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Touring

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Duo The War and Treaty are set to release a new album, Plus One, on Valentine’s Day. The 18-song set, which will release via Mercury Nashville, was primarily produced by the duo’s Michael Trotter Jr., and recorded at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Ala.

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The duo’s Trotter Jr. and Tanya Trotter worked with their longtime live band on the album, and wrap in a blend of gospel, bluegrass, country, soul, symphonic pop and more. Along the way, they collaborated with producers including Jonathan Singleton (Luke Combs, Chase Rice), John Shanks (Stevie Nicks, Sheryl Crow) and Jesse Frasure (Jelly Roll, Kelsea Ballerini).

“We see this record as an open invitation to be a part of what we’re doing — it came from wanting to be the hope we believe people need right now, as well as the hope that we need for ourselves,” Tanya Trotter said in a statement.

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“One of our main intentions with this album is to inspire people to share themselves with others, and open themselves up to the possibility of being loved,” Michael Trotter Jr. added.   

The album’s songs include “Drink From Me” featuring Billy Strings; “Love Like Whiskey,” which the Trotters wrote with Miranda Lambert; and the Black gospel-influenced “Called You by Your Name.”

Plus One follows the duo’s 2023 project Lover’s Game, which earned a Grammy nomination for best American roots song (for the album’s “Blank Page”), while The War and Treaty was nominated for best new artist.

Over the past year, The War and Treaty has opened shows for Chris Stapleton, Zach Bryan and The Rolling Stones. In March, the duo will also launch the Plus One Tour, which will visit 30 cities across the United States, including New York City’s Irving Plaza, The Howard Theatre in D.C., The Troubadour in Los Angeles, The Kessler Theater in Dallas and more. The tour begins March 26 in Minneapolis and will conclude on June 19 in Bristol, Tenn. General ticket on-sale opens next Friday, Dec. 13, at 10 a.m. local time.

See the tracklisting for Plus One below:

“Love Like Whiskey”

“Skyscraper”

“Can I Get an Amen”

“Called You by Your Name”

“Stealing a Kiss”

“Teardrops in the Rain”

“Leads Me Home”

“Carried Away”

“Drink From Me” feat. Billy Strings

“Reminisce”

“Save Me”

“Love Is on Fire”

“I Can’t Let You Go”

“Home”

“Love Light”

“Mr. Fun”

“Tunnel Vision”

“The Glorious Ones”

Rauw Alejandro is going on tour next year in support of his latest album, Cosa Nuestra. The Puerto Rican superstar unveiled the dates to his world tour on Friday (Dec. 6). The Live Nation-produced stint is set to kick off April 5 in Seattle, and will then visit major cities including San Francisco, Chicago, Houston, […]

Between the DOJ’s Live Nation antitrust suit, Sphere’s first year, new leadership at CAA and a slew of acquisitions, it’s been another big year for the concert business.

Pearl Jam is continuing the celebration of their 12th studio album, Dark Matter, into 2025. The band — Eddie Vedder (vocalist), Jeff Ament (bass), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar), and Matt Cameron (drums)— announced on Thursday (Dec. 5) that they will be heading to five U.S. cities in the spring, kicking off […]

German electronic pioneers Kraftwerk are going on tour next spring, announcing on Thursday (Dec. 5) a 25-city North American run that starts on March 6 in Philadelphia. The trek includes the group’s previously announced performances at Coachella 2025. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Ticket for the […]

Charli XCX gives her all on stage, but it comes with a cost.
In a new video interview with Variety posted Wednesday (Dec. 4), the 32-year-old pop star opened up about suffering nerve damage from how intensely she performs, noting, “I find touring really hard emotionally.”

“I find the stage — especially these days — to be a very angry place for me,” she continued. “I’ve done a lot of physical damage to my body from performing, and I’m often in a lot of pain when I perform. Physically, I have nerve damage in my neck from things I’ve done on the stage.”

Charli is currently gearing up for a run of 2025 dates in support of her critically acclaimed album Brat. This year, she hit the road with Troye Sivan for their joint Sweat trek, an arrangement the “Von Dutch” artist called “a lot easier and less of an emotional battle for me.”

“For me to give a performance I feel is good enough, I have to really physically throw myself around and that makes me very upset when I do it,” she added. “It’s kind of this hellhole, but being with Troye softens that a lot.”

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The video comes alongside a feature interview with Variety, in which the musician opened up about the surprising success of Brat, her insecurities and more. At one point, she shared that her “Sympathy Is a Knife” remix collaborator Ariana Grande gave her advice on multiple fronts, including kick-starting her acting career and hosting SNL. (The “Yes, And?” singer helmed the show in September, followed by Charli in November.)

