Touring
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No Doubt and Sublime will each reunite at this year’s Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival for the first time in years, but there’s one massive reunion promoters couldn’t pull together: the Talking Heads.
Last September, festival curator and Goldenvoice president Paul Tollett traveled to the Toronto International Film Festival for a celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Talking Heads’ seminal concert film, Stop Making Sense. For the first time in over 30 years, David Byrne sat alongside his former bandmates Jerry Harrison, Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth to discuss the film project in a live panel moderated by Spike Lee.
Tollett tells Billboard he had traveled to Toronto to potentially discuss having the Talking Heads perform at Coachella and met with members of the band and their representatives, but that he “sensed there were no shows happening, so I didn’t make an offer.”
Tollett emphasized that he never broached the subject of payment with the band and ultimately went home empty-handed. He would not discuss how much he was willing to pay for a reunion show at Coachella, though a source familiar with how much artists are paid to headline the mega-festival says the gig could have earned the group as much as $10 million.
Shortly after Tollett returned from his trip, a second offer came through, this time from Live Nation. The promoter told the Talking Heads it was willing to pay the band $80 million to headline six to eight festival gigs and headlining slots, sources close to the group say. The Talking Heads ultimately rejected that offer as well. Live Nation declined to comment when asked about the offer.
Ever since Jane’s Addiction agreed to reunite at Coachella in 2001, the Indio, Calif., music festival has become the go-to platform for reunion gigs, with acts like Siouxsie and the Banshees, the Pixies, Rage Against the Machine, The Specials and dozens more all finding a way to come back together for one more show in the desert. But as the event ages — it’s now in its 23rd year — and competition in the festival market intensifies, pulling these kinds of comeback concerts together has become increasingly difficult.
More than two months after the Toronto Film Festival, in early December, Tollett found himself at the center of a controversial dispute around Sublime’s reunion. Mike “Cheez” Brown, who managed the group Sublime with Rome, had learned that music manager Kevin Zinger with Regime Music Group had joined forces with Vandals bassist and musician-turned-executive Joe Escalante to stage an official Sublime reunion with original bassist Eric Wilson, original drummer Bud Gaugh and late singer Bradley’s Nowell’s son, Jakob Nowell, on vocals.
Brown also learned that Zinger and Escalante were targeting Coachella for the band’s first major reunion show and called Tollett to discuss. Just months earlier, Tollett had booked Sublime with Rome atop the Cali Vibes reggae festival, slated for this February in the band’s hometown of Long Beach, Calif.
While Tollett and many other festival talent buyers had heard about the effort to launch a Jacob Nowell-fronted reunion, at the time Brown called him, Tollett had not yet submitted any offers for the group, who had not yet performed live together. A test gig eventually came together weeks later as part of a charity event, and by late December, Sublime with Rome and the new Sublime had reached a settlement. Brown and Sublime with Rome agreed to end the band’s 13-year run after it played the festivals and dates they had already booked for 2024, while the newly re-formed Sublime would prepare for its first comeback gig as a band, scheduled for Apr. 13 at Coachella.
The No Doubt reunion, largely negotiated in late December and early January, would turn out to be easier and more straightforward than Sublime and the Talking Heads.
It was Tollett who initiated talks with Stefani’s manager, Irving Azoff, about the idea. The discussion with bandmates dragged out longer than expected as talks delved into band business outside of the reunion, but eventually, the group agreed to reunite in large part because of its long relationship with Goldenvoice, who promoted some of the band’s first shows. The $10 million payday would be significant for bandmates Adrian Young, Tony Kanal and Tom Dumont, whose current band, DREAMCAR, is led by AFI singer Davy Havoc and booked to play Goldenvoice’s Cruel World festival in May.
For her part, Stefani was already booked to play Cali Vibes in February when she agreed to play Coachella. A source close to Stefani tells Billboard not to expect a major No Doubt tour to follow the one-time reunion set, as she already has plans in place for the second half of the year to promote new solo music she plans to release this summer.
