Jack White is offering $20 (€19.30) tickets to students for the US leg of his No Name Tour.

The former White Stripes frontman, who released live EP No Name Live this week, is finishing up his US run, with dates at Brooklyn Paramount tonight (12 February) and two nights at Boston Roadrunner (17-18 February) still to go.

General sale tickets for the Boston gigs are currently available for $79 to $299. The discounted tickets can only be bought from the relevant venue’s box office on the day of the concert.

“For every stop on the No Name Tour, a limited number of student tickets will be available to purchase in-person only at each venue’s box office on show day,” reads a post on the guitarist’s Instagram page. “These tickets will be sold on a first come, first served basis with a valid student ID (1 ticket per student ID).”

White heads to Europe later this month, with stops in Paris, France at La Cigale (21 February) and Le Trianon (22-23 February) and TivoliVredenburg in Utrecht, the Netherlands (25-26 February), plus London Troxy (28 February & 1 March), O2 Academy Birmingham (2 March) and Glasgow Barrowland (3 March) in the UK.

He also has two nights booked at Toyosu Pit in Tokyo, Japan (15 & 17 March).

The 49-year-old American played a pop-up tour of intimate venues last year, performing last-minute shows “mostly at small clubs and backyard fetes”.

“The goal of Next Beat is to encourage socialisation, reflection and cultural sharing among the girls and boys of the city”

On a similar theme, Italy’s Fondazione Musica per Roma (Music Foundation for Rome) and Roma Capitale have launched the Next Beat initiative, offering more than 1,000 tickets for concerts at Auditorium Parco della Musica Ennio Morricone concert hall at a discounted price of €5 for young people under 35 living in Rome.

“The goal of Next Beat is to encourage socialisation, reflection and cultural sharing among the girls and boys of the city, through the experience of live music and the discovery of great artists,” reads a statement.

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.

Guns N’ Roses lead a fresh wave of 2025 announcements with a huge stadium tour of Europe and the Middle East.

Produced by Live Nation, the 24-date tour will see the rock icons play their first-ever shows in Saudi Arabia, Georgia, Lithuania and Luxembourg, with support from Public Enemy, Rival Sons and Sex Pistols featuring Frank Carter at select dates.

The US rock legends will also return to familiar stages in Bulgaria, Serbia, Turkey, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Czech Republic, Germany, UK, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Poland, Hungary and Austria.

The outing also includes festival appearances at Firenze Rocks (IT), Rock For People (CZ), Wacken Open Air (DE) and Luxembourg Open Air (LU).

System Of A Down has also announced three massive stadium events featuring Deftones, Avenged Sevenfold and Korn.

Produced by Live Nation, the performances will take place at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ, on 28 August with Korn; Soldier Field in Chicago, IL, on 31 August with Avenged Sevenfold; and conclude at Rogers Stadium in Toronto, ON, on 3 September with Deftones. Special guests Polyphia and Wisp will open for all three shows.

Nelly is also set to hit the road in 2025, celebrating the 25th anniversary of his debut studio album

Elsewhere, Irish family band The Corrs have unveiled more tour dates for the UK and Europe in 2025, following a string of concerts in November.

The Talk on Corners 2025 outing will include shows in Ireland at Virgin Media Park, Cork (6 June) and St Anne’s Park, Dublin (8 June) – both with special guest Imelda May and additional support from Natalie Imbruglia.

In the UK, they will play Scarborough Open Air Theatre (11 June), Live at Piece Hall in Halifax (12) and at Plymouth Summer Sessions (14), with support from Natalie Imbruglia.

The summer will see three dates in Germany at Zitadelle in Berlin (24 June), Stadtpark in Hamburg (25) and Tollwood in Munich (26), followed by Spanish dates at ALMA Festival in Barcelona (29) and Madrid (30).

The band previously announced a performance at Isle of Wight Festival on 20 June, headlined by Sting.

