Touring
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Kaskade is set to open Decca Live, a new 1,000-capacity venue located at 323 E Bay Street in downtown Jacksonville, Fla., that organizers say will create a cutting-edge, immersive experience for fans of both underground and mainstream music acts.
Launched by longtime Jacksonville promoter Eric Fuller of BLNK CNVS, the new venue features a steel megastructure as the main stage, a 360-degree mezzanine wrapping around the dance floor and a rooftop bar with stunning views of the St. Johns River and Jacksonville skyline. The architectural design was led by JAA Architecture, with interior design by Moyano Productions and production and stage design by Collyns Design Inc.
Decca Live is spread over three floors, including a second-floor mezzanine level and a rooftop level with its own bar, entrances and exits.
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“We can open the rooftop bar through the venue or we can separate the space where the ground floor and the mezzanine are focused on concerts and the rooftop maintains a cocktail, loungy vibe where fans can go upstairs get some peace and quiet if they want to,” says Fuller.
Kaskade will perform the first public concert at Decca Live on Jan. 31, 2025. Fuller built the venue from the ground up and sees it as a major cultural hub and economic milestone for the Northern Florida city, filling a long-standing void in the city’s music scene.
“We’re going to book a little bit of everything — EDM, rock and even country music. We want it to be a room for everyone,” Fuller said. “The idea is to be an open room and serve as a beacon in the state where the room is always available to talented promoters.”
Through BLNK CNVS, Fuller already serves as the largest independent promoter of Miami Music Week, hosting more than 35 events with more than 40,000 tickets sold last year. His partners in Decca Live include Jacksonville native Shawn Rouf and Evan Rajta. While BLNK CNVS will handle much of the in-house buying, Decca Live is an open building available to all promoters. Ticketing will be handled by Eventbrite.
“Jacksonville as a city is at a tipping point,” says Rajta in a statement to Billboard. “The city is starving for new ideas and entertainment and that is exactly what we are creating with Decca Live. Our goal is simple: build a world class venue that will be here for decades to come.”
Fuller is a graduate of Jacksonville’s University of North Florida and formerly served as COO at companies including Life In Color, Advanced Concert Productions, Club Space Miami and Celine Orlando.
“Florida is a great state for touring and this room sounds incredible,” says Fuller. “We’ve put everything we have into this project and we’re excited to now share it with the rest of the world.”
Check out concept art for Decca Live below.
On Sunday night (Dec. 8), Taylor Swift played the last of 149 shows on The Eras Tour. As reported earlier Monday, the record-setting trek grossed more than $2 billion and sold over 10 million tickets: $2,077,618,725 and 10,168,008, respectively, to be exact.
The news was first reported by The New York Times.
Without qualification, The Eras Tour is the highest-grossing tour of all time, by artists of any genre, and from any era in music history. If compared to data officially reported to Billboard Boxscore, it is the biggest tour ever by an unthinkable distance of more than $900 million, blasting past Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres World Tour (2022-ongoing) – the only other tour to gross more than $1 billion – by a margin of almost two-to-one.
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Even before The Eras Tour was announced, Swift was one of the most successful touring acts of her generation. Dating back to her first reported solo headline show at Sovereign Performing Arts Center in Reading, Pa. (April 6, 2007), she has grossed $3 billion across her career, when adding The Eras Tour’s sum to officially reported data for her prior tours to Billboard Boxscore.
Previously, her biggest tour – according to Billboard Boxscore – came when Swift brought in $345.7 million and sold 2.9 million tickets on 2018’s Reputation Stadium Tour, marking a 38% leap from the earnings on 2015’s The 1989 World Tour. The Eras Tour multiplies her prior best more than six times over.
The Eras Tour kicked off in Glendale, Ariz. on March 17, 2023. If the tour hadn’t already made a seismic impact just via its announcement, the actual performances sent Swift from superstardom to the stratosphere. The friendship bracelets, the surprise songs and all of Swift’s eras took over, sparking major economic booms in every city she visited and hysteria among Swifties around the world.
By August 9, 2023, Swift had released her re-recording of Speak Now (July 7), announced the re-recording for 1989 and wrapped the tour’s first U.S. leg. Quickly after, she played her first shows ever in Mexico with four nights at the capital’s Estadio GNP Seguros (then known as Foro Sol), followed by nine shows in South America.