As part of our continuing efforts to serve the music industry and its creators, Billboard Pro now features a music industry events calendar for readers.
The calendar will act as music’s most complete summary major national and international industry events, from conferences to festivals to networking mixers and more. Just as Billboard is music’s must-read source for news, charts and analysis, now it also is the go-to for business happenings.
January
February
March
April
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June
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September
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December
Dec. 4–10 – XLive (Las Vegas)
Want your event listed? For more information contact joe.maimone@billboard.com.
As the music industry prepares to gather next week in Los Angeles for discussions on how to address climate change within the sector, a new initiative to better understand the scope of the challenge is underway.
On Monday (Jan. 29), MIT’s Environmental Solutions Initiative announced that it’s launching a comprehensive study of the live music industry’s carbon footprint. Co-funded and supported by Warner Music Group, Live Nation and Coldplay, the report will suggest solutions to reduce the environmental impact of live music events across all venue sizes, from, a statement says, “pubs and clubs to stadiums.”
Focused on the U.S. and U.K. markets, the partnership will begin with an initial research phase, with the resulting Assessment Report of Live Music and Climate Change expected to be complete by this July.
The report aims to provide a comprehensive assessment of the relationship between live music and climate change, to identify key areas where the industry and concertgoers can make tangible improvements to reduce emissions, to foster positive outcomes and to provide a detailed analysis of the latest developments in green technology and sustainable practices.
“I’m delighted that we will be working with our partners to co-create recommendations for a sustainable future in music,” says Professor John E. Fernandez, director of the ESI at MIT. “As well as jointly funding the research, I applaud the spirit of openness and collaboration that will allow us to identify specific challenges in areas such as live event production, freight and audience travel, and recommend solutions that can be implemented across the entire industry to address climate change.”
Coldplay has also committed to manufacturing all physical records for their forthcoming 2024 album from recycled plastic bottles, which a statement claims is the first initiative of its kind.
Coldplay is a longtime sustainability leader, with the band saying last June that its Music Of The Spheres tour has so far produced 47% fewer CO2e emissions than its previous tour and that it’s planted five million trees to date.
With fan travel being one of the biggest carbon emissions drivers in the music industry, in 2022 the band partnered with Live Nation and major public transportation providers to offer fans free or discounted rides to foster more sustainable travel. A study found that this initiative fostered a 59% average increase in public transport ridership on show days across four U.S. cities.
Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO) once again rules Billboard’s monthly Top Tours chart in December, with the act now ringing the No. 1 bell for the final month of the year in 2023, 2022, 2021 and 2019. (Of note, there was no chart in 2020 due to COVID-19’s impact on touring.) Over 73 shows between Dec. 1-30, the classical holiday collective grossed $51.5 million and sold 657,000 tickets according to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore.
With ensembles on both the East and West Coasts, TSO was able to play at least two shows per day — and used the additional bandwidth to its advantage, squeezing the most performances into this December than it has in any year since 2016. Despite a 6% dip in attendance compared with last year, revenue increased by 1%, marking the highest grossing month for TSO in its illustrious 25-year touring history.
Overall, TSO grossed $68.2 million and sold 873,000 tickets on its 2023 tour. The group saw consistent increases in its annual grosses through the end of the 2010s, up 10%, 13%, and 18% in 2017, 2018 and 2019, respectively.
The 2021 season, flanked by the first wave of COVID-19’s Omicron, dipped back by 18%, while last year’s tour came within half a percentage point of the 2019 peak. Finally, with the effect of COVID in the rearview mirror, this year’s revue establishes a new high dating back to the collective’s 1999 touring debut.
TSO hit 21 markets in November and another 42 in December. As always, major markets prime for double-headers are saved for mid-to-late December when seasonal hype reaches its apex. The average gross per city in November was $835,000, while December’s pace rose to $1.2 million.
