on 32 shows), but it also includes rising star Camilo, who just fell short of the Top 100, grossing $11.4 million and selling 149,000 tickets in 28 shows.
Tours by smaller acts, says Jorge Juarez, co-founder of management and promotion company Westwood Entertainment, can still yield impressive margins. Rising Mexican rapper Santa Fe Klan, for example, played 23 markets on his first U.S. tour, selling some 7,000 tickets per market at an average $100 ticket price, per Juarez. And regional Mexican acts have seen a surge in ticket sales as well.
“There’s been a general tendency of growth here for the last two years. Certainly, a lot of factors post-pandemic that gave a surge, but we were already on a trend of growth,” says Hans Schafer, senior vp of Latin touring for Live Nation. “It was inevitable that we would reach this point one way or the other […] The sort of evolution that we’re seeing in different genres within Latin is all adding to that. More music, more new artists. Better production at all levels. Connectivity with multigenerational fans.”
On top of that, the growth of the U.S. Latino population and its middle class cannot be discounted as a factor in the overall growth of touring and consumption. According to Nielsen’s “The Evolving Hispanic Consumer” study from 2021, in the next 40 years Latinos will contribute more growth than any other U.S. population segment, contributing 53% of population growth in the next five years and 58% of the growth to 2060. In terms of buying power, from 2010 to 2019, Hispanic buying power increased by 69%, outpacing non Hispanics (41%).
According to a Pew Research Center Statistical Portrait of Hispanics published in July 2022, Latino demographics have grown “in just about every corner of the nation. While California, Texas and Florida hold about half of the U.S. Latino population, the fastest growth rates are in states like North Dakota (up 148% between 2010 and 2020) and South Dakota (up 75% over the same period).”
The growth has profound impact at many levels. In the last decade, for example, Latinos became the largest racial or ethnic group in California for the first time, a fact that explains why cities like Sacramento and San José are now major touring destinations for Latin artists of all stripes.
The direct result of a Latin population with acquisition power can be seen at the new SoFi Stadium, which opened in 2020 in the midst of the pandemic and hosted its first full stadium shows with Los Bukis, the romantic Mexican group that had its heyday in the 1990s, on Aug. 27 and 28, 2021. The stadium also hosted two nights of Bad Bunny this last September.
“The way we position ourselves is, we’re in Los Angeles, we’re in Inglewood, we’re 50% Latino,” says Adolfo Romero vp of programming for SoFi Stadium, Hollywood Park and YouTube Theater, which has held sold out shows by the likes of Rosalía and Mexican rockers Caifanes this year. “We looked at many different artists [for SoFi opening night] and when we saw this opportunity with Los Bukis, we were very aggressive. I think it kind of opened the eyes to the industry to see that Latin acts could do stadiums. That led us to do two nights of Grupo Firme in 2022, and now we have two nights of Bad Bunny.”
Romero says that when he booked Los Bukis for what would be their first-ever U.S. stadiums, the prospect of selling over 70,000 tickets for a Mexican nostalgia act didn’t make him loose sleep. “I come from [major league] soccer. If we can sell 70,000 plus for soccer here, what’s the difference?” he says. “It’s the same demographic. We have disposable income. A lot of our community was working in the service industry. Now, many of their kids are college grads.”
South By Southwest has announced a second wave of invited artists for next year’s 37th annual showcase event and conference, taking place March 13-18 in Austin, Texas. A scan of the 301 artists reveals a number of standouts, including baroque rock legends The Zombies and the hard-to-categorize Lemon Twigs, along with R&B singer Ambré and garage-punkers Osees.
When listed alphabetically, the Zombies aren’t even the last act in the list — that goes to zzzahara out of Los Angeles. Other standout names include 7ebra (Sweden), ALASKAALASKA (not from Alaska, but London), Baklava Blues (Toronto), Chickasaw Mudd Puppies (Athens, GA), Kill Lincoln (DC, naturally), Puppy Angst (Philly), Revenge Wife (New Hampshire) and Snotty Nose Rez Kids (Kitimat, Canada), among others (full list below).
SXSW announced a first round of nearly 200 artists back in October; that list included Armani White, Algiers and Balming Tiger. The music showcase is just one part of the larger festival, an event founded in 1987 and dedicated to celebrating entertainment and culture. In addition to musical performances, the six-day event also typically gives audiences access to panels and Q&A sessions.
Previously unveiled featured speakers this year include Warner Chappell Music co-chair and CEO Guy Moot, Signal And Cipher chief Ian Beacraft and authors Douglas Rushkoff and Joost Van Druenen.