In February 2024, Swift took her talents to Asia and Australia, but not before she won her record-setting fourth Grammy for album of the year for Midnights and announced her next new studio album during an acceptance speech. That one – The Tortured Poets Department, released April 19 – arrived while on break from tour, and once again, set a new career-peak with a debut week of 2.61 million equivalent album units earned in the U.S., according to Luminate, and the entire top 14 on the Hot 100. On the current, Dec. 14-dated edition of the Billboard 200, the set returns for a 16th week at No. 1 on the back of a physical release of the album’s deluxe Anthology version, sold exclusively at Target.
In May, Swift took on Europe, with 48 shows across the continent. While Tortured Poets spent most of the summer atop the Billboard 200, The Eras Tour continued its blistering pace, including eight nights at London’s Wembley Stadium.
Finally, Swift returned to North America for three shows each in Miami, New Orleans, and Indianapolis, plus six in Toronto and one last weekend in Vancouver.
Last April on a cool night in Dubrovnik, Croatia, Mumford & Sons played to a packed ballroom not far from the Mediterranean. It was the band’s first time performing in the country, but only those who got the invite knew the concert was even happening: The show was a private event put on for employees of a major tech company, which also footed the bill.
Corporate performances like these occupy a small but flourishing niche of the live events industry, with companies of all sizes lining up to book current superstars, legacy acts and emerging artists to play their conferences, retreats, holiday parties and more. These shows come with paydays ranging from merch trades to millions of dollars, with most big-name artists rarely receiving less than $50,000 per show. There can also be strings attached, as artists who play these shows work within corporate structures where expectations can be different from the standard festival appearance.
“I’ve been involved with a Snoop Dogg private show before and the client was like, ‘He can’t smoke weed,’” says corporate event producer and talent buyer Elana Leaf. “It was like, ‘He’s going to smoke weed. That’s just the way it is.’”
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This past year has been a strong one for corporate events, with this area of the industry not only finally back in full swing following the pandemic but reaching new heights. Beyoncé set a new precedent for these types of performances in January 2023 when she reportedly received $24 million to play the opening of a luxury resort in Dubai. This past July, the wedding of the son of Indian tech billionaire Mukesh Ambani, which made headlines for its opulence, included a performance by Rihanna. Sources with knowledge of this sector say that upon seeing these big performances and paychecks, more artists have been requesting to play corporate shows.
Based in Los Angeles, Leaf has been producing corporate concerts for events for nearly 15 years, working with companies ranging from family offices to international conglomerates to the city of Miami Beach. Regardless of size, though, the process of finding the right artist for each event is the same.
“To start, you have to have a dialogue with the client about who’s coming to the event,” says Leaf. “Age is important, economic level is important. Before you start suggesting artists, you’ve got to know who they’ll be playing for.”
Once the guest list is hashed out, Leaf and her client create a list of artists they think will fit the desired vibe. Leaf once produced a Super Bowl party for a media company at a private residence in Malibu, so it made perfect sense when she and the client booked The Beach Boys to sing “Surfin’ Safari” and other beachy hits while the crowd gazed out at the Pacific.
But the client isn’t necessarily always after a huge star. “A lot of companies come to us and ask if we can activate their entire conference, convention or event,” says Channing Moreland, co-founder of the app EVA, which registers emerging artists (along with speakers, celebrities and more) and corporate clients in search of entertainment and uses technology to match them for events. “Maybe there’s a place to have that closing night headlining show, but we also see [local and emerging artists playing] registration areas, general sessions, interactive experiences. There are so many opportunities to engage.”
Of course, not all artists are inclined to play corporate shows. “Some might think it’s selling out, or some might think they’re not going to be taken care of in the same way on-site at a private show as they would be by a promoter,” says Leaf. As such, she says good professional relationships and enticing, often creative offers are even more important in this area of the industry, as agents must be able to assure their client that the gig will be comfortable, worthwhile and valuable (or at the very least neutral) to their brand. (Most of the big talent agencies have departments focused solely on private shows like these.)