Cleveland and Tampa were standout markets, and the first to ever generate more than $2 million in TSO history. Two shows at the former’s Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse grossed $2.02 million from 26,000 tickets, and a double-header at the latter’s Amalie Arena earned $2.08 million from 25,600 tickets.
Including its Y2K launch (Dec. 10, 1999, to be exact), TSO has grossed a reported $802.4 million and sold 15 million tickets from 1,893 shows. While that situates it just outside the top 20 grossing acts in Boxscore history, its rank based on attendance makes it one of the top 10 artists since Boxscore’s late-‘80s start.
TSO’s fourth month at No. 1 ties Bad Bunny and Beyoncé. Only Elton John has spent more time on top, having reigned for seven months, spread between 2019, 2020, 2022 and 2023. While its annual touring window is limited to holiday months, its dominance is reliable, likely to be repeated in Decembers to come.
Given the sheer abundance of shows in TSO’s calendar throughout all of December — compared with most tours wrapping up halfway through the month — the group’s victory this time of year can feel inevitable. Still, the No. 1 spot was claimed by just a 3% margin, narrowly fending off U2’s eight-show run at Las Vegas’ Sphere.
U2 earned just over $50 million and sold 133,000 tickets during the Dec. 1-16 leg of its residency at Sphere, claiming the No. 1 spot on Top Boxscores. Combined with the first leg, which stretched from late September to early November, the rock legends have earned $159.8 million at the groundbreaking Vegas arena. Beginning this weekend, Bono & Co. are slated for 15 more shows through March 2.
U2 isn’t the only Vegas residency act to impact the December recap. Bruno Mars is No. 4 on Top Boxscores with a five-show return to MGM’s Dolby Live. The pop-R&B chart-topper grossed $10.3 million toward the end of the month, including a New Year’s Eve performance. At the same venue, Usher is No. 30 with the final two shows of a 12-date leg that began in early November. At Resorts World Theatre, Carrie Underwood pops up at No. 22, with $4.1 million from eight of nine shows that kicked off on Nov. 30.
While Vegas leads the way, half of the 30-position Top Boxscores chart took place outside of the mainland U.S., ranging from Latin America (RBD) and Europe (Madonna) to Asia (SEVENTEEN) and Australia (50 Cent). Paul McCartney takes up the most real estate with four appearances, all of which were in Brazil. Shows in Sao Paulo, Belo Horizonte, Rio de Janeiro and Curitiba rank at Nos. 3, 12-13 and 18, respectively. Three shows at Allianz Parque lead the pack with a $16.2 million gross and 149,000 attendance count over three shows.
And while Sphere enjoys a commanding lead over the Top Venues (15,001+ capacity) chart, it’s a New York theater that reigns over all concert halls in December. Radio City Music Hall crowns the Top Venues (5,001-10,000 capacity) list with $80.6 million and 133 shows. Even more efficient than TSO, The Radio City Rockettes headlined this year’s annual Christmas Spectacular, earning a gargantuan $116.7 million over 193 shows between Nov. 17 and Jan. 4.
Elle King has rescheduled four additional concerts following the backlash she faced for a recent performance at the Grand Ole Opry in honor of Dolly Parton. On her Instagram Stories Thursday (Jan. 25), the singer-songwriter revealed newly rescheduled dates for shows in Indiana, Illinois and Michigan, in addition to the now Sept. 21 date for her previously rescheduled show at Billy Bob’s Texas in Fort Worth, Texas.
The Stories post noted that her show in Shipshewana, Ind. is now slated for March 21, followed by a March 22 show in Waukegan, Ill., and two shows on March 29-30 in Harris, Mich. The shows were originally scheduled for Feb. 22, Feb. 25 and Feb. 23-24, respectively.
“Your tickets will be valid for the new dates. If you can’t make the new date, refunds are available at point of purchase. See you there!” the post read.
King’s website currently shows tour dates running from March 1 through Oct. 18.
Billboard has reached out to King’s rep for comment.
