Arguably the best live performers of a generation, Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band are hitting the road in 2016, for yet another countrywide tour. In support of their classic 1980 album, The River and today’s reissue of that memorable LP, the guys will kick off “The River Tour” next month in Pittsburgh, and will be on the road for 9-weeks before the tour concludes March 17th at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.
This time around, the tour will be surrounded by even more excitement as each night of The RiverTour will be mixed for release, for HQ downloads and CDs, via Live.BruceSpringsteen.net. Recordings will be available within just days of each performance. The 2016 tour doesn’t only pay homage to the legendary LP, rather it also pays tribute to the original tour of the same name, which ran for almost an entire year in 1980 to 1981. With sets that continually hit near the 4-hour mark, if this tour is even have as great as its prequel, then we’re in for quite the ride!
Check out the official tour dates below and get your tickets when they go on sale December 11th.
Ever since Judd Apatow’s “40 Year Old Virgin”, where Paul Rudd’s character told Seth Rogen’s, “you know how I know you’re gay? You like Coldplay”, it has been uncool to be a Coldplay fan. And as crazy as it sounds, and while no one should every denial the cultural influence that the comedic genius Judd Apatow has on society, that small joke has almost single handedly made it lame to like Coldplay. As a result, given today’s reports that Chris Martin and company will be headlining the NFL’s Super Bowl Halftime Show, everyone on your Twitter and Facebook feed has gone nuts! Year-by-year, the Superbowl is criticized for it’s relatively safe and underwhelming choices for the Halftime Show, and while fans this year are probably more upset than ever, they are wrong.
On the surface, given the unwarranted hate that they get, Coldplay seems like another bust for what could be an epic performance on America’s most watched event. Hell, the highlight of Katy Perry’s performance last year was a meme that came from a guy in a Shark suit who couldn’t dance along to Perry’s colorful performance. Why no Drake? Why no Kanye West? Why no Adele, even? Those are valid questions, but don’t sleep on Coldplay!
A few years ago, I was offered a free ticket to see Coldplay at the United Center in Chicago. Because I had no other plans, because the ticket was free, because I wasn’t driving, I decided to go (note that I was not a Coldplay fan). To me, when I heard “Coldplay” I instantly thought of that hilarious one liner from “40 Year Old Virgin”, I didn’t think, “great entertainers”. Going into the performance, for no rational reasons at all, I expected not to enjoy myself.
Boy was I wrong! In the past year alone, having the opportunity to see some great live performers up close and personal in the photo pit, I’ve seen amazing sets from Kanye West, Paul McCartney, Taylor Swift, Drake, Kendrick Lamar, Future, Neil Young and many many more. Not knowing the exact number, I’ve probably seen 200+ concerts in the past couple years alone. However, still Coldplay’s performance from the 300 level of the UC stands out as one of the best concerts I have ever seen. The performance had unmatched energy from everyone on stage and an entertaining set-up and light show that has been replicated by many since. At this time especially, artists did not put a lot of money back into their performances, and for this reason Coldplay’s performance that night was well ahead of its time. I could write 1,000 words on what made that performance stand out, but I will spare you too many spoilers from what you will see in 2016.
Reminder, I am not a Coldplay fan, not then and still not now. That is no disrespect to Chris Martin, rather there are just so many artists and bands I can regularly listen to and their sound generally isn’t my go-to sound. But I can’t deny their stage presence, their live performances, the energy they put into those live performances, and in general their ability to craft a more than memorable show.
Hit me up if I am wrong, but I bet Coldplay’s performance at this year’s Super Bowl will leave a ton of people surprised and will gain them a whole new fan base. You heard it here first…
Earlier this year, Martin Garrix cut ties with his former label, Spinnin’ Records and MusicAllStars Management, after a dispute over music ownership. Discussing Garrix’s departure, the label and management company stated, “we were plainly willing to meet Martijn (Martin Garrix) in his wishes to negotiate the current agreements in his favor… Yet Martijn decided to unilaterally end the cooperation as of now. Of course we regret this decision.”
However, although the EDM superstar and his former label decided to cut ties last August, things were not over as the battle over ownership of Garrix’s music led to legal action (through a summary proceeding) on behalf of Garrix. Months later, the issue has now been resolved (for now at least). Per his agreement with Spinnin’ Records, Garrix will grant an exclusive license, for a limited period, to Spinnin’ Records for tracks that were released by the label until August of 2015. In return, Spinnin’ has transferred ownership rights back to Garrix. Let’s hope that the two sides continue to work things out!