Naturally, money is a crucial part of the conversation, although the rate a company can offer isn’t always related to its size. “The good agents know that even though I’m coming in with a major tech company, that doesn’t necessarily equate to having the dollars,” says Leaf. “Sometimes smaller companies that really want to move the needle for their brand profile will come in with bigger cash offers, along with really creative ways to sweeten the pot.”
“Sweetening the pot” may involve flying the artist and their entourage to the show on the company’s private jet, or providing luxury accommodations and other perks. Sometimes an artist is simply eager to travel to an exotic destination where they might not otherwise tour. Or a company might make a donation to an artist’s charity of choice — an especially attractive option for corporations that can use this as a charitable giving tax write-off.
For one corporate client, Leaf was able to get their artist of choice involved by offering the artist the opportunity for their newly launched liquor brand to be the featured liquor at the event itself. “That’s what got them through the door,” she says.
But no matter the size of the artist, getting the gig (and the paycheck) can also involve agreeing to unusual requests. These can include morality clauses in which an artist must agree to omit curse words that may be in their lyrics. “You sometimes have to tell the artist they need to perform radio edits, which can be a challenging conversation,” says Leaf, who also recalls certain clients asking for approval of what an artist wears onstage. (Though “as a buyer, I will not push that,” she says. “Artists need to be artists, and what they wear is part of their art.”)
However, rising artists who are often more eager for exposure and a cash infusion may be more amenable to such requests.
“We know that you can’t just have someone get up on stage and start asking for tips, or cussing, or going through the buffet line,” says EVA co-founder Makenzie Stokel. “You need people that know this isn’t their party, but they’re going to make five or 10 times more than what they’d make at a bar gig.”
For Moody Jones, who DJs corporate events around the world and is also GM of dance music at EMPIRE, these gigs often have completely different goals than his regular club sets. “Your role is to get people’s heads nodding, and that’s as much as it goes,” he says. At a recent event he played for YouTube, “The mandate was, ‘We need an artist who doesn’t need the spotlight on them,’” he recalls. “It was a team-building event, so the last thing they wanted was for people to only be paying attention to the music. No one should be Shazam-ing anything.”
For most artists — and certainly the biggest ones — all the details about what they will and will not do are hashed out in the contract. “With the big agencies, once you’re contracted, the creative and business terms are set in stone not only to protect the artist but so there’s no ambiguity with my client,” says Leaf. Thus, every element — from what a company wants an artist to say (or not say) while onstage to whether or not they’ll take photos with execs in front of the company logo, to backstage meet and greets and providing signed merchandise — is determined ahead of time.
Leaf says these discussions often focus on if and how an artist will interact with a company’s product, whether that’s a cell phone, branded decor clothing item or other object. “It’s not always easy or appropriate-feeling to ask the artist to pick up a mobile device and carry it around,” says Leaf. “You have to work with the production company and the brand to figure out ways to seamlessly integrate the product. A lot of times you have agents and managers who are like, ‘They’re absolutely not going to touch the product.’” But given the rise of influencers, Leaf says brands have gotten “significantly more strategic” with devising product interactions that feel natural.
Generally, a company doesn’t ask for sign-off on an artist’s setlist, although negotiations can be more nuanced when dealing with legacy acts. “People want to hear the hits,” says Leaf. “They don’t necessarily want to hear new music, but sometimes it’s hard to say they can’t play new stuff they’re working on.” She says in situations like these, it’s necessary to have conversations with the client and artist to settle on a mix of music everyone feels good about.
Generally, say Stokel and Moreland of EVA, there’s been an uptick in corporate show requests following the pandemic as “companies are wanting more unique in-person engagements for people to really connect… Companies are asking, ‘How can we get them up and moving? How can we have a hit songwriter tell a story that feels like a keynote and is tied to music and drives emotion?” They say the return on investment on events is higher for companies when they offer more engaging programming.
After connecting over their love of live music as students at Nashville’s Belmont University, Moreland and Stokel created EVA to cater to rising artists. They found that companies often wanted local talent to make events feel authentic but didn’t know where to look. And the artists they knew were interested in making money from corporate gigs to help them pay for studio time, touring and life expenses.