The news comes after King’s recent profanity-laced performance during a tribute show at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium in honor of Dolly Parton’s 78th birthday. Video from the performance shows her attempt to cover Parton’s “Marry Me,” during which King slurs her words and forgets the lyrics to the song. At one point, King herself tells the audience that she is “f–king hammered.”
The singer has yet to offer a statement on the performance, though the Grand Ole Opry did share a public apology on X in response to a fan comment, saying, “We deeply regret and apologize for the language that was used.”
In 2023, King released her debut country album, Come Get Your Wife, which includes the Dierks Bentley collaboration “Worth a Shot.” She earned a top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2015 with “Ex’s & Oh’s,” and has since had two No. 1 Country Airplay hit collaborations: “Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home)” with Miranda Lambert, as well as “Different for Girls” with Bentley.
As alcohol consumption declines among young adults and awareness about the mental health benefits of sobriety grows, nonalcoholic cocktails could prove key to finding new food and beverage revenue for the concert business.
In 2023, CMA Fest, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and Danny Wimmer Presents’ Louder Than Life and Bourbon & Beyond were among a dozen festivals to include mocktails and sober spaces at their events; Live Nation introduced the “no-jito” to its venue menus; and Oak View Group launched an elevated nonalcoholic beverage program at its Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert, Calif. And while conventional wisdom held that nonalcoholic drinks beyond soda and water would diminish alcohol sales, venues are finding that’s not the case.
“Since launching the mocktail program, our alcohol sales have remained steady, and overall beverage sales have increased by a margin that we are very pleased with,” says Daniel Griffis, president of global partnerships at Oak View Group. It has gone so well that OVG plans to start rolling out the program at other venues.
After launching in October in the premium level and expanding to the entire arena in January, Acrisure has sold more than 2,000 mocktails at $14 each — including the Blackberry Smash and the Firebirds Spritz, which use Lyre’s nonalcoholic spirits — says John Page, senior vp of Acrisure Arena, AHL team Coachella Valley Firebirds and OVG360 Facilities. “There have been a lot of positive comments that we are recognizing people that want to really experience the live event and have something different in terms of the beverage space, not soda or water,” he says. “This is one way that we can continue to show that we are aware and we have something for everyone in the venue.”
These activations were all launched in partnership with the nonprofit Stand Together and its 1 Million Strong initiative founded with sober community The Phoenix. They follow an open letter published in Billboard in January 2023 that featured 50 music industry leaders pledging support to 1 Million Strong.
“What I am excited to see, a year after, are those people actually doing it,” says Colette Weintraub, head of Stand Together Music, Sports & Entertainment.
At Live Nation, the initiative has brought a new corporate focus as well. Last May, the concert giant launched its Sober Nation program focused on fostering sober-inclusivity and destigmatizing addiction at their venues and offices. On Jan. 30 the company will host a Grammy-week brunch with 1 Million Strong and DMC of Run-DMC to raise awareness among staff and connect employees to available recovery and mental health resources.
On Jan. 30 the company will host a Grammy-week brunch with 1 Million Strong and DMC to raise awareness among staff and connect employees to available recovery and mental health resources.
For an industry that places a lot of emphasis on alcohol — from beverage sales to alcohol sponsors — Weintraub says the initiative has received a warm welcome so far. “We’re not saying ‘sober music industry,’ ” she says. “We’re saying this is an opportunity to expand and open the doors to more people and let more people participate in what’s important in life and supporting more people in achieving their full potential.”
A little more than three months since it kicked off at the O2 Arena in London, Madonna’s Celebration Tour arrived at Madison Square Garden this week. While the Celebration Tour previously hit New York City in December for three dates, those were all at the Barclays Center – a venue that opened in Brooklyn 12 […]
Boiler Room is going global, again, in 2024.
The dance culture event series and streaming platform announced a world tour on Tuesday (Jan. 23) that will feature rising acts, local artists and scene stars playing across 25 cities.