Nelly is also set to hit the road in 2025 with his Where The Party At Tour, celebrating the 25th anniversary of his debut studio album, Country Grammar.

Jack White has also announced a UK and European leg for his intimate ‘No Name’ tour

The 54-date tour across New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Europe, and the United States, will be supported by Nelly’s collaborators and friends such as Ja Rule, Eve, St. Lunatics, Fabolous, Jermaine Dupri, and Chingy.

The Live Nation-produced run, which kicks off in New Zealand on March 21 2025, will mark the rapper’s most extensive tour to date and will include stops at major venues like Amsterdam’s Ziggo Dome, Paris’ Accor Dome, London’s O2 Arena and Los Angeles’ Intuit Dome.

Jack White has also announced a UK and European leg for his intimate ‘No Name’ tour, which will also visit North America, Australia, New Zealand and Japan.

The newly-announced European leg will kick off with three shows in Paris in February 2025, before heading to Utrecht, London and Birmingham. The former White Stripes frontman will then wrap up the tour in Glasgow on 3 March.

The ‘No Name’ tour is already underway, with White currently on the Australian leg, which will be followed by a short North American and Japan run, and then a lengthier US stint.

Italian singer and songwriter Damiano David has announced a 2025 global tour with dates across Europe, Australia, North America, South America and Asia next year.

Produced by Live Nation, the outing will encompass 31 dates in theatres across the five continents.

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.

Australian concert series Always Live is returning for a third edition, with more than 280 artists set to perform across Victoria later this year.

The series was launched in 2022 by the late Frontier Touring/Mushroom Group founder Michael Gudinski in a bid to revitalise the state’s live music scene.

This year’s 17-day extravaganza will feature concerts from acts such as Jack White, St Vincent and The Offspring between 22 November and 8 December.

International artists, however, only make up a portion of the bill, with 208 of the 289 acts hailing from Victoria.

Artists will deliver 65 free and low-cost concerts across cities such as Melbourne, Gippsland, Ballarat, Geelong and Bendigo. Notably, more than 35% of the 65 events will take place in regional Victoria.

“This year’s Always Live program not only reinforces our status as the music capital of Australia but brings an extraordinary array of unique and exclusive experiences to audiences across the State,” says Matt Gudinski, chair of Always Live and son of Michael.

“Always Live continues to be an Australian beacon for live music events”

“I am incredibly proud to be part of delivering this year’s program and continuing to build the legacy of Always Live. It’s a privilege to contribute to Victoria’s rich music history and to support our live music sector.”

Psyche Payne, CEO of Always Live, added, “Always Live continues to be an Australian beacon for live music events, with the very best local, national, and international artists coming together across an epic 17-day celebration of our world-leading live music scene.

“I’m thrilled to share part of our 2024 lineup today, which reflects our ongoing and deep commitment to showcasing and supporting our vibrant local venues and the entire live music ecosystem of this state.”

Emily Ulman, executive programme director of Always Live, concluded, “Our ALWAYS LIVE 2024 program is set to showcase the incredible vibrancy and diversity of Victorian music, celebrating our unparalleled home-grown talent alongside the best international acts.

“From intimate gigs in country pubs to major concerts in iconic venues, each event will create unforgettable memories and truly memorable music moments.”

Always Live has previously hosted concerts with Christina Aguilera, Foo Fighters and Jessie Ware.

Organisers claimed the inaugural Always Live programme delivered more than A$80 million (€48m) to the Victorian economy.

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.

Jack White has shared details of a new tour comprising pop-up shows “mostly at small clubs and backyard fetes.”

“Shows will be announced as close to the show date as possible, some shows we won’t even decide to do until that morning,” the soloist and former frontman of The White Stripes announced yesterday (13 August) on social media.

White also revealed that the outing – in support of his surprise sixth studio album No Name – had already kicked off.

Late last month, he played a run of dates at the American Legion Post 82 bar in Nashville, before taking to the stage at The Earl in Atlanta, and 40 Watt Bar in Athens.