Charli also recalled bonding with the Wicked star over the “Sympathy Is a Knife” lyrics. “She had a lot to say,” the “365” artist said of Grande, who “gravitated” toward the track, according to Charli. “We went back and forth on the lyrics, talking about all the knives that we both felt in this industry.”

Watch Charli open up about her nerve damage above.

In 2025, the Grateful Dead will celebrate 60 years since its inception. But even after six decades, the long, strange trip continues — and business is still booming. Founding members Bobby Weir, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart are all resolute: They’re not retiring anytime soon, and the Dead’s world is very much alive and kicking.
In January, Weir will stage the second edition of “Dead Ahead,” the destination concert event in Riviera Cancun, Mexico, that features different lineups of supporting musicians; this year, he’ll be joined by his Dead & Company compatriots Jeff Chimenti and Oteil Burbridge, his Wolf Bros bandmates Don Was and Jay Lane and other guests including Sturgill Simpson, Brandi Carlile and Goose’s Rick Mitarotonda.

And, on Dec. 4, Dead & Co. — the touring ensemble formed by Weir, Kreutzmann and Hart, alongside Chimenti, Burbridge and John Mayer — announced it will reprise its Dead Forever residency at Las Vegas’ Sphere in 2025. The 18 shows, slated to take place from March to May, follow the band’s 30-date run at Sphere in 2024, which grossed $131.8 million. (Kreutzmann played with Dead & Co. from 2015 to 2022 but sat out its 2023 final tour and 2024 Sphere residency; a representative for Dead & Co. confirmed Kreutzmann will not perform with the band at Sphere in 2025.)

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“It’s a marvel in terms of what you can do visually with it during a show,” Weir tells Billboard. “It was an interesting challenge for us — but I thought we met it.”

“Very cool, very cool, Sphere, very cool,” Hart says with excitement. “It’s an overpowering sensory experience.” The venue, which can incorporate haptic feedback into its seats, was a revelation for the longstanding “Drums/Space” segment of Dead shows that he leads: “I’m going down to 16 [Hz] cycles, 17, 18 — that’s where the Lord lives,” says Hart, who has long studied the connections between music and neurological function, referencing a frequency of brain waves. “That raises consciousness. That’s where the good stuff is.”

Meanwhile, Kreutzmann has reinvigorated the Dead’s catalog — and mixed in tunes by artists from Talking Heads to Little Feat — in recent years by enlisting rotating crews of exciting younger talent in ensembles Billy & The Kids and Mahalo Dead, including Billy Strings, Tom Hamilton (Joe Russo’s Almost Dead), Daniel Donato (Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country) and Aron Magner (The Disco Biscuits).

“Why do I like the younger musicians?” he posits, before answering himself with a hearty laugh: “They’re more alive than I am!”

Here’s what else fans can potentially expect from the band’s members in the near future.

A Bittersweet Reunion?

Weir, Lesh, Hart and Kreutzmann honored the Dead’s golden anniversary in 2015 with five Fare Thee Well stadium shows that were billed as the final time the four would perform together. (They were accompanied by Bruce Hornsby, Jeff Chimenti and Phish’s Trey Anastasio.) But Weir reveals that before Lesh’s October death, they were considering doing it again: “We had some plans,” he says. “We were talking about the possibility of reconvening and playing, just the four of us. It would have been real interesting, when Phil was still with us, to try to do that.” Kreutzmann says he’d still “do that 60th in a second,” though he adds, “Phil wanted to do it, too. He had a dream that he was going to get to play with us three one more time. And that didn’t happen — but that’s how it goes.”

A ‘Special’ Anniversary Release

Rhino Entertainment — which celebrated the band’s 50th anniversary in 2015 with an 80-disc 30 Trips Around the Sun box set that collected 30 unreleased Dead shows, one from each year it was active — has a surprise in store for GD60. “We’ve been working on something that we feel is special and commensurate with an anniversary as big as this,” says David Lemieux, the Grateful Dead’s legacy manager and archivist. “Mark [Pinkus, Rhino president] and I got on the call about a year ago [to begin working on it], and when we started talking about it, we both couldn’t contain our joy.”

Publishing (In) House

Amid the recent spate of publishing catalog sales by rock legends, “I haven’t even thought about” selling the Dead’s, Weir says. “I’m not entirely sure I’m anxious to sell it. But at the same time, if the price was right and somebody with that amount of financial wherewithal had that amount of motivation to buy it, I’d have to talk to him.” Reveals Activist Artists Management founding partner Bernie Cahill: “We’ve been approached and that’s been a conversation, but it’s not something the band’s pursuing at all.”

Still Truckin’

“What great musician ever retires?” Weir says when asked if he’d ever quit the road. “Do it as long as you can. Never give it up ever, ever,” Hart says. And Kreutzmann is even bolder: “I’m going to play forever.”