They launched the app in 2019, quickly booking corporate events for ESPN, BMW and Arby’s. EVA has since grown to 10 employees and launched in Nashville, Austin, Dallas, Chicago, Atlanta, New Orleans, Charlotte and New York. Notably, the company provides artists with the backend requirements necessary to play a corporate show. “These entertainers don’t carry $5 million in insurance, and to work with Amazon you have to have a certain level of COI,” says Moreland. “There has to be tax management, invoicing, payment processing, contracting and it has to be done at a certain level. That’s really what we unlocked.”
For some artists, the appeal of playing these shows also comes down to networking. Jones of EMPIRE recently played a robotics conference, an offer that gave him the chance to perform for “a room filled with people who are so ambitious and whose brains work in ways I’ve never thought of,” he says. Such gigs “might not do much for my status,” he continues, “but the people I meet there might open up my mind.” Generally, corporate events also carry less pressure, as the artist isn’t responsible for selling tickets or drawing an audience. “Like, I’m not bringing any more people to a robotics event,” Jones adds.
Not every act is built for these kinds of shows. “I think what stops a lot of artists from playing corporate gigs is ego because you’re not the center of attention,” Jones continues. “Or they just don’t have the confidence for it, because playing a sober event where everyone can see one another takes a different stage presence from being in a dark club with my sunglasses on smoking a vape and taking shots.”
The artists who do thrive in this world, however, can really hustle while also meeting interesting people and making a lot of money.
“Pitbull is a corporate juggernaut,” says Leaf. “He’s known to do great corporates and he just crushes across demographics.” She says Lionel Richie, Sheryl Crow and Dave Matthews Band are also active in this space given that their music is so broadly appealing. Other times, companies want to create prestige by booking the hottest niche artist of the moment. At events like SXSW or CES, where attendees have many options for how to spend their time, Leaf says companies “want to book a cool artist, because you want to be the cool party.”
But ultimately the end goal is the same, regardless of who’s playing.
“You want guests to walk away with an experience that’s special and doesn’t feel corny,” says Leaf. “Obviously the audience knows the artist was paid to be there, but you want it to feel authentic and like the artist wanted to be there — paid or not.”
LONDON — ASM Global and the Music Venues Trust (MVT) are expanding their partnership and support to grassroots music venues and scenes in the U.K.
Starting in December, ASM Global, the venues and live entertainment giant, will strengthen its ties with the MVT through a number of new initiatives to help raise awareness and funds for the grassroots music scene where future stars start their live journeys.
Part of the new initiative will encourage music fans to learn more about the work the MVT does for the independent and emerging music scene, as well as opportunities to donate directly to the MVT both inside of the venues, or during the ticket onsale process.
In the U.K., ASM Global operates a number of large arenas, including London’s OVO Arena Wembley, the AO Arena in Manchester, Leeds’ First Direct Arena, the Utilita Arena in Newcastle and more.
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The two companies have collaborated previously across a number of topics, including training opportunities across health and safety, mental health and wellbeing and marketing. In 2023, Enter Shikari pledged £1 from every ticket sold on their U.K. arena tour to the MVT’s Lifelife fund, which included a show at the OVO Wembley. Next year, Katy Perry’s Lifetimes tour will hit the AO Arena in Manchester, with £1 from every ticket being donated to the MVT to distribute amongst their members.
This is the latest step by the entertainment and live industry to help tackle the growing problem of venue and nightclub closure. In 2023, the MVT reported that the number of grassroots music venues declined from 960 to 835, a fall of 13% and resulted in a loss of as many as 30,000 shows and 4,000 jobs.
Last month the British Government called upon the live music industry to introduce a voluntary levy on all tickets sold for stadium and arena concerts in the market to help support smaller venues. “We believe this would be the quickest and most effective mechanism for a small portion of revenues from the biggest shows to be invested in a sustainable grassroots sector,” the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said in a report on Nov. 14.
Some artists have taken it upon themselves to lead the conversation. In September, Coldplay announced that they would be donating 10% of all proceeds from their 10-night run at Wembley Stadium next August to the MVT and grassroots scene. Tickets for Sam Fender’s current run at arenas in the U.K. and Ireland – including ASM’s First Direct Arena in Leeds – include a similar £1 donation to the MVT.
