Touring
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At most huge pop tours, there’s a moment when shrieking fans reach a true fever pitch — when the lights dim right before the show begins, or when the intro to the artist’s biggest hit kicks in, or during the break before the encore. All of those happened at Olivia Rodrigo’s first arena tour — but her favorite part of the show was when those eardrum-rattling cries were, in fact, mad as hell.
“When we play ‘all-american bitch,’ ” Rodrigo tells Billboard, “there’s a part at the end of the song where I ask the audience to think about something that pisses them off and then tell them to scream about it when the lights go off.” On the opener to her 2023 album, GUTS, Rodrigo juxtaposes folksy, facetious calm in the verses with enraged pop-punk in the refrain as she lays out society’s double standards for young women before unleashing a piercing wail. For nearly a hundred nights this year, the singer-songwriter has closed her main set by adding her own scream to an arena already full of them. “It’s definitely cathartic for me,” she says, “and I hope it is for the audience as well.”
The same could be said of the entire GUTS tour, where Rodrigo’s fans worldwide found the space to release their pent-up energy, as well as their excitement about one of the decade’s biggest new superstars. After bursting into the spotlight in 2021 with her debut album, Sour, and its No. 1 smashes “drivers license” and “good 4 u,” the former Disney+ TV star won the Grammy Award for best new artist in 2022 and quickly ascended to pop’s A-list. Yet the 2022 tour supporting Sour primarily played theaters, had to navigate lingering COVID-19 concerns and catered to a limited number of international markets, as Rodrigo, then 19, found her sea legs as a live performer.
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Two years later, the rock-fueled GUTS became another commercial triumph: Lead single “vampire” also topped the Billboard Hot 100, and the album scored one of 2023’s 10 biggest debut weeks. And this time, Rodrigo was prepared for arena audiences. The GUTS tour featured more than double the number of dates as her Sour trek while traveling to four continents (South America will become the fifth in March 2025) and grossed $186.6 million, according to Billboard Boxscore — even with its 1.4 million tickets sold at an average price of $128.81, in line with price-conscious acts like Coldplay and P!nk, and less than that of several major pop arena shows.
As for the show itself, “I actually made GUTS with the concert in mind,” Rodrigo says. “It’s so much fun to play songs that are more driving and heavy. I had a great time performing that aspect of the show every night.” Here’s how it all went down.
In her dressing room backstage.
Sami Drasin
‘She Knew Exactly What It Was That She Wanted’
As GUTS came together, so did plans for an accompanying tour that amplified every aspect of Rodrigo’s previous live run — bigger venues, more countries — all guided by a more defined point of view from the superstar at its center.
Aleen Keshishian (co-manager, Lighthouse Management + Media founder/CEO): Olivia had creative tour ideas when she was still writing GUTS, even before we had signed a deal with Live Nation or hired anyone for the tour. She already had visual references, voice notes, images.
Zack Morgenroth (co-manager, Lighthouse Management + Media partner): That gave us a lot of time to plan, and put together the right team, and get the show right.
Jason Danter (tour production manager): I connected with Zack and Aleen in March 2023; at that point, I was deep into getting the Beyoncé [Renaissance] tour up and running. I met Olivia when she came to the Beyoncé show at SoFi Stadium [in Inglewood, Calif.].
Tarik Mikou (creative director, Moment Factory): We’ve been working with Olivia for a while — we did her first live TV performance [on Saturday Night Live] and did the Sour tour, so I was really happy to get a call back for the GUTS tour.
Melissa Garcia (choreographer): They called me in for the Sour tour, and Olivia and I really meshed. A trusting environment [and] being able to have back-and-forth conversations is so important, especially when it comes to movement and putting artists in vulnerable situations.
Jared Braverman (senior vp of touring, Live Nation): It was very clear from initial conversations that the goal of this tour was to be global — to get to markets that Olivia had never been to and continue to grow by not just focusing on major cities. [Olivia] is massive everywhere. That’s a challenging thing to navigate — making time and space for all of these markets.
Morgenroth: The Sour tour was her first time out on the road and was a huge underplay, given the success of the album.
Dave Tamaroff (partner, WME): Her last tour could have been in arenas, based on everything she had going on.
Michelle An (president/head of creative strategy, Interscope Geffen A&M): There were a lot of conversations about [arenas] on the last tour, and ultimately, Olivia was the final decision-maker — she felt like she needed to do the theater run to get to know the fans in a more intimate way.
Sami Drasin
Morgenroth: There was so much demand from fans this time around that Live Nation said to us that arenas now felt like an underplay — we probably could have done stadiums everywhere. That being said, there was so much preparation for an arena tour: choosing each venue, making sure we had a good cadence for her. We tended to do only four shows in a week and never three shows in a row.
Tamaroff: We were surgical in our approach to the routing.
Morgenroth: Olivia cares so deeply about the fan experience, and that was also so key in the pricing of the tickets, which could have been priced for so much more. Everything, from having the Silver Star program — where fans could get a limited number of tickets everywhere around the arena for something like $20 — to looking at the landscape of touring artists and trying to price our tickets somewhere in the middle of them, was very intentional.
