Touring
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LONDON — Four months after opening its doors following a troubled, repeatedly delayed launch, Co-op Live has announced the appointment of Guy Dunstan as general manager and senior vice president of the United Kingdom’s biggest entertainment arena. Dunstan succeeds interim GM Rebecca Kane Burton, who was parachuted into the role in April when the venue’s original manager, Gary Roden, resigned several days after an ill-fated preview test event.
Dunstan, who has over 25 years of experience in the live events industry, most recently as managing director of arenas for NEC Group, where he was responsible for the 15,685-capacity Resorts World Arena and 15,800-capacity Utilita Arena in Birmingham, takes up the post at the Oak View Group-owned venue Oct. 21. As part of the executive reshuffle, Burton is promoted to executive vp of venue management for OVG International, where she will oversee the firm’s facilities, sports, entertainment, and hospitality divisions.
Located in the city of Manchester, Co-op Live is OVG’s first major project outside the United States and cost £365 million ($462 million) to build. Billed as a “game-changing” best-in-class arena facility, the much-hyped 23,500-capacity venue was originally due to open April 23 but high-profile construction delays led to multiple rounds of show cancellations before British rock band Elbow became the first act to officially play at the Populous-designed arena on May 14.
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Since then, Co-op Live has staged over 35 events, including shows by the Eagles, Pearl Jam, Liam Gallagher, Jonas Brothers and Megan Thee Stallion, and sold more than 900,000 tickets. In November, MTV’s Europe Music Awards (EMAs) will be held at the venue, marking the first time the event has been held in Manchester. Other upcoming bookings for 2024 include Paul McCartney, Janet Jackson, Crowded House, Glass Animals and Charli XCX.
“As we move into the next chapter of the venue’s story, Guy’s leadership will be a significant asset in helping us achieve our goals for Co-op Live to become the most sustainable arena in Europe and a first-choice venue for artists and fans worldwide,” said Jess Koravos, president of OVG International, in a statement announcing Dunstan’s appointment.
“What’s really exciting for me is that this venue has been specifically designed for live music and live entertainment,” Dunstan, a former chair and vice chair of the National Arenas Association, tells Billboard in an exclusive interview.
“When I first walked in and had a tour with [OVG chairman and CEO] Tim Leiweke I immediately said: ‘This is a dream to be able to work in a venue like this.’ Because everything has been designed to be focused on the customer experience and focused on the artist experience. That 365-million-pound investment means it is the top venue in the market, which makes it so exciting for me to be coming in to run it.”
Here, Dunstan discusses his vision for Co-op Live, his thoughts on the arena’s tumultuous launch, the recent furore around dynamic ticketing in the U.K. and more.
Congratulations on your appointment. What are you goals and long-term ambitions in the role?
A lot of great work has been done since the venue opened in terms of getting Co-op Live established and getting the promoters and artists used to working in the venue. That’s provided a great platform for me to be able to now come in, evaluate and focus on the areas that we need to carry on doing well, as well as those that we need to continually improve on. That’s what I’ve learnt in the past 28 years: our business doesn’t stand still. It’s continually evolving. Every day they’ll be a challenge that is thrown at you. And you have to have a structure and a team in place to deal with those unforeseen circumstances. Longer term, it will be about making sure that we’re providing the best possible experience for everybody who comes into the venue – front of house, back of house – and to thrive in that environment.
Co-op Live look inside
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You were not involved with Co-op Live at the time of its troubled launch but as someone working in the live music business you must have followed the story closely.
My heart went out to the team. Every venue has had a day or a period where there’s been an issue, or a crisis and it has been under the spotlight. At that time, I reached out to one or two members of the team and took a very supportive view on that. What’s been great since then is how the team has bounced back and have really focused on the event programme. All the events that we’ve done since that opening period has really moved that [conversation] forward very quickly. 36 events have already been done. 900,000 tickets sold. In our business you have to learn, adapt, move on and grow. And I’ve definitely seen that in the time that I’ve been able to look at the venue.
What has been the reputational damage to Co-op Live from that chaotic three-week opening period and the many shows that were cancelled?
Things move forward very quickly. You’re as good as your last event and since the arena has been operating it’s been providing some great shows. Liam Gallagher was quoted as saying this venue is up there with [New York City’s] Madison Square Garden. The Eagles were saying the amenities, sight lines and facilities are what other venues should strive for. So that’s what I think is now driving that reputation. People are experiencing what the venue is all about and the focus is now on continuing that journey. We’ve got a venue that is first-in-class and that reputation and the awareness of that will grow every time we put an event on. When fans buy tickets and come into the venue that’s where their perceptions will really be built.
One of the biggest criticisms of Co-op Live from visitor reviews is the high price of food and drinks with a pint of beer costing almost £9.00 (almost $12.00). How do you justify those prices?