Expanding on the platform’s first-ever world tour last year, in 2024 Boiler Room will return to London, Mumbai, Manchester, Milan, New York, Seoul, Toronto, Sydney and Melbourne. The tour will also touch down in cities including Amsterdam, Auckland, Barcelona, Bogota, Buenes Aires, Paris, Tokyo, Glasgow, São Paulo, Shanghai, Delhi, Lagos and U.S. cities including Los Angeles, Chicago, Las Vegas and Miami.
Dates will be announced in the forthcoming months. Organizers say that the 2024 events will be bigger than on the 2023 tour, and will include weekend takeovers in addition to one-off shows.
Artists to be featured on the tour include Avalon Emergson, Chase & Status, Flowdan, Optimo, Rico Nasty, Skream & Benga, Armand van Helden, SHERELLE, Sara Landry and many more. Like the 2023 tour, the 2024 event series will also focus on local artists and rising stars.
Boiler Room’s 2023 tour hosted more than 200,000 attendees across 20 shows. In addition to the live events, streams of the events have aggregated millions of views.
Since launching in 2010, Boiler Room has created an archive of more than 8,000 performances bymore than 5,000 artists across 200 cities. This archive now aggregates more than 283 million streams per month. Boiler Room was acquired by ticketing platform Dice in 2021.
See the complete city and artist roster below.
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RBD and Guillermo Rosas, the group’s business partner who helped reunite the band after 15 years, have officially parted ways, Billboard can confirm. The news of the split comes just a month after the Mexican pop group — composed of Anahí, Dulce María, Maite Perroni, Christopher von Uckermann and Christian Chávez — wrapped their massive […]
Offset will be hitting the road for the first time as a solo act and not under the Migos umbrella. The Atlanta native announced plans for his Set It Off Tour on Tuesday (Jan. 23); it is slated to kick off in March.
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Pre-sale tickets are set to go on sale starting on Wednesday (Jan. 24) at 10 a.m. local time, while the general public will have their chance on Live Nation’s website on Friday (Jan. 26).
“SET IT OFF is more than a phrase, it’s a vibe we’re creating together. This tour is not just a series of concerts, it’s a journey into my mind,” Offset relayed in a statement. “I’m ready to hit the road on my first solo headlining tour, bringing the heat and most importantly, giving the fans a new way to experience my music.”
Offset’s first North American trek sans Quavo and the late Takeoff will begin in Philadelphia on March 10, and makes stops in New York City, Boston, Toronto, Detroit, Chicago, Denver, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Dallas and Houston before wrapping up in his hometown of Atlanta.
There’s still no word on possible openers. The tour announcement comes in support of Offset’s sophomore album of the same name, Set It Off, which arrived in October.
The LP debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 with 70,000 album-equivalent units moved in the first week and 59.1 million on-demand streams.
To execute his vision, Offset recruited a plethora of superstar guests on the expedition including Travis Scott, Cardi B, Don Toliver, Future, Latto, Chloe Bailey, and more.
See the list of tour dates below:
March 10 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Fillmore Philadelphia
March 12 – Silver Spring, MD @ The Fillmore Silver Spring
March 14 – New York, NY @ Palladium Times Square
March 15 – Boston, MA @ Citizens House of Blues Boston
March 17 – Toronto, ON @ HISTORY
March 19 – Detroit, MI @ The Fillmore Detroit
March 20 – Grand Rapids, MI @ GLC Live at 20 Monroe
March 22 – Cincinnati, OH @ Bogart’s
March 23 – Chicago, IL @ Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom
March 27 – Denver, CO @ Fillmore Auditorium
March 29 – Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Palladium
March 30 – San Francisco, CA @ The Masonic
April 1 – Anaheim, CA @ House of Blues Anaheim
April 3 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren
April 5 – Dallas, TX @ South Side Ballroom
April 7 – Houston, TX @ Bayou Music Center
April 10 – Atlanta, GA @ Coca-Cola Roxy