Vince Neil concert curtailed after shooting
A festival set by Mötley Crüe frontman Vince Neil had to be cut short following reports of a nearby shooting.
Neil was starring at the Oklahoma State Fair in Oklahoma City, US on Saturday (23 September), when the incident took place.
The 62-year-old singer was ordered off the stage just before 9pm after performing around three-quarters of his planned set on the event’s Chickasaw Country Entertainment Stage.
ABC reports that shots were fired during an argument between two groups of people at the Oklahoma State Fair Bennett Event Center, which police say sent crowds running for their safety.
“Crazy night last night 3/4 of the way thru the set people started running,” Neil tells his followers on X (formerly Twitter). “We were told to get in dressing room. There were shooters shooting people. Thank you fans for your understanding.”
“This was an isolated incident, one person was shot and two people taken into custody”
In a statement, local police confirm two people were taken into custody following the shooting. One has since been released.
“This was an isolated incident, one person was shot and two people taken into custody,” says a statement. “A handgun was recovered, and the victim transported to a local hospital. The investigation is ongoing.”
Guns are banned at the fairground, and police say there are security and detectors at the entrances. One person has been arrested on a charge of assault with a deadly weapon, while the victim remains in hospital in a critical condition.
The disturbance came just over two weeks after one person was wounded in a shooting at a concert in Memphis, Tennessee, headlined by Lil Baby. The rapper was reportedly rushed off the stage after shots were fired at the concert, held at the 19,000-cap FedExForum on 7 September.
A male victim was taken to hospital following the shooting, which police believe was premeditated. AP notes that is not yet known how the shooter managed to bring a gun into the arena, which contracts with a private security company to screen people for weapons.
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Biggest crowds yet for Lytham Festival
Lancashire’s Lytham Festival attracted its biggest attendance yet, as a capacity crowd of 22,500 witnessed rock legends Def Leppard and Mötley Crüe bring the curtain down on its 2023 edition.
Promoted by North West-based Cuffe & Taylor, the long-running festival welcomed 100,000 people to Lytham Green over five days for headline sets by Jamiroquai, George Ezra, Sting and Lionel Richie.
Special guests and support acts through the week included Blondie, Kaiser Chiefs, Gabrielle, Scissor Sisters’ frontman Jake Shears, Fun Lovin’ Criminals, Cat Burns and Kim Wilde.
“What an incredible five days we have had,” says festival co-founder Peter Taylor. “Twenty artists have graced our stage and we are thrilled with the success of this year’s festival, it has been phenomenal.”
The event, which has welcomed the likes of Kylie Minogue, Rod Stewart, Stereophonics, Diana Ross, The Strokes, Lewis Capaldi, Snow Patrol, Nile Rodgers & Chic, Paul Weller and Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, previously hosted up to 20,000 fans a night.
“We increased our capacity to 22,500 for both Sting and Def Leppard and Mötley Crüe, making both nights our biggest ever”
“We increased our capacity to 22,500 for both Sting and Def Leppard and Mötley Crüe, making both nights our biggest ever and we are delighted with how successful they were,” adds Taylor. “The positive feedback from both customers and artists has been humbling and when you are welcoming global icons to your hometown that is very special indeed.
“We have some very special names already lined up for next year so our five-day passes are great value for those people wanting to secure their place, regardless of who’s on the line up. The five-day passes have gone on sale and we can’t wait to do it all over again.”
Lytham Festival will return from 3-7 July 2024, with the line-up due to be announced later this year.
Live Nation’s Cuffe & Taylor also programme all live music events at the 8,000-cap Scarborough Open Air Theatre and the 5,500-cap Piece Hall in Halifax, both in Yorkshire, UK.
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Lynyrd Skynyrd, ZZ Top plot latest co-headline tour
Lynyrd Skynyrd and ZZ Top have become the latest acts to announce a co-headline tour, following in the footsteps of Death Cab for Cutie and Postal Service, The Charlatans and Ride, Motley Crue and Def Leppard, and Suede and the Manic Street Preachers.
The bands’ Sharp Dressed Simple Man tour, produced by Live Nation, will hit 22 cities in North America next summer.
The tour kicks off on 21 July at iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre in West Palm Beach, Florida, and continues with stops in Fort Worth, Phoenix, Chicago, and more before wrapping up in Camden, New Jersey at Freedom Mortgage Pavilion on 17 September.
The bands’ Sharp Dressed Simple Man tour, produced by Live Nation, will hit 22 cities in North America next summer
ZZ Top are represented by CAA worldwide (excluding Europe) while Lynyrd Skynyrd are repped by WME’s Greg Oswald in North America.
The newly announced tour buoys a growing trend of joint headline tours, especially among acts that share representation.
Death Cab for Cutie and Postal Service share band member Ben Gibbard, as well as their agent for North America – Wasserman Music’s Trey Many.
The Charlatans and Ride also share their agent for North America, Wasserman’s Brad Owens, while Motley Crue and Def Leppard are both represented by Artist Group International for North America.
The latter bands’ co-headline run was 2022’s biggest North American stadium tour, with 1.3 million tickets sold.
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Def Leppard & Motley Crue extend blockbuster tour
Def Leppard and Mötley Crüe’s co-headline tour was the biggest North American stadium run of 2022 – and now they’ve announced a sequel for 2023.
Originally planned for 2020 before being delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, The Stadium Tour run, promoted by Live Nation, sold more than 1.3 million tickets this year for a gross of US$173.5 million (€165m).
And having already unveiled a number of European and Latin American dates for next year, the rock legends have now announced a further string of US dates with special guest Alice Cooper, kicking off on 5 August at the JMA Wireless Dome in Syracuse, New York.