Since the pandemic there’s been a huge increase in cost in terms of food and beverage provision, so those prices are in line with the general arena market, and we have to reflect that in the price that we pass on to the consumer. What I would focus on there is the quality and range of the product [available]. When you walk into Co-op Live, one of the things that really strikes you is that the facilities feel like what you would expect to see on a high street or at the high-end range of clubs and bars. 15-20 years ago, venues at this level were essentially just bowls with a functional concourse for people to get around and some holes in the wall to get a burger and a warm pint. There was no real focus on the customer experience, but that’s where our industry has evolved over time and Co-op Live has taken it to a new level.
Courtesy of Oak View Group
Co-op Live is OVG’s first arena outside of the U.S. and marks the start of the company’s international expansion plans. What impact has OVG’s entrance into the European market had on the touring and arena business?
It’s really important from a U.K. point of view that we’re an attractive proposition to artists and promoters. We’ve got over 20 arenas operating in the U.K. and introducing top-quality facilities into the market is a real positive because the whole market benefits from that. What OVG have done is refreshed the focus on venue management. I think there was probably a complacency in there. The market was well established with the major operators and what OVG have done is come in and completely focused on venues providing great customer experience, state of the art facilities and venues that are actually designed for the product they are delivering. I think OVG have really shifted that focus and revolutionized the way that operators look at their own venues.
One of the biggest stories in the U.K. live music industry recently has been the furore over dynamic pricing on tickets for Oasis’ comeback tour next year. What are your views on dynamic ticketing and is it something that Co-op Live welcomes?
Ticket pricing and how that is set is very much an artist and promoter focus. As venues, we will work with promoters to make sure we are facilitating their needs and requirements, but the subject of [dynamic pricing] is something I’m going to leave to artists and promoters to take a position on. The venue has no benefit from how that plays out.
Nevertheless, a key part of your business model is offering concert goers a wide range of premium, and VIP upsell seating options?
We don’t want customers coming to just one show a year to see their favorite artist. We want them to have a really great experience when they’re here and want to come back again and again. And we’ve seen that through the growth of premium, which has really shifted. There was a gap in the [premium] offer that [Co-op Live] has helped meet. In the past there was a big gap between the highest-level premium and general admission and to many people premium was seen as not attainable. Now there’s different entry levels and it is affordable. The proof is in the pudding in that demand for those premium experiences, over and above just buying a standard ticket, has grown immensely.
Earlier this year, a Parliamentary committee called for a new voluntary tax to be added to arena and stadium tickets sold in the United Kingdom to support struggling grassroots music venues. Is that something OVG and Co-op Live supports?
Yes. Where there is an opportunity to put a voluntary levy or artist-led additional fund onto the ticket that can then go back into supporting the grass roots sector is something we will support as an organization. There’s a will and a momentum to take this forward right across the live music chain, from artists to promoters to venues. This is something we have to do that benefits the sectors that really need that support.
U.K. live music trade groups have also been calling for a cut in VAT sales tax on concert tickets, which is currently set at 20%, to bring the sector closer in line with other European countries. What impact would that have on the U.K. live business?
The benefit would be felt right the way through [the ecosystem] – from venues of our size and nature to the grass roots sector. There is clear evidence [from other European countries where the VAT rate is lower than the U.K.] that it does benefit the live business. [Cutting VAT on tickets] is something I completely endorse because hopefully it brings ticket prices to a level that is more attractive. But also it can be used to support other parts of the eco system and enable it to be more viable at a grass roots level.
One of the biggest issues facing the live sector post-pandemic is the rise in costs throughout all levels of the production chain, coupled with wider economic pressures impacting on consumer spending. How do you offset those cost rises and what are you doing to make sure live music remains affordable for fans?
That’s been a real challenge, particularly over the past three years or so in running venues of the size and scale that we operate. We have got to be really agile in the way that we manage costs and there’s costs that we have to continually review and monitor. Equally, we have to be mindful of how we deliver the customer experience and price sensitivity is really important. What I do see is that whilst the cost-of-living crisis has been a major issue globally, people are still really keen to come to entertainment venues. We’ve not seen an impact on ticket sales and what we have also seen is that people are still willing to spend money in the venues.
Harry Styles, who grew up in the small Cheshire village of Holmes Chapel, around 30 miles outside of Manchester, is an investor in Co-op Live and advised on aspects of the venue’s design. Can we expect to see him perform at the venue anytime soon?
When he is ready to tour, we’re ready and welcome for him to come and play and we really hope we’re the first venue [he chooses] when he comes back to play in the U.K. market.
Thomas Rhett will be kicking up his boots in 2025, when his Better In Boots Tour launches in June.
The Live Nation-produced tour will bring Thomas Rhett’s energy-fueled show and cascade of nearly two dozen No. 1 Billboard Country Airplay chart hits to 30 cities across North America, in states including New York, Virginia, Florida and Georgia. “Wind Up Missin’ You” hitmaker Tucker Wetmore will offer direct support on the tour, while “Austin” singer Dasha and sibling trio The Castellows will perform on select shows.
The tour will follow Thomas Rhett’s seventh album About a Woman, which released in August. The album features “Don’t Wanna Dance,” which interpolates Whitney Houston’s smash hit “I Wanna Dance With Somebody,” as well as songs such as “Fool,” “Can’t Love You Anymore” and “Overdrive,” which draw on inspirations from artists ranging from The Oak Ridge Boys, Alan Jackson and The Rolling Stones.
