Pretenders, Stevie Nicks announce 24kt Gold tour
Stevie Nicks will this autumn embark on her first headlining tour since 2012 with a 27-date trek through arenas across the US and Canada.
The 24 Karat Gold tour, promoted exclusively by Live Nation, will see the ex-Fleetwood Mac frontwoman and solo star (pictured) joined by the Pretenders, who haven’t toured since 2009 or played live since 2012.
The tour will kick off at the Talking Stick Arena (18,422-cap.) in Phoenix, Arizona, on 25 October and conclude at The Forum (17,505-cap.) in Inglewood, California, on 18 December, taking in arenas in New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, Vancouver, Chicago, Philadelphia, Atlanta and more.
A full list of dates is available on Nicks’s website.
Nicks’s 2015 On with the Show tour with Fleetwood Mac with the sixth highest-grossing of 2015, with a total of US$125.1 million from 78 dates.
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Apple Music Fest: No stream for non-subscribers
While much of the coverage around the 10th Apple Music Festival, returning to the Roundhouse in London from 18 to 30 September, has so far focused on its big-name line-up, announced yesterday, eagled-eyed press release-readers will have noticed one other major change for 2016: non-subscribers to Apple Music need not apply.
Whereas in previous years the free festival could be streamed live by anyone with iTunes – or, with its name change last year from the iTunes Festival to Apple Music Festival, Apple Music; even non-subscribers – this year’s live stream will viewable only by subscribers to Apple’s $9.99/£9.99-per-month music streaming service.
According to the launch announcement, “the 10 spectacular nights of live performances will be made available live and on-demand to Apple Music members in 100 countries on their iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Mac, PC, Apple TV and Android phones”.
The festival isn’t the first time the service has lent its name to a live music event – in a first for Apple, Drake’s Summer Sixteen tour is billed as being co-presented by Apple Music – but it will be the first year in which Apple’s flagship festival will be a closed shop available only to its subscriber base.
The 2016 headliners are:
18 September: Elton John
19 September: The 1975
20 September: Alicia Keys
21 September: OneRepublic
23 September: Calvin Harris
25 September: Robbie Williams
26 September: Bastille
27 September: Britney Spears
28 September: Michael Bublé
30 September: Chance the Rapper
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The state of stadia
Rhian Jones reports on the stadia sector’s state of health…
The lack of stadium headliners has been a heavily quoted narrative throughout the live music industry in recent years, but if the packed music schedule of stadia worldwide in 2016 is anything to go by, it’s incorrect. Coldplay, Paul McCartney, Rihanna, Billy Joel, Beyoncé, Bruce Springsteen and Rod Stewart are all embarking on stadium tours this year, with some venues recording their busiest summer of music ever.
Wembley Stadium in London (80,000-capacity) has six different headliners playing a total of ten shows over the next few months, making it their best year since the new stadium opened in 2007. Over at the 65,000-cap. Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Australia, the venue is hosting 11 shows this year, while Stadion Frankfurt in Germany is expecting to welcome over 700,000 visitors to non-sporting events over the next few months. MetLife Stadium in New Jersey (82,000-cap.), has Coldplay, Guns N’ Roses, Paul McCartney and Kenny Chesney gracing its stage over the summer, whilst the UK’s Brunton Park in Carlisle (20,000-cap.) is hosting its first gig in nine years with Rod Stewart.
At Munich’s Olympic Stadium (70,000-cap.), head of events Nils Hoch says 80% of the venue’s revenue come from live music. Upcoming shows include two festivals, Rockavaria and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, with Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, Austrian act Andreas Gabalier and Rihanna playing headline dates through the summer. Over at Stadion Frankfurt, business development manager Moritz Schneider says around a third of its revenue is derived from music-based events thanks to its diverse programming that, alongside headline shows this year from Rihanna, Beyoncé and Billy Joel, includes a three-day ‘urban festival’ and a music-related world record attempt.
Read the rest of this feature in issue 65 of IQ Magazine.
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