Keshishian: [Silver Star] was something that Coldplay had first done with Live Nation. Jared Braverman suggested it and Olivia loved it.
Braverman: [Pricing] takes a level of restraint, where you look at what you can do versus what you should do. You’ve got a young audience that’s very connected to Olivia, and we wanted to make this tour accessible for them.
Keshishian: We spent a lot of money on this tour, [but] we were incredibly judicious, going over every single line item in the budget to make sure we were spending money on the things that mattered to Olivia.
Garcia: Olivia is the captain of the ship — right from the very beginning, she knew exactly what it was that she wanted.
Mikou: We had like, 15 meetings, in Zoom and in person. She had reference boards on Pinterest. She would show us an image and be like, “I would love something like that in the show,” and give us these leads.
An: We definitely wanted fans to get to know the album. It wasn’t straight from the album release [in September 2023] into the tour [which began in February 2024].
Heather Picchiottino (costume designer): Olivia’s songwriting progression from Sour to GUTS felt very raw and up-front, so we wove punk rock through [the tour’s production].
Olivia Rodrigo: I tried to make the concert feel like my own spin on a rock show. My dream was for people to jump and scream and be all sweaty by the end.
Mikou: When you get to the dress rehearsals and start seeing the ideas pushed forward — we knew we had something special with this show.
The band.
Sami Drasin
Sami Drasin
‘It’s So Much Bigger in Every Way’
When the GUTS tour kicked off at Acrisure Arena in Palm Springs, Calif., on Feb. 23, Rodrigo unveiled a multi-act, visually striking stage show with dancing, wailing guitars and even a giant, suspended crescent moon for her to sit on while circling the audience.
Daisy Spencer (touring guitarist): We rehearsed so much leading up to the kickoff. We were so ready and eager to finally perform the show in front of people who were hearing it for the first time.
Garcia: Instead of reaching a few thousand people, she was in a much larger environment — which puts a lot more pressure on her.
Keshishian: There’s no comparison between theaters and arenas, in terms of prep.
Spencer: It’s so much bigger in every way. The energy on the Sour tour was palpable, like we were beginning something very exciting and everyone in the room could feel it. But I couldn’t have ever imagined what the GUTS tour would be like.
Rodrigo: An arena feels wildly different than a theater to me.
Garcia: One of the big notes that I would say [to Olivia] was “Invite the audience in”: Open your chest up, allow them in. And she absolutely did that. Between the Sour tour and this tour, she is absolutely way more comfortable in her skin.
Picchiottino: Olivia had so many iconic looks on the Sour tour, and some of the detailing in them were bows or little ruffles or tulle fabric. We really contrasted that with GUTS, with references to punk rock through clean, ’90s, minimal silhouettes, made out of fabrics that were metal mesh jewelry as opposed to a tissue fabric.
Mikou: We worked on creating four acts in the show. We start really strong with an energetic vibe, but we also go into her vocal range early on with “vampire” and “drivers license.” And then in the second act, we embark on a visual journey with dancers.
The dancers.
Sami Drasin
Keshishian: In terms of choreography, she didn’t want it to feel like a traditional pop show where the dancers can sometimes overpower the music. I think the dancers are only in six numbers.
Danter: It’s primarily a younger audience that wants to see her and hear her, so it doesn’t have to be overly complicated visually.
Garcia: We wanted to create a visceral reaction from her fans, and for Olivia, a rock approach was extremely important, so she wasn’t quite sure if she wanted to use dancers. We came up with utilizing the dancers in a very unique way to match her creative intention.
Mikou: And then in the third act, she’s flying on the moon.
Keshishian: From the very first conversation we had with her, she said, “I’d love to fly on a moon over my audience.”
Mikou: We had about 60 stars all around to create this immersive vibe in the arena, and the moon was on a 260-foot linear flying track and was a light box as well.
Garcia: Riding around the venue on the moon — that was another way for her to feel like she really gave every single person her time.
Mikou: That act has these big visual moments, but it’s also really simple and elegant at times, like “making the bed,” where’s she rising alone on a lift, surrounded by fans and their iPhone lights.
Keshishian: And then you have these beautiful acoustic moments where she’s just with Daisy [who’s playing] guitar at the edge of the thrust, and it’s just about the lyrics and her voice.
Spencer: That was all Olivia’s idea, and I feel so honored to sit next to her while we all have a giant group therapy session together on “happier” and “favorite crime.” I’m almost on the verge of tears when we finish that section because it’s such a beautiful feeling to hear everyone singing along with us.
Mikou: We ended with the punk-rock vibe in the fourth act, exploding everything at the end with the full band and fire on the screens.
Picchiottino: I think my favorite moment is the start of act four, when the chaos comes into the show. Olivia enters in this red romper in this foil fabric, and with the color of the lighting, it just signals this incredible energy.
Mikou: My personal favorite moment is probably “obsessed.” She gets on the plexiglass and starts to look at her audience, but with the camera below [the stage, feeding into the arena screens], it’s just such a strong image. That’s Olivia 2.0: so rock’n’roll, so much guitar, so much attitude.