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Five-time Grammy nominee Rhett recently told Billboard about another song from the album, “Church,” which pays homage to both fellow country singer Eric Church’s music, as well as Rhett’s own love story with his wife, Lauren.
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“This is Lauren’s favorite on the album, because when we were in high school, I bought [Church’s] Carolina record, which was his second album,” he says. “I had to buy a new copy every three months because I just wore it out. It kept skipping — but he was like our Zach Bryan. He was that dude who kind of got played on the radio but could care less if he was or not, and he was kind of grungy and would say things in songs that most people weren’t saying. I learned the entire album on acoustic guitar, and any time we were at a party, that’s all I played — so this song means a lot to us, because he was the soundtrack to our teenage years.”
Tickets for most of the Better In Boots tour dates will go on sale Friday, Sept. 20, at 10 a.m. local time on Thomas Rhett‘s website, with the remaining shows going on sale in the coming weeks.
See the full list of the Better in Boots 2025 Tour dates below:
Jane says … the tour is over. Jane’s Addiction has canceled its tour midway through the band’s trek after frontman Perry Farrell threw a punch at guitarist Dave Navarro during the band’s show on Friday (Sept. 13) in Boston at the Leader Bank Pavilion.
“The band have made the difficult decision to take some time away as a group. As such, they will be cancelling the remainder of the tour,” the band said in a brief statement Monday (Sept. 16). Refunds will be issued at the point of purchase.
In fan-captured videos that went viral after the Friday show, Farrell is seen on stage singing toward the audience before turning to Navarro and screaming the lyrics, seemingly angrily. The frontman then makes his way over to the guitarist, continuing his scream, before body-checking the guitarist, backing away, then getting back in Navarro’s face to continue yelling while the guitarist-actor — who appears confused — calmly holds Farrell at arm’s length while the frontman continues to yell. Farrell then throws a punch at his guitarist, and a crew member comes on stage, telling Farrell repeatedly to “Stop! Stop!” More crew members rush to the stage to restrain the rocker and take him off stage.
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The next day, Jane’s Addiction issued a statement via the band’s Instagram Stories. “We want to extend a heartfelt apology to our fans for the events that unfolded last night,” the statement read. The band then noted that the following show on Sunday (Sept. 15) at the Hartford Healthcare Amphitheater was canceled.
Farrell’s wife, Etty Lau Farrell, shared a statement on her own Instagram after the altercation. Reposting video of the altercation, she explained how she saw the situation. “Clearly there had been a lot of tension and animosity between the members.. the magic that made the band so dynamic,” she wrote. ” Well, the dynamite was lit. Perry got up in Dave’s face and body checked him.”
“Perry’s frustration had been mounting, night after night, he felt that the stage volume had been extremely loud and his voice was being drowned out by the band,” she continued, noting that her husband had been battling a sore throat and tinnitus. “But when the audience in the first row, started complaining up to Perry cussing at him that the band was planning too loud and that they couldn’t hear him, Perry lost it.”
She went on to praise Navarro for trying to de-escalate the situation, noting that the guitarist “still looked handsome and cool in the middle of a fight,” while her husband was “a crazed beast” for a little bit. Added Etty, “He finally did not calm down, but did breakdown and cried and cried.”
Jane’s Addiction — who logged one song on the Billboard Hot 100 and three No. 1 hits on the Alternative Airplay chart since forming in the mid-’80s — was about halfway through its tour alongside Love and Rockets. The tour — produced by Live Nation — had been scheduled to conclude on Oct. 16 at the YouTube Theater in Los Angeles.
See Jane’s Addiction’s statement below.
Billy McFarland, the convicted fraudster behind the disastrous Fyre Festival of 2017, has announced new dates for the long-awaited follow-up to the often-mocked Bahamian influencer event that landed him in prison for four years, owing victims more than $26 million in restitution.
Earlier this week, McFarland took to the Today Show to “announce” the new dates for Fyre Fest II, which he now says will take place April 25-28 on “a private island off the Caribbean coast of Mexico.” By most counts, however, this is the third or fourth version of a sequel to the event McFarland has broadcast to his followers. McFarland has been hyping up a follow-up to the disastrous 2017 Bahamas festival since he went to prison in late 2018, changing the date for his redemption-style event several times while carefully removing or updating past references to Fyre II each time he updates his social media sites.
According to court documents, McFarland has been writing up a plan for the event — first called PYRT festival — since he was incarcerated at Elkton Federal Correctional Institute in Ohio on charges of fraud and lying to the FBI. McFarland immediately begin hawking the event on TikTok when he got out of prison in mid-2022 with a scavenger hunt. McFarland had fans looking through empty bottles by late November of that year for free tickets to an event he’d eventually rebrand as Fyre Fest II in August of 2023, where he claimed to have placed 100 tickets on sale for $499 a pop and immediately sold out of them, which would have generated nearly $50,000 in revenue.