“We don’t know what to tell you but the tour already started at the Legion a couple of weeks ago”

Last night (13 August), White played another intimate gig at The Basement East in Nashville, Tennessee.

“Lotta folk asking about when we are going to announce ‘tour dates’, well, we don’t know what to tell you but the tour already started at the Legion a couple of weeks ago,” he wrote on social media.

“People keep saying that these are ‘Pop up shows’ we’ve been playing, well, you can call them whatever you want, but we are on tour right now.

“These are the ‘shows’. We won’t really be announcing dates in advance so much, we will mostly be playing at small clubs, back yard fetes, and a few festivals here and there to help pay for expenses.”

The American musician has also made a number of European festival appearances at Pentaport Rock Fest (South Korea), Way Out West (Sweden), Øya Festival (Norway) and Syd for Solen (Denmark).

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.

Norway’s Øya Festival has confirmed that Jack White will replace Queens of the Stone Age as headliner of its 25th anniversary edition.

QOTSA have cancelled a further slate of European festival dates due to frontman Josh Homme requiring “continued medical care” at home in the US.

As well as Øya (9 August), the band have pulled out of slots at Sweden’s Way Out West (8 August), Denmark’s Syd for Solen (10 August), Caberet Vert in France (15 August), Lowlands in the Netherlands (16 August), Belgium’s Pukkelpop (18 August) and Portugal’s Villar de Mouros.

“Due to continued medical care, it is under doctors’ orders that Josh Homme remain in their care in the United States,” says a statement posted on social media. “The Homme family and QOTSA are so grateful for the outpouring of well wishes and kind understanding during this time.”

The rock group previously cancelled a run of July festival dates earlier this month after announcing Homme needed to “return to the United States immediately for emergency surgery”.

Air will replace The Smile, who cancelled their August European tour after multi-instrumentalist Jonny Greenwood was hospitalised

Jack White will headline the Friday night of Oslo-based Øya, which has also revealed that Air will replace The Smile on the bill on the same day. The French electronic music duo will play their debut album Moon Safari in full.

The Smile were also recently forced to cancel their August European tour dates after multi-instrumentalist Jonny Greenwood was hospitalised with an infection.

Set for 6-10 August, Øya will also be headlined by PJ Harvey and Pulp, Janelle Monáe and Gabrielle. Other names performing include The Kills, Vince Staples, The National, Slowdive, Big Thief, Arca, Sampha and Idles.

Organisers say this year’s festival is close to selling out, with fewer than 1,000 day tickets remaining for Friday and 400 for Saturday, while week passes are already sold out.

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.

Verti Music Hall hosted its first show on Friday (12 October), with a capacity crowd packing out AEG’s new Berlin venue to mark Jack White’s return to Germany.

The 4,350-capacity Music Hall is located at Mercedes Platz, a new mixed-use entertainment district neighbouring the Mercedes-Benz Arena (17,000-cap.) in Berlin. Insurance company Verti secured a naming-rights deal for the venue last December, leading to the rebranding the former Berlin Music Hall.

According to operator AEG, Verti Music Hall “offer[s] the atmosphere of an intimate venue, paired with the capabilities of a multi-functional arena”.

“We have spent a lot of time and resource during the planning and construction phase to ensure perfect sightlines and optimal sound, as well as the greatest possible flexibility for capacity, seating and different types of events,” says Michael Hapka, vice-president and managing director of AEG Operations GmbH.

“Verti Music Hall will enrich the Berlin venue landscape”

“The interior of the Music Hall is intimate and high-end in appearance, while the outer concourses have a more urban, industrial style. Verti Music Hall will enrich the Berlin venue landscape for concertgoers, as well as for promoters and performing artists.”