Danter: Olivia turned 21 a couple of days before opening night, and as somebody with such short touring experience, she’s very, very professional.
Sami Drasin
Sami Drasin
Keshishian: She gets to the venue every single day six hours early. She practices the piano, she does vocal warmups, she does cardio. She does her sound check before literally every show, even on multiple nights in the same venue, which very few artists do.
Danter: Most artists don’t get that discipline until they’ve got a number of tours under their belt. But by [the opener in] Palm Springs, we were all like, “We’ve got nothing to worry about here.”
Rodrigo: The first dozen shows or so, it was a big adjustment for me, energywise. I had to really learn how to look up and take in the space. You definitely perform differently when you’re performing to that many people.
Danter: And now she’s an arena headliner, and it’s as if she’s been doing it for a long, long time.
‘These Gatherings Have Become Like a Ritual’
As Rodrigo traveled North America in early spring, Europe before summer, North America (again) in July and August, and Asia in early fall, fans around the world learned about the tour’s unofficial dress code, viral moments, philanthropic goals — and the superstar-in-waiting who opened its first leg.
Keshishian: Tour support is something that we talked about very early on. The Sour tour had Gracie Abrams opening, and then Chappell Roan opened in San Francisco on the last Sour date in North America.
Remi Wolf (opener, GUTS European leg): I was told that Olivia very carefully curated the openers for the show, so it was a major deal when we got the original call.
Keshishian: Olivia has this incredible knowledge of and reverence for female artists, in particular people who paved the way for her, like Alanis Morissette and Sheryl Crow and Bikini Kill. Her mom introduced her to a lot of these artists, including The Breeders. I went with her to see them play at the Wiltern [in October 2023] and was so excited to meet Kim and Kelley [Deal] backstage, and they agreed to open for her in New York and L.A.
Kim Deal (singer-guitarist, The Breeders): [Olivia] has talked about how, you know, “The Breeders broke my mind — there was pre-‘Cannonball’ and there was post-‘Cannonball.’ ” And I think she likes loud guitars — in this day and age! She finds loud guitars exciting and wants to be around them.
Sami Drasin
Tamaroff: She did four shows [with The Breeders] in New York and six in Los Angeles, and she really could have done a dozen more, based on demand.
Morgenroth: [The openers] are, in part, a tribute to Olivia’s ear. She’s known Chappell for a while. She’s always thought she was an incredible artist.
Rodrigo: Having her on the first leg of the GUTS tour was so much fun. I’m inspired by her so much as an artist, but she’s also been such a good friend to me over the years and she really helped me through some of the more stressful parts of the tour.
Braverman: We all knew what a talented artist and great performer [Chappell] is and hoped that fans would be as excited as we all were for her to be joining on these shows. The initial response was positive, but it wasn’t until the tour got underway that we started to see a shift that literally grew more each and every show.
Keshishian: Chappell was a surprise guest in L.A. [in August, after opening for the tour in February and March]. People asked us if we were going to have guest performers at all six shows in L.A., and we didn’t feel that we needed surprises just for the sake of it. But having Chappell come back and seeing her perform in front of Olivia’s audience after all this time, after so much had happened [in her own career]? It was really fun.
Rodrigo: It’s been incredible to watch her get the recognition she so rightfully deserves. She’s just further proof that being unapologetically yourself always pays off.
Morgenroth: From the moment people arrived at the show, we wanted them to have a great experience, and that’s everything from the merch, where things were customized for each city, to activations outside on the [concourse] and outside of the venue, like the interactive tour bus that we put together with Interscope and partners like American Express.
An: As we continued putting out singles and videos from the album [before the tour], fans got a better idea of what to wear and how to style themselves, and then they all connected by the time the tour came.
Keshishian: It became a really fun night for fans to get dressed up in creative outfits that Olivia inspired.
Garcia: Olivia has created a very unique vocabulary, and I think that’s why songs like “love is embarrassing” became so large on social media, with people trying to learn the dance from the show.
Keshishian: Her “love is embarrassing” dance went viral, and all these kids were doing the dance with the little “L” on the forehead.
Morgenroth: There was this viral TikTok trend, “Am I Too Old To Be Here?,” that would be used at the shows because there were so many people of different ages attending. And then we have this “Dad Idea, Right?” moment, where the kids get a kick out of how many dads are enjoying the show.
Keshishian: In every city, she wore a different tank top [during the encore] that had these cheeky jokes about the city, like “Phuket, It’s Fine” in Bangkok or “Bad Idea, Innit?” in London.
Picchiottino: That was Olivia’s idea: “How fun would it be to have a new slogan for each city and make each show feel special?”
An: I think for the Livies, these gatherings have become like a ritual. They can scream at the top of their lungs about what’s bothering them and be a little more alternative or punk, but at the same time be feminine and girlie. You just see everything that Olivia stands for being celebrated.
Fans turn out in their GUTS best.