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The date for that event was scheduled for late 2024 and at one point McFarland bragged there were more people signing up for his event than buying tickets for Coachella. Besides the first 100 tickets allegedly sold to Fyre II, fans have only been able to “sign up” for tickets to the sequel event, clicking through a form-style website where they are encouraged to apply for the opportunity to buy tickets to Fyre Festival II, with prices ranging from $1,400 to $1.1 million. At this point, fans can’t buy tickets for the event — they can only apply to attend.
McFarland detailed the venture to both the Wall Street Journal and NBC News, saying that he hopes to gather about 3,000 people for the event and also promises “an incredible production company who’s handling everything from soup to nuts” for the fest.
“We have the chance to embrace this storm and really steer our ship into all the chaos that has happened, and if it’s done well, I think Fyre has a chance to be this annual festival that really takes over the festival industry,” McFarland told NBC.
McFarland has not avoided legal trouble since leaving prison. Last year he was served a civil summons, which claimed he ripped off an investor who gave him $740,000 for his new venture. An attorney for 54-year-old Jonathan Taylor of New York — who met McFarland while both were serving prison sentences at Elkton — said Taylor struck an agreement with McFarland and his business partner, Michael Falb (also named as a defendant), in which they allegedly offered him one-third equity in the venture, PYRT Technologies, in exchange for a $740,000 investment. Taylor claims McFarland and Falb then reneged on the deal by refusing to grant him the equity they promised or to return the money despite his demands that they do so. A judge later ruled that Taylor needed to refile the lawsuit to push the case forward.
McFarland has managed to stay busy with other ventures since leaving prison. In May, McFarland won a heavily hyped martial arts fight against a social media influencer, defeating the heavily favored crypto YouTuber Justin “Jchains” Custardo via TKO during the main event of Karate Combat’s Influencer Fight Club series at the Consensus conference in Austin, Texas.
McFarland has also launched the PYRT marketing agency and been heavily involved in the promotion of the song “ONBOA47RD,” a pro-Donald Trump rap song from Fivio Foreign and Kodak Black.
With a breakout hit across international charts this summer, KISS OF LIFE is ready to take an explosive year to the next level with their first-ever world tour.
The girl group’s forthcoming Kiss Road World Tour continues the momentum Julie, Natty, Belle and Haneul gained on the global stage with the infectious single “Sticky,” helping the K-pop act debut onto multiple Billboard charts: The Afrobeat-inspired summer single peaked at No. 7 on the South Korean Songs chart so far, entered the U.S.-based World Digital Song Sales chart at No. 10 in July, while also spending a solid six weeks on the Billboard Global 200 after hitting No. 87, and 10 weeks on the Billboard Glocal Excl. U.S. chart after a No. 47 peak.
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With promising results early just over a year into their career alongside the quartet’s international makeup and range of industry experiences, KISS OF LIFE is proving they’re more than just a rising K-pop rookie—they’re becoming a global-pop force all their own.
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“We love the song ‘Sticky,’ so it was really an honor for it to get into the charts,” says Julie, the group’s dynamic leader who was born in Hawaii, speaking to Billboard for their first-ever interview with an international outlet. “We really put a lot of effort into the choreography and also the music itself, so it’s exciting to see our hard work paying off. All of us were just hugging each other when we found out the news.”
Seattle-raised Belle, who previously worked as a songwriter for other top K-pop groups, believes their authenticity plays a massive role in why global fans connect to them: “We honestly try to be ourselves in all the music we release. By being authentic, I think our fans and listeners are able to resonate more with the excitement we feel when we sing and perform.”
Youngest member Haneul, born and raised in Korea, adds that the KIOF members’ diverse backgrounds fuel their artistry. “We just respect each other,” the 19-year-old says. “We acknowledge our differences and the path we went through to get here, so that makes us learn from each other and grow.”
The upcoming Kiss Road tour kicks off in Seoul with two concerts on Oct. 26 and 27 before coming to North America for an extensive, 18-date trek beginning in Minneapolis, Minn. on Nov. 10. “We are pretty confident in our performing ability,” teases Thailand-born Natty, whom K-pop fans have watched grow up on K-pop competition shows like Sixteen and Idol School before officially debuting onto the K-pop scene as an artist. “Fans can expect a show with high energy and we’re excited to bring our best to the stage.”
Get to know KISS OF LIFE’s Julie, Natty, Belle, and Haneul as the members share more about their process, viewpoint, world tour plans and messages to their fans affectionately known as Kissys, alongside exclusive photos below.
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I want to begin by congratulating you on earning your first Billboard chart entries with “Sticky.” What were your reactions?!
Julie: We couldn’t believe it! We love the song “Sticky” so it was really an honor for it to get into the charts. We were so happy that people were liking it as much as us and we felt so grateful! We really put a lot of effort into the choreography and also the music itself, so it’s exciting to see our hard work paying off. All of us were just hugging each other when we found out the news; as hard as we worked, we also know that we really couldn’t have done it without the support of our fans—love you, Kissys!
