Critics lauded headline sets from Lady Gaga, Green Day, Post Malone and Travis Scott during the opening weekend of Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.

The Goldenvoice-promoted phenomenon made its return to the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, from 11–13 April, for a 24th instalment.

This year’s bill also features the likes of Missy Elliott, Charli XCX, Megan Thee Stallion, solo performances from BLACKPINK‘s Lisa and Jennie, Benson Boone, the original Misfits, Zedd, The Prodigy, Clairo, Enhypen and more.

Gaga closed the festival’s first night with her second headline set at Coachella, following an appearance in 2017 when she filled in for a pregnant Beyoncé. Friday night’s career-spanning, two-hour set earned rapturous reviews across the board, with The Guardian calling it “one of the best the desert has ever seen” while Billboard hailed it as a “genius commentary on fame”.

Green Day, one of the rare rock acts to headline Coachella over the last decade or so, helped to close out proceedings on Saturday, using their set to address the atrocities in Palestine and take aim at Donald Trump. Rolling Stone sumarised the set as “a career-spanning, best-of montage, packed with hits that crisscrossed the decades”.

Travis Scott, billed as the fourth Coachella headliner, occupied the same spot on the bill that No Doubt did in 2024. Backed by a 60-person strong marching band, the Houston-born rapper delivered a 29-song set which delivered on the promise of a “new chapter,” according to Billboard.

The Guardian called Lady Gaga’s Friday night headline set “one of the best the desert has ever seen”

Critics also applauded Saturday sets from Charli XCX – who brought out Lorde, Billie Eilish and Troye Sivan for her highly-awaited performance – and Weezer, who were added to the bill last week and delivered an afternoon set at the Mojave tent.

Elsewhere, Irish hip-hop band Kneecap made headlines after leading an anti-Margaret Thatcher chant, with fans reporting the online stream had cut out shortly after.

Post Malone closed out weekend one with his first-ever headline set at Coachella, having topped the bill at sister festival Stagecoach last year. The US star accidentally leaked the Coachella’s lineup in November 2024, prompting organisers to publish the lineup ahead of schedule.

The Sunday night set saw Malone bring his country repertoire to Indio, with a set modeled on a sprawling Formula 1 track. Variety described the 90-minute offering as “an interactive hang with your best buddy whose music you happen to love” while The Guardian deemed his performance “charming and energetic”.

Although the first weekend of Coachella sold out, passes for the second weekend are still available. Tickets are divided into three tiers and priced at $539–$549 for general admission and $1,199–$1,399 for VIP. Camping passes start at $149.

Despite reportedly selling approximately 80% of the 250,000 tickets available for purchase this year, the festival remains the most-attended and highest-grossing annual festival in North America.

Coachella 2025 concludes from 18–20 April.

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Green Day have been forced to cancel the third and final date of their Australian Saviors Tour as a result of rare weather phenomenon Tropical Cyclone Alfred.

The trio, who are booked by CAA, completed shows at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium on 1 March and Engie Stadium, Sydney, on 3 March, but pulled their 5 March stop on the Gold Coast at Cbus Super Stadium, Robina, Queensland.

The state is braced for the first cyclone to make landfall in more than 50 years, with severe flooding expected along with wind speeds of up to 130km/h.

“With Cyclone Alfred bringing some seriously nasty weather, it’s just not possible to go ahead safely,” says a social media post from the band.

Cbus Super Stadium also released a statement, confirming the show was cancelled “due to the extreme weather conditions forecast”.

“We know how excited fans were for the concert and we share your disappointment,” says the message. “Concert organisers explored every opportunity to go ahead with the event, but the safety and travel certainty of concert goers, performers and staff cannot be ensured under current conditions.”

“Due to Green Day’s international touring schedule it will not be possible to reschedule the Gold Coast show to a later date”

With Green Day set to headline Lollapalooza India on 9 March, promoter Live Nation Australia says it will not be possible to reschedule the Queensland event.

“We understand the immense disappointment surrounding the cancellation of tomorrow’s Green Day show on the Gold Coast due to Cyclone Alfred,” it says in a statement. “This decision was made in close consultation with local authorities and with Green Day, prioritising the safety of all involved.

“Due to Green Day’s international touring schedule it will not be possible to reschedule the Gold Coast show to a later date. All ticket holders will receive a full refund from Ticketmaster. Our thoughts are with all impacted by Cyclone Alfred.”

