Machine Gun Kelly to play one-off show at RAH
Genre-bending rapper Machine Gun Kelly has announced a special one-off show at London’s historic Royal Albert Hall on 31 May 2023.
MGK will follow in the footsteps of counterculture icons such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd supporting Jimi Hendrix, Black Sabbath, and Led Zeppelin in performing at the 152-year-old venue.
“The Hall has been a home for trailblazers, innovators and cultural icons since we opened in 1871,” says Matthew Todd, director of programming at the Royal Albert Hall. “We couldn’t be more excited to welcome MGK later this year, one of the leading artists of his generation and someone that has evolved constantly as the best artists do.”
“The Hall has been a home for trailblazers, innovators and cultural icons since we opened in 1871”
MGK performs at the Hall off the back of a major arena tour across North America and Europe and a number 1 album – Mainstream Sellout.
The Cleveland native sold more than 425,000 tickets to the North American leg of his Mainstream Sellout Tour.
His career kicked off with debut studio album, Lace Up, in 2012, followed by further hip-hop releases with General Admissions (2015) and Bloom (2017). His next album, Tickets to My Downfall, marked a revolutionary left turn to rock/pop punk, going on to become his first album to top the Billboard 200 chart. He then followed up with 2022’s Mainstream Sellout, a collaboration with Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker.
For his contributions to music, MGK was named as one of 2022’s Time 100 Next, a list honouring the emerging leaders from around the world who are shaping the future and defining the next generation of innovators. He has amassed over 15.5 billion streams online and sold over 10 million albums.
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Barracuda unveils Vienna’s first major hip-hop festival
Austria’s capital city is set to gain its first major hip-hop festival, courtesy of promoters Barracuda Music and Beat the Fish.
Not Afraid Festival will take place on 27 June 2023 at The Donauinsel, an artificial island parallel to the Danube river and in central Vienna.
US superstar Machine Gun Kelly will headline the open-air festival, performing alongside Viennese rap icon Yung Hurn, German rap legend Sido and Berlin’s Kontra K.
Makko and Eli Preiss, two burgeoning talents on the German-speaking music scene, also appear on the bill. Early bird tickets for Not Afraid start from €79.99 (£68.82).
“Vienna finally has its first big, star-studded hip-hop festival”
“Vienna finally has its first big, star-studded hip-hop festival,” says Barracuda Music CEO Ewald Tartar. “No Afraid ’23 sees itself as a modern, musical exclamation mark as well as a message and statement! Thanks to everyone who helped make this day and the festival possible!”
Vienna-based Barracuda Music has a festival portfolio which includes Nova Rock, FM4 Frequency Festival, Butterfly Dance, Clam Rock and Lovely Days.
The CTS Eventim-backed company will promote concerts with P!nk, Michael Buble, Lionel Richie, Sam Smith, Lewis Capaldi and Simply Red in Austria, next year.
Beat the Fish, meanwhile, specialises in bringing hip-hop acts to Austria, and has been enlisted by Barracuda to curate a part of the bill for FM4 Frequency Festival next year.
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Machine Gun Kelly’s US tour wraps at 425k tickets
The North American leg of Machine Gun Kelly’s Mainstream Sellout Tour has wrapped up with more than 425,000 tickets sold.
The 41-show run reached its climax this past weekend with a sold-out hometown concert at the FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio.
It capped a weekend of festivities that turned the entire city pink to celebrate the 32-year-old star.
For only the second time, Cleveland’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame had hosted an official tailgate event. The Machine Gun Kelly Pre-Show Tailgate Party featuring Tri-C High School Rock Off winning artist Detention, with additional local performers including DJ Ace, Montage, Seeing Scarlet, Little G Fresh and the Cleveland Youth Orchestra, who also joined Kelly onstage at his concert later that evening.
Produced by Live Nation, the 15-stop European leg kicks off on 17 September at the Lanxess Arena in Cologne
Inside the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame building was a display with MGK’s signed signature pink guitar and a piece from his tour wardrobe. Earlier in the day at The 27 Club, the Mayor of Cleveland hosted a special press conference officially declaring 13 August “Machine Gun Kelly Day”.
The North American leg included several sold-out shows, including Madison Square Garden in New York, TD Garden in Boston, and Honda Center in Anaheim. Special guests included Avril Lavigne, Travis Barker, Blackbear, Trippie Redd, Willow, Iann Dior, Pvris and 44phantom.
Throughout the run, Kelly partnered with 12 charity organisations, providing them with tickets for their students and musicians.
Produced by Live Nation, the 15-stop European leg kicks off on 17 September at the Lanxess Arena in Cologne, making stops in Prague, Brussels, Frankfurt, Munich, Milan, Zurich, Paris, London, Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow and Dublin, before concluding at AFAS Live in Amsterdam on 12 October.
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Machine Gun Kelly reveals massive global arena tour
Multiplatinum-selling artist Machine Gun Kelly is to visit 52 arenas across Europe and North America on his Mainstream Sellout Tour.
Produced by Live Nation, the American rapper’s first-ever arena tour kicks off this June at the Moody Center (cap. 15,000) in Austin.
Venues on the run include Madison Square Garden (21,000) in New York, the Climate Pledge Arena (18,000) in Seattle and The Forum (17,000) in Los Angeles.
The North American leg will wrap up on 13 August with a special hometown performance at the 67,000-capacity FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio.
The North American leg will wrap up with a special hometown performance at the 67,000-capacity FirstEnergy Stadium
The 15-stop European leg will commence a month later at the Lanxess Arena (18,000) in Cologne, making stops in Prague, Paris, London and more before wrapping up in Amsterdam at AFAS Live (6,000) on 12 October.
OVO Arena Wembley (12,500) in London, Olympiahalle (15,500) in Munich and Hallenstadion (15,000) in Zurich are among the venues billed for the European leg.
Special guests on the tour include Avril Lavigne, Travis Barker, blackbear, Trippie Redd, WILLOW, iann dior, PVRIS and 44phantom on select dates.
Machine Gun Kelly is represented worldwide by UTA’s Matt Meyer. See all dates for Kelly’s Mainstream Sellout Tour below.
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Motley Crue plot explosive touring return
Six years after signing a ‘cessation of touring’ agreement bringing down the curtain on their live career, infamous LA hair metallers Mötley Crüe are to reform, following the success of their Netflix biopic, The Dirt.
As detailed in the video above, awkwardly titled (to British ears) ‘Mötley Crüe is Back’, the notoriously tempestuous band destroyed the contract, signed after their ‘final’ show on 31 December 2015, “in true Mötley Crüe fashion, by literally blowing it up”.
“Since playing Tommy Lee in The Dirt, so many of my fans have said how they wish they could’ve seen the real Mötley Crüe play live,” comments Colson Baker, aka Machine Gun Kelly. “I never thought I would see the day when this would become a reality. But the fans spoke and Mötley Crüe listened.”
In the six months following the release of The Dirt, Mötley Crüe have celebrated a 350% increase in streams of their music across all streaming platforms, with most fans now aged 18–44.
However, say the band, “most of the new fans have never seen any of the legendary live shows that Crüeheads have relished for close to four decades.” Expect a new tour announcement soon.
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