KISS OF LIFE
Courtesy of S2 Entertainment
KISS OF LIFE has been rising since your debut last July, but “Sticky” has been a real breakout: Top 10 in Korea, charting in the U.S., your biggest hits on Billboard‘s Global charts. What do you think are some factors that made this such a hit?
Belle: I think we honestly try to be ourselves in all the music we release. By being authentic, I think our fans and listeners are able to resonate more with the excitement we feel when we sing and perform as well. I feel like this song, in particular, really suited all the members, and you could feel that all the members were just having fun and enjoying themselves while recording and performing the song. Also, in regards to the visuals and performance, we focused on just feeling ourselves and being confident which fits well with summer. I mean, it is summer, why not have a little fun with it?!
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I also love your latest B-side, “Te Quiero,” co-written by Belle. What did you want to show with “Sticky” and “Te Quiero” that you hadn’t shown previously in KISS OF LIFE?
Natty: We wanted to show everyone our translation of summer! The cool and refreshing side as well as the hot! We just wanted to send good vibes and make sure everyone could enjoy the summer with us. Both “Sticky” and “Te Quiero” are actually our interpretations of summer: “Sticky” would be the exciting, fun aspect of summer where you enjoy yourself to the fullest; “Te Quiero” would be the cooler, more chill and relaxing version of summer that is equally enjoyable. I don’t think we had some mastermind plan of what we wanted to show with these tracks. We just genuinely wanted everyone to enjoy the music while enjoying their summer. You work hard, you play harder!
KISS OF LIFE
Courtesy of S2 Entertainment
“Te Quiero” is also significant as another English B-side track, just like “Nobody” with “Midas Touch.” Is there a more prominent reason to include these tracks, and even the English version of “Bad News,” in your larger plans as a group?
Julie: Of course! We always want to keep our international fans a big part of our music. For the Kissys all around the world, we want to continue to make music that everyone can enjoy and listen to. We are adamant in making sure our international fans know that they play a big role in our music. Again, we don’t have a master plan on how or a larger picture that we are strategizing for. We really just want everyone to feel included with our music, wherever they are and whoever they are. We just want to make music that everyone can enjoy and listen to without overcomplicating things.
Have you begun preparations and rehearsals for your Kiss Road World Tour? What are you looking forward to the most?
Haneul: We are super excited for the tour. Absolutely, can’t wait to meet our Kissys, who have been supporting us throughout our journey. We’ve been working hard with our team in designing the show so that we are able to give all of our fans an amazing experience. There’s a little bit of pressure to show our fans the best version of ourselves but we promise we won’t let you down. I think the most exciting part about touring is really feeling everyone’s positive energy!
Natty: Well, we are actually pretty confident in our performing ability so fans can expect a show with high energy. We love what we do and we are blessed with so many people supporting us while we do what we love. In return, we want to give them the best version of us, so I hope they will all look forward to it.
Something I always respected about KISS OF LIFE is that you shared yourselves via solo songs from your debut album. Will we get to see more solo stages on tour?
Belle: Don’t want to give too many spoilers so…I think we can say, “maybe?!” We’ve prepared some new stages so make sure you stay tuned for it.
KISS OF LIFE
Courtesy of S2 Entertainment
With that, KISS OF LIFE has also become known for your covers. Your Brown Eyed Girls “Sixth Sense” cover was even officially released, and you’ve done songs by 2NE1, Ciara, Ariana Grande, Nicki Minaj, BLACKPINK, Doja Cat, the list goes on…any special or new covers for tour?
Julie: We always sing, rap, and dance to so many different artists on a daily [basis], so hopefully, we get the opportunity to showcase it to everyone on tour. We just love all different styles and categories of music. For us right now it’s being versatile enough to explore many different types of music and to experiment with sounds so we [can] create our own specific style. There are days we focus on singing, other days we rap, and days we only dance, but we are always working to improve ourselves, so I hope we have the opportunity to showcase it for the world to see!
The four of you came from very different backgrounds and debuted as adults. Sometimes, it can be difficult for adults to pursue their dreams or even make new friends. How did you all connect and learn from each other to make KISS OF LIFE work as cohesively as it is?
Haneul: We just respect each other. We acknowledge our differences and the path we went through to get here so that makes us learn from each other and grow! A key point in any relationship is trust and respect. The respect comes from acknowledging each other’s past experiences that led them on the path for us to be here. I believe that because we are able to share our respective experiences with each other, we are able to learn from each other and grow as a group, not just individually. We all have something to learn from each other and we respect where that knowledge came from.
KISS OF LIFE
Courtesy of S2 Entertainment
Do you have any other messages for international fans waiting to meet you?
Julie: We always want to say thank you so much for sending your love and support. Although we may be far distances, our hearts are always near! We can’t wait to meet everyone in person and I hope the time comes fast. Love you guys so much and see you soon!!!
Courtesy of S2 Entertainment
New legislation to protect concert goers from terror attacks at U.K. music venues has been presented in Parliament, following years of campaigning by the mother of Martyn Hett, one of the 22 victims of 2017’s Manchester Arena bombing outside an Ariana Grande concert.
The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill, better known as Martyn’s Law, received its first reading in Parliament on Thursday (Sept. 12).