The bands hit Latin America in February, followed by a string of European concerts and festival slots from May to July. The trek is currently due to climax at the Sun Bowl Stadium in El Paso, Texas on 18 August.
“After finally getting back on the road this past summer, we’re beyond thrilled to bring this massive tour to a global audience”
“After finally getting back on the road this past summer, we’re beyond thrilled to bring this massive tour to a global audience including some special dates in America!” says Def Leppard singer Joe Elliott.
Def Leppard celebrated their 45th anniversary this year, while Mötley Crüe – who reached a new generation of fans with their 2019 Netflix biopic The Dirt – toasted their 40th anniversary last year.
“We had an incredible time playing The Stadium Tour in North America this summer and we truly can’t wait to take the show around the globe with The World Tour in 2023,” add Mötley Crüe in a joint statement.
The full list of confirmed shows is as follows:
10-11 February: Atlantic City, NJ Hard Rock Live at Etess Arena
18 February: Mexico City, Mexico Foro Sol
21 February: Monterrey, Mexico Estadio Banorte
25 February: Bogota, Colombia Parque Simon Bolivar
28 February: Lima, Peru Estadio Nacional
3 March: Santiago, Chile Estadio Bicentenario de La Florida
7 March: Sao Paulo, Brazil Allianz Parque
22 May: Sheffield, UK Bramall Lane
25 May: Mönchengladbach, Germany SparkassenPark
27 May: Munich, Germany Koenigsplatz
29 May: Budapest, Hungary MVM Dome
31 May: Krakow, Poland Tauron Arena Kraków
2 June: Prague, Czech Republic Prague Rocks
3 June: Hannover, Germany Expo Plaza
7 June: Solvesborg, Sweden Sweden Rock Festival
9 June: Hyvinkää, Finland RockFest
11 June: Trondheim, Norway Trondheim Rocks
14 June: Copenhagen, Denmark Copenhell
18 June: Dessel, Belgium Graspop Metal Meeting
20 June: Milan, Italy Ippodromo SNAI San Siro
23 June: Lisbon, Portugal Passeio Maritimo de Alges
24 June: Rivas-Vaciamadrid, Spain Auditorio Miguel Ríos
27 June: Thun, Switzerland Stockhorn Arena
1 July: London, UK Wembley Stadium
2 July: Lytham, UK Lytham Festival
4 July: Dublin, Ireland Marlay Park
6 July: Glasgow, UK Hampden Park
5 August: Syracuse, NY JMA Wireless Dome
8 August: Columbus, OH Ohio Stadium
11 August: Fargo, ND Fargodome
13 August: Omaha, NE Charles Schwab Field Omaha
16 August: Tulsa, OK H.A. Chapman Stadium
18 August: El Paso, TX Sun Bowl Stadium
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Def Leppard & Motley Crue tour tops 1m sales
Def Leppard & Mötley Crüe’s rescheduled co-headlining tour of the US and Canada is being extended after notching up more than one million ticket sales.
The bands will be joined by fellow rock legends Poison and Joan Jett and the Blackhearts for The Stadium Tour, North America’s biggest stadium run of 2022.
Originally planned for 2020 before being delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Live Nation-promoted 35-plus show tour kicks off at Truist Park in Atlanta, Georgia on 16 June and wraps up with a newly announced stop at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada on 9 September.
Due to demand, new dates have also been added at Toronto’s Rogers Centre (8 August), Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis (16 August), BC Place, Vancouver (2 September) and Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton (4 September).
“It’s been a while coming and we can’t wait to get back on stage again”
Mötley Crüe reached a new generation of fans with their 2019 Netflix biopic The Dirt and celebrated their 40th anniversary last year.
“It’s on! We don’t think we’ve ever looked forward more to kicking off a tour than this one,” says Mötley Crüe in a joint statement.. We can’t wait to finally see all the fans across North America again. Get ready for a wild ride this summer!”
Def Leppard, who have sold 110 million records over the course of their career, headlined the UK’s Download Festival in 2019 and celebrate their own landmark 45th anniversary this year.
“On behalf of the band, we’re beyond thrilled that the stadium tour is finally happening this summer. It’s been a while coming and we can’t wait to get back on stage again,” says lead vocalist Joe Elliott.
Emerging rock band Classless Act, signed to Better Noise Music, is set to open the tour.
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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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Allen Kovac celebrated at AIM Independent Music awards
Rock impresario Allen Kovac was presented with the prestigious innovator award at the AIM Awards at the Roundhouse in Camden, London, tonight (3 September).
Kovac, the founder and CEO of Eleven Seven Music Group (Mötley Crüe, Papa Roach, Five Finger Death Punch), has also worked with artists including Duran Duran, Meat Loaf, the Bee Gees, En Vogue, Luther Vandross, Nelly Furtado, the Cranberries and Blondie over five decades in the business.
He was presented with the award by Helen Smith, executive chair of the Independent Music Companies Association (Impala), while Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson sent a personal message.
“I’ve known Allen since the early 90s,” said Branson. “Allen was managing Meat Loaf, whom Virgin Records had signed and Allen was pushing myself and the Virgin team to allow Meat Loaf to upload one of the first songs to the fledgling internet. As innovators, we would do anything for music, and of course, we did just that.
“From humble beginnings as a promoter, Allen went on to be a manager of the Bee Gees, Blondie, Mötley Crüe, Duran Duran and the Cranberries, and then started Eleven Seven Music which is now, 12 years later, one of the top rock labels in the world.”
“This could not be more well deserved”
Kovac (pictured) “has been an entrepreneur, pioneer and innovator in music all his life”, says AIM, working first as a promoter, then a manager and finally establishing a record label, publishing company, management company and strategic music marketing/research company.
Hs other achievements include pushing for Meat Loaf’s ‘I’d Do Anything For