Ever since Thanksgiving, Lil Wayne fans have been eating good. First Weezy dropped his anticipated sequel to his No Ceilings mixtape, of course titled No Ceilings 2. Then, if a fire tape wasn’t enough, Lil Wayne kept the momentum going by announcing a 19-date U.S. tour with ‘No Type’ rappers, Rae Sremmurd. Kicking off January 21st in El Paso, the Young Money rapper will hit a number of stops throughout the United States until the tour concludes March 6th in Nebraska. Tickets go on sale to the general public, in just a couple days, on December 4th at LiveNation.com. Don’t sleep on this tour, it won’t be one to miss!
Kid Cudi fans received some good news and some bad news tonight. Bad news first, if you were excited to catch Cudi on his new tour, you will have to wait as it has been indefinitely canceled for the time being. “Things weren’t together production wise and I need a bit to make some changes,” Cudi told fans.
Although fans won’t see Cudi hit the road tomorrow as planned, there still is some good news as Kid Cudi made things up to his fans by releasing his Plain Pat produced record, ‘Speedin’ Bullet 2 Heaven’, ahead of schedule.
Stream the title track to Cudi’s forthcoming album below.
Singer-songwriter Bryson Tiller is one of the hardest working artists to emerge in 2015, and he is showing no signs of stopping come next year. With huge co-signs from Drake and Timbaland, Bryson had a number of labels to choose from and eventually found home with RCA Records through a creative partnership. And now to follow up his critically acclaimed and debut project, Trap Soul, Tiller has released a new track, titled ‘Self Righteous’. With production from Ayo and vocals from the Louisville singer, ‘Self Righteous’ is another great record from Tiller and definitely a must listen.
As the new year approaches, a wave of new entertainers are saying they got next. K.C. Undercover’s lead actress and executive producer Zendaya covers the December 2015/ January 2016 issue of Complex Magazine.
In her interview with Complex, she talks about her trip to Africa to do charity work, her acting career, what it was like growing up biracial, her upbringing in Oakland, how it feels being a role model, and the responses she’s got since Giuliana Rancic made an off-color joke on her dreadlocks at the red carpet of the 2015 Oscars earlier this year.
Earlier this year Logic went on his “Under Pressure World Tour” which we recently named as one of the 20 Best Concert Tours of 2015. And whether you made it to one of its many dates or you unfortunately missed out, you will be happy to hear that next year Logic embark on his huge new tour, titled “The Incredible World Tour”. If you couldn’t guess from its title, this tour will be incredible, and given his past performances we have no reason to doubt the Maryland native.
As of right now, only a few dates have been confirmed, including dates in Texas, Oregon and Milwaukee, but soon fans will be able to check out more dates and details, and get tickets, when the tour’s official website is live on December 4th.
Stay tuned for more details as we await Logic’s official announcement at 3PM Eastern Time.
[Update: Logic has now officially announced the tour dates, check them out below!]
Tonight Chicago was treated to a special Thanksgiving Eve performance from it’s very own, rapper Lupe Fiasco, as Fiasco performed a headlining set at Chicago’s Concord Music Hall. This performance wasn’t like most Lupe Fiasco concerts however, as Lupe dubbed the show as Food & Liquor vs. The Cool, which of course are Lupe’s first two albums.
Performing tracks from each of the critically acclaimed LPs, fans could finally put to rest the debate of which Lupe Fiasco album is better. The only problem is, after tonight’s great performances of each, it is only harder to decide which project is more of a classic. Whether you prefer The Cool or Food & Liquor though, you can’t go wrong listening to either and you definitely had a blast if you stopped by the Concord Music Hall tonight to hear them live.
Check out our photos of Lupe Fiasco’s hometown show below.
2015 saw a lot of great concert tours, from J. Cole’s Forest Hills Drive Tour with Big Sean, YG and Jeremih to Taylor Swift’s huge 1989 World Tour. Some tours sold out stadiums and arenas, selling out the entire tour before it even begun, and some tours were in small intimate venues, either strategically or because simple supply and demand. Some had stacked lineups top to bottom and some introduced us to a lot of great new artists. Festivals like Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo and Coachella were bigger than ever this year, but that didn’t stop your favorite artists from building up some great shows of their own.
Hit the jump and check out our list of our 20 Favorite Concert Tours of 2015!
The Early Registration 