The legislation requires all venues with a capacity of more than 200 to take “appropriate action” to protect concert-goers from harm by having a number of measures in place, including mandatory safety training for staff and plans in place to prevent and protect against terror attacks.
For venues with capacities of more than 800 people, operators are required to draw up comprehensive public protection procedures that set out plans for evacuating people from the premises and moving them to a place where there is a reduced risk of physical harm.
These procedures will need to be regularly updated and assessed by U.K. regulator the Security Industry Authority (SIA), the law states. Large venues will also need to take appropriate steps to reduce their vulnerability to terror attacks by having CCTV monitoring the building and the immediate vicinity, or the hiring of security staff.
In addition, venue operators will be legally required to limit the disclosure of information about their premises that may be “useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism.”
Failure to comply with the regulations or a venue providing false information to the SIA can result in fines of up to £18 million ($23.5 million) or 5% of the operator’s annual global revenue, whichever is greater. The maximum fine for a small music venue that holds between 200 and 800 people is capped at £10,000 ($13,000).
The government says the bill’s proportionate and tiered approach, which is linked to the size of the venue and scale of the activity taking place, will ensure that “undue burdens are not placed on small businesses.”
An impact assessment carried out by the Home Office estimates the cost of implementing the new security requirements to be around £300 ($390) per year for small venues and around £5,000 ($6,500) per year for buildings with a capacity of more than 800.
The long-proposed bill was drawn up in response to the suicide bomb attack outside an Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena in 2017 in which 22 people died and more than 800 people were injured, many of them children.
A public inquiry into the tragedy found that failings by the British security service MI5, local emergency services, Greater Manchester Police and security teams working at the SMG-operated venue meant that multiple opportunities to prevent or minimize the “devastating impact of the attack” were missed.
Figen Murray, the mother of victim Martyn Hett, has led the campaign for tougher security regulations to be put in place for music venues. Earlier this year, she walked 200 miles from Manchester to Downing Street, London, to push for the law to come into force.
“Today means we are one step closer to making public spaces safer for everyone,” Murray said in a statement.
Now that the bill has had its first reading in the House of Commons, it will be debated by MPs, who may propose amendments. It will then proceed to the House of Lords for approval before receiving Royal Ascent and becoming law. The government said that businesses will be given detailed guidance to understand their new obligations and time to implement any changes required.
“This legislation will strengthen public safety, help protect staff and the public from terrorism and ensure we learn the lessons from the terrible Manchester Arena attack and the inquiry that followed,” said the Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, in a statement.
Responding to the bill’s progress, Michael Kill, CEO of the Night Time Industries Association, praised Figen Murray for her “unwavering dedication” in honor of her son, but said it was crucial that the “balance between heightened security and practical implementation” is carefully considered by MPs.
“Key concerns include the operational impact, skillset required of venue operators and the financial implications of enforcing these new safety protocols,” Kill said. “While the objectives of Martyn’s Law are commendable, it is essential that the legislation is designed with feasibility and fairness in mind.”
When Alejandro Fernández takes the stage Sept. 14-15 at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena, it will mark his record 22nd year performing at one of the hottest music events in Sin City. But the event he has been playing for more than two decades isn’t a recurring casino or club residency — it’s Fiestas Patrias, the ever-growing weekend of programming celebrating El Grito de Dolores (when Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla’s call to arms ignited the Mexican War of Independence in 1810) and Mexican Independence Day, which are officially celebrated Sept. 15 and 16, respectively.
“Twenty-four years ago, I began what has become a tradition of celebrating Fiestas Patrias with the Latino community in Las Vegas,” the Mexican superstar tells Billboard. “I am proud to say it is now the biggest Mexican Independence Day celebration outside of Mexico and one of the most important single days of live Mexican music anywhere in the world.”
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Fiestas Patrias are celebrated throughout the United States and Mexico in big and small ways — but Las Vegas’ version has become the single biggest Fiestas Patrias weekend for live Mexican music anywhere, with thousands of visitors from around the globe, though mainly from Mexico. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority calls it “one of the largest sources of international visitation” for the city.
This year’s bookings include returning acts, such as Luis Miguel, Los Bukis (who currently have a residency at Dolby Live), Gloria Trevi, Banda MS, Grupo Firme and Emmanuel, and newcomers like Peso Pluma, Fuerza Regida, Ana Bárbara and Carín León, performing at venues throughout the city. And as in previous years, not all of them are Mexican: Urbano stars Nicky Jam and Arcángel, for example, will join Luis R Conriquez and Codiciado at the third annual Rumbazo festival, taking place at the Downtown Las Vegas Events Center Sept. 13-14 in partnership with Billboard.
But despite what it has become today, Las Vegas’ Fiestas Patrias origins weren’t particularly musical.
“In reality, it wasn’t born as a musical event but as a sporting event, when those big fights began, the great Mexican boxers,” says veteran tour promoter Henry Cárdenas, referring to the September 1992 match where Mexican Julio César Chávez famously beat Puerto Rican Héctor “Macho” Camacho for the WBC super lightweight belt. “Then they brought [musical] talent to join the party.”