The Melbourne and Sydney gigs marked Green Day’s first Australian dates since 2017. A scheduled 2020/21 stop was cancelled due to the pandemic.

Meanwhile, it was recently disclosed that a new coming-of-age film inspired by – and developed with – Green Day is in the works, produced by Live Nation Productions.

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Green Day capitalised on the UAE’s “untapped” audience for rock music to deliver their first-ever concert in the region.

The American trio, who are booked by CAA, performed at 30,000-capacity open-air venue Expo City Dubai on Monday (27 January), days after performing two stadium dates in South Africa as part of their ongoing Saviors Tour.

Thomas Ovesen, CEO of promoter All Things Live (ATL) Middle East, tells IQ the Dubai show had been a long time in the making.

“I have wanted to promote Green Day in the UAE for many years,” says Ovesen. “We made several offers when potential dates became available, but until now, we hadn’t been able to secure their first-ever Middle East show. This time, with the routing aligned with their two South African shows, we finally made it happen.”

According to Ovesen, the show – which featured heavyweight support from The Offspring – highlighted the demand for rock concerts in the Middle East.

“Very few local media channels cover rock music to any great extent, leaving a large untapped market of rock fans”

“The appetite is strong, especially for hard rock, which is significantly underrepresented compared to other music genres,” he points out. “Very few local media channels cover rock music to any great extent, leaving a large untapped market of rock fans. We see this clearly whenever we bring rock acts to the region, particularly when ticket prices remain affordable.”

Tickets were priced between AED 445 (€117) to AED 3,000 (€786), with the gig also showcasing the potential of the Expo precinct as a concert venue.

“Since the conclusion of Expo 2020, and aside from a multi-day festival staged in a different venue configuration, this was the first large-scale concert at the site,” adds Ovesen. “We developed the 30,000-capacity layout in collaboration with the Expo events team and our key suppliers, and it worked very well.”

Earlier this month, Italian composer Ludovico Einaudi played his largest Middle East show to date in front of 6,500 fans in the lower bowl of Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Arena. The concert, which was presented by ATL in partnership with the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi and Miral, came 12 months after Einaudi sold out three shows and more than 5,000 tickets at Dubai Opera.

ATL has a mix of its own and co-partnered shows coming up across the entire region – including Istanbul, Doha, Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Acts will include Diana Krall, Ghostly Kisses, Lionel Richie and comedian Trevor Noah, along with new IP projects and another large-scale UAE show planned for Q4.

“The region is increasingly investing in new purpose-built venues”

“The region is increasingly investing in new purpose-built venues and already has some of the best operators and production equipment,” says Ovesen. “On the challenge side, the market is now heavily skewed toward government and city-controlled, underwritten shows, with fewer promoters willing or able to take financial risks. This could lead to show congestion or pricing issues, making it harder for independent promoters to operate.

“Additionally, the traditional promoter-venue-fan model is less prevalent here, meaning artists and their representatives need to consider long-term opportunities and the quality of show promotions. Currently, many shows are secured with high artist fees but lack strong marketing and fan engagement strategies.”

In closing, Ovesen expects the volume of events in the market will continue to grow – hopefully hand-in-hand with a thriving domestic scene.

“Just look at Saudi Arabia, where entertainment demand is far from reaching saturation,” he says. “As entertainment becomes as strategically important as top-tier sporting events for city and country branding, we will likely see more global event IPs making their way to the Middle East.

“I also hope to see more local talent touring within the region and eventually making it onto international festivals and tours. That would be a true testament to the Middle East emerging as a genuine entertainment and touring market.”

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Greece’s international market is going from strength to strength, according to Ejekt Festival director Giannis Paltoglou.

Indeed, Paltoglou has landed Green Day’s first-ever performance in Greece, headlining the 20th anniversary of Ejekt this summer.

“If a new band comes to Greece and plays on the first record, they will keep coming back with every record because the Greek audience is really warm, and also the weather, the food and the hospitality are renowned,” Paltoglou explains. “But when bands are at the level of Green Day, it’s tough to convince them to visit because we are not a big market.

“We have around 5.1 million people living in Athens but we have a lot of tourists and the economy is much better than in previous years – that’s why we can afford to spend more money, increase ticket prices and bring bigger bands here. We’re growing up slowly.”