Speaking to Billboard in September, Mark Davyd, CEO of the MVT, said that their door is very open to any artist or company on this topic. “I want this to become the new normal – I don’t think that’s stupidly ambitious. There are lots and lots of examples of industries – all properly functioning industries – to reinvest to get future gains. As soon as you start talking about it as an investment program into research and development, I don’t think companies should be resistant to that but should be thinking, ‘that makes perfect sense.’”
Gracie Abrams isn’t done yet. Just one day after wrapping her stint as an opener on Taylor Swift‘s blockbuster Eras Tour in Vancouver Sunday (Dec. 8), the 25-year-old pop star announced a new run of North American headlining tour dates slated for 2025 in support of her The Secret of Us deluxe edition. In an […]
L-Acoustics is the latest entertainment industry leader to open office space at Nashville Yards, the 19-acre AEG-led development project located in the heart of downtown Nashville. Expected to open in the summer of 2025, the Music City professional space will become L-Acoustics ’s major operations and creative hub for the Americas, joining its global hubs […]
Live Nation’s Rooftop at Pier 17 in New York City will become a year-round live performance venue with the debut of a custom-designed glass structure for winter concerts starting in late 2025.
The innovative enclosure will seamlessly convert The Rooftop at Pier 17 into a climate-controlled, indoor setting, while preserving the venue’s renowned views of the iconic lower Manhattan skyline and Brooklyn Bridge backdrop through floor-to-ceiling glass sidings. The enclosed venue will be able to hold up to 3,000 fans during its winter configuration, and introduce a new VIP balcony level. Each spring, the glass structure will be removed, returning The Rooftop to its signature open-air format for summer performances with a capacity of 3,500 guests.
The announcement coincides with a five-year extension of the partnership between Seaport Entertainment Group and Live Nation to continue programming the award-winning rooftop concert venue as the exclusive booking partner.
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“We appreciate our partnership with Live Nation, which has been successful in helping us bring our vision to life,” said Anton Nikodemus, CEO of Seaport Entertainment Group. “We look forward to The Rooftop at Pier 17 transforming into a year-round concert venue. Our state-of-the-art space will deliver an unparalleled experience for both artists and guests, providing the quintessential New York City live music venue no matter the season.”
The new design allows The Rooftop at Pier 17 to expand its Seaport Concert Series, with an estimated 25 additional performances planned for the late fall and winter months. The Rooftop currently hosts over 60 concerts annually between May through October within its outdoor setup located five stories above the East River.
“With its breathtaking views of New York City and intimate atmosphere, The Rooftop at Pier 17 is truly a special place for live music,” said Stacie George, senior vice president of booking, Live Nation Northeast. “We are excited to extend our partnership with Seaport Entertainment Group and continue collaborating in creating opportunities that further connect artists and their fans in this incredible setting throughout the year on The Rooftop at Pier 17.”
The Rooftop at Pier 17
Courtesy of The Rooftop at Pier 17
The Rooftop at Pier 17 is currently planning its seventh annual concert series in 2025, including Elderbrook (May 1-2); heavy metal bands Trivium and Bullet for My Valentine (May 7); Australian punk band Amyl and The Sniffers (May 15); Peach Pit & Briston Maroney (May 22-23); Reggae Fest Blaze (June 14); country music singers/songwriters Riley Green (July 24) and Cody Jinks (August 13). Tickets for general admission and the venue’s premium Heineken Silver Zone located near the front of the stage, are on sale now at AXS.com, with many more shows to be announced over the coming months.
For more information on upcoming announcements for The Rooftop at Pier 17 visit RooftopatPier17.com and follow @RooftopatPier17 across Instagram, Facebook, X, and TikTok. The Rooftop at Pier 17 is located at the Seaportat 89 South Street, in New York, NY.
Courtesy of The Rooftop at Pier 17
Keith Urban is set to bring his high-octane live show on the road in 2025, when his High and Alive World Tour launches May 22 in Orange Beach, Alabama, at The Wharf Amphitheater. Joining Urban on the tour will be Chase Matthew, Alana Springsteen and Karley Scott Collins. Following the Alabama kick-off, the tour will include stops in Chicago, Salt Lake City, Houston and Nashville, Tennessee.