Among SXSW’s partners for the 2023 edition: Anniversary Group, Atomic Music Group, Athens in Austin, British Music Embassy, Don Giovanni Records, Fire Records, FOCUS Wales, Gorilla vs Bear, Jazz re:freshed Outernational, Pop Montreal, M for Montreal, Music From Ireland, New West Records, Space Agency, and Wide Days Scotland.
Next year will also bring SXSW to Sydney, Australia for seven days and nights from Oct. 15-22, 2023, marking the event’s first foray outside of the United States. Claire Collins was recently announced as head of music for the event Down Under.
SXSW signed a “lifeline” deal with P-MRC, a joint venture between Penske Media Corporation and MRC, the companies announced in April 2021, making P-MRC a stakeholder and long-term partner with the Austin festival. P-MRC is the parent company of Billboard.
Round Two List of Artists:
7ebra (Malmö SWEDEN)Abracadabra (Oakland CA)Adwaith (Carmarthen UK-WALES)Air Waves (Brooklyn NY)ALASKALASKA (London UK-ENGLAND)Ambré (New Orleans LA)Anastasia Coope (Cold Spring NY)Andrea Magee (Austin TX)Andrew Farriss (Barraba AUSTRALIA)Annie Blackman (Brooklyn NY)Annie Hamilton (Sydney AUSTRALIA)Aoife Nessa Frances (Dublin IRELAND)Ask Carol (Auma NORWAY)ÄTNA (Dresden GERMANY)Augustine (Stockholm SWEDEN)Ava Vegas (Berlin GERMANY)Aysanabee (Toronto CANADA)Balaklava Blues (Toronto CANADA)BALTHVS (Bogota COLOMBIA)Begonia (Winnipeg CANADA)Bellah (London UK-ENGLAND)Bella White (Calgary CANADA)Bells Larsen (Montreal CANADA)be your own PET (Nashville TN)Big Cream (Bologna ITALY)Big Wy’s Brass Band (Austin TX)BILK (Essex UK-ENGLAND)Billy King & The Bad Bad Bad (Austin TX)Blxckie (Johannesburg SOUTH AFRICA)Bona Fide (Copenhagen DENMARK)Boy Golden (Winnipeg CANADA)Brad stank (Liverpool UK-ENGLAND)Brittany Davis (Maple Valley WA)Caleb De Casper (Austin TX)Camilla George (London UK-ENGLAND)Candeleros (Madrid SPAIN)The Carolyn (Atlanta GA)Carver Commodore (Florence AL)Casey Lowry (Chesterfield UK-ENGLAND)Catbite (Philadelphia PA)CHAMELEON LIME WHOOPIEPIE (Tokyo JAPAN)Cheekface (Los Angeles CA)CHERYM (Derry UK-N. IRELAND)Chickasaw Mudd Puppies (Athens GA)Child Seat (Los Angeles CA)Christopher Brown (Mamaroneck NY)Cimarron615 (Nashville TN)CIVIC (Melbourne AUSTRALIA)Cloudland Canyon (Memphis TN)CODY JON (Sydney AUSTRALIA)The Color Brown (Carolina PUERTO RICO)Constant Smiles (Ridgewood NY)Corook (Nashville TN)The Courettes (Mariager DENMARK)cowboyy (Portsmouth UK-ENGLAND)Coyle Girelli (New York NY)DAIISTAR (Austin TX)Dana Gillespie (London UK-ENGLAND)Dan Davidson (Edmonton CANADA)Daniel Villarreal (Chicago IL)DAT GARCIA (Monte Grande ARGENTINA)Death Valley Girls (Los Angeles CA)deca joins (Taipei TAIWAN)Decent Criminal (Santa Rosa CA)Del Castillo (Austin TX)DESTA FRENCH (London UK-ENGLAND)Dhruv Sangari and The National Sufi Ensemble (Washington DC)Diatom Deli (Taos NM)Disco Doom (Zurich SWITZERLAND)Dream Wife (London UK-ENGLAND)El Combo Oscuro (Austin TX)Elephant Sessions (Inverness UK-SCOTLAND)English Teacher (Leeds UK-ENGLAND)Enjoyable Listens (Oxford UK-ENGLAND)Enumclaw (Tacoma WA)Estereomance (El Paso TX)Esther Rose (New Orleans LA)Evan Bartels (Tobias NE)Fake Fruit (Oakland CA)Fergus McCreadie (Glasgow UK-SCOTLAND)Floodlights (Melbourne AUSTRALIA)Foley (Auckland NEW ZEALAND)Font (Austin TX)Fonteyn (Salt Lake City UT)The Foreign Resort (Copenhagen DENMARK)Fotocrime (Louisville KY)Fraud Perry (Montreal CANADA)Frost Children (New York NY)Future Crib (Nashville TN)Garrett T. Capps & NASA Country (San Antonio TX)The Garrys (Saskatoon CANADA)Gay Meat (Wilmington NC)Georgia Lines (Auckland NEW ZEALAND)Geskle (Worcester MA)GEWALT (Berlin GERMANY)GIRLI (London UK-ENGLAND)Girl Scout (Stockholm SWEDEN)THE GOA EXPRESS (Manchester UK-ENGLAND)Gold Fang (Sydney AUSTRALIA)Good Looks (Austin TX)GracieHorse (Los Angeles CA)Graham Reynolds (Austin TX)Graham Reynolds & The Golden Arm Trio (Austin TX)Gus Englehorn (Montreal CANADA)Hamish Hawk (Edinburgh UK-SCOTLAND)THE HARA (Manchester UK-ENGLAND)Heartworms (London UK-ENGLAND)Hembree (Kansas City KS)HIEN (Budapest HUNGARY)Holly Montgomery (Falls Church VA)Housekeys (Fort Worth TX)Huntly (Melbourne AUSTRALIA)The Hypochondriacs (Fredericton CANADA)Igor Grohotsky (Kyiv UKRAINE)Iona Zajac (Glasgow UK-SCOTLAND)IOTA PHI (Athens GREECE)Ishmael Ensemble (Bristol UK-ENGLAND)IST IST (Manchester UK-ENGLAND)Jake Whiskin (Leeds UK-ENGLAND)JayWood (Winnipeg CANADA)Jaz Karis (London UK-ENGLAND)JER (Gainesville FL)Jessica Winter (London UK-ENGLAND)JM Stevens (Austin TX)Johnny Chops (Austin TX)Júlia Colom (Valldemossa SPAIN)July Talk (Toronto CANADA)Junk Drawer (Belfast UK-N. IRELAND)Kadeem Tyrell (London UK-ENGLAND)KALLITECHNIS (Montreal CANADA)Kalpee (Lange Park TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO)Kalu & The Electric Joint (Austin TX)Kate Davis (Frederick MD)Katie Toupin (Lexington KY)Katy Rea (Brooklyn NY)KAZKA (Kyiv UKRAINE)Kid Bookie (London UK-ENGLAND)Kill Lincoln (Washington DC)Kindsight (Copenhagen DENMARK)KING STINGRAY (Nhulunbuy AUSTRALIA)KOKO (Pesaro ITALY)Koleżanka (Brooklyn NY)La Paloma (Madrid SPAIN)Larkins (Manchester UK-ENGLAND)Laszlo and the Hidden Strength (New York, NY)Lauren Ann (Newry UK-N. IRELAND)Laveda (Albany NY)The Lemon Twigs (Long Island NY)Lil Cherry & GOLDBUUDA (SAUCE CARTEL) (Seoul SOUTH KOREA)Lime Garden (Brighton UK-ENGLAND)LÓN (Reykjavík ICELAND)Lontalius (Auckland NEW ZEALAND)Lorelei K (Dallas TX)Low Island (Oxford UK-ENGLAND)Luna Luna (Dallas TX)Maestro Espada (Murcia SPAIN)Mandy, Indiana (Manchester UK-ENGLAND)Manwolves (Chicago IL)Marcus Joseph (Leicester UK-ENGLAND)Mariel Buckley (Calgary CANADA)Marshall Hood (Austin TX)Mary Scholz (Los Angeles CA)Mauvey (Vancouver CANADA)MEERNAA (Oakland CA)Mexico City Heartbreak (Los Angeles CA)Micah Edwards (Houston TX)Miranda and the Beat (Brooklyn NY)Mnelia (London UK-ENGLAND)Moon Panda (Copenhagen DENMARK)Moriah Bailey (Oklahoma City OK)Mustangs Of The West (Los Angeles CA)Mya Byrne (Oakland CA)Natalie Shay (London UK-ENGLAND)Nathan Graham (Chicago IL)Night Tapes (London UK-ENGLAND)Noah And The Loners (London UK-ENGLAND)Normal Echo (Vancouver CANADA)Obongjayar (Calabar NIGERIA)Oracle Sisters (Paris FRANCE)OSEES (Los Angeles CA)otay:onii (Haining CHINA)Otis Wilkins (Austin TX)Painted Shield (Seattle WA)Palehound (Brooklyn NY)Paraísos (Barranquilla COLOMBIA)Party Dozen (Sydney AUSTRALIA)Patrick Holland (Montreal CANADA)Peach Luffe (Toronto CANADA)Pearl & the Oysters (Los