Green Day is the first act to be announced for the milestone edition of Ejekt, which will take place across three days in early July at Athens Olympic Stadium.

The festival moved to the 35,000-capacity stadium last year to facilitate the growing supply of – and demand for – international artists in Greece.

“The economy is much better now – that’s why we can afford to spend more money, increase ticket prices and bring bigger bands”

“It’s near to the train station, has better facilities for disabled people, more parking,” Paltoglou lists the benefits of the new venue. “And, of course, it has bigger infrastructure… it’s a stadium experience now.”

In another major coup, Paltoglou has secured Robbie Williams for a special, standalone performance at Panathenaic Stadium in Athens in October, under the Ejekt Festival banner.

“His tour is in October so we didn’t want him to perform during the festival’s normal days,” explains Paltoglou. “We wanted him in an iconic stadium with his production, not a greenfield.”

While Greek artists continue to dominate the market, demand for international stars has been increasing year on year according to Paltoglou.

“All the international shows we did last year were really good,” continues Paltoglou. “We had more than 78 international artists across our festivals and two venues in Athens.”

And it’s not just Ejekt Festival that is doing good business with overseas acts. “Over the 90 days of summer, we had almost two international shows from various promoters every day,” he claims. “People are thirsty for international acts.”

While Greece’s festivals are poised to supply the demand, the country’s touring circuit still has a way to go. Mid-size venues (with caps of 10-15,000) are sorely lacking, limiting the range of acts Greece could attract.

“All the international shows we did last year were really good”

“We don’t have any indoor venues at 3,000 capacity,” says Paltoglou. “The smallest arena is 6,000 capacity and then it jumps to 9,000 and then 16,000.”

“Also, the Acropolis Theater (4,100), a venue that has been operating every summer for the last 70 years, is closing for renovations until 2027. This will be a big loss for us. We have promoted many artists at the venue including Florence and the Machine, Herbie Hancock, Kraftwerk, Brian Eno and others.”

“We are waiting for some new venues to open, but nothing is happening. We’re discussing with the government, private companies and stadiums to see what they can do… it will slowly happen.”

In addition to a shortage of venues, Greece’s location in Europe has always been a hurdle for touring acts.

“We are at the bottom of Europe,” Paltoglou explains. “So a band from England needs a travelling day, one day to play, one day to leave. Logistics are tough for them and that’s why we try to collaborate with other markets like Bulgaria and Turkey and create a tour of the eastern Balkans to attract newer bands.

“We are doing a lot of shows there in Thessaloniki,” he adds. “But the economy is not as strong as in Athens – it doesn’t have as many tourists – so we can’t charge the same ticket prices.”

That said, Paltoglou is optimistic that Greece will continue to establish itself as a worthy market for international acts.

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Coachella Valley Arts & Music Festival organisers have announced the full line-up for the 2025 edition, headlined by Lady Gaga, Green Day, Post Malone and Travis Scott.

The Goldenvoice-promoted festival (cap 125,000) will return for a 24th instalment between 11–13 and 18–20 April at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California.

The lineup announcement comes two months earlier than usual, following reports that Post Malone would headline the Californian festival.

Malone has now been confirmed to close out both Sundays, following his headline performance at Coachella’s sister event Stagecoach this year. It will be his first time as a Coachella headliner, though he performed at the festival in 2018 and has made several guest appearances over the years (most recently with Bad Bunny in 2022).

It is Gaga’s second time as a Coachella headliner, following her appearance in 2017 when she filled in for a pregnant Beyoncé.

Lady Gaga, Green Day, Post Malone and Travis Scott top the bill for next year’s edition

Green Day will play Coachella as a band for the first time, although frontman Billie Joe Armstrong performed as part of the Replacements in 2014.

Scott is billed as the fourth headliner, occupying the same spot on the poster that No Doubt did in 2024 with the tagline “Travis Scott designs the desert”.

In a press release, Scott’s representatives state he is slated to headline the main stage on Saturday night “where he will debut an entirely new era of music to the world”.

Scott was scheduled to headline in 2020 before the festival was cancelled due to the pandemic. He was booked again in 2022, but was taken off the lineup following the fatal crowd crush at his own Astroworld Festival in 2021.

Other major acts lined up for Coachella 2025 include Missy Elliott, Charli XCX, Megan Thee Stallion, solo performances from BLACKPINK‘s Lisa and Jennie, Benson Boone, the original Misfits, Zedd, The Prodigy, FKA Twigs, Beabadoobee, Clairo, Enhypen and more.

