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Taylor Swift's Eras Tour, in review

What the critics are saying about the tour's opening performance

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Pop mastermind Taylor Swift opened her industry-disrupting Eras Tour on Friday, taking over Arizona's State Farm Stadium for a night of jaw-dropping visuals, potent power ballads, and bedazzled costumes strikingly coordinated with each chapter of her illustrious career. The 44-song tour de force, which began with Lover- era deep cut " Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince " and ended with the bubbly and biting " Karma ," a fan-favorite track from 2022's Midnights , careened through all 10 of Swift's original albums, each of which received its own highly-personalized portion of the show.

Before diving into Fearless' "You Belong With Me," Swift asked the stadium if it was "ready to go back to high school" with her. And when it was time for Evermore , she made sure to note how much she loves the album "despite what some of you say on TikTok." Indeed, that parasocial relationship Swift has with her fans — perhaps one of the strongest in the music industry — was on full display Friday night, as she cheekily warned her acolytes that "I see it — I see all of it" ("it" being the content they post about her online).

From her 2006 debut, " Tim McGraw " was the only song Swift chose to honor, having opted to build out the Evermore , Folklore , Lover , and Midnights portions of the set instead. Speak Now fans were surely disappointed to hear only "Enchanted," the album's sweeping, Adam Young-dedicated pop epic, though perhaps that's because she (allegedly) plans to soon release the re-recorded project as Speak Now (Taylor's Version) . Either way, diehard Swifties can rest at least somewhat easy knowing there will be one surprise acoustic performance each night of the tour, affording them a chance to hear those older, deep cuts at some point in the night. During Friday's opener, Swift selected Folklore 's " Mirrorball ," a song about her sense of self as a performer.

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Of course, there were some celebrities among the 70,000 in attendance — actress Laura Dern, who has a cameo in the "Bejeweled" music video , actress Emma Stone, and all three members of HAIM were spotted rocking out at various points on Friday, while former NFL star JJ Watt (who appears to have attended the Saturday show) shared his thoughts on the evening in a Sunday morning TikTok : "She crushed it. And she didn't even look tired. I was tired and I was just sitting there!"

So far, reviews for the tour's opening performances have proven overwhelmingly positive, with most (like Watt) heralding the singer's endurance, as well as her unmatched dedication to putting on a mindblowing show. "Breaking: Taylor Swift is not simply a voice in our ears or an abstract concept to argue over at parties, but a flesh-and-blood being with a taste for sparkling pajamas and the stamina of a ram," wrote The Atlantic 's Spencer Kornhaber, who alleged that Swift had "conjured actual magic" during her three-hour spectacle. "The concert," he said, "had been unbelievable, but so was the fact that this one human woman planned to do it again the next night, and for many after."

"The Eras Tour is a feat," Waiss David Aramesh similarly concluded for Rolling Stone . "It's live music at its highest spectacle and greatest excess. And for most, without the catalog and showmanship of Swift, it'd be too much. But 17 years into her career, maybe we ought to stop being surprised when she finds a way to top her own efforts year after year."

"Going album by album (or, era by era) in color-blocked, outfit-delineated segments (including two sparkling bodysuits, a ballgown, two ethereal dresses, a one-legged snake suit, and the outfit from the 22 music video), Swift packed more than many TikTok speculators thought possible into one show, with almost no breaks and seemingly endless stamina," mused The Guardian Adrian's Horton, whose only critique seemed to pertain to sound issues that she posited likely had less to do with "a tour or performance problem than the challenge of projecting sound to a stadium full of 70,000 people." At one point, Horton said, "the volume on her mic seemed to go wildly up and down."

And for The New York Times ' Jon Caramanica, the show's peak was indisputably Swift's 10-minute performance of "All Too Well," the beloved and incising breakup ballad that received a minutes-long facelift when it was re-released in Nov. 2021. "Plenty were singing along with her," Caramanica wrote of the moment, "but somehow, the accumulated voices sounded like one huge hush, students in awe of the master class." The critic was less impressed with the Evermore portion of the night, which he described as "particularly limp" and awkwardly juxtaposed against the much rowdier Reputation chapter. The Folklore era "fared slightly better, especially ' Cardigan ' and ' Betty ,'" he continued, "but this section teetered toward melodrama, as if compensating for the less assured production on those songs." But if there were another "pillar performance" of the evening, for Caramanica it was "Tim McGraw," a song that "remained as raw as the day it was recorded." There were "no real tweaks" to the track, "no rejoinder from the new Swift to the old one — just a searing take on the sort of love that makes for a better song than relationship," something "Swift simply has understood all along."

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Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry. 

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Michelle Pitiris for Rolling Stone AU/NZ

It’s Taylor Swift’s Era and We’re All Just Living In It [Live Review]

What went down when taylor swift brought her record-breaking eras tour to australia..

I am standing on the corner of Olympic Boulevard, Richmond, walking towards the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Taylor Swift is due to perform on the opening night of the Australian leg of her Eras Tour. 

A girl in a fuchsia Western outfit stands to my left as we wait for the lights to change. 

“Heading to Taylor?” I ask. Although, the answer seems obvious. 

“No,” she replies. “I couldn’t get tickets. But I’m going to stand outside the stadium anyway.” Australia shattered records when more than four million people tried to get tickets to the Eras tour. Such is the gravitational pull of Taylor Swift, arguably the world’s biggest pop star in 2024. As has become commonplace at Swift’s shows, the legions of fans who missed out on tickets will ‘Taylor-gate’ outside the stadium, finding a way to participate in this mass cultural moment on their own terms. 

It’s an astounding concept to hold, considering this is Swift’s largest show of her entire career. 96,000 spectators have flooded the biggest stadium in Australia for an opportunity to witness pop superstardom. 

Photograph by Michelle Pitiris for Rolling Stone AU/NZ

And still, the fervour of her fanbase spills out onto the parklands surrounding the ‘G. It lends the event a dizzying, carnival-like atmosphere as groups of fans — all dressed as their favourite Swift avatar — flutter around the grounds trading handmade friendship bracelets with each other inscribed with their favourite Swift songs. 

Outside the stadium, I meet my thirteen-year-old cousin. She is a Taylor Swift megafan, or ‘Swiftie’ as the most ardent members of her fandom are known. There’s less than an hour til showtime and she is overjoyed. 

Among Swift’s many gifts as a songwriter, her greatest may be the ability to translate the experiences of young adulthood – particularly those that illustrate the female experience and girlhood – into some kind of universal songbook.

Her music acts as a map for listeners to overlay their own journeys of heartbreak, triumph, breakup and transcendence. To put it simply: “I like her because she’s relatable,” says my cousin. “She makes me feel everything.” We’re given light-up LED bracelets upon entry and link arms to navigate the percolating crowd as we venture inside to find our seats. 

After months of anticipation, the first night of Taylor Swift’s Australian run is about to begin. The crowd is a sea of glittering cowboy boots, Travis Kelce jerseys, ball gowns, sequinned bodysuits, cottagecore cloaks, and oceanic pastels. The electricity is reaching a fever pitch.

The premise for the Eras tour stands alone in the current pop landscape

Each show comprises a monolithic three-hour set, in which Swift performs hits, deep cuts, acoustic renditions, and fan-favourite ‘surprise songs’ spanning 18 years of her career. What sets it apart from a mere retrospective, however, is how she transforms these eras into a self-contained universe — each complete with its own lore, characters, aesthetic, and narratives. This world-building creates a deepened connection with her fans who aim to unearth hidden secrets with each listen. 

To witness the Eras tour live represents the closing of a feedback loop. The moment she appears on stage, swathed in billowing orange and lilac tapestry, the realisation sets in. Fans have the opportunity not just to listen to her music and follow along with the pop culture narrative that unfolds in her wake, but to strive for a moment of connection with her — and in the process, form deeper bonds with each other.

It speaks to the magic of Swift’s fandom, which when unshackled from the online sphere takes the shape of a genuine community. My cousin is beaming; a fellow Swiftie is offering her a Taylor Swift trading card. She astutely offers up a homemade rainbow charm in return. 

And so it unfolds.

A career-spanning set that is nothing short of polished perfection

Swift is nothing if not professional, performing to the biggest crowd of her life with the utmost ease. She points to a corner of the stadium and the audience erupts in a roar. The control and connection she exerts over the masses is spellbinding.

As Melbourne’s sky turns dusk-violet, it’s fitting that Swift begins with songs from her Lover era.

‘Cruel Summer’ bounces with a lightweight bliss, while a gregarious rendition of ‘The Man’ is granted additional weight through Swift’s offstage business acumen. After a much-publicised battle with music industry tycoon Scooter Braun over her masters, Swift famously wrestled back control of her artistic vision by choosing to re-record her first six studio albums.

In the process, she effectively regained complete control over her music. It also bears stating that Swift’s Eras Tour is the highest-grossing concert tour of all time, cementing her place in music industry history. 

As such a consummate performer, the challenge with a Taylor Swift show can be finding the moments that seemingly veer off-script. As she surveyed the crowd and brought the Lover era to a close, she allowed herself to bask in the moment. A single tear rolled down her face. Yes, it was an impossibly perfect pop star tear — the kind that only seems to appear on film sets. But it was authentic nonetheless. Arguably, these small human moments that puncture an otherwise maximalist show are the most compelling. Much of Swift’s back catalogue is undoubtedly rooted in millennial nostalgia. If you were 14 years old when ‘Love Story’ came out, you’re now entering your 30s. Perhaps more so than any genre, pop music can fuse with our memories — so much so that it can feel like a soundtrack to a former life. Performing cuts from her Fearless era, Swift created a time-space warp that swallowed fans into portals of heady youth.

While the music was unlocking core memories for the masses, it also presented a chance to create new ones. It was as if fans of the Fearless era were singing along with their inner teenagers, unifying their former selves with who they are today. Such is the power of pop.

The same could be said of renditions from the Red era, most of which hold up as well-crafted tunes — outside of the odd dubstep drop that rears its head. Of course, it wouldn’t be true teenage n ostalgia if it wasn’t metered with a healthy dose of cringe.

The era is rounded out with a 10-minute version of ‘All Too Well’, which incites the collective shout of ‘fuck the patriarchy’ from the crowd as the song reaches its lyrical climax. I look towards my cousin, who is thoroughly locked in. Before I can think any further about Taylor Swift acting as her gateway to punk music, we’re covered in artificial snow that falls from the rooftop of the ‘G.

It’s rare for an international artist to tour with the entirety of their production rig, making the fact that history’s highest-grossing tour may also be one of the most comprehensive in recent memory. The stagecraft is faultless and all-encompassing — both through attention to detail and sweeping setpieces. For the evermore era, ‘champagne problems’ is the highlight — underscoring the song’s narrative with heated contemporary dance.

As for folklore , an album Swift created during the global pandemic, the era comes to life with its complete cottage installation, translating the moody forest nymph vibe to the stage with total immersion.

Recently, an influx of international artists have cancelled their Australian tours, citing impossibly high production costs to make them viable. In this context, it’s refreshing to see Swift reward fans — some of whom have paid thousands of dollars in tickets and interstate travel to see their idol live — with a show that chooses fan service over cutting corners. Songs from this era may be some of her strongest. Despite its isolated writing methodology and hushed tones, the record holds up well within a stadium environment.

Swift has long been in the public eye. At this point, her connection to pop culture discourse is inseparable from her artistry. The Reputation era represents Swift’s response to this — with the record presenting her first major attempt to reclaim her public identity through a new musical persona.

In a live setting, songs from this record seem to illicit a similar catharsis from audience members, several of which scream-sing the entire run of songs ( …Ready for It?, Delicate, Don’t Blame Me and Look What You Made Me Do) to the point of exhaustion. If half of Melbourne’s population has lost its voice by Monday, I can hazard a guess at the reason why.

The accompanying visuals to this era coat the MCG like an oil slick before reaching the point of immolation. The tracks come to life with subtle reinventions that offer up a brooding hard rock edge.

Taking centre stage behind a simple upright piano adorned with hand-painted flowers, the highlight of the night unfurls. As is tradition, Swift performs her ‘surprise songs’ — a simple, stripped-back, acoustic moment that gives each audience of the tour something just for them.

Performing ‘You’re Losing Me’ for the first time, she pulls off an incredible magic trick by conjuring a feeling of intimacy within an impossibly large crowd. Put simply, it’s as close as you’ll come to hearing the version of Taylor Swift that exists behind the carefully curated eras.

For a few minutes, the audience is offered a glimpse at the Taylor who sits behind her piano at home, puts pen to paper, and begins to write. 

The closing act arrives as a victory lap of sorts

The stage is lit with washes of purple as Swift emerges in a faux-fur coat to set the scene with the slinky pop-funk of ‘ Lavender Haze ’. ‘Anti Hero’ is on-brand as ever, while ‘Vigilante Shit’ offers a nod to the burlesque choreography of Chicago . Finally, ‘Karma’ closes the night out — giving way to an endorphin rush of fireworks, laser beams and confetti rain. For a moment, time is frozen as 96,000 people allow themselves to be swept away in a wave of joy. This is the power of pop music. This is the power of Taylor Swift. Say what you will, but one universal truth remains. It’s Taylor’s era. We’re all just living in it. 

In This Article: melbourne live show , Taylor Swift , The Eras Tour

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Taylor Swift’s Six L.A. Eras Tour Stops Proved Why She’ll Never Go Out of Style

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I’ve been a Taylor Swift fan since her first self-titled album, back when I was a certified angsty preteen singing my heart out to “Teardrops on My Guitar” before I even had a boyfriend to cry about. She released “Fifteen” from her sophomore record, Fearless, when I was coincidentally 15 as well, and through her 17 years in music, I’ve followed her through the eras from country, pop, indie-folk and back. However, I’ve never seen her live, so imagine my giddiness when my friend scored face-value tickets for the Eras Tour .

Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour started its run in Glendale, Arizona on March 17, and she just wrapped this year’s U.S. shows with a six-night run at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on August 9. As her devotees have seen on social media, each city and performance has their own distinct flavor, generating anticipation for everyone who is seeing Taylor live. The tour’s signature moves include two surprise songs that aren’t on the official set list per show, and Taylor sharing the limelight with musical guest stars such as Phoebe Bridgers in Nashville to Ice Spice in New Jersey. Outside of official stage moments, multiple nameworthy celebrities have been spotted in the bleachers, singing their hearts out and jingling their wrists full of beaded friendship bracelets. 

Below, the top six surprising moments from Taylor Swift’s six nights in Los Angeles.

August 3: The Giveaway “22” Hat

For every performance of “22”, the singer gifted the black hat she wears on stage to one lucky fan. On August 3, she gave the accessory to Kobe Bryant’s daughter, Bianka. They shared a sweet embrace while her mother, Vanessa, looked on. The poignant hand-off quickly went viral, warming the hearts of Angelenos and Swifties alike.

August 4: More Surprise Songs

Showcasing some love to her debut album along with the extra tracks on the deluxe edition of 1989 , Taylor performed “Our Song” and “You Are In Love” for the first time since 2015 as her two surprise songs of the night. Fans danced and swayed along to both nostalgic tunes, reliving their own romantic love stories.

August 5: Wrapping Up a Secret Film Project

The first three shows in SoFi had camera crews spotted on stage, as fans speculated Taylor was working on a behind-the-scenes concert project to be released on a streaming platform in the near future. August 5 was the final evening being filmed, so Taylor made sure to add some extra oomph and dazzle to her three-hour-plus set list for the documentary.

August 7 : A Hometown Show for HAIM

Gracie Abrams kicked off the night with her pop hit, “Where do we go now?” and set the mood with her crooning. HAIM played shortly after, with an explanation about their San Fernando Valley roots and a shoutout to all the Valley girls in the crowd for their hometown show, before bursting into song for “Want You Back”. Later that evening, Taylor re-iterated how she was so lucky to have her favorite band and best friends, HAIM, join her on stage for a dynamic duet of “no body, no crime” off her album Evermore.

August 8: The Royal Swifties Came

Royalty was in the house that night. Meghan Markle was spotted in the stadium for an evening of Taylor. She was with a close friend, Lucy Fraser, but Prince Harry was nowhere in sight as he was gone for a business trip in Asia. However, that didn’t stop Meghan from letting loose and singing her heart out with the rest of the cheering crowd.

August 9th: The Eighth Month of the Ninth Day for 1989

Taylor is known for being extremely detail-oriented and intentional with the Easter eggs she sends out to her fans. Throughout the whole show, she was seen with new costumes in multiple tones of blue , different from outfits she wore in prior performances. Towards the end during her acoustic surprise songs set, she drops an announcement.

“And so now here we are, on the last night of the U.S. leg of the Eras Tour , in the eighth month of the year on the ninth day of the month,” she said, referencing the date as 8/9. “But I think instead of telling you about it, I think I’ll just sort of show you something.” The screen behind her flashed to an announcement of the re-release of her album, 1989 (Taylor’s Version), set for October 27th, 2023, as the crowd screamed in excitement for what’s next.

After concluding the August 9th show and the U.S. stretch of her tour this year, Taylor was seen strolling backstage in a sparkly purple dress and holding a glass of white wine, blowing kisses to her crew members and fans. Until the next one.

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The ‘Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour’ Experience: Breaking Down Sing-Along Moments, Fan Freak-Outs, and More

Erin strecker.

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Are you ready for it?

Several IndieWire staffers met up Friday night for what was supposed to be opening night of “ Taylor Swift : The Eras Tour” at a NYC theater. Anticipation? High. Energy level? Even higher. Drinks consumed? Unprecedented.

It was a night filled with friendship bracelets, light up Taylor glow sticks (more on that later), and at least one homemade Taylor T-shirt. All to be expected. But as the self-appointed Taylor expert of the group —yes, I went to see the Eras tour twice previously , thank you very much — I wondered how the concert film would work for those not steeped in Swiftie mythology.

Ryan, did the movie live up to your expectations of the concert tour you haven’t actually seen?

RYAN LATTANZIO : Having been shut out of buying Taylor tickets thrice — and even after enlisting in various “verified fan” presales — I was feeling a bit burned by the whole affair. But this concert film, directed by Sam Wrench, I have to say blew me away. Swift is a consummate professional as ever but what stood out to me this time was the strength of her vocals. I’m coming at this as a “folklore” era fan and previously a “1989” head and otherwise casual listener prior, and the movie offered up a nice sampling of all these, even opening with tracks from “Lover” to ease in those listeners who aren’t so familiar with her earlier stuff. But now I must say I am all in on “Red,” an album that eluded me in my youth that I’ll now be spinning endlessly.

ERIN STRECKER: Yeah, I was still raring to go when the credits rolled. Kate, a thing I love about you is your enthusiasm for the ~whole deal~. What was your take on the die-hard fans around us and the overall experience?

KATE ERBLAND: In the lead up to our trip to “The Eras Tour,” I vowed to go all-in on the experience, to really let the communal joy of Swifties (of which I don’t count myself, though I certainly enjoy a lot of Swift’s music, particularly of the “Red” and “1989” vintage) wash over me, to trade friendship bracelets with whoever I could find (my first trade: a very kind AMC employee who sold me the first of many cans of hard seltzer), to sing along with whatever songs I did know, to dance in my seat, and to break out my own big guns (a Travis Kelce jersey, which I have owned for years, and which has taken on new, bizarre resonance in recent weeks).

To some people — including me, who can get so annoyed at screenings in which people are on their phones or talking too much, I nearly break out in hives — this might sound awful. But it wasn’t! It was fun and cute and giddy and it made for a communal movie-going experience like I haven’t had in years. I didn’t have to vow to go all-in on the experience, it was sort of baked in already. I dare anyone to go to “The Eras Tour” and not have a delightful time and, perhaps oddly, walk away from their showing not only feeling a deep admiration for Swift and her level of live-show pageantry (I may have yelled, “I’m converted!” at least twice) but also remembering the pure joy of taking in a show with a bunch of strangers. I don’t know if Swift is going to save movie theaters, but she did remind me of their power as gathering place for people looking to revel in something, together.

ERIN STRECKER: Oh, man! Well, happily, there really were only about four songs that were cut from the proceedings. But I was hopeful that “no body, no crime” — her duet with Haim — which she only performed at the West coast dates would make the cut so I could finally, finally watch that barn burner live. But it wasn’t meant to be.

I have to say I was a bit surprised she cut “Wildest Dreams” from her “1989” mega montage set. It, like the other “1989” tracks, are a bit truncated in “Eras Tour” (likely due to the fact that she has toured them extensively already, as opposed to several of her newer albums). So it would have only added about two minutes to the run time. I missed it!

Proma, you had to deal with me sitting next to you volunteering info like “OK, so ‘reputation’ is under-appreciated” and “That guitarist has been with her since 2007.” How was the rest of your newbie Swift experience?

And as a Bollywood fan with my own performance background, I was blown away. Not only is Swift a magnetic performer as Ryan mentioned, but the entire concert is nonstop, seamless, brilliant spectacle. From fire shooting across the backdrop to Swift diving into the stage (how?!?) to detailed sets corresponding with each album, the production was impeccable. And those dancers , my god — I think I genuinely had my mouth hanging open for chunks of this movie, definitely for the entirety of “Ready for It?” The great thing about watching this in tightly-edited video form and not from distant seats in a stadium was being able to form a connection to each individual performer, to see how they all engaged with the music and lyrics and brought that to life with their bodies — including Swift herself, I see that Broadway diva ballet hand, girl.

I see that none of you have mentioned Ryan’s effusive love for “My Tears Ricochet,” easily one of the standout moments of this viewing experience. Erin, you were right there with him ascending to the heavens during that funeral anthem — any final thoughts now that we’ve all ascended?

Everyone will become a Swiftie eventually. I’ll be there to greet them when they give in and surrender.

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MUSIC NEWS Taylor Swift The Eras Tour video announcement

Taylor swift reveals ‘i can do it with a broken heart’ video of eras tour bts.

• BY Tomas Mier
• August 20, 2024

Taylor Swift is celebrating the end of her international Eras Tour dates by releasing the official video for “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart.” On Tuesday night, the singer surprise-released a video for the Tortured Poets Department favorite featuring behind-the-scenes clips of the singer’s Eras Tour run in Europe

Among the clips are Swift rehearsing the track at a soundstage, practicing bestowing the “22” hat, and walking around the rehearsal space surrounded by her dancers.

“I’m so depressed, I act like it’s my birthday every day/I’m so obsessed with him but he avoids me like the plague,” she sings on the track. “I cry a lot but I am so productive/It’s an art.”

Also in the video are clips of Swift hitting the stage of the Eras Tour at different points of the show and videos of her rehearsing the added TTPD portion of her set. It also gives a behind-the-scenes look of her iconic underwater dive that occurs after her surprise song segment.

The video’s release came after she wrapped her final night at Wembley Stadium, where she was joined by Florence Welch for a duet of “Florida!!!” and Jack Antonoff for a duet of Reputation ‘s “Getaway Car.” (The joint performance with Welch marked the first time Swift sang the track on tour.) She also debuted  The   Tortured Poets Department ‘s “So Long, London.”

Swift will take a two-month break, before she returns to the U.S. in October for shows in Miami, New Orleans, Indianapolis, and Vancouver. While in London,  Swift met with two survivors  from a stabbing attack in Southport, England, that targeted a Swift-themed yoga and dance workshop.

• In this article: music , Music News , Taylor Swift , The Eras Tour , video announcement

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Site navigation, don’t miss out, taylor tourism: new data reveals singer’s eras tour is driving interest in small towns and ‘destination dupes’.

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Taylor Swift fans flocked to Liverpool last week for the first of her sold-out “Eras Tour” UK dates , but it wasn’t just Liverpool locals in the crowd. Among the more than 55,000 Swifties at Anfield Stadium were fans who had traveled from as far as India, China and the Philippines, in addition to seemingly thousands of people from North America.

While they don’t share exact booking data, travel site Expedia says search interest in Liverpool has increased by as much as 875% over last year, likely due to Swift announcing her tour dates in the city. Searches for Warsaw, Poland, meantime, have increased by a whopping 1130%, per Expedia, with bookings tied to Swift’s concert there in August. Aside from those top two cities, Swifties drove up Expedia searches for May to August by almost 65% for cities that are part of the singer’s 2024 European tour . Call it the “Taylor tourism effect.”

In a recent Expedia survey, nearly 70% of respondents said they would be more likely to travel to a concert outside their hometown, especially if it was cheaper . More than 40% said they’d see traveling for a concert as an excuse to visit a new place. That has not only increased bookings on Expedia to lesser-known destinations (think Liverpool over London), it has also become a major driver of those local economies.

It isn’t just Swift who is driving business for “ tour tourism ” — last year saw U.S. fans flocking to Europe for Beyonce’s “Renaissance Tour,” and unexpected cities on Expedia’s list of top tour tourism destinations this year include Kuala Lumpur (where Dua Lipa is playing November); Edmonton (where Avril Lavigne, Zach Bryan and Bruce Springsteen will make stops this year); and Mexico City, which will welcome Jonas Brothers, Niall Horan and The Killers, among others. While hotel prices run into the high-hundreds for major cities like New York and Chicago, Expedia has stays available from $91 in Kuala Lumpur, and $119 in Mexico City and Warsaw, proving these so-called “destination dupes” may provide the best value for concert goers.

The top summer ticket aside from Swift? According to Expedia, it’s Justin Timberlake who is leading search interest on the site, with his upcoming concerts in Amsterdam and Munich “driving higher demand” in hotel bookings than Swift. Here in the U.S., Expedia is seeing an increase in bookings for small towns like Hershey, Pennsylvania and Lexington, Kentucky, with travel searches up 1400% and 800% respectively for more affordable stays there tied to Timberlake’s dates.

While Expedia is best known for offering accommodations and experiences (think guided tours and sightseeing packages), the site also has sports and concert tickets available as part of its resale marketplace. Tickets to 2024 Eras Tour dates start at $408 as of this writing, all backed by Expedia’s money-back guarantee.

As for tips on how to score the best deals to see Swift (and other artists): in addition to searching for the less mainstream destinations mentioned above, Expedia says to consider commuting to the concert rather than staying in the exact city where the show is taking place, which can often shave a few hundred dollars off accommodations. The site also notes that Saturday night is often the most expensive night to stay in a hotel. If an artist is playing multiple dates, try and opt for midweek or Sunday. 

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Dnc brings in higher ratings than rnc all four nights, marketer behind fake quotes in ‘megalopolis’ trailer dropped by lionsgate, fact checkers try to shield trump from project 2025’s abortion madness, cops who falsified warrant used in breonna taylor raid didn’t cause her death, judge rules, queens of the stone age cancel remaining 2024 shows after josh homme surgery, more stories, that’s that me exclusive: where to buy every edition of sabrina carpenter’s ‘short n’ sweet’ album.

“I reckon it’s.. officially short n’ sweet month💋💋💋,” Sabrina Carpenter wrote online , weeks before dropping her highly anticipated new album. Fans can now pick up her sixth studio LP, Short n’ Sweet , online and on shelves now in a slew of exclusive vinyl variants . Staying true to its title, the 36-minute Short n’ Sweet includes tracks like “Taste,” Slim Pickins,” “Good Graces,” and, of course, “Please Please Please” and “Espresso.”

“This project is quite special to me and I hope it’ll be something special to you too,” Carpenter wrote online after debuting the Short n’ Sweet album cover and title in June.

“Short, sweet, has made an extraordinary album,” Taylor Swift shared of Short n’ Sweet on Aug. 23 on her Instagram Stories with checkmarks by each line.

Carpenter, who will embark on a sold-out North American tour in support of the album later this year, has taken over our playlists this summer, with chart-topping hits “Please Please Please,” and the undeniably catchy “Espresso.” (“I decided to put that burden on other people,” Carpenter told Rolling Stone earlier this year.)

And while everyone from your uncle to your BFF quotes its chorus with lyrics like “that’s that me espresso” every time they enter the coffee shop, Carpenter somehow followed it up with an equally quotable Short n’ Sweet track (“please don’t embarrass me, motherf-cker”). The Jack Antonoff-produced “Please Please Please” has garnered over hundreds of millions of streams alone, and propelled Carpenter to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 after it hit streaming services this summer.

“There’s like an Olivia Newton [John] feeling, there’s a Dolly feeling, there’s an incredibly super modern pop feeling,” Antonoff previously told Rolling Stone . “The little vocal runs she does are so bizarre and unique — they’re doing this really odd, classic, almost yodel-y country thing. She’s becoming one of the biggest young pop stars, and that song is such a statement of ­expressing yourself, not just lyrically, but sonically.”

If the tracks’ success are any indication, Carpenter’s new LP, Short N’ Sweet , is destined to become one of the biggest albums of 2024. Instead of releasing just one edition of her studio project, the “Espresso” hitmaker followed the lead of other pop superstars like Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish and dropped several exclusive editions of the album.

Where to Buy Sabrina Carpenter Short n’ Sweet Vinyl Variant Online

Here’s everywhere to snag a copy of Short N’ Sweet online right now.

BUBBLEGUM PINK

Sabrina Carpenter 'Short n' Sweet' Vinyl

Target Exclusive LP

Carpenter’s Target exclusive Short n’ Sweet LP is available now for $39.99 right now. It includes a bubblegum-pink vinyl record, as well as its own poster.

LIGHT SKY BLUE

Amazon Exclusive LP

Amazon shoppers can score Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet on vinyl in this “light sky” LP, exclusive to the online retailer. Available to pre-order, Amazon says the LP ships around the release date, Aug. 23.

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After Sabrina Carpenter’s summer takeover with “Espresso” and “Please Please Please,” the anticipation for Short n’ Sweet was at an all-time high. On her sixth album, the pop singer keeps the surprises coming as she delivers a masterclass in clever songwriting and hops between R&B and folk-pop with ease. Carpenter writes about the frustration of modern-day romance, all the while cementing herself as a pop classic. Here’s everything we gathered from the new project.

Please Please Please Don’t Underestimate Her Humor

Carpenter gave us a glimpse of her humor on singles “Espresso” and “Please Please Please” — she’s working late because she’s a singer; ceiling fans are a pretty great invention! But no one could have guessed how downright hilarious she is on Short n’ Sweet , delivering sugary quips like “The Lord forgot my gay awakenin’” (“Slim Pickins”) and “How’s the weather in your mother’s basement?” (“Needless to Say”). She’s also adorably nerdy, fretting about grammar (“This boy doesn’t even know/The difference between ‘there,’ ‘their’ and ‘they are!’”) and getting Shakespearian (“Where art thou? Why not uponeth me?”). On “Juno,” she even takes a subject as serious as pregnancy and twists it into a charming pop culture reference for the ages: “If you love me right, then who knows?/I might let you make me Juno.” It’s official: Do not underestimate Ms. Carpenter’s pen. — A.M.

She’s Stuck in Another Love Triangle

 On her sixth album, Carpenter somehow finds herself in the middle of yet another love triangle. She’s no stranger to this, having penned “Skin” and “Obsessed” in response to the teen saga that Olivia Rodrigo sang about on Sour . But on Short ‘n Sweet , the songs are more explicit, the stars are bigger, and the stakes are even higher. The flighty dude who “found God at [his] ex’s house” on “Sharpest Tool” is presumably Shawn Mendes, and the ex to who Carpenter directs the tongue-in-cheek “Taste” at appears to be Camila Cabello. She may be writing about A-List singers, but Carpenter remains fearless.“I write songs about exactly how I feel, so I guess I can’t be so surprised that people are interested in who and what those songs are about,” she told Rolling Stone in May. “That’s something that comes with the territory.” — M.G.

Carpenter Goes Country 

Carpenter has always been a Tay-daughter (a musical daughter of Taylor Swift), but she seems to be taking notes from other country pop stars and legends like Kacey Musgraves and Dolly Parton. The silly “Slim Pickins” veers into country territory the most; her vocal trills channel both Musgraves and Parton with incredible precision. “The little vocal runs she does are so bizarre and unique — they’re doing this really odd, classic, almost yodel-y country thing,” producer Jack Antonoff told Rolling Stone earlier this year. Sonically, Short ‘n Sweet finds Carpenter leaning into plucky acoustic guitars throughout the record. In two years time, she just might pivot into full twang.— M.G.

Leonard Cohen, Pop’s Hottest Muse

It wasn’t too long ago that boygenius put out a song about Leonard Cohen, who was casually “at a Buddhist monastery writing horny poetry.” Carpenter takes a note from the boys on “Dumb & Poetic,” a two-minute acoustic ballad where she bids farewell to a man of wellness, the awful kind who steals quotes from self-help books. She delivers some great burns here — “Save all your breath for your floor meditation,” “I promise the mushrooms aren’t changing your life” — but nothing is more biting than a reference to the late songwriter who had a way with the ladies. “Try to come off like you’re soft and well-spoken/Jack off to lyrics by Leonard Cohen,” she sings — and that’s just the first verse. Cohen died eight years ago, and one can only imagine his reaction to being pop’s hottest muse. — A.M. 

Retro Power

For more basic pop artists, “Eighties retro” often means throwing some New Wave synths on your song and calling it a day. But when it comes to retro-pop recombinations, Sabrina Carpenter has a unique light touch and a scholar’s attention to detail. Short ‘n Sweet kicks off with the excellent single “Taste,” a mega-catchy kiss-off to an ex’s new partner with a melody that lovingly and movingly calls back to Kim Carnes’ classic “Bette Davis Eyes,” which spent nine weeks at the top of the charts in 1981 and won a Grammy for Song of the Year and Record of the Year. Carpenter totally makes that vintage reference her own, just as she did on her previous summer smashes “Please Please Please” and “Espresso.” — J.D.

Sabrina Carpenter, Myke Towers, Cash Cobain, and All the Songs You Need to Know This Week

Welcome to our weekly rundown of the best new music — featuring big new singles, key tracks from our favorite albums, and more. This week, Sabrina Carpenter delivers her long-awaited debut Short ‘n Sweet , Myke Towers switches lanes with the help of Peso Pluma, and Cash Cobain moves drill music forward with a crossover hit. Plus, new music from Lainey Wilson, Blink182, and Coldplay.

Sabrina Carpenter, ‘Taste” ( YouTube )

Myke Towers, Peso Pluma, “Se Te Nota” ( YouTube )

Cash Cobain, “Luv it” ( YouTube )

Lainey Wilson, “Whirlwind” ( YouTube )

Blink182, “All In My Head” ( YouTube )

Coldplay featuring Little Simz, Burna Boy, Elyanna, TINI, “We Pray” ( YouTube )

Mickey Guyton, “My Side of the Country” ( YouTube )

Joanna Sternberg, “A Country Dance” ( YouTube )

Illuminati Hotties, “Sleeping In” ( YouTube )

Fontaines D.C., “Desire” ( YouTube )

Doechii, “Boom Bap” ( YouTube )

Jaylen Brown, Ferg, “Just Do It” ( YouTube )

Sofi Tukker feat. Kah, “Woof” ( YouTube )

Chxrry22, “Poppin Out” ( YouTube )

Zolita, “Hypocrite” ( YouTube )

UPSAHL, “Tears on the dancefloor” ( YouTube )

Tito Double P feat. Peso Pluma, “Los Cuadros” ( YouTube )

La 535,  Salvi, Jhay B feat. Alfonso Castillo, “Las Mamis” ( YouTube )

Omah Lay, “Moving” ( YouTube )

Good Neighbours, “Bloom”  ( YouTube )

State Champs, “Too Late To Say” ( YouTube )

Spencer Sutherland, “Hater” ( YouTube )

Jessie Murph, “Hope It Hurts” ( YouTube )

Morgan Saint, “Blazing” ( YouTube ) 

Oxlade feat. Fally Ipupa, “Ifa” ( YouTube )

Niambi, “Soccer Mom” ( YouTube )

Nnena, “Love Bomb” ( YouTube )

Maggie Antone, “One Too Many” ( YouTube )

Signs Following, “Get Born” ( YouTube )

Ethan Tomas, “I Am an African” ( YouTube )

Hear Blink-182 Have Fun While Complaining They Have ‘No Fun’ on New Songs

Ahead of the release of One More Time … Part-2 , Blink-182 have released two new charging pop-punk songs, “All in My Head” and “No Fun.” The updated album will come out Sept. 6.

On “All in My Head,” Mark Hoppus sings about how hard touring life is staying in “lonely hotel rooms, cum stains on the couch.” But for as gross and sad as that reads, the song itself is pretty fun. Hoppus and Tom DeLonge trade vocals on the chorus: “I’m moving on, I’m better now, I sleep alone,” Hoppus sings, while DeLonge counters about how he’s not giving up despite feeling like he’s not good enough and how it hurts getting up. All that leads to an existential crisis, “I’m freaking out, is it all in my head?”

“No Fun” also balances Blink’s anxieties with upbeat, sing-along melodies. This time, their midlife crisis is of the Springsteen “Glory Days” variety as DeLonge wonders, “Whatever happened to us since the Nineties?/When punk was independent, and then it wasn’t.” And then there’s the internet and “simulated” marriages and a general feeling of ennui. “There’s no fun anymore,” he sings with a little contempt in his voice that still sounds like he’s maybe having fun. “Nothing to do, nothing to see.” Toward the end of the song, he sings, “Everything sucks when you’re swimming upstream.”

One More Time … Part-2 will feature six other new songs and come in a variety of formats, some intermingling the new songs with the original One More Time album (the classic lineup of the trio’s first album since 2011) and others with only the new tunes.

The band recently wrapped a North American tour in support of the album. But they’ll be back for a handful of dates in the fall .

Dolly Parton Shares Two More Songs From Her Massive ‘Smoky Mountain DNA’ Project

Dolly Parton has shared two more songs from her upcoming musical and visual project  Smoky Mountain DNA – Family, Faith & Fables , as well as revealed the 37-song track list for the collection recorded by Parton and her extended family members.

First up, Parton unveiled the album’s title track, a new song she penned herself as “an overarching theme that celebrates the musical roots and heritage of her family,” a press release stated.

Additionally, Parton revived her song “A Rose Won’t Fix It” — which she wrote and recorded for 1988’s Hungry Again but ultimately left off the LP — and enlisted her niece Heidi Parton to serve as lead vocalist, with Dolly in the role of background singer on the track:

As Rolling Stone reported, Smoky Mountain DNA – Family, Faith & Fables is a full family affair: Parton’s cousin Richie Owens produced the album, which features songs performed by generations of her immediate and extended family. For some songs, audio from family members who have died are also incorporated into the music, like contributions by Reverend Jake Owens, Parton’s late grandfather.

“I cannot believe that it has been 60 years this month since I graduated from Sevier County High School and moved to Nashville to pursue my dreams,” Parton previously shared in a statement. “My Uncle Bill Owens was by my side for many years helping me develop my music. I owe so much to him and all the family members past and present who have inspired me along this journey. I am honored to spotlight our families’ musical legacy that is my Smoky Mountain DNA.”

Smoky Mountain DNA – Family, Faith & Fables arrives November 15 and will be accompanied by a four-part docuseries tracing Parton’s musical lineage. The album, available to preorder now , will also be released on “Appalachian Autumn” colored vinyl in a limited run of only 3,363, the coordinates of family’s Tennessee Mountain Home in Locust Ridge, TN (36 degrees North and 83 degrees West).

Dolly Parton & Family: Smoky Mountain DNA – Family, Faith & Fables Track List

1. Dolly Parton —  Introduction / My Tennessee Mountain Home (Instrumental) (Written by Dolly Parton / Traditional, Arranged by Richie Owens) 2. Dolly Parton — My Tennessee Mountain Home (Written by Dolly Parton) 3. Roger Helton — Groom’s Tune (Bonaparte’s Retreat) (Instrumental) (Traditional) 4. Reverend Jake Owens & Dolly Parton — I Live In Glory (Written by John Melvin Henson) 5. Bill & Louis Owens and the Family — Singing His Praise / Daddy Was An Old Time Preacher Man (Written by Jake Owens / Dolly Parton & Dorothy Jo Hope Owens Parton) 6. Jake Owens, Avie Lee Parton, Dorothy Jo Owens & Estelle Owens Watson — I’ll Meet You In The Morning (Written by Albert E. Brumley) 7. Avie Lee Parton & Dolly Parton — Rosewood Casket (Traditional, Arranged by Avie Lee Parton) 8. Dorothy Jo Owens & Dolly Parton — Runaway Girl (Written by Dorothy Jo Hope Owens Parton) 9. John Henry Owens & Dolly Parton — I Just Stopped By (Written by Robert Owens) 10. Louis Owens & Dolly Parton — When Possession Gets Too Strong (Written by Dolly Parton & Louis Owens) 11. Bill Owens & Dolly Parton — Put It Off Until Tomorrow (Written by Dolly Parton & Bill Owens) 12. Dolly Parton — Smoky Mountain DNA (Written by Dolly Parton) 13. Stella Parton & Dolly Parton — Heart Don’t Fail Me Now (Written by Randy Parton, Bill Owens & Marion Franklin Dycus) 14. Cassie Parton Griffith & Dolly Parton — Momma’s Special Touch (Written by Avie Lee Parton) 15. Randy Parton & Rachel Parton George — Take It Slow (Written by Randy Parton & Floyd Parton) 16. Floyd Parton & Dolly Parton — Foolin’ Around (Written by Floyd Parton) 17. Freida Parton & Dolly Parton — The Crops Came In (Written by Freida Parton) 18. Rachel Parton George & Dolly Parton — I Will Know (Written by Rachel Parton George & Patricia Roberts) 19. Dwight Puckett & Dolly Parton — Applejack (Written by Dolly Parton) 20. Debbi Jo Hess & Dolly Parton — It’s All Wrong But It’s All Right (Written by Dolly Parton) 21. Richie Owens & Dolly Parton — Tell Me That You Love Me (Written by Richie Owens) 22. Tim Rauhoff & Dolly Parton — Canceled Plans (Written by Timothy Rauhoff & Jada Star Roberts) 23. Danielle Parton & Dolly Parton — The Man (Written by Dolly Parton) 24. Jada Star & Dolly Parton — The Orchard (Written by Jada Star Roberts) 25. Sabyn Mayfield & Dolly Parton — Holy Water (Written by Dolly Parton & Sabyn Mayfield) 26. Heidi Parton & Dolly Parton — A Rose Won’t Fix It (Written by Dolly Parton) 27. Rebecca Seaver & Dolly Parton — Where Will We Live Tomorrow (Written by Richie Owens) 28. Dolly Parton & Family — Puppy Love (Written by Dolly Parton & Bill Owens) 29. Shelley Rená & Dolly Parton — Not Bad (Written by Dolly Parton) 30. Tanya Renee & Dolly Parton — For Keeps (Written by Dolly Parton & Marty Stuart) 31. Estelle Owens & Dolly Parton — Crazy In Love With You (Written by Richie Owens) 32. Lainey Parton & Dolly Parton — Be Your Own Man (Written by Dolly Parton) 33. Leroy Brown & Dolly Parton — Being Me (Written by Leroy Brown & Dolly Parton) 34. Faith Reeann & Dolly Parton — We Might Be In Love (Written by Dolly Parton) 35. Merin Seaver & Dolly Parton — Randy Floyd (Written by Merin Seaver & Dolly Parton) 36. Dolly Parton & Family — When It’s Family (Written by Dolly Parton & Carl Perkins) 37. Dolly Parton — Outro / Smoky Mountain DNA (Instrumental) (Written by Dolly Parton)

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BOSTON'S PREMIER ONLINE ARTS MAGAZINE

Concert Review: The Rolling Stones — As Precious as Ever

By Scott McLennan

Returning to Gillette Stadium in Foxborough on Thursday night, the Rolling Stones, miraculously, sounded dangerous again.

The Rolling Stones, May 30 at Gillette Stadium

Keith Richards and Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones at Gillette Stadium. Photo: Paul Robicheau

Defiance has long been the fuel for the Rolling Stones. From the brash bluesy rock that separated them early on from the Beatles, through the narcotic outlaw machinations of the late ’60s and early ’70s, into the later eras of decadent sleaze, the Rolling Stones became notorious for shattering the rules and the mores of civilized society.

They also fell prey to the trappings of wealth and fame, going through long spells of playing greatest-hits sets that were inevitably enjoyable but rarely daring.

Returning to Gillette Stadium in Foxborough on Thursday night, the Rolling Stones, miraculously, sounded dangerous again. Before the band had completed its third song, one guy next to me passed out after smoking a joint. He needed to be removed from the premises; two others behind me started a fist fight. In other words, Foxborough felt dangerous, like rock ’n’ roll shows used to feel before the perversions of “platinum” tickets and “VIP access” separated the commoners from the elites.

Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones at Gillette Stadium. Photo:Paul Robicheau

The Stones reclaimed their rebellious spirit, thanks in large part to releasing the excellent Hackney Diamonds album last year. The band is using it as a springboard into a tour in which Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, both 80, and Ronnie Wood, 76, are not just playing well, but performing as if they realize that the style of music they serve up is no longer the coin of the cultural realm. But they aren’t about to let their legacy be washed away by the waves being made by new pop titans.

The very predictable show opener “Start Me Up” hinted at the direction the Stones would go through a two-hour concert. The song’s energy was high and frenetic, with Wood and Richards playing off of each other in a very loose and natural way as Jagger rallied the stadium (which was far from full, but held a respectably large crowd) into partaking of what was promising to be a rock ’n’ roll bacchanal.

The Stones then veered into the insouciance of 1965’s “Get Off of My Cloud” before uncorking the steamy tensions of “Bitch.”

Three songs in and the Stones had covered roughly 30 years of rock ’n’ roll milestones: an exhilarating lineup of indelible riffs, choruses, and lyrics; unparalleled attitude; and sharp, provocative performances.

While Jagger (in remarkably excellent voice), Richards (in remarkably upright position), and Wood comprise the heart and soul of the Rolling Stones, a lot of credit for the show’s success must go to the cast members surrounding the triumphant trio.

Drummer Steve Jordan had the unenviable task of following — since nobody will ever “replace” — the beloved Charlie Watts, who died in 2021. But, because he was the percussionist in Richards’s solo band the X-Pensive Winos, Jordan has a great feel and understanding for the Stones’ sound. He is well aware of how everyone else in the band keys in on the drummer’s work.

The sax tandem of Karl Denson and Tim Ries, keyboard players Chuck Leavell and Matt Clifford, bassist Darryl Jones, and singers Bernard Fowler and Chanel Haynes all contributed mightily to the effort — each had his or her moments in the spotlight.

But the essential dynamic for the evening went something like this: Jagger and everyone else except the guitarists performed with impeccable precision while Wood and Richards played with a sense of wild abandon. The guitarists were not sloppy, but neither were they particularly clean and crisp as they traded lead and rhythm parts. That jaggedness is what injected the pricklier, rougher tones into the songs.

“Angry” was the first of four songs plucked from the Hackney Diamonds album, and it was a solid inclusion in the set. That wasn’t the case for “Mess it Up,” a newbie that was sandwiched between classics “Tumbling Dice” and “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.” “Mess It Up” became the diamond that got snuffed, because the Stones pumped real life and blood into “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” a song that for many years seemed lost in a fog of nostalgia but has recently reconnected with its original dread.

Chanel Haynes with Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones at Gillette Stadium. Photo: Paul Robicheau

In the early goings of the 19-song concert, the Stones played the slinky “Emotional Rescue” for the first time since 2014 (it was the night’s song chosen by fans by way of online voting). Jagger nailed the tune’s signature falsetto as the rest of the band captured the spectral creep of the number.

The loping ballad “Wild Horses” was another top-half stand out, especially with Richards contributing world-weary backing vocals.

As has become custom for the Stones, the concert’s midpoint is marked when Richards steps up to sing a couple of songs. In Foxborough, he started with the plaintive “Tell Me Straight” from Hackney Diamonds , working up nice instrumental conversations with Wood. Richards then just opened up the engines for a blast through the still-raunchy “Little T&A.”

The second half of a Stones show has for years been a predictable affair, and set list–wise that was the case on Thursday. Performance-wise, it was a different story.

Ron Wood and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones at Gillette Stadium. Photo: Paul Robicheau

Richards gave a clinic with his solos on “Sympathy for the Devil” and “Honky Tonk Women,” methodically sculpting riffs and exploring tones that sounded fresh as they reiterated his lasting influence on generations of guitar players.

“Midnight Rambler” ran the gamut of wiry small-combo blues to woozy full-on psychedelic splurge. Haynes and Jagger struck libidinous sparks on “Gimme Shelter” before the Stones revisited the garage-rock glory of “Paint It Black.” Few other bands could hold all of this variety together with as much natural flair.

The Stones closed the regular set with what seemed a very intentional revue-style read of “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” as Jagger took on the role of rubber-limbed dancer as the band behind him deployed big, sweeping feel-good waves of music.

The encore offered one last mighty display of defiance with the soaring soul of “Sweet Sounds of Heaven,” a Hackney Diamonds track that has earned its spot in the canon of Stones classics. Jagger, aided by Haynes, sang it with a passionate verve, knowing that once again he and his mates — old as they may be — stole fire from the gods.

Seeing Richards projected onto the huge screens flanking the stadium stage as he fired off the opening riffs to “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” was the rock ’n’ roll equivalent of viewing the Mona Lisa . We’ve all seen and heard this before, but the Stones still make it precious.

Scott McLennan covered music for the Worcester Telegram & Gazette from 1993 to 2008. He then contributed music reviews and features to the Boston Globe , Providence Journal , Portland Press Herald , and WGBH, as well as to the Arts Fuse . He also operated the NE Metal blog to provide in-depth coverage of the region’s heavy metal scene.

14 Comments

Excellent review!

I have been a Rollings Stone fan since my high school days of the early ’70s. I was blown away by the quality, of voice, instrumental proficiency, stamina, and showmanship of the band and its’ accompaniment. The lighting and crystal clear graphics were outstanding. Call it nostalgic, but I have to say, it was the best concert of my 68 years on this planet.

I’ve seen the Stones 4 times, this was by far the best of the 4. And I took my teenage kids and young adults and they couldn’t believe how good this concert was.

Great review for guys that will never really grow old.

Did no one notice that they skipped an entire verse of “Sympathy”?

Yes, the show was great! Yes, Mick’s voice is still stellar, especially on “Wild Horses” IMHO, but we gotta acknowledge that, while great, Keith came in early with his riff and they skipped the “…who killed the Kennedys verse”. ?

They haven’t included that verse in decades. Go back to “Love You Live” from 1977, and that’s where you start finding the version with fewer lyrics

Wow — great fact. Guess you know it’s my first show. I’ll research myself. But was it the backlash from the ‘Kennnedy’ line/reference?

To my knowledge no. They also cut out verse about the troubadours. My hunch is that it was a rearrangement to add the bigger guitar solo

I was there…my 7th time seeing them since 1989 and my wife’s first time ever. LOVED IT!

I always liked “Start Me Up” at the original slower beat. The music video of same has to be the best any group ever made. Charlie smirking at Wyman that these three guys, Jagger, Richards and Woods, are out of their minds is totally hilarious.

Approaching the ages of Mick and Keith myself, I thought maybe their voices might be a little diminished but I was so wrong. It was a dream come true seeing them again. The band members were awesome and Channel Haynes, appearing like a youthful Tina Turner come to life again was surreal and wonderful. Can’t wait to see her career skyrocket. SUPER EVENING.

I was a 37 yo father with my wife and 10 yo son at the Stones concert at Boston Garden in 1975. I am currently an 86 yo who attended the concert at Foxboro on Thursday, with my now 59 yo son and his wife, his daughter and son, and his grand-daughter. The concert was terrific both times and the theatrics infinitely increased now. I would not have missed either of them.

Anyone who would pay $100 to see a bunch of geriatrics hobble around on a big screen needs to have their head examined. It’s nothing but a sad nostalgia trip for a moribund culture.

The concert was great overall. But technical issues specific to Keith’s guitar seem to jolt you out of the mood on certain songs. They were completely on tone with some of their best hits. You couldn’t get a better sound quality during certain classics like Midnight Rider. As soon as you got into a quieter song it almost felt like the band was falling apart. Ron is showing some off-starts on some of his cord progressions. But he still’s gat that Mojo going!

Keith’s, solo gig was not very impressive. It felt the same as listening to Biden last week. Hate to say it but they should cut that segment out or at most transition to acoustic to avoid the crunchy, knurling blood letting.

But Mick was on mark throughout!!! He didn’t miss a single note, lyric or a chance to make his audience feel warm and welcome. His movement on stage was as if he was 25 still. He probably is in a different dimension.

The drummer was great, especially considering the pressure to fill Charlie Watt’s shoes.

But special praise be on the back up singer. She lit the stage up during her solo and duo with Nick on Gimme Shelter. Her fire was awesome. I love how they held hands while walking back to the main stage.

A classy concert amongst Hackney’d Diamonds of East London.

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Angelina Jolie Weeps Through Rapturous 8-Minute Venice Standing Ovation for ‘Maria,’ Launching Oscar Buzz

“Angelina! Angelina! Angelina!”

The Venice Film Festival loves its movie stars, and Angelina Jolie was the toast of Italy on Thursday night. The actress wept during an eight-minute standing ovation at the Sala Grande Theatre at the world premiere of “ Maria ,” Pablo Larraín’s biographical drama about the Greek opera singer Maria Callas.

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Netflix will release “Maria” later this year.

In Venice, the fandom for Jolie started a full 24 hours before the screening of “Maria.” A group of Italians camped out overnight on Wednesday with tents and umbrellas, enduring 90 degree temperatures for a front-row interaction with their idol at the carpet.

When Jolie arrived at the theater, she dutifully signed autographs and took selfies. She even met a fan with brittle bone disease who had been transported to the carpet on a bed, kneeling beside him as she greeted him amidst the flashing lightbulbs from the paparazzi.

Maria reunites Larraín and writer Steven Knight , whose last project “Spencer” bowed in Venice in 2021, and tells the “tumultuous, beautiful, and tragic story of the life of the world’s greatest opera singer, relived and re-imagined during her final days in 1970s Paris.”

At a press conference earlier in the day , Jolie spoke about preparing to play the famous soprano Callas, which marked her first time singing in a role.

“Everybody here knows, I was terribly nervous,” she said of learning to sing opera. “I spent almost seven months training because when you work with Pablo you can’t do anything by half. He demands, in the most wonderful way, that you really do the work and you really learn and train.”

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MJ Lenderman Keeps It Raw

On a steamy afternoon in the middle of June, I met the twenty-five-year-old singer and guitarist MJ Lenderman for beers at Old Town Bar, a dim and unfussy Manhattan tavern that’s been in more or less continuous operation since 1892. Though Old Town is revered for its turn-of-the-century atmosphere—the fifty-foot mahogany bar, the rickety dumbwaiter ferrying hot frankfurters from kitchen to dining room, the majestic bank of porcelain urinals that Pete Wells, a longtime restaurant critic for the Times , once described as “so grand they turn the act of urinating into something sacramental”—it has largely escaped the type of broad canonization that attracts throngs of tourists. Instead, it remains the sort of joint where a person can stagger in, swig a whiskey, grouse to the barkeep, and reëmerge onto the street thirty minutes later, dizzy but cleansed. (The bar’s most public-facing moment was in 1992, when the rap trio House of Pain filmed the video for its single “Jump Around” in the dining room—the d.j. scratched from the men’s toilet.) Lenderman and I grabbed a high-backed wooden booth.

This month, Lenderman will release “Manning Fireworks,” his fifth album in five years. He is often described—accurately—as the next great hope for indie rock, or however one might now refer to scrappy, dissonant, guitar-based music that’s unconcerned, both sonically and spiritually, with whatever is steering the Zeitgeist. “Manning Fireworks” could have been released in 1975, or 1994, or 2003, but that is not to say it’s deliberately nostalgic; Lenderman is simply making the kind of warm and astringent rock and roll that has felt untethered from time since 1968, when Neil Young released his self-titled début.

In conversation, Lenderman is low-key, affable, and bright. He’s tall and lanky, with a halo of messy brown hair, and often dresses in a T-shirt and jeans. We ordered a round and began discussing the unsung art of assembling a tour rider, the list of faintly desperate culinary requests submitted to a venue in advance of a show. “There’s gonna be a hummus plate on there—that’ll happen,” Lenderman said, laughing. “I don’t think you even have to ask for that. We usually get a box of leafy greens—I’ll do fistfuls. We had this idea recently that we were gonna start asking for a rotisserie chicken.” An inspired choice, I offered—high-protein, cheap, easy to cram into a mini-fridge. He shook his head. A mistake. “Apparently, they shop for the rider the night before, so we’re looking at day-old.”

Lenderman was born in Asheville, North Carolina, an arty and historic town in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and he’s lived there for most of his life. (“Manning Fireworks” was recorded in Asheville, at Drop of Sun Studios.) He started learning the guitar when he was about seven or eight, but music has always been omnipresent in his life: his father played the guitar, his mother the clarinet, and his three sisters sang. Lenderman’s paternal great-grandfather was the jazz musician and bandleader Charlie Ventura, whom DownBeat magazine declared the best tenor saxophonist of 1945. “He played with Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich. He was decently famous in the bebop world,” Lenderman said. In 1949, Ventura briefly hired a young Charlie Parker to play alto sax in his band. A concert listing in this magazine attempted to capture the fury of their sound, at the jazz club Royal Roost: “Here you’ll find lovers of bebop trembling like aspen leaves as they listen to Billy Eckstine and the bands of Charlie Ventura and Charlie Parker, who perform in a milieu that suggests the sprint hour at the six-day bike races.” Lenderman isn’t much of a bebop guy (“I don’t really listen to it—I haven’t tried,” he said), and his guitar playing suggests more of a long, downhill coast, no hands. But there’s a through line of wildness in both discographies. I told Lenderman that I responded in an instinctive way to the laxness of his work, so anomalous in an era in which technology makes it easy to defang, neuter, smooth. “I definitely think about that,” Lenderman said. “A lot of the stuff that has really resonated with me throughout my life is that way. I’ve just always liked that sound. It feels real to me.”

Lenderman self-released his first album, in 2019, when he was twenty years old and scooping ice cream at a shop in Asheville. “I quit, expecting to probably have to figure something else out, but then I just kept touring, and for the most part I haven’t had to work since,” he said. In 2022, Lenderman released the rowdy and sardonic album “Boat Songs.” On “You Have Bought Yourself a Boat,” he skewers upward mobility, briefly affecting a kind of seething Gen X disdain:

It’s plain to me to see You have bought yourself a boat Since the last time you and me spoke Your laundry looks so pretty.

On “Hangover Game,” another highlight from “Boat Songs,” Lenderman sings about Michael Jordan’s performance with the Chicago Bulls in Game Five of the 1997 N.B.A. Finals, during which Jordan was reportedly suffering from food poisoning brought on by a gnarly late-night pizza. (“This was a heroic effort, one to add to the collection of efforts that make up his legend,” Phil Jackson, the Bulls’ coach, later said of the incident.) Through the years, rumors have circulated regarding Jordan’s behavior the night before the game: Was he, in fact, partying at Robert Redford’s chalet in the mountains of Utah? Had he flown on a private jet to Las Vegas to gamble? Over squealing guitar, Lenderman offers his take (“Remember that I am no detective,” he said at the time):

He looked so sick It was all over the news But it wasn’t the pizza And it wasn’t the flu Yeah, I love drinking, too.

“Boat Songs” brought Lenderman renown, landing on best-of-the-year lists at Pitchfork and Rolling Stone . In 2023, Lenderman signed to ANTI- Records and put out a live album, “And the Wind (Live and Loose!),” culled from two club shows he’d played that summer. Live albums are not as common as they once were (about fifty were released in 2023, compared with something like a hundred and forty-five in 1989), and they’re even more unusual to see from younger, non-legacy artists. Yet it felt right to capture the squall. “When ‘Boat Songs’ was made, I was, like, ‘I’m really buttoned up here!’ ” he said. Spontaneity—a lighthearted kind of recklessness—feels crucial to Lenderman’s vision. I asked him if it is possible to write that looseness into his work, or if it simply has to emerge in the performance. “Every time I sit down to write, it’s like starting from scratch again,” he said. “I have journals full of all sorts of disconnected stuff. I’ll fall out of phase with it sometimes, but I try to write every day. The hardest part is revisiting it and having to interact with my own bullshit.” He paused. “Sometimes I surprise myself.”

Many of the songs on “Manning Fireworks” feature a narrator in the throes of a dire existential or emotional crisis—a series of rock bottoms. I wondered if Lenderman was especially drawn to the rhetorical potential (or at least the grim humor) of moments in which it appears as though things simply cannot get worse. When the stakes are that low, everything is possible. (“Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose,” as Janis Joplin famously sang.) Lenderman’s antiheroes are bored, dissatisfied, self-aware, and down bad. “I think it’s funny when people are put in a real situation, exposing them to who they really are,” he said. “A lot of the books I like to read—Harry Crews, Larry Brown—deal with the same stuff.” On the song “Joker Lips,” over guitar and mellotron, he sings,

Please don’t ask how I’m doing Draining cum from hotel showers Hoping for the hours To pass a little faster.

Lenderman’s wry lyrics and arch delivery recall both the Kentucky musician Will Oldham and the poet and songwriter David Berman, two titans of nineties indie rock—each signed to the label Drag City—who perfected a deadpan tenderness. “Will Oldham’s music blew open some doors for me. Certain things he’d sing shocked me,” Lenderman said. “I was, like, ‘You can do that? It doesn’t have to be so serious?’ Those two, in particular, really opened me up to how important words can be in songs.”

In Lenderman’s lyrics, humor and pathos are inextricably linked: “We sat under a half-mast McDonald’s flag,” he recalls on “You Don’t Know the Shape I’m In,” a breakup song that’s equal parts devastating and droll. The line always kills me. Lenderman is hyperaware of the ways in which the modern American landscape can feel absurd, especially to a person whose heart is open. Still, the album is not without moments of earnestness and sorrow, and several songs on “Manning Fireworks” suggest the excruciating dissolution of a relationship. On “Bark at the Moon,” a ten-minute, droning lament that closes the album, Lenderman’s nasal, crackling voice sounds especially yearning: “SOS / I took off on a bender / You took off on a jet.” He lets out an “Awooo!” that suggests Warren Zevon’s “Werewolves of London,” a canny reference in a song that already shares a title with an Ozzy Osbourne track about werewolves. (“That was a little joke,” Lenderman said.)

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Recently, Lenderman and his then girlfriend, the musician Karly Hartzman, moved together to Greensboro, a couple of hours northeast of Asheville. “I guess I should mention me and Karly broke up,” Lenderman said. “We moved to Greensboro together, still, after that happened. We already had the plan,” he said, shrugging. “I’m gonna move out pretty soon, but I’ll probably stay close to that area, maybe more toward Durham.” Lenderman and Hartzman are both members of Wednesday, a burly and vulnerable ensemble that Pitchfork once called “one of the best indie-rock bands around.” The group’s most recent album, “Rat Saw God,” is both feral and perceptive. Hartzman’s lyrics remind me of the Mississippi novelist Barry Hannah’s writing; Hartzman’s, too, is granular and true, awake to the goriness of life in a small Southern town. (Musically, Wednesday falls somewhere between the country rumbling of the Drive-By Truckers and the melodic squeal of early Dinosaur Jr.) Hartzman started the group, but Lenderman has been a member since 2019. The breakup was amicable, as far as these things go. “I’m still in the band,” Lenderman said. When I asked if working together had been a sizable stress on their relationship, he thought about it for a moment. “We experienced a lot of stuff together that nobody else can understand. My bandmates have partners at home, and that causes its own tensions.”

Earlier this year, Lenderman was featured prominently on Waxahatchee’s “Right Back to It,” a song about feeling skittish and flickery in a relationship but trying to hold steady. It’s a gorgeous, complicated tune—my favorite of 2024 so far. When listening to Lenderman and Katie Crutchfield, the musician behind Waxahatchee, harmonize on the chorus (“I let my mind run wild / I don’t know why I do it”), I often feel as if my feet have briefly lifted off the ground. Though Lenderman never belts, his voice can carry a surprising amount of feeling. On “Wristwatch,” one of the best songs from “Manning Fireworks,” he imbues clever lyrics with real, modern heartache:

I’ve got a beach home up in Buffalo And a wristwatch that’s a compass and a cell phone. . . . I’ve got a houseboat docked at the Himbo Dome And a wristwatch that’s a pocketknife and a megaphone And a wristwatch that tells me I’m on my own.

He spent a lot of time getting the vocals right. “That was one of the benefits of doing it over a bunch of short sessions, over the span of a year. I could listen to mixes and be intentional about that kind of thing. Enunciation, tonal stuff, singing through my head instead of somewhere else. A few songs are more acoustic-based, and those were done pretty live,” he said. “ ‘You Don’t Know the Shape I’m In’ was guitar, vocals, drums, and upright bass, all in the room together. I’d never gotten to do vocals as part of the live recording before.”

I asked Lenderman if he ever found all the attention of the last couple of years—the sudden but fervent acclaim for both “Boat Songs” and “Rat Saw God”—paralyzing. “Yeah, for sure,” he said. “But I think I’ve grown a lot.” He recently abandoned all social media. “Now I don’t see what people say about my music. Part of it was that if someone says something bad that obviously doesn’t feel great. But if someone says something good about me then it’s, like, ‘O.K., well, they’re dumb,’ ” he said. “That’s not a great way to be thinking about it.” He occasionally still lurks on X, but Instagram was easy to quit. “I would waste six hours a day watching Reels. No joke. I was hate-watching stuff, so my algorithm was so twisted,” he said, laughing. “Bad music, bad everything. I was in a lot of group chats with friends who were sending pretty cursed job-site footage. Disgusting stuff.” He added, “Most people that I need to talk to have my number.”

As we closed out our tab, I asked Lenderman what he wanted from the future. “That’s a good question,” he said. “I don’t really know. I’m not interested in growing so much. I want to be financially stable as a musician but also have a second to chill and collect my thoughts.” He considered it a little more. “I guess I want to keep getting better.” The idea reminded me of a line from “She’s Leaving You,” in which Lenderman, his voice burlier than usual, sings of moving forward. It’s one of the new album’s most memorable refrains: “It falls apart / We all got work to do.” ♦

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How Laurie Anderson Conjured Amelia Earhart’s Final Flight

The restlessly multidisciplinary performer juggles orchestral depth and historical imagination with her new album, “Amelia.”

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By Jon Pareles

Photographs and Video by OK McCausland

• Published Aug. 28, 2024 Updated Aug. 29, 2024

Imagine — or perhaps remember — a time when the world seemed much larger, when air travel was novel and dangerous, when wireless communication could never be taken for granted.

That’s the era Laurie Anderson conjures on her new album, “Amelia,” out Friday. In a fast-moving 36 minutes and 22 tracks, “Amelia” traces the doomed final flight of Amelia Earhart , who set out “to become the first woman to circumnavigate the Earth,” as Anderson narrates. Earhart took off from Oakland on May 20, 1937, and flew across the Americas, Africa and Asia before her plane disappeared over the Pacific on July 2.

“I really fell in love with Amelia,” Anderson said in a video interview from her New York City studio, where she was surrounded by keyboards and mixing equipment, preparing for a tech rehearsal. “Amelia really was this badass person.”

Like nearly the entire body of work that Anderson has created since the 1980s, “Amelia” is an uncontainable hybrid. It unfolds as something between a song cycle, an oratorio and a vintage radio drama. Anderson deploys a string orchestra, electronics and a jazz-tinged rhythm section along with her gallery of singing and speaking voices. Parts of “Amelia” are matter-of-fact and diaristic, noting dates and places. But there are also stretches of heaving orchestral counterpoint that grow enveloping, even dizzying, evoking the vastness, and danger, of sky and ocean.

Anderson describes “Amelia” as “a distant cousin” of music she composed for a concert series in 2000 by the American Composers Orchestra for the turn of the millennium. The conductor Dennis Russell Davies programmed music about flight from Philip Glass, Samuel Barber and others.

Airplanes and flying had long been subjects for Anderson’s lyrics and spoken words. “Here come the planes” was the ominous refrain in her 1981 single, “O Superman (for Massenet),” which became a left-field hit in Britain. “Amelia” also ties in with many of Anderson’s other long-running themes: technology, communication (and miscommunication), geography, nature, travel and cross-cultural interactions.

“The Letter,” on “Amelia,” notes that when Earhart flew out of Khartoum, she carried “a letter which I myself cannot read,” Anderson calmly explains over pizzicato cellos and moaning, buzzing electric guitar. “It is addressed to Arab tribesmen and it explains how and why a woman pilot might drop out of the sky and onto their land.”

Anderson is currently working on a larger project, “The Ark,” a three-hour epilogue to “United States,” her 1984 magnum opus. “I like doomed ships,” she said.

It was Davies who suggested Earhart to Anderson, who “didn’t really know that much” about the pilot, she said. But she delved into Earhart’s history, quickly coming to admire her feminist spirit, her practicality and her technical know-how. “She would talk to women saying, like, ‘Ladies, when you’re in your kitchen, it’s kind of like me in my cockpit with lots of equipment.’”

Earhart “never really got credit for being such a good mechanic,” Anderson added. “She was not a white gloves person at all. She wasn’t just stepping into her plane and going, ‘I’m a lady pilot.’”

Anderson’s original version of “Amelia,” titled “Songs for A.E.,” had its premiere in February 2000. “It was for full orchestra with a lot of electronics, completely different from this record,” she said, adding: “It had nothing to do with the last flight. It was just generally things about flying and air and aviation.”

Anderson wasn’t used to writing for a full orchestra, and she recalls her initial version as overwhelmingly cluttered. Her first rehearsals of “Song for A.E.” were a shock. “The performance was supposed to be the next night, and he played it, and it was probably one of the worst things I’d ever heard. And he turns around and goes, ‘How was that?’ I was like, ‘Um, um, you know …’ And he said, ‘Faster?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, that would be over quicker.’ “

Davies has kinder memories, and a few years later, when he was leading the Stuttgart String Orchestra, he urged Anderson to revisit the music. “He said, ‘I think there’s some really beautiful melodies in there,’” she said. “‘Let’s just do it for string orchestra.’”

Davies created a new arrangement, paring down Anderson’s overstuffed, full-orchestra score for an ensemble of 19 strings. “You find what the important lines are and make them sing,” he said. “And she was able to really then hear what she had done.”

Anderson completely reshaped the piece. She focused on Earhart’s final itinerary, drawing on the pilot’s own journals without quoting them directly. Earhart “was the original blogger,” Anderson said. Every stop she made on this last flight, she would send telegrams to G.P. Putnam, her husband and press agent. “She would call reporters. She would write in her logs, and she would write in her diaries. This was very, very documented. She had a real sense of what she was doing with history.”

Anderson was leery of simply talking over an orchestra. “That idea of ‘Peter and the Wolf’ really scares me a lot,” she said. “So I tried to sink into the music.” She developed multiple vocal strategies. There was a reportorial voice. There was a voice on the radio, and the peaky, nasal voice of someone speaking through a 1930s-era microphone. There was “a story voice, sort of a softer one.” Another voice was “just delivering hard facts.” There were “a lot of vocoder things that were trying to slide around, mostly in the viola range.” For other vocals, Anderson said, “I tried to drown myself in the swirl.”

During the pandemic, Davies and Anderson agreed to revisit the material once again. Davies recorded his string arrangement with a central European string orchestra, Filharmonie Brno, in the Czech Republic. Then, in the studio, Anderson took the music further. She brought in improvisers including the bassist Tony Scherr, the percussionist Kenny Wollesen and the guitarist Marc Ribot. They extrapolated above the string-orchestra arrangements. “I never did a record like this,” Anderson said. “It was just upside-down.”

One of the album’s foundations — recurring at the beginning, middle and end — is the drone of Earhart’s airplane engine. It’s loud, thick, intrusive, unavoidable, wearing Earhart down as the mission continues. “I’m just trying to imagine what it would be like,” Anderson said. “It’s so hot in that cockpit, and loud, and for days and days and days and days and days and days.”

On the album, the engine sound is not a recording of an actual airplane engine. Anderson constructed it from a guitar drone created by her late husband Lou Reed’s guitar and amplifiers — his setup for “Metal Machine Music” — mixed with her own heavily processed viola playing, a recording of tires going over gravel and many more elements. It’s an artist’s interpretation, not a document.

That play between reality and impression, artifact and experience, facts and sounds, is at the core of “Amelia.” Anderson is relating events, telling a story and trying to convey what history felt like in the moment — a disastrous moment.

In the album’s penultimate tracks, “Howland Island” and “Radio,” Earhart is trying to navigate to a vital fuel stop; a Coast Guard ship was supposed to guide her. But she’s using the wrong frequency, and her signal is drowned out in other traffic; it was an unregulated radio era. Anderson mixes in Morse code that Earhart didn’t actually use; it says, “I can’t hear you. I can’t see you.” Earhart didn’t transmit Morse code; it wasn’t what happened. But it sounds like it could have been.

An earlier version of this article misstated how a 2000 concert series by the American Composers Orchestra was assembled. The conductor Dennis Russell Davies did not call on all of the included composers to contribute; he programmed the music.

How we handle corrections

Jon Pareles has been The Times’s chief pop music critic since 1988. He studied music, played in rock, jazz and classical groups and was a college-radio disc jockey. He was previously an editor at Rolling Stone and the Village Voice. More about Jon Pareles

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Asake’s Madison Square Garden Debut Connects the Corners of the Earth

By Mankaprr Conteh

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From Lagos, Nigeria to New York, New York, the corner is the corner. There’s a through line between the neighborhoods worldwide where money may be low but vibes are high, and as Asake recreated the gritty Lagos streets he came up on for his first headline show at Madison Square Garden, he used his budding discography to bridge worlds. “Let me talk to my people,” he told the crowd early on. “I love this energy. I love New York.” 

His current tour is named for his latest album, Lungu Boy , which can translate to “Ghetto Boy,” and highlights the enclaves of creativity and community that poor, Black areas can be. When a dark curtain dropped from the ceiling and was scurried away by workers as his concert began, it revealed a stage strategically littered with stacks of tires, shipping drums, mounds of old TVs with Asake ’s face broadcast, and bright, brilliant graffiti.

Asake has been an ingenious arbiter of that very essence, with his fusions of indigenous Nigerian music like Fuji and South African Amapiano with the energy and swagger of hip-hop. His sound, rich and complexly instrumental on wax, was taken to new heights live.

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Though the creation of a casual street corner on stage certainly seemed intentional, the show also carried a bit of haphazardness that felt underwhelming at times. His dancers were lively but often a bit out of sync, like they were told to take their routines but do their own thing. Though Asake had moments of electricity, like when he joined them for some powerhouse moves to “Fuji Vibes” from his new album, he too often performed from his DJs decks off to the right corner, as if they were just hanging out.

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What really carried the show, though, was the intense, impressive, and wholly new arrangements he and his band performed. There was only a drummer who banged and slapped for dear life, and three men on keys, one also working a bass, but the music was orchestral. It was entrancing, from their innovation of a 1990s R&B groove to reimagine “Muse” from his breakout album Mr. Money With the Vibe , to the urgency they gave “Basquiat,” making it sound like the superhero theme music.

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22 June 2024 3:49 PM

Green Day live in Manchester: Punk’s very own Eras tour is an absolute triumph

On the first uk night of a tour that sees them perform dookie and american idiot in full, green day deliver a show for the ages..

By Nick Reilly

“Tonight is about joy. Tonight is a CELEBRATIOOON ,” comes the rousing call to arms from Green Day ‘s Billie Joe Armstrong to 50,000 fans packed inside Manchester’s Old Trafford cricket ground.

In 2024, celebrations and, by extension, nostalgia, are big business. Some 200 miles away from here tonight, the most famous singer on the planet has rolled into the capital with the biggest tour in music history – which sees her trawling through her own back catalogue across three era-spanning hours.

But if you’re looking for punk’s ultimate Eras tour, this celebration of Dookie and American Idiot to mark their 30th and 20th anniversaries respectively, may well be it.

It begins with ‘The American Dream Is Killing Me’ from Green Day’s latest album Saviours , before the time for Dookie quickly arrives. At the back of the stage, it’s heralded by the arrival of a giant inflatable cloud that mirrors the album artwork, before ‘Burnout’ heralds the start of Dookie played in its chronological entirety.

Even a brief incident in the crowd, which briefly stops the gig at one early juncture, can’t derail proceedings. “Err, wanna hear some jokes?!,” grins Billie Joe Armstrong as he waits for things to restart. When they do, it’s a tour-de-force reminder of how the 1994 album revitalised punk for a new generation – even though the explosion-heavy, face melting pyrotechnics serve as a telling reminder of just how far they’ve come.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Billie Joe (@billiejoearmstrong)

There’s also the constant feeling that this is the most fun Green Day have had performing in years. Armstrong’s grin seems fixed across two hours, while Dookie concludes with ‘All By Myself’ – a bizarre secret track about jacking off which sees drummer Tre Cool skipping by himself onstage like a deranged vaudeville performer in a smoking jacket.

When American Idiot subsequently arrives, so too does the biggest crowd reactions of the night. It’s perhaps inevitable, given the vast amount of twenty-somethings in attendance, but it proves why the 2004 record is easily the greatest thing they’ve ever done. An inflatable manifestation of the hand grenade on the album cover sits at the back of the stage as the band tear through an album that has lost none of its power in the following two decades.

A pyro-heavy ‘Jesus of Suburbia’ sees 50,000 people screaming back every word of the ten minute opus, while the stadium wide call-and-response for ‘Are We The Waiting’ delivers one of those magical moments that only stadium rock shows are capable of.

Late on, there’s a neat nod to Manchester too as they cover The Buzzcocks’ ‘Ever Fallen In Love’, and the palpable sense that Armstrong and co have tonight achieved that exact, reciprocal thing with this city. “This is a night I’ll remember for the rest of my life,” Armstrong screams late on.

For the 50,000 fans in attendance, you sense that the feeling is very much mutual. Punk’s ultimate celebration well and truly delivered.

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