This year, the boxing tradition continues with Mexican legend Canelo Álvarez putting his super middleweight titles on the line as he takes on Puerto Rican Edward Berlanga at the T-Mobile Arena on Sept. 14. But today music, not sports, is the driving force behind Las Vegas’ Fiestas Patrias celebration.
WBC Super Lightweight Champion Julio César Chávez (R) lands a right on challenger Héctor “Macho” Camacho in the first round of their September 12, 1992, fight in Las Vegas, NV.
CARLOS SCHIEBECK/AFP/Getty Images
For Luis Medina, executive producer/CEO of Uno Productions and a former manager of Julio Iglesias, the city’s Fiestas Patrias tradition dates back even further, to the late ’80s, when the Spanish star began coming to Vegas twice a year to perform a series of shows at Caesars Palace.
“Julio was perhaps primarily the one who opened Las Vegas to Latinos,” Medina says. “Then came [Mexicans] José José, Juan Gabriel, Vicente Fernández, those classics. And that process began.”
Little by little, he recalls, Las Vegas became a Latin artistic hotspot — and the city’s hospitality industry took note. “Many hotels were surprised that they were being left behind because all these movements were happening, and they were still studying us with a magnifying glass,” Medina says. “They thought it was only with Luis Miguel or Julio Iglesias or Vicente Fernández” that audiences would show up.
Eventually, the demand led not only the biggest hotels to book Mexican and Latin talent but also smaller venues and nightclubs. “This effervescence was created as a result of all these processes, and Las Vegas began to grow,” Medina says. “Today, the millions of dollars that drive our business is impressive and allows Las Vegas to live off the Latin market in the month of September.”
Hundreds of thousands of Mexicans travel from south of the border to celebrate their independence in Vegas; even a decade ago, more than 300,000 Mexicans came by air alone for the 2013 festivities, according to a Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority report. And, Cárdenas adds, most of them have good purchasing power. “When you are coming to Las Vegas to celebrate from Mexico, there are other additional costs — the hotel, the tickets, the food, the good life, the partying. And that patron has distinguished himself because he is high class, and he comes prepared to celebrate … and attend at least three or four events that weekend,” he says.
“The people, culture and traditions of Mexico have made a significant impact on the city both on and off the Strip,” says Molly Castano, Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority president of public relations and communications, adding that “the celebrations that take place in honor of Fiestas Patrias are proof of that impact and connection.”
As for Alejandro Fernández, his Fiestas Patrias Vegas bookings have only grown: In 2022, his show went from one to two sold-out nights at the 17,000-capacity MGM Grand Garden Arena.
“He was the first artist that we worked with that wanted to create his special weekend in Las Vegas, and there’s nothing more mexicano than La Familia Fernández,” says Emily Simonitsch, senior vp of West Coast booking at Live Nation. “I think it’s impactful because he does the traditional celebration halfway through the show, celebrating the tradition of El Grito and Independencia with the flag and the bells and the dancers. So that’s what created it. That’s what El Grito is about.”
“This is a demonstration of the cultural influence and economic power of the Latino community in the U.S.,” Fernández adds. “I look forward to continuing the tradition for many years to come, representing my pride and love for Mexico, our people and our music.”
This story appears in Billboard‘s Rumbazo special issue, dated Sept. 14, 2024.
In decades past, the BBC Proms were considered an austere, sometimes stuffy showcase of classical music at London’s Royal Albert Hall. But in recent years, pop and rock acts have risen to the challenge to be a part of the programming, with Sam Smith taking on a performance backed by the BBC Orchestra earlier this summer.
Last night (Sep 11), Florence + The Machine played their 2009 debut Lungs in full for their first – and only – live performance in 2024, backed by conductor Jules Buckley and his orchestra. The Proms were first held in 1895, and have been organised by the BBC since 1927. The events take place over an 8-week stretch in the summer each year.
The show – dubbed “Symphony of Lungs” – saw many classic tracks be performed live for the first time in decades. “Bird Song” had not been played by the band for 15 years, while fan favorites “Drumming Song” and “My Boy Builds Coffins” were brought back into the setlist after lengthy absence.
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Speaking to the crowd, Florence Welch said that the album captured her “messy and chaotic” teenage years and spoke of the challenge revisiting the songs. “I really had a time re-learning these songs ‘cause these [vocal] ranges are crazy,” she said from the stage. “Because you’re young and you’re drunk and you only think you’ll ever sing them one time.”
Watch footage from the show below.
The event was one of the season’s most in-demand events with tickets selling out instantly upon announcement earlier this year. A limited batch of tickets released on the day of the event, with prices as low as £8 ($10), saw a queue form online that reached over 20,000 hopeful attendees.
Lead singer Florence Welch and the band worked extensively with conductor Jules Buckley to adapt the songs for his orchestra. Speaking to Vogue, the singer said it was an offer she couldn’t refuse. “When [the invitation] came in, they were like, ‘We know you’re off, but would you…?’ and I was like, ‘Yes!’”