Angeles CA)Pearl Earl (Los Angeles CA)PENDANT (Los Angeles CA)Personal Trainer (Amsterdam NETHERLANDS)Philine Sonny (Bochum GERMANY)Pink Nasty Meets El Cento (Austin TX)The Pink Stones (Athens GA)Plastic Picnic (Brooklyn NY)The Pleasure Majenta (Berlin GERMANY)Pleasure Venom (Austin TX)Poison Ruin (Philadelphia PA)Pol (Amsterdam NETHERLANDS)Poppy Jean Crawford (Los Angeles CA)popsiclestickairport (Gilbert AZ)POSTDATA (Halifax CANADA)Prim (Modena ITALY)Prima Queen (London UK-ENGLAND)Primo the Alien (Austin TX)Public Body (Brighton UK-ENGLAND)Puppy Angst (Philadelphia PA)Queen Millz (Leicester UK-ENGLAND)Rae Fitzgerald (Columbia MO)Redolent (Edinburgh UK-SCOTLAND)Reilly Downes (Bandera TX)Renée Reed (Lafayette LA)Rett Smith (Austin TX)Revenge Wife (Manchester NH)Rhinestone Pickup Truck (Asheville NC)Rinse & Repeat (Los Angeles CA)Roanoke (Nashville TN)Rob Cannillo (Florida NY)Rock Eupora (Nashvlle TN)Rod Gatort (Austin TX)Rogê (Rio De Janeiro BRAZIL)Roots From The Clay (Katy TX)Rose’s Pawn Shop (Los Angeles CA)Rosier (Montreal CANADA)Ryan Pollie (Los Angeles CA)sadie (Brooklyn NY)SAFER (Brooklyn NY)Salarymen (Sydney AUSTRALIA)Schatzi (Austin TX)The Scratch (Dublin IRELAND)Shae Universe (Watford UK-ENGLAND)Shanghai Baby (Madrid SPAIN)Shooks (Austin TX)Shutups (Oakland CA)Skye Wallace (Toronto CANADA)S.L. Houser (Austin TX)Snooper (Nashville TN)Snotty Nose Rez Kids (Kitimat CANADA)Sobs (Singapore SINGAPORE)Solar Eyes (Birmingham UK-ENGLAND)Sorcha Richardson (Dublin IRELAND)Sorry Mom (New York NY)South For Winter (Nashville TN)SpivOberta (Dobropillia UKRAINE)Spllit (Baton Rouge LA)S. Raekwon (New York NY)Stacey Ryan (Vaudreuil-Dorion CANADA)Stoneburner (Baltimore MD)Strawberry Guy (Liverpool UK-ENGLAND)Sunday Cruise (Chicago IL)Sunflower Bean (New York NY)Super Plage (Montréal CANADA)SURMA (Leiria PORTUGAL)Sweeping Promises (Lawrence KS)Sword II (Atlanta GA)Talia Goddess (Brooklyn NY)Tami Neilson (Auckland NEW ZEALAND)Tayls (Nashville TN)The Tender Things (Austin TX)Thala (Berlin GERMANY)Theodore (Athens GREECE)THICK (Brooklyn NY)Thin Lear (Waldwick NJ)Thor & Friends (Austin TX)The Tiarras (Austin TX)TITA (Guatemala City GUATEMALA)Tokio Myers (London UK-ENGLAND)Tribe Friday (Örebro SWEDEN)Trouble in The Streets (Austin TX)Truth Club (Raleigh NC)T. Thomason (Halifax CANADA)Tufan Derince (Diyarbakir TURKEY)Tulliah (Mornington Peninsula AUSTRALIA)TUSHAR (Adelaide AUSTRALIA)TVOD (Brooklyn NY)TYSON (London UK-ENGLAND)Ulysses Wells (Isle Of Wight UK-ENGLAND)UNI and The Urchins (New York NY)Vanille (Montreal CANADA)Venus Twins (Brooklyn NY)Viper Club (Phoenix AZ)VLURE (Glasgow UK-SCOTLAND)Voka Gentle (Stroud UK-ENGLAND)VooCha (Melissa E. Logan / Chicks on Speed) w/ Gaisma & Yohanna Logan (Berlin GERMANY)Warmduscher (London UK-ENGLAND)The Waymores (Atlanta GA)We Are The Union (Los Angeles CA)The Wends (Turin ITALY)West Texas Exiles (Austin TX)Winona Forever (Vancouver CANADA)Woodes (Melbourne AUSTRALIA)The XCERTS (Aberdeen UK-SCOTLAND)XENZU (Beijing CHINA)Yacko & Tuan Tigabelas (Jakarta Selatan INDONESIA)YAYOI DAIMON (Osaka JAPAN)You Said Strange (Giverny FRANCE)Youth Sector (Brighton UK-ENGLAND)YU-KA (Tokyo JAPAN)The Zombies (St. Albans UK-ENGLAND)zzzahara (Los Angeles CA)