This story appears in the Dec. 7, 2024, issue of Billboard.

A sustainability initiative focused on festival-wide power use at San Francisco’s Portola in September resulted in the avoidance of using roughly 6,053 gallons of diesel fuel, a rep for the festival tells Billboard. This number is equivalent to taking 3,873 cars off the road for one day, according to AEG.  
This was the first year the initiative was implemented at Portola, which hosted its third annual event at San Francisco’s Pier 80 Sept. 28-29. The project was a joint effort by the festival’s producers, AEG and Goldenvoice, along with battery system designer Overdrive Energy Solutions, the Music Decarbonization Project from music industry sustainability advocacy group REVERB and AEG’s longtime energy partner, CES Power.

At Portola, a team made up of reps from each company implemented a cutting-edge hybrid energy system that used solar and grid power in conjunction with advanced battery technology and Tier 4 generators, which are built with emission control measures, to provide power.

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Overdrive deployed 37 battery power-stations across the festival grounds, powering a significant portion of the festival. This project marks a major expansion of Overdrive’s work with AEG/Goldenvoice, with the companies first working together at Coachella 2023 on smaller-scale energy needs.

“It feels like we’ve taken a giant leap forward this year,” Goldenvoice’s vp of festival production Dre Hanna says. “We’ve been doing small bits and pieces for two years, but this year — and the progress I feel like we’re making specifically on this show and proving to our vendors, artists and departments that we can do this and that the show is better for it — I think that [the use of these systems] is going to pick up [across our events] pretty quickly.”

The battery system entirely powered Portola’s Ship Stage for both days of the festival. While many batteries used at festivals must be charged by diesel generators throughout the day, at Portola, use of the Tier 4 generator made it possible to charge batteries for two-and-half hours each day after the festival ended.

This charging required 260 gallons of diesel fuel, which is 2,730 gallons (or 91%) less than that used by standard festival battery systems. Goldenvoice purchased 100% renewable diesel for the generators, with the system ultimately reducing CO₂ emissions at the Ship Stage by 21.1 metric tons, compared to the emissions there would have been if the stage had employed standard generator. CES, meanwhile, provided other more traditional power sources for the event.

The difference wasn’t just in fewer emissions, but the elimination of the diesel fumes that typically emanate from generators. And because these batteries make no sound, they also eliminated the typical backstage noise pollution caused by a generator.

“It is 100% better,” Hanna told Billboard backstage at Portola. “It’s so quiet back here, and our team doesn’t have to fuel a generator each morning.”

According to Overdrive Energy Solutions founder Neel Vasavada, the company’s batteries have 99% fewer emissions than the standard diesel generators that have long been used to power festivals. They also use 90-95% less diesel fuel.

Overall, the project at Portola resulted in the avoidance of 48.8 metric tons of CO₂ emissions, a number equivalent to the amount of carbon annually sequestered by 58 acres of U.S. forest. 

As battery technology advances — with the electric vehicle industry helping drive this evolution — batteries are an increasingly popular solution for sustainably powering large-scale music events. In August, Lollapalooza became the first festival in the U.S. to power its mainstage entirely by battery, reporting a 67% reduction in both fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions over prior years, when batteries had not been used.

While Hanna says Lollapalooza’s accomplishment helped increase industry-wide confidence that batteries are reliable enough to use even at the biggest stages, Vasavada notes that the system implemented at Portola was “very different” from those used to power Lollapalooza and other events.  

“[This equipment] is not made for rock and roll music events,” he says. “These batteries were built for industry and for disaster relief, but it’s never been optimized for temporary portable power or for situations where you don’t have a grid. That’s what Overdrive has done.”  

Overdrive Energy Solutions’ previous festival work includes implementing batteries at two years of Willie Nelson’s Luck Reunion near Austin, Tex., along with events including West Virginia’s Healing Appalachia and Maryland’s All Things Go.

Portola 2024

Pics By Dana

Hanna reports that Goldenvoice’s use of battery power is expanding. The company’s Harvest Moon, which happened Oct. 5 in Lake Hughes, Calif., was powered entirely by batteries and solar-fed grid power. Goldenvoice’s Camp Flog Gnaw – which happened at L.A.’s Dodger Stadium in November – used a hybridized battery and generator system at two of its three stages, also employing a combination of grid power, batteries and solar to power entire sections of the festival. (That initiative was once again a joint project from AEG/Goldenvoice, CES Power, Overdrive Energy Solutions and REVERB’s Music Decarbonization Project). Hanna calls it “Goldenvoice’s cleanest energy festival to date.” 

As battery technology advances and becomes more widely available, the cost of deploying these systems remains a key prohibitor to their widespread adoption. (Energy prices vary between shows based on factors including vendors, owned vs. rented equipment, trucking rates, available grid power and more.)