Fan favorites including “Dog Days Are Over”, “Kiss With A Fist” and “Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)” were all performed, fusing elements of the string section and her own band expertly. Lungs was a instant-hit upon release, landing at No.1 on the U.K. Albums Chart and No.14 on the Billboard 200.
Florence + The Machine released their most recent album Dance Fever in 2022, which was another chart topper in the U.K. and reached No.14 on the Billboard 200. Earlier this year, Welch collaborated with Taylor Swift on The Tortured Poets Department cut “Florida!!!”, which peaked at No.8 on the Billboard Hot 100.
See the show’s full setlist below.
“Drumming Song”“My Boy Builds Coffins”“You Got the Love” (Candi Staton cover)“Bird Song Intro”“Bird Song”“Swimming”“I’m Not Calling You a Liar”“Kiss With a Fist”“Howl”“Girl With One Eye”“Hardest of Hearts”“Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)”“Blinding”“Hurricane Drunk”“Cosmic Love”“Between Two Lungs”“Dog Days Are Over”“Falling”
After 10 (and a half years), Billy Joel has completed his one-show-a-month residency at New York’s Madison Square Garden (MSG). According to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore, Billy Joel at The Garden earned $266.7 million and sold 1.9 million tickets over 104 shows.
Joel’s residency was a steady performer since its launch in 2014. He played one show at MSG every month except for June 2017 and December 2022. The other exception was a year-and-a-half hiatus due to COVID-19, from March 2020 through October 2021, plus January 2022 in the height of the first Omicron wave. All 104 shows sold out, averaging 18,604 tickets per night. Playing in the round, he out-sold the average MSG act, typically scaled to 13,000-15,000 seats.
While attendance remained consistent, ticket prices and grosses grew over the course of his decade at the arena. Joel’s 2014 shows averaged $2 million per show, steadily creeping up to $2.5 million by 2019. Upon returning from the pandemic, dynamic pricing and new platinum ticketing sent earnings soaring, from an average of $2.7 million in 2022 to $3.2 million in 2023, and up 49% to $4.7 million this year.
Joel’s final MSG show topped the entire run, bringing in more than $5 million from 18,576 tickets on July 25. That’s more than double the sub-$2 million revenue from the opening show on Jan. 27, 2014.
Ultimately, Billy Joel at The Garden is the third-highest grossing concert residency in Billboard Boxscore history, passing U2’s brief-but-powerful opening run at Las Vegas’ Sphere. The only artist with bigger totals is Celine Dion. The Canadian diva’s A New Day… residency ran from 2003 to 2007 at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace and grossed $385.1 million, while her follow-up, simply titled Celine, brought in $296.2 million from 2011 to 2019.
Though Joel’s career pre-dates the mid-1980s launch of Boxscore reporting, there is record of his presence at MSG before his sprawling residency. He played 12 shows between January and April of 2006, earning $19.2 million from 226,000 tickets. More than 18,800 fans rang in Y2K with him, on a $4.5 million gross on Dec. 31, 1999. He moved more than 100,000 tickets during a six-show run in December 1998, and before that in October 1993.
Though Joel stayed loyal to MSG while in New York, he played various isolated stadium shows around the world, plus co-headline dates with Stevie Nicks and Sting.
In all, Joel has grossed $1.2 billion and sold 15.3 million tickets across 841 reported shows, dating back to 1986.
After opening shows for Kenny Chesney this summer, Sony Music Nashville/Columbia Records artist Megan Moroney has revealed that 2025 will see her spearheading her upcoming Am I Okay? Tour, which will launch March 20 in Montreal.
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The 25-show tour, which will run throughout the spring and summer, will go through August. The tour will visit cities including Boston, Houston, Toronto and Washington, D.C., as well as two shows in her homebase of Nashville. Notably, the tour will highlight Moroney’s debut performance at New York City’s historic Radio City Music Hall on March 26.
In an Instagram post announcing the tour, Moroney told fans, “I’m so excited to announce the AM I OKAY? TOUR!!! 💙 i get to play some of my bucket list venues & it’s going to be a very ✨blue✨ very magical year on the road. i’m already counting down the days until i get to see your faces & all of your ‘homemade tshirts & homemade signs’ :,) i know i’ve said it a lot but thank you for making all of my dreams come true – just over the mooooooon that i get to do this.”
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The setlist for the tour is certain to include tracks from Moroney’s latest album, Am I Okay?, which includes songs such as “No Caller ID,” “Man on the Moon,” “Indifferent” and “Heaven by Noon.” Leading up to the Am I Okay Tour?, Moroney is currently on her 15-show Georgia Girl Tour in the U.K. and Europe.
Additionally, Moroney earned multiple nominations at the 58th annual CMA Awards, including female vocalist of the year, new artist of the year and music video of the year (for her video for “I’m Not Pretty”). The 58th annual CMA Awards are slated for Nov. 20 at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena and will air on ABC.
General tickets for Moroney’s Am I Okay? Tour go on sale Friday, Sept. 13, at 10 a.m. local time on her website.
See the full dates for Moroney’s Am I Okay? Tour below: