Music fans are less than a week away from one of the best music festivals of the year, with the Pilgrimage Music & Cultural Festival, located just outside of Nashville in Franklin, TN. With a number of emerging artists warming things up in the day, some big headlining performances at night and a number of activities and food options throughout the grounds, people throughout the country can’t wait to #MakeThePilgrimage this weekend.
From Fitz and the Tantrums to the festival’s partner, Justin Timberlake, there are a number of performances that you won’t want to miss, but we are only going to give you five of our favorites for now.
Check out our list of our 5 most anticipated performances of 2017’s Pilgrimage Music & Cultural Festival below.
Fans at the Ravinia Music Festival in Highland Park, IL were in for a treat tonight, as the I Love The 90’s: The Party Continues tour brought your favorite artists from one of the best decades in music for a memorable night of nostalgia.
With opening performances from Snap! (‘The Power’), All-4-One (‘I Swear’), O-Town (‘All Or Nothing’) and Biz Markie (‘Just A Friend’), and headlining sets from Sugar Ray’s Mark McGrath and TLC, it was rare that fans heard a track that wasn’t a big hit years ago. Whether you were singing along to TLC ‘No Scrubs’ or belting out the words to Biz Markie’s ‘Just A Friend’, it was impossible to leave the festival grounds tonight without a smile on your face.
Tonight marked one of the last major shows for the Ravinia Festival’s 2017 season, and it couldn’t have gone any better. Highland Park residents and music fans across the state of Illinois are already counting down the days to another memorable summer at The Ravinia.
Check out our photos from tonight’s performance below.
Aftera three year hiatus of live performances in North America, P!nk returned to the stage for a huge sold-out show at Milwaukee’s 50th Anniversary of Summerfest. Just 90-miles south though, Pink’s Chicago fans were left wondering, “what about us?”
And tonight Pink answered that question, as she traveled to the Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre in Tinley Park, IL for a special Chicago performance, and one of her select few dates all year. The ‘Raise Your Glass’ singer did not leave her Windy City fans disappointed, as Pink got the party started on a Saturday night, while delivering a memorable set that will tide the city over until her next visit.
Not only did she bring her talented crew and catalog of hits along for the ride, but she brought her sass, charisma and her high flying acrobatics, to put the cherry on top of an already great night.
Check out our photos from tonight’s performance below.
Jay Z’s Made In America festival is Hov’s favorite music festival, and although he admits he is bias, he gave tens of thousands of fans in Philadelphia reason for MIA to be their favorite as well. Performing cuts from his new 4:44 album, as well as his biggest hits and a surprise appearance from Damian Marley, and then delivering an encore performance of B-sides to a complete different stage, Jay Z delivered for the City of Brotherly Love.
Jay Z is a legend, and he only helped cement that status last night. While not necessarily known for his live performances, it’s a shame, because Jay Z is a master of putting on a great show.
Check out our photos from last night’s performance below, and peep the dates for Jay Z’s forthcoming 4:44 Tour at LiveNation.com.
Taylor Swift has the internet and fans going crazy with the release of her new music video, for her Reputation single ‘Look What You Made Me Do’. Full of references to her old looks and videos and subliminals towards some of her most famous foes and ex-boyfriends (Kanye West, Katy Perry, Tom Hiddleston), there is almost too much to keep track of.
Check out our (growing) list of subliminals and references from Taylor Swift’s new ‘Look What You Made Me Do’ video below.
“I Would Very Much Like To Be Excluded From This Narrative”
In the outro to the music video, as all the various forms of Taylor Swift stand side by side, Taylor Swift shows a little humility and humor by referencing her feud with Kanye West. Holding her “Best Female Video” VMA, the version of Swift that was interrupted by Kanye tells the other Taylors that she would “very much like to be excluded from this narrative.”
This quote wasn’t from the VMAs, rather it was from an Instagram post that Taylor sent to fans to address the bad press the singer was receiving after Kim Kardashian leaked a recording of a phone call between Taylor and Kanye, where Taylor gave the green light to the lyrics from Kanye’s track ‘Famous’. Although Taylor claimed she wants to move on from the drama, her Kanye references in her new single and its video are clear.
I Love TS
Near the three-minute mark of the music video, Taylor’s backup dancers are rocking some “I Heart TS” shirts. Although his wasn’t a black glittery crop top, Taylor Swift’s ex-boyfriend, Tom Hiddleston, was caught by photographers on the beach rocking an “I Heart TS” tank-top of his own. This isn’t much of a shot towards Hiddleston, but its definitely a cute little Easter Egg.
Cat Burglars
Around a minute and a half into the video, Taylor Swift leads a team of “cat burglars” rocking cat masks. Many fans believe that this is taking aim at Katy Perry’s ‘Dark Horse’ music video, where her back-up dancers are rocking Egyptian cat masks. The masks aren’t a direct rip-off by any means, but we wouldn’t be surprised if this indeed is a reference to Perry.
Famous?
There may be multiple reference to Kanye West in Taylor’s new visuals. About 2-minutes into the video, Taylor Swift lays near a pile of unconscious life-like mannequin/robots. This one may be a stretch, but this may reference Kanye West’s music video for ‘Famous’, where Kanye displayed a number of life-life naked and sleeping wax figures, one of which portrayed Swift, which she was famously unhappy about.
Snakes, Snakes and More Snakes
“Taylor Swift is a snake” has become a popular meme on the internet, especially from the perspective of many Kanye West and Calvin Harris fans, and generally from the point-of-view of any Taylor haters. With her reputation under fire, Taylor Swift has embraced this persona in her new video with snakes being pictured throughout.
Music Video References/Zombie Taylor
The new video doesn’t just take aim at Taylor’s foes, rather it also pays homage to Swift’s catalog of music videos. Sharing characters and outfits from her ‘Out Of The Woods’ video (for the Zombie scenes), ‘You Belong With Me’ video and many more, the ‘Look What You Made Me Do’ takes inspiration from Swift’s past and puts it all into one amazing video.
Katy Hair and Grammy Shade
Katy Perry and Taylor Swift share a lot, including a lot of bad blood for each other, one thing that they don’t share however is a Grammy because despite 13 nominations, Katy Perry has yet to win a Grammy. Swift made sure to remind us all of that when in her new video, she is rocking a haircut and style very similar to Katy Perry, and what is she holding? One of her Grammy awards. Cold!
Lady Gaga brings her Joanne World Tour to the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, OH (Photo by Dan Garcia)
Wednesday night Lady Gaga brought her critically acclaimed Joanne World Tour to the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, OH. Full of costume changes, amazing visual intermissions and four different stages throughout the packed arena, Gaga’s performance was nothing short of remarkable. And we were there with her Little Monsters to capture the best photos you’ll see from the entire tour!
Check out our photos from Wednesday’s performance below.
To no one’s surprise, Kendrick Lamar killed it on night two of his Chicago stops on The DAMN. Tour. With support from D.R.A.M. and YG, the man of the night returned to the house that Michael Jordan made famous, and put on a show that the city will not soon forget.
Check out our photos from tonight’s performance below, and read our full review from the tour stop here.
Kendrick Lamar at Rolling Loud (Photo by Dan Garcia/The Early Registration)
Kung Fu Kenny earned his black belt (or whichever color belt is highest) last night, as The DAMN. Tour returned to the United Center in Chicago. Marking Kendrick’s second Windy City stop in the past month, Lamar matched the energy levels and vibes from Night 1 in Chicago by delivering an amazing performance. And with supporting sets from ‘Broccoli’ rapper/singer D.R.A.M. and YG, Sunday night was bound to be another memorable one.
After fans were treated to great sets from D.R.A.M. and YG, it was time for King Kendrick to bless his Kingdom. With a retro karate themed video to anticipate his entrance, Kendrick greeted the crowd under his Kung Fu Kenny alias, fighting off a sword yielding ninja as Lamar rapped his DAMN. track, ‘DNA.’.
Throughout the night, Kendrick switched off between tracks from his newest studio LP, where the tour gets its name, with a number of his best tracks throughout his entire catalog. Whether the crowd was singing along to ‘Money Trees’ or Kendrick’s remix to Future’s hit single ‘Mask Off’, Kendrick’s fans new every word from start to finish.
And when Kendrick wasn’t rapping one of his best tracks, he was taking time to become one with his audience. Kendrick was fittingly humble as he spoke about his hoop dreams, growing up in Compton and idolizing Michael Jordan, who of course gave the United Center so many great moments throughout the years. And while Kendrick Lamar won’t ever score a triple double in the UC, since he stopped growing at 5’6″ (which he reminded the crowd), there aren’t a lot of rappers who can do two amazing nights at the historic stadium in just a span of one month.
Highlights of Kendrick Lamar’s set included his performances at the B-stage, which sat in the middle of the arena floor and raised to the sky, which added some pop to his strategically minimal stage design. But the climax of the night came as Kendrick went back-to-back with his hit single, ‘HUMBLE.’. Letting the crowd take the lead the first time around, rapping the track a cappella throughout the arena, but Kendrick took things over for the second performance of the single, giving a great ending to an already memorable night. And if that wasn’t enough, Kendrick treated fans to an encore performance of one of his favorite records from the new LP, ‘GOD.’.
Throughout the night Kendrick Lamar reminded the crowd of his love for Chicago. Raised in Compton by parents from Chicago, Kendrick calls California home but Chicago is very much so in his DNA, and last night was evidence of just that.
Check out the remaining dates on Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN. Tour at his official website and peep last night’s set list below.
Set List
DNA. ELEMENT. King Kunta united 07 | 2014 – 2016 Mask Off Collard Greens Swimming Pools (Drank) Backseat Freestyle LOYALTY. LUST. Money Trees XXX. m.a.a.d city
PRIDE.
LOVE.
Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe
Alright
HUMBLE.
GOD. (Encore)
Tonight’s location on the American Teen Tour was The Rave in Milwaukee, WI, where Khalid returned to the historic venue for his own headlining show. After winning fans over in the same building, just weeks ago in support of Travis Scott’s Birds Eye ViewTour, Khalid was the star of the night from start to finish for the sold-out concert.
While tonight’s performance wasn’t the longest of sets, as the 19-year-old singer has just one album under his belt, it didn’t matter. Khalid took full control of the stage and made sure that no fan would leave the venue underwhelmed.
And if you were expecting a mellow and low key performance, since Khalid’s double-platinum debut single ‘Location’ isn’t the most up-tempo record of 2017, you were wrong. After all, you learn a thing or two from touring with Travis Scott. He’s young, but Khalid proved that he already knows how to make the stage his own and keep energy levels high throughout his entire performance.
Performing the majority of tracks from his debut LP, American Teen (where the tour gets its name), highlights of the El Paso-native’s set included his performances of ‘Let’s Go’, ‘8TEEN’ and closing the night with his hit singles ‘Location’ and ‘Young Dumb & Broke’. Tonight already marked the emerging star’s third performance at The Rave in the past year alone, one which he was still able to sell out on his own, so don’t be surprised if a Khalid show in Milwaukee because a regular occurrence for many years to come.
Check out our photos from tonight’s performance below and peep Khalid’s remaining tour dates here.
Singer and Girl Meets World actress, Sabrina Carpenter, took a pit stop on The DE-TOUR tour for a performance at the Wisconsin State Fair in Milwaukee, WI. With an opening set from Alex Aiono, who has amassed a huge following from his covers on YouTube, the stage was set for the Disney star to deliver a great show on Friday night. Performing her singles ‘Thumbs’, ‘On Purpose’ and B-sides from her 2016 LP, Evolution, Carpenter’s fan did not leave disappointed.
Check out our photos from tonight’s performance below.
The Early Registration 