But Hanna says that generally, improved power planning internally, combined with creativity and collaboration with power vendors, “is already leading to more competitive pricing on battery systems. The data we’re gathering from each show is helping us find efficiencies that prove hybridizing power can be as cost effective as generators and the fuel they consume.” 

And given that battery systems provide event producers with precise data about how much power they actually consume and truly require, Hanna says that ultimately “we’re going to be able to be more efficient and cost effective, because at the end of the day we can’t spend more.” REVERB, a 501c3 nonprofit that’s focused on sustainability in the music industry for 20 years, made the 2024 Portola power system possible by subsidizing a portion of its cost. The organization estimates that each year, U.S. festivals burn the equivalent of 46 million miles driven by gasoline powered vehicles.

As far as when these clean energy systems will entirely replace carbon-emitting generators at festivals, Hanna believes that moment is on the horizon. “it’s not next year. But is it in five years? Maybe. We are heading in that direction as quickly and as efficiently as we can.” 

Dorset’s End of The Road Festival has announced its first lineup for 2025’s event, confirming that Father John Misty, Sharon Van Etten, Caribou and Self Esteem will headline.

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Next year’s edition will take place at Larmer Tree Gardens in the south of England on Aug 29-31, 2025. The festival premiered in 2006 and has been held every year since (except 2020 due to the COVID pandemic). 

Joining them on the lineup will be: Mount Kimbie, Black Country New Road, GOAT, Geordie Greep, Tropical F–k Storm, Moonchild Sanelly, Ela Minus, Throwing Muses, Emma-Jean Thackray and more. See the full lineup below.

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Tickets for the event are on sale now from the festival’s official website. More announcements are set to be made about the lineup and across the festival’s literature and arts offerings. Previous headliners at the event have included IDLES, Future Islands, Fleet Foxes, St Vincent, Vampire Weekend and more.

Father John Misty recently released his sixth studio, Mahashmashana, which landed on the Billboard 200 at No. 161. Sharon Van Etten, meanwhile, has written and recorded her upcoming album with her touring band The Attachment Theory, and will release the self-titled debut Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory on February 7 via Jagjaguwar.

Self Esteem’s performance is the first show announced in 2025 for the British pop artist, who saw considerable success with her second LP, Prioritise Pleasure, and its ensuing live tour. Electronic producer Caribou released his sixth album, Honey, earlier this year, which included collaborations with generative AI across the vocal performances.

Jon Pardi is set to bring his neo-traditional, honky tonk country sound to venues across the country on his headlining Honkytonk Hollywood Tour in 2025, with the 16-date trek launching April 25 in Lubbock, Texas.

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The trek will visit arenas and amphitheaters across the United States and Canada, with support from “Wild As Her” hitmaker Corey Kent on select dates, and Kassi Ashton, who earlier this year released her debut album Made From The Dirt.

Pardi released his most recent album, Mr. Saturday Night, in 2023, but since then he’s released the Luke Bryan collaboration “Cowboys and Plowboys,” as well as “Friday Night Heartbreaker,” which reached No. 34 on Billboard‘s Country Airplay chart earlier this year.

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To date, Pardi has earned five Country Airplay chart-toppers, including “Head Over Boots” and “Last Night Lonely.” Mr. Saturday Night earned a nomination for album of the year from the Academy of Country Music.

Tickets for the shows go on sale Friday, Dec. 6 at 10 a.m. local time. An exclusive, early-access presale begins at 9 a.m. local time on Thursday, Dec. 5 at jonpardi.com.

See the full dates for Pardi’s Honkytonk Hollywood Tour below:

April 25: Lubbock, Texas @ United Supermarkets Arena

April 26: Las Cruces, N.M. @ Pan American Center

May 15: Tucson, Ariz. @ Tucson Arena

May 16: Prescott Valley, Ariz. @ Findlay Toyota Center

May 29: Toledo, Ohio @ Huntington Center

May 30: Indianapolis, Ind. @ Everwise Amphitheater at White River State Park

May 31: Evansville, Ind. @ Ford Center

June 5: Highland Heights, KY @ Truist Arena

June 6: Pittsburgh, Pa. @ Petersen Events Center

June 7: Allentown, Pa. @ PPL Center

June 11: Regina, SK @ Brandt Centre

June 12: Lethbridge, AB @ VisitLethbridge.com Arena

June 14: Kelowna, BC @ Prospera Place

June 18: Idaho Falls, ID @ Mountain America Center *

June 20: Airway Heights, WA @ BECU Live at Northern Quest Amphitheater *

June 21: Bend, OR @ Hayden Homes Amphitheater *

TBA and Kassi Ashton