This year’s festival was headlined by Lana Del Rey, Doja Cat, No Doubt and Tyler, the Creator.

 

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Green Day have lined up their first ever concert in Malaysia.

The CAA-represented American rock band will bring their Saviors Tour to the National Hockey Stadium in Kuala Lumpur on 18 February 2025.

It follows the announcement of the group’s first-ever show in the Middle East, which is set to take place in Dubai at the 30,000-cap Expo City Dubai on 27 January.

The group, who are currently in the midst of a North American run, have also announced two concerts in South Africa – at FNB Stadium in Johannesburg (19 January) and DHL Stadium in Cape Town (23 January).

Malaysia also will host the likes of Bruno Mars, Imagine Dragons and Dua Lipa before the end of 2024

They will visit Carnaval Ancol in Jakarta, Indonesia on 15 February, finishing up the tour in Japan with stops at Osaka-Jo Hall (21 February), Port Messe Nagoya (23 February) and K Arena Yokohama (25-26 February).

Malaysia will also host the likes of Bruno Mars (17 September) at Kuala Lumpur National Stadium, Imagine Dragons at the National Hockey Stadium (21 November) and Dua Lipa at Axiata Arena (23-24 November).

Earlier this summer, the country’s Good Vibes Festival was cancelled out of respect for the coronation of the king. The festival has been due to return on 20 and 21 July, despite last year’s edition being cancelled after The 1975’s Matty Healy hit out at the country’s strict anti-LGBT laws and kissed a male bandmate on stage.

Organiser Future Sound Asia recently filed a lawsuit against the group and all its members individually, seeking £1.9 million ($2.4m) in compensation in the UK’s High Court over a violation of performance rules.

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Green Day have announced their first-ever concert in the Middle East, set to take place in Dubai next year.

The American punk-rock band will perform on 27 January 2025 at Expo City Dubai, a 30,000-capacity open-air concert venue.

The historic concert will be the first standalone large-scale concert in the Expo precinct, according to promoter All Things Live Middle East.

The trio, comprised of Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, and Tré Cool, will be supported by fellow American punk-rock band The Offspring.

“Book your tickets early because we fully expect this show to sell out”

“Green Day need no introduction – they are without doubt one of the most requested rock bands in our region and we are thrilled to be bringing them to the UAE for their first show in the Middle East,” says Thomas Ovesen, CEO, All Things Live Middle East.

“My advice to those fans wishing to watch this historic event is to book your tickets early because we fully expect this show to sell out.”

Ticket prices for the concert range from AED 445 (€113) to AED 3,000 (€759), further details can be found here.

Green Day’s global stadium outing, The Saviors Tour, kicks off in Europe on 30 May 2024. The band are booked by CAA worldwide and managed by Crush Music.

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Billie Eilish, Green Day and Lorde are among 250+ artists to back a bill that aims to reform the live event ticketing system in the US.

The Fans First Act, introduced by senators in December, is designed to help increase transparency in ticket sales, protect customers “from fake or dramatically overpriced tickets,” and hold “bad actors who engage in illegal ticket sale practices” to account.

In the latest push for the reform, the Fix the Tix coalition has written a letter urging the Senate Commerce Committee to support the bill.

In addition to the aforementioned artists, the letter has been signed by the likes of Cyndi Lauper, Jason Mraz, Lorde, Sia, Train, Fall Out Boy, Graham Nash, Becky G and Chappell Roan.

The legislation has also been endorsed by Live Nation, National Independent Venue Association, Recording Academy, Recording Industry Association of America, Eventbrite, North American Performing Arts Managers and Agents, International Association of Venue Managers, Music Managers Forum and the National Independent Talent Organization (NITO), among others.

“We are joining together to say that the current system is broken”

“We are joining together to say that the current system is broken: predatory resellers and secondary platforms engage in deceptive ticketing practices to inflate ticket prices and deprive fans of the chance to see their favourite artists at a fair price,” reads the letter, addressed to Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.

It continues: “We, as artists, as music lovers, and as concert attendees ourselves, urge you to support the Fans First Act to combat predatory resellers’ deceptive ticketing practices and the secondary platforms, which also profit from these practices. Predatory resellers should not be more profitable than the people dedicating their lives to their art.”