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“Playing live is what I live to do,” Urban said in a statement. “Looking out from a stage and seeing people singing, forgetting about all the stress in their lives, cutting loose, and feeling ALIVE – that’s what it’s about for me. Lots of hits, new songs, things we won’t even think about until we’re onstage – and loads of guitar. We’re gonna make this tour the best night of your life!”
The tour takes its name from Urban’s latest album, High, which debuted at No. 10 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart following its September release. Tickets for Urban’s High and Alive World Tour will go on sale Dec. 13 at 10 a.m. local time, with additional North American show dates to be revealed in the coming months.
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Urban is slated to announce international dates for the High and Alive tour at a later date.
See the full list of 2025 tour dates below:
May 22: Orange Beach, AL @ The Wharf Amphitheater
May 23: Alpharetta, GA @ Ameris Bank Amphitheatre
May 24: Charleston, SC @ Credit One Stadium
May 30: Charlotte, NC @ PNC Music Pavilion
May 31: Raleigh, NC @ Coastal Credit Union Music Park Raleigh
June 12: Gilford, NH @ BankNH Pavilion
June 13: Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center
June 14: Wantagh, NY @ Northwell at Jones Beach Theater
June 19: Columbia, MD @ Merriweather Post Pavilion
June 22: Clarkston, MI @ Pine Knob Music Theatre
June 26: Cincinnati, OH @ Riverbend Music Center
June 27: Cuyahoga Falls, OH @ Blossom Music Center
June 28: Noblesville, IN @ Ruoff Music Center
July 17: Denver, CO @ Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre
July 18: Salt Lake City, UT @ Utah First Credit Union Amphitheatre
July 19: Nampa, ID @ Ford Idaho Center Amphitheater
July 24: TBA
July 26: Inglewood, CA @ Intuit Dome
Sept. 25: Chicago, IL @ United Center
Sept. 26: TBA
Sept. 27: Omaha, NE @ CHI Health Center
Oct. 2: Hershey, PA @ Giant Center
Oct. 3: Uncasville, CT @ Mohegan Sun Arena
Oct. 4: Bristow, VA @ Jiffy Lube Live
Oct. 9: Fort Worth, TX @ Dickies Arena
Oct. 11: Houston, TX @ The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion presented by Huntsman
Oct. 16: Greenville, SC @ Bon Secours Wellness Arena
Oct. 17: Nashville, TN @ Bridgestone Arena
Longtime Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain is stepping back from touring.
On Saturday (Dec. 7), the 72-year-old musician announced that he is retiring from the road, with Saturday’s concert at Allianz Parque in São Paulo, Brazil, marking his final show with the legendary rock band.
“After much consideration, it is with both sorrow and joy, I announce my decision to take a step back from the grind of the extensive touring lifestyle,” McBrain shared in a statement on Iron Maiden’s website. “I wish the band much success moving forward.”
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McBrain, who joined Iron Maiden in 1982, replacing Clive Burr, has been an integral part of the band’s sound, drumming on every album since Piece of Mind in 1983.
“What can I say? Touring with Maiden the last 42 years has been an incredible journey! To my devoted fan base, you made it all worthwhile and I love you!” McBrain added.
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While stepping away from touring, McBrain will remain closely connected to the band. He confirmed that he’ll continue to be involved in “a variety of projects” with Iron Maiden, while also focusing on personal ventures and his existing businesses.
“I look into the future with much excitement and great hope! I’ll be seeing you soon, may God bless you all, and, of course, ‘Up the Irons!’” he wrote.
McBrain’s decision comes after health issues in recent years, including a stroke in 2023 that left him partially paralyzed. After extensive rehabilitation, he returned to the stage with Iron Maiden for their current world tour.
Iron Maiden expressed their gratitude for McBrain’s remarkable contributions to the band. “Thank you for being an irrepressible force behind the drum kit for Maiden for 42 years and my friend for even longer. I speak on behalf of all the band when I say we will miss you immensely!” the band said in a statement.
Iron Maiden also referenced their long-standing bond with Brazil, where they have had a special connection since their 1985 Rock in Rio performance. “To bow out of touring in front of 90,000 fans here in São Paulo over two nights is poetic,” they continued. “Nicko is and will always be part of the Maiden family.”