Sami Drasin
Sami Drasin
Keshishian: Before the tour began, it was important to Olivia to add a charitable component and do something that would have a lasting impact after the tour was over. That became the Fund 4 Good, and it was focused on what is important to her, which is helping women and girls. We vetted each organization in every country that Olivia toured in, and we wanted to have a very localized impact because obviously women in different countries have different needs.
Rodrigo: Being on tour [so soon] after Roe v. Wade got overturned made activism very important — especially considering I performed in many states that currently have abortion bans in place, I wanted to do everything I could to support organizations in each territory that are doing essential work in providing access to health care and other human rights.
Morgenroth: We’ve tied it beyond the tour already — she did an Erewhon smoothie, and all of the proceeds from her side were given to the fund. This is something that is going to be part of everything from here on out.
Keshishian: Olivia performed in the Philippines for the first time in October — which was a dream of hers, as a Filipino American — and she wanted to do it as a gift, so all net proceeds will go to a local charity [women’s health care organization Jhpiego] through the Fund 4 Good.
Rodrigo: Through the fund, I’ve met lots of incredible people who are making such positive changes in the world, and I’ve learned so much. I look forward to learning more and continuing to champion causes I care about.
‘She’s Revealing Another Side of Herself’
As Rodrigo wrapped the GUTS 2024 run and prepares for the Oct. 29 release of its Netflix tour film, she has snapped into focus as a new-school arena rock performer with a fastidious streak.
Danter: When you get to rehearsals and everything starts to fall into place, a lot of artists and managers go, “OK, this is the show.” As we got closer to opening night, we were still getting notes from Olivia, Zack and Aleen. It’s that search for perfection, which is refreshing.
Garcia: There was that younger vibe about her on the Sour tour, a little sillier, and on the GUTS tour, she definitely is thinking more and every detail matters more, no matter how microscopic.
Picchiottino: I’ve really enjoyed the process of refining and refining, being so specific about the tour visuals. I think I have over 60 sketches on my iPad, for five looks.
An: You could really feel that she was more confident this go-round because she understood how things worked and knew what conversations to have. She was the boss of this.
Mikou: The evolution from the last tour, it’s almost like she’s revealing another side of herself.
Sami Drasin
Braverman: In a lot of ways, it’s like a throwback rock show. I don’t think a lot of these fans had experienced anything like that.
Keshishian: Most of the band was on the Sour tour, and every member is female or nonbinary. So for all these people watching, to see them rocking out in an arena, I think it’s really powerful.
Deal: She’s very respectful of the younger members of her audience — she knows they’re there, she’s very sweet with them, and she does not talk down to them at all. There are some cusswords and there are some loud guitars, and she expects them to be where she is. And I thought that was very cool.
Keshishian: Regarding the film, there are tens of millions of people that did not get tickets to this show, and we wanted to make sure that all of Olivia’s fans had the ability to see it. So we set up 22 cameras for the last two L.A. shows, and we chose Netflix to be our partner because they have the largest global reach.
Tamaroff: Watching her prove who she is as a global superstar… she’s one of the most talented singer-songwriters on the planet already, but being able to showcase her talent as a performer, hearing people say that this was one of the best nights of their lives, that’s why we all do what we do.
Garcia: With age comes a little bit more pressure, and I think it’s coming from herself: to be better, to figure out the next challenge for herself, to see where she can break through next. She just keeps growing.
Rodrigo: I wanted to make sure that I could still connect with the audience, even in a venue as big as an arena.
Rodrigo will be honored as 2024 Touring Artist of the Year at the Billboard Live Music Summit & Awards in Los Angeles on Nov. 14.
This story appears in the Oct. 26, 2024, issue of Billboard.
At most huge pop tours, there’s a moment when shrieking fans reach a true fever pitch — when the lights dim right before the show begins, or when the intro to the artist’s biggest hit kicks in, or during the break before the encore. All of those happened at Olivia Rodrigo’s first arena tour — […]
After opening its doors in early 2018, It didn’t take long for multi-venue dance destination Avant Garder to dominate New York’s nightlife scene. Each year, the indoor/outdoor complex that includes Brooklyn Mirage, the Kings Hall and Great Hall has attracted some of the biggest names in dance, including a busy 2024 season that saw sellouts by Black Coffee, Swedish House Mafia, DavidGuetta, Gesaffelstein, Diplo, Anderson. Paak, Carl Cox, Deadmau5 and Three 6 Mafia.
That success comes in spite of the high-profile September 2023 collapse of the Electric Zoo festival — the Randall’s Island EDM festival purchased by Avant Gardner co-founder Billy Bildstein and the company’s former chief creative officer Philipp Wiederkehr the year before. Once a staple of the New York festival scene, the 2023 version of Electric Zoo was marred by missed permit deadlines, rampant overcrowding and safety violations later cited by former ally turned critic, Mayor Eric Adams.
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“It’s something I wanted to address head-on,” says Josh Wyatt, Avant Gardner’s new CEO, who officially begins his new role on Wednesday (Oct. 23) but has spent the last several months working behind the scenes to settle any lingering issues in the aftermath of the Electric Zoo debacle. “If I were to make a constructive criticism of the company in the past, it’s that they have not always done a good job of communicating with the various [Electric Zoo] stakeholders.”
“Over the last eight weeks, I have reached out to every key stakeholder in Electric Zoo and I’ve made them whole,” Wyatt added of refunding ticket holders, settling with vendors and managing small litigation issues. “I’m proud of that.”
Wyatt counts two decades of experience in the hospitality and nightlife sectors, including his most recent tenure as CEO of the members-only social club NeueHouse and its sister company, the photography museum Fotografiska. He also served as president of Equinox Hotels and as co-founder/managing partner of Generator Hostels.
Wyatt joins Avant Gardner after the company brought on a new unnamed investor, which has “inject(ed) the company with growth capital to allow myself as the new CEO to really operate the company,” he says, adding that Bildstein will serve as “my partner in this journey” as founder/creative director. Together, the two will explore the first phase of experiential evolution inside Avant Gardner with a handful of new initiatives including the launch of a music venue/mocktail bar, as well as new community spaces like a hi-fi listening room for audiophiles and immersive art and visual studios for guests.
“That’s the trend that’s happening right now and It’s something that we see a lot of our guests asking for — places to chill out and refresh,” Wyatt says.
Tuesday night’s (Oct. 22) Spirit of Life annual dinner may have been the first to feature a drone light show during cocktail hour, but that was far from the only surprise at the 2024 edition that honored AEG Presents chairman and CEO Jay Marciano.
Though it had already been announced that Elton John would play to help fete Marciano, no one was expecting Celine Dion. Looking luminescent in a gorgeous black gown, the Canadian legend wowed the crowd as she introduced Marciano, whom she has known and worked with for more than 25 years.
“I know that your career has been marked by great accomplishments and has survived its share of great challenges, but it has been marked, above all, by a consistent expression of empathy, she said of Marciano. “In your leadership roles, you have shown such a generosity of spirit, a kindness and understanding of humanity that your legacy seems to be writing itself.”
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Marciano accepted his award in front of an audience of more than 1,200 attendees at Los Angeles’ Shrine Auditorium that included a number of past Spirit of Life honorees, including Irving Azoff, Lucian Grainge, Rob Light, Sylvia Rhone, Don Passman, Jon Platt, Neil Portnow and John Sykes.
From left: John Sykes, President, Entertainment Enterprises, iHeartMedia, Inc., Jon Platt, Sylvia Rhone, CEO, Epic Records, honoree Jay Marciano, Chairman & CEO, AEG Presents, Evan Lamberg, President, MFEI & President, North America, Universal Music Publishing, Alissa Pollack, EVP, Global Music Marketing, iHeartMedia and Rob Light attend MFEI Spirit Of Life honoring Jay Marciano at Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall on Oct. 22, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.
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Before Dion and Marciano (and John) took the stage, there was the matter of some fundraising and some fun to be had.
Following the cocktail hour, the evening opened with a mockumentary expressing deep skepticism about presenting the Spirit of Life Award to a concert promoter for the first time given how low promoters are on the music food chain, according to many of the film’s participants. The humorous fake doc, which featured Jody Gerson, Azoff, Kelsea Ballerini, Kane Brown, and many more artists and executives, also gave Marciano’s pretend origin story as an accordion player who started in the ‘70s playing with Herbie Hancock and tried to join a pre-Tears for Fears Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith in an outfit called George & The Rockets. Both Tears for Fears members were in on the joke and played their parts in the doc to Spinal Tap perfection.
The evening was hosted by comedian/Saturday Night Life alum Fred Armisen, who moved the night quickly along. He introduced David Blaine, who explained his connection to cancer was a personal one: the illusionist’s mother was diagnosed with cancer when he was 16 and died when he was 20. As he told the story beside a set of his initials that he had set ablaze, he added that “City of Hope is about putting out fires,” and then proceeded to put out the fire by spewing voluminous amounts of water from his mouth as if he had swallowed a fire hose. He also wondered into the audience for two slight-of-hand tricks that left the audience shaking its head in disbelief.
As dinner was being served, a live auction that included such items as Super Bowl tickets and a meeting with New Orleans native son Jon Batiste, a golden pass to AEG’s tentpole festivals, Coachella, Stagecoach and Jazzfest; and a Wes Lang original work of art, raised several hundred thousand dollars, greatly aided by Universal Music Group chairman Lucian Grainge and former Hipgnosis’ chairman Merck Mercuriadis, each of whom paid $100,000 for custom Rolexes that were originally gifted to Elton John and his band by AEG. Bernie Taupin was on hand to describe the auction items and help up the ante. It was all more money in the coffers of City of Hope, which the Music, Film and Entertainment Industry (MFEI) division has raised more the $160 million for since the partnership started in 1973, said Universal Music Publishing Group North American president Evan Lamberg, who is chairman of the MFEI board. He took on the new role after five years as president of the board, a position now held by iHeart’s executive vp of global music marketing Alissa Pollack, who also spoke about the Duarte, Calif.-based center, whose mission is to cure and prevent cancer, diabetes, HIV/AIDS and other life threatening diseases.
Elton John performs onstage during MFEI Spirit Of Life honoring Jay Marciano at Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall on Oct. 22, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.
Lester Cohen/Getty Images
In his acceptance speech, Marciano joked, “I may be Elton John’s worst opening act ever. As soon as you can get me off the stage tonight, the Spirit of Life will intersect with the Circle of Life.” He then got serious about the music industry’s relationship with City of Hope, which first came to Marciano’s attention when he worked at Universal with Zach Horowitz, whose parents helped build City of Hope. “As a concert promoter, I’ve been on a lot of tours, but when I took the tour of the City of Hope campus in Duarte earlier this year to witness firsthand the comprehensive, compassionate care, it was a deeply moving and powerful experience. I’m reminded that what counts in this life: In this moment when our world is so terribly divided on too many fronts, City of Hope remains the kind of common ground we can all stand on together… Our industry is often maligned for our excesses. We’re loud, we’re narcissistic, we’re showy, but we are also very generous. When the world is facing a crisis, it’s often our industry and the people in this room that step up first to lend a helping hand.”
Marciano introduced John, who called Marciano one of the “four diamonds” in his career, and credited Marciano with his deal to for his 2004 residency at Las Vegas’ Caesars Palace, which changed the face of how Las Vegas was,” and also coordinating his farewell tour. “We went out in the sunshine; I didn’t want to go out in the twilight.”
John closed the evening with a loving version of “Your Song,” a tender take on “Tiny Dancer” and an extremely robust, extended performance of “Rocket Man,” that had the crowd on its feet long before the song ended.
Jason Isbell is leaving the 400 Unit at home next year for what is being billed as an “Intimate Evening” with the six-time Grammy winner.
The tour begins on Feb. 15 in Chicago and runs through the end of March, with select stops in smaller markets, including Portsmouth, NH, and large cities like New York City, Los Angeles and Nashville.
Isbell recently wrapped an eight-show residency at Music City’s Ryman Auditorium to mark the release of Live From The Ryman Vol. 2, a collection of recordings from four of the last six years of sold-out shows at legendary venue.
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Earlier this year, Isbell won his fifth and sixth Grammy when 2023’s Weathervanes (recorded with the 400 Unit) earned best Americana album and the track “Cast Iron Skillet” scored best American roots song. The Alabama native and former Drive-By Trucker first broke out in solo form in 2013 with his Dave Cobb-produced fourth LP Southeastern. His next two albums, Something More Than Free (2015) and The Nashville Sound (2017), were Grammy magnets and each won awards for best Americana album and roots song (for “24 Frames” and “If We Were Vampires,” respectively).
Tickets go on sale Friday, Oct. 25 via Isbell’s website.
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JASON ISBELL SOLO DATES
February 15 – Chicago, IL – Auditorium Theatre
February 16 – Ithaca, NY – State Theatre
February 17 – Portsmouth, NH – The Music Hall
February 18 – Providence, RI – Providence Performing Arts Center
February 21 – New York, NY – Beacon Theatre
February 22 – New York, NY – Beacon Theatre
February 28 – Washington, DC – Warner Theatre
March 1 – Washington, DC – Warner Theatre
March 14 – Los Angeles, CA – Walt Disney Hall
March 15 – Santa Barbara, CA – Arlington Theatre
March 20 – Nashville, TN – The Pinnacle
March 21 – Nashville, TN – The Pinnacle
March 22 – Nashville, TN – The Pinnacle
March 28 – Nashville, TN – The Pinnacle
March 29 – Atlanta, GA – Fox Theater
Jason Isbell
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Shakira announced a run of 2025 stadium and arena dates across North America for her Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour, produced by Live Nation, on Monday (Oct. 21). The unveiling of new dates follows Shakira’s update from last week when she announced that the 2024 North American leg would be rescheduled to spring 2025, going from […]
The Blippi: Join the Band Tour launched in late September and has already visited a number of cities, but still has many, many performances to come.
“We’re in and out of cities every day,” says Shaw, who explains the busy travel schedule is something they consider when casting talent for the show. “We’re looking for high energy, engaged actors and actresses who are excited about the opportunity, not only to play a great role in a great show, but also have the opportunity to travel.”
See a list of the remaining tour dates for 2024 below, and find up-to-date information about all the dates still to come in 2025 on the tour’s official website:
Friday, Oct. 18 – Meridian Centre – St. Catharines, ONSaturday, Oct. 19 – Tribute Communities Centre – Oshawa, ONSunday, Oct. 20 – Living Arts Centre – Mississauga, ONWednesday, Oct. 23 – Peterborough Memorial Centre – Peterborough, ONSaturday, Oct. 26 – Thunder Bay Community Auditorium – Thunder Bay, ONSunday, Oct. 27 – Burton Cummings Theatre for the Performing Arts – Winnipeg, MBTuesday, Oct. 29 – Western Manitoba Centennial Auditorium – Brandon, MSWednesday, Oct. 30 – Western Manitoba Centennial Auditorium – Brandon, MSFriday, Nov. 1 – Conexus Arts Centre – Regina, SKSaturday, Nov. 2 – TCU Place – Saskatoon, SKSunday, Nov. 3 – Enmax Centre – Lethbridge, ABFriday, Nov. 8 – Abbotsford Centre – Abbotsford, BCSaturday, Nov. 9 – Okanagan Events Centre – Penticton, BCSunday, Nov. 10 – Queen Elizabeth Theatre – Vancouver, BCTuesday, Nov. 12 – Jack Singer Concert Hall – Calgary, ABFriday, Nov. 15 – Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium – Edmonton, ABSunday, Nov. 17 – Co-op Place – Medicine Hat, ABTuesday, Nov. 19 – MetraPark Arena – Billings, MTWednesday, Nov. 20 – Bismarck Event Center – Bismarck, NDThursday, Nov. 21 – Scheels Arena – Fargo, NDFriday, Nov. 22 – Xtreme Arena – Coralville, IASaturday, Nov. 23 – Taft Theatre – Cincinnati, OHSunday, Nov. 24 – The Family Arena – St. Charles, MOFriday, Nov. 29 – The Riverside Theater – Milwaukee, WISaturday, Nov. 30 – Fisher Theatre – Detroit, MISunday, Dec. 1 – Temple Theatre – Saginaw, MITuesday, Dec. 3 – Old National Events Plaza – Evansville, INWednesday, Dec. 4 – Appalachian Wireless Arena – Pikeville, KYFriday, Dec. 6 – Old National Centre – Indianapolis, INSaturday, Dec. 7 – Mershon Auditorium – Columbus, OHSunday, Dec. 8– Louisville Palace – Louisville, KYTuesday, Dec. 10 – Walton Arts Center – Fayetteville, ARThursday, Dec. 12 – Cable Dahmer Arena – Independence, MOFriday, Dec. 13 – Hammons Hall for the Performing Arts – Springfield, MOSaturday, Dec. 14 – Texas Hall – Arlington, TXSunday, Dec. 15 – Bayou Music Center – Houston, TX
Billboard, in partnership with AEG Presents and Live Nation, has announced the first round of talent and industry leaders for this year’s Billboard Live Music Summit and Awards. The event, taking place Nov. 14 in Los Angeles, will celebrate creativity and achievement in the live music industry through exclusive panels and conversations, featuring some of […]
He’s back: Sam Fender has announced a string of arena shows in the U.K. and Ireland for later this year. The Geordie musician has been working on his third album and shared details of his first full U.K. tour since 2022.
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Fender’s dates will kick off in Ireland at the 3Arena in Dublin on December 2, then head to Leeds, Manchester, London, Birmingham, Glasgow and conclude in his hometown Newcastle on December 20. See the full dates below.
He’s also announced a string of shows throughout mainland Europe in Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam and more for next March. Tickets for all shows go on sale at 10 a.m. on October 25 via Fender’s official website.
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£1 from every ticket sold will be donated to the Music Venues Trust, and follows Coldplay’s recent commitment to donate 10% of their upcoming tour revenue to the grassroots music scene via the Music Venues Trust.
Fender released his most recent album, Seventeen Going Under, in 2021 which topped the U.K.’s Official Album Charts upon release. The ensuing year saw him play several sold-out tours and included huge shows at London’s 40,000-capacity Finsbury Park and at St. James’ Park in Newcastle, home of his beloved soccer team Newcastle United. Earlier this year he collaborated with Noah Kahan on a new version of Kahan’s single “Homesick.”
Fender snagged huge slots across the globe on his last tour, headlining Reading & Leeds Festival in England, as well as appearing internationally at Lollapalooza in Chicago and Splendour In the Grass in Australia. In addition, over the summer he played a brace of U.K. gigs in Plymouth and at Boardmasters Festival in Cornwall.
In recent weeks he has shared teasers of the live dates and his upcoming record and he’s previously performed two unreleased song during shows, “People Watching” and “Nostalgia’s Lie.”
Sam Fender European tour 2024/25 dates:
December 2 – 3Arena, DublinDecember 4 – First Direct Arena, LeedsDecember 6 – Co-Op Live, ManchesterDecember 10 – The O2, LondonDecember 13 – Utilita Arena, BirminghamDecember 16 – Obo Hydro, GlasgowDecember 20 – Utilita Arena, NewcastleMarch 4 – Olympia, ParisMarch 5 – 013 Poppodium, TilburgMarch 8 – Halle 622, ZurichMarch 10 – Palladium, CologneMarch 12 – Zenith, MunichMarch 13 – ChorusLife Arena, BergamoMarch 16 – Uber Eats Music Hall, BerlinMarch 18 – Afas Live, AmsterdamMarch 19 – Forest National, Brussels
Taylor Swift tickets are completely sold out at press time. If you go on Ticketmaster, you’ll see the same message for all remaining tour dates: “Sorry, tickets are not currently available online.”
It won’t be easy to come by tickets at a reasonable price, but there are a few options to explore. Here’s how I would look for tickets for Swift’s concerts in Miami, New Orleans, Indianapolis, Toronto and Vancouver.