The Fans First Act would require all ticket sellers and resellers to disclose and break down the total cost of a ticket, including fees. It would also bolster the Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) Act, which was introduced in 2016 to prohibit scalpers from using software to buy high volumes of tickets, by further prohibiting the use of bots to purchase tickets.

The senators co-sponsoring the bill are Republican senators John Cornyn, Marsha Blackburn and Roger Wicker, and Democrats Amy Klobuchar, Ben Ray Luján, Peter Welch and Mark Kelly.

Fans First is one of several bills introduced in recent years aimed at combating unfair ticketing practices, including the BOSS and SWIFT Act and the TICKET Act.

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Robbie Williams and Green Day have been revealed as Calabash South Africa’s headliners for the touring festival’s second edition, set for January 2025.

Landing in both Johannesburg and Cape Town, the touring event is stretching to two days across two weekends next year, doubling from its single-day programme in the same cities.

The Big Concerts-promoted outing is set to visit Johannesburg’s FNB Stadium (94,736-capacity) — Africa’s biggest stadium — from 18-19 January 2025 and Cape Town’s DHL Stadium (55,000) from 22-23 January 2025. The festival announced the 2025 event aspires to etch “a new chapter in South Africa’s rock ‘n’ roll legacy.”

UK superstar Williams’ headlining set marks his first gigs in the country since 2006, when he opened his Close Encounters world tour with three sold-out stadium shows in Pretoria, Cape Town, and Durban.

The festival will mark Green Day’s inaugural show in the country. In May, the Grammy-award-winning group will embark on The Savior Tour, performing across US stadiums and UK/European festivals throughout the year.

American punk band The Offspring and local rockers Fokofpolisiekar are set to join the Calabash bill with Green Day, with additional acts to be announced for both days.

“We expeect touring to expand across Africa, with new markets and new venues being added to the touring circuit”

Earlier this year, Maroon 5 led the debut of the festival and was joined by local and international artists including Will Linley, Keane, and Ava Max, among others.

The expansion of the festival could signal a new era for international acts visiting the African nation, with Big Concerts CEO Justin Van Wyk telling IQ the future looks bright for the African market.

“We anticipate a boom in new venue development and also expect touring to expand across Africa, with new markets and new venues being added to the touring circuit to bolster the economics for tours,” he says.

Big Concerts, which was acquired by Live Nation in 2016, is promoting shows by James Blunt, Kool & The Gang, and Cigarettes After Sex within the next year.

A new two-day country music festival, the ‘biggest outside the US’, will also take place in Cape Town’s DHL Stadium this October.

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Green Day have announced a global stadium tour for 2024 to mark the anniversaries of their iconic albums American Idiot and Dookie.

The Saviors Tour comprises 34 dates in North America and Europe, including a number of festivals.

The outing will kick off in Europe on 30 May 2024 at O Son do Camino festival in Spain before visiting France, Germany, Italy and the UK, where the band will play a show at the 90,000-capacity Wembley Stadium on 29 June.

The European leg includes festival appearances at Road to Rio Babel (Spain), Rock im Park/am Ring (Germany), I Days (Italy) and Isle of Wight (UK).

Nothing But Thieves, The Hives, Donots, The Interrupters and Maid of Ace will support Green Day in the UK/EU.

‘A career-spanning celebration of one of the biggest musical acts of all time and some of the most important albums in history’

The North American run begins shortly after on 29 July at Nationals Park in Washington, DC and makes 27 stops across North America in cities such as Toronto, ON; New York, NY; Chicago, IL; Atlanta, GA; Nashville, TN; Los Angeles, CA; Phoenix, AZ; San Francisco, CA and many more before wrapping up in San Diego, CA at Petco Park (cap. 42,445) on 28 September.

The Smashing Pumpkins, Rancid, and The Linda Lindas will support Green Day on the North America leg, produced by Live Nation.

The Saviors Tour is being touted as a ‘career-spanning celebration of one of the biggest musical acts of all time and some of the most important albums in history’.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of Green Day’s 1994 certified Diamond album, Dookie, and the 20th anniversary of 2004’s juggernaut, American Idiot. The US band will also perform tracks from their newly announced album, Saviors.

Green Day, booked by CAA worldwide and managed by Crush Music, are one of the most successful rock bands of the 21st century, grossing more than $200 million from 371 headline shows reported to the Pollstar Boxoffice since June 2000.

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