Pictured at the launch are, from left to right, Steve Schwenkglenks (GM, Barclaycard Arena Hamburg), John Langford (VP and GM, the O2, London), Marie Lindqvist (VP and GM, Stockholm Live), Christian D’Acuna (head of programming, the O2, London), Emma Bownes (programme director, the O2, London), Darren Murphy (GM, Eventim Apollo, London), Sarah Myring (front-of-house manager, Eventim Apollo, London), John Drury (VP and GM, SSE Arena Wembley), Kara James (WME), and Paul Cheetham (director of booking, Verti Music Hall).

The Mercedes Platz development mirrors similar AEG-led ‘entertainment districts’, which combine an indoor arena with other shopping and entertainment amenities, such as Brisbane Live in Australia,  The O2 in London, LA Live in Los Angeles, Nashville Yards in Tennessee and, most recently, Bangkok Arena and EM Live in Thailand.

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.

Jack White’s third solo album, Boarding House Reach, has become the singer’s third US number one as a solo artist, driven by strong sales – and the chance to see his upcoming North American tour.

Bucking the growing trend for singles and album charts to be shaped by streaming numbers, Boarding House Reach sold a massive 121,000 copies (added to 4.2m streams) in the US, where the album was bundled with concert tickets.

As noted by ABC Radio, “[s]ales for Boarding House Reach are in part driven by the concert ticket and album bundle for White’s upcoming tour, kicking off 19 April in Detroit. Redeeming the album included in your ticket purchase counts as one sale.”

White’s success with bundling follows similar successful album campaigns by artists including Metallica – whose 2016 LP Hardwired… to Self Destruct, shot up from no42 to no2 in the space of a week, coinciding with a on-sale for dates in North America – and Bon Jovi, whose 2016 album This House is Not for Sale, again bundled with tickets, opened at no1 and then fell to no43 in its second week.

“This is the way that people are getting albums in their hands”

Not everyone is a fan of the practice: while record labels make money for every bundle sold – whether or not buyers redeem the code for the album – promoter Seth Hurwitz believes bundling is a “flat-out scam”.

Hurwitz told Billboard last October that bundling forces people to buy music so acts “can jack up first-week album sales,” but in doing so “people are putting tours on sale way before they ought to.”

David Bakula, a senior analyst at Nielsen, disagrees, saying even if the buyer decides not to redeem the album, the ticket will still cost the same amount.

“This is the way that people are getting albums in their hands,” says Bakula. “If I’m going to a Bon Jovi show, I may or may not go out and buy a copy. But if you offer one to me wrapped in the price of my ticket, then yes – absolutely, I want it.”

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.

The Live Nation Concert Series, Live Nation’s Twitter-based livestreaming platform, will globally stream the release show for Jack White’s third studio album, Boarding House Reach, this Friday.

Presented by Governors Ball festival, acquired by Live Nation in 2016 and which the former White Stripes frontman is headlining on 1 June, the show will take place at Warsaw (1,000-cap.) in Brooklyn, New York, this Friday. The stream will start at 10pm ET (2am on Saturday in GMT) and be broadcast exclusively at live.twitter.com/jackwhite.

According to Live Nation, all fans with tickets will be “required to keep their phones locked up” for the duration of the live stream.

“For everyone else joining via the live stream, their virtual front row ticket will unlock access to watch the magic of White’s new music and classic hits unfold straight from their mobile devices and desktops,” says the promoter.

“Virtual front row tickets will unlock access to watch the White’s new music and classic hits unfold straight from their mobile devices and desktops”

“There is nothing more spectacular than experiencing live music in person. That said, live streaming of concerts has become wildly popular the last few years as fans share and discover live music on their devices. Live streams also provide artists with another avenue to create deeper connections with their fans around the world.”

Twelve-time Grammy winner White will next month hit the road for his first world tour since 2014. The tour, in support of Boarding House Reach, will include a run of North American headline shows and festival dates, along with stops in London, Paris and Amsterdam.

The Live Nation Concert series on Twitter has previously livestreamed shows by Imagine Dragons, St Vincent, Steve Aoki, Zac Brown Band, Zedd, Train, Khalid and G-Eazy.

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.