How to find face value tickets to a “sold-out” concert on Ticketmaster:
Don’t get your hopes too high, but a small number of tickets typically do get released on Ticketmaster last minute, depending on availability. With The Eras Tour being such a hot ticket, quiet drops are often only accessible to those who have Verified Fan status for that city.
The night of Wednesday, Oct. 16, for example, Ticketmaster opened a queue to purchase tickets for the upcoming weekend’s Miami concerts with this message: “A few last-minute ticket releases have been made available to a number of fans who previously registered for and were screened by Verified Fan for this city.”
Why weren’t all tickets able to be purchased by fans at on-sale when they’re so ridiculously in demand? Often some seats are held by the venue, promoter or artist’s team for various business reasons, and if those aren’t put to use they eventually get put on sale for face value on Ticketmaster. For The Eras Tour, based on personal observation and fan reports on social media, it also seems that extra seats that weren’t originally on the floorplan sometimes get added after the crew sets up, if space allows. It’s a shot in the dark, but any unused or just-added seats will go to someone. Swift’s final Eras shows can all be found here on Ticketmaster.
If you’re still in search of tickets a day or two before the concert, you want to set yourself up for the best chance at snagging them in a very limited-release: You know that meme of the Sims mom distracted by the computer while the Sims baby is on fire? Imagine that level of laser focus on the event ticketing page, minus any real-life neglect and imminent danger: “Not now, honey, I’m refreshing Ticketmaster.” (Dark humor, folks!)
Best of luck, sincerely, to those of you trying to get your family of Swifties to a Miami, New Orleans, Indianapolis, Toronto or Vancouver concert.
A girl holds up a sign asking if anyone has a spare ticket as Taylor Swift fans arrive at Wembley Stadium ahead of her performance on Aug. 15, 2024 in London, England.
How to find resale tickets at a price you’re willing, if not thrilled, to pay:
Desperation can sink in if you really want to see Swift with your kids on The Eras Tour and have exhausted all opportunities to find direct tickets from the original point of sale. That’s where the resale market comes in: StubHub is probably the most popular place for that, but there’s also websites like SeatGeek, TickPick and Vivid Seats.
I’ve purchased tickets from StubHub and TickPick in the past and had a fine experience with both. Eras resale tickets are overpriced, most of the time obscenely so, and riddled with fees, but real. In the rare case there’s an authenticity or delivery issue with your purchase (which has never happened here, but the possibility exists), customer service policies say they’ll replace your tickets with “comparable or better tickets” (StubHub’s FanProtect Guarantee), or “equal or better quality” (TickPick’s BuyerTrust Guarantee). Check the policies on the website you’re buying from before you go through with an order to make sure you’re comfortable with all outcomes.
How to find the best seats for the best deal through the resale market:
Get familiar with how ticket resale outlets work. Unless you see the obvious Deal of the Eras Tour, don’t buy immediately. Test the website’s different options for sorting available tickets. Memorize the seating chart so you know what sections you want to zone in on. If you’re a family of more than three people, consider splitting up if that helps save a few bucks or gets everyone in better seats — with one parent sitting with one kid, and the other parent sitting with the other kid, or however it works out for the makeup of your family. Keep checking the websites you’d feel comfortable buying from for new ticket listings until the price and seats feel right for your situation.
If you’re not finding exactly what you want and willing to take a risk, you might consider heading in the direction of the venue without tickets just in case a better option pops up. Confirm with the venue if you can park there without a ticket, or park somewhere that’s on the way to the stadium and search. It takes strategic thinking and high hopes. Just remember, if you’re with your kids you’ll want to be at peace with buying from whatever’s left and still spending a good amount of money. For other artists price ranges often lower dramatically across resale platforms as start time nears on the day of the show, but not always. Do not rely on this. Be aware that this has not been the trend with Swift’s Eras Tour tickets.
As disappointing as it is to witness, I’ve spent enough time on real-time ticket-buying research to see incredible seats go unsold on these websites because the total never goes down to a price point anyone’s willing to pay.
Do not buy Eras Tour tickets here, or at least proceed with caution:
Steer clear of buying tickets via an unprotected transaction with strangers via social media. Certainly there are groups made on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) and Reddit that are meant to feature listings from fans intending to sell tickets they can no longer use directly to other fans, like this account with more than 300,000 followers, but the possibility of being scammed is very real. The people voluntarily running these accounts are connecting Swiftie buyers with sellers and are not responsible for someone scamming you.
If you’re going to gamble anyway, be smart about it. Be aware that tickets sold on Ticketmaster have digital delivery on the Ticketmaster app this tour. A screenshot of the order confirmation is not enough proof that legit tickets will actually show up for the concert — a screenshot can be faked. Use PayPal’s Goods and Services option for any exchange of money, not Apple Pay, Cash App, Venmo or Zelle.
One tip I’ve picked up from research in fan spaces is to ask the seller to get on a video call with you to complete the transaction while they show you the ticket order in their actual Ticketmaster account, at that very moment. Is this whole process a little sketchy? Yep. Is it foolproof? Nope. Could you end up with great seats at a nice price from a kind Swiftie? Of course, but remember, you might never be able to recover the money lost to a con artist.