Saturday’s performance marks the final show of Iron Maiden’s The Future Past world tour, which began in September. The band will return to the road in 2025 for their Run for Your Lives World Tour, set to launch in May.
Swifties are trying to get last-minute tickets as Taylor Swift‘s Eras Tour heads to Vancouver tonight (Dec. 6) – but resellers are beating them to the punch.
With demand sky-high for the final shows on the massively popular Eras Tour, Taylor Swift released a batch of unique ‘no view’ tickets (which offer fans a view of the screens beside the stage but not the stage itself) for her three upcoming Vancouver dates this week at just $16.50 per ticket.
As Swifties rushed to Ticketmaster to wait in large queues for the chance to hear (but not see) their favourite star, resellers were scooping up the cheap tickets.
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Before they knew it, the Ticketmaster drop had ended and many of the ‘no view’ tickets were now on StubHub – for thousands of dollars, as fans posted on social media.
Some lucky fans did manage to score the no-view tickets. But the massive resale markups of $16.50 tickets are another indicator of just how hard it is for actual Taylor Swift fans to get into the Eras Tour.
Many fans have gone through several rounds of attempts at securing tickets through Ticketmaster or ticket giveaways, spending hours waiting in queues and scouring social media for ticket tips.
Meanwhile, Vancouver is preparing for its Taylor Swift era, altering a local sign to read: Swiftcouver.
The Eras Tour concludes in Vancouver with three performances December 6-8, 2024.
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Kendrick Lamar’s ‘GNX’ Debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard Canadian Albums Chart
Kendrick Lamar has claimed a new No. 1 album in the home country of his biggest rival.
GNX, K-Dot’s surprise sixth studio release, arrives in the top spot on the Billboard Canadian Albums chart, dated December 7.
But unlike in the U.S., Lamar didn’t manage to hit No. 1 on the Canadian Hot 100.
Gracie Abrams holds onto that spot with “That’s So True” for the second week as the Eras Tour (where she’s performing as Taylor Swift’s opening act) rolls into Vancouver this week from Dec. 6-8.
Kendrick Lamar is still well represented at the top of the Canadian Hot 100, though. His sleek slow jam “Luther” featuring SZA is at No. 2, and “Squabble Up” – which claimed the No. 1 spot south of the border – is at No. 3.
Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” meanwhile, drops to No. 5, indicating his record-setting run might really be done.
Those are strong numbers for Kendrick Lamar in Drake’s home country, even if the Compton rapper hasn’t hit the same highs as in the U.S. just yet.
Lamar will be taking his GNX on the road next year on the Grand National tour, with two Canadian date in Drake’s hometown, at the Rogers Centre stadium on June 12 and 13 with SZA.
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Les Cowboys Fringants, Charlotte Cardin Most Streamed Québécois Artists on Spotify in Canada in 2024
As individual Spotify Wrapped graphics take over social media feeds, the streaming giant has shared some insightful Canadian Wrapped data.
Spotify shared the top Québécois artists streamed in Canada, with rock group Les Cowboys Fringants taking the top spot, followed by Charlotte Cardin and Céline Dion.
Les Cowboys were very active this year following the 2023 death of frontman Karl Tremblay and the outpouring of support from Quebec fans showing their immense influence in the province. The new full-length Pub Royal debuted at No. 3 on the Canadian Albums chart. The group also won big at the ADISQ Awards, taking home wins for Author or Composer of the Year and Song of the Year.
Charlotte Cardin in No. 2 comes as no surprise, given the pop singer-songwriter’s international breakout following 2023’s 99 Nights. Cardin also won the first Woman of the Year award at Billboard Canada Women in Music this year.
Céline had a huge streaming moment following her comeback performance at the Paris Olympics, spiking her own catalogue as well as Edith Piaf’s. The soundtrack to her documentary I Am: Celine Dion also charted on the Canadian Albums chart, bringing back some of her immortal hits.
Canada Most-Streamed Québécois Artists
Les Cowboys Fringants
Charlotte Cardin
Céline Dion
Souldia
Enima
Patrick Watson
KAYTRANADA
Alexandra Streliski
Simple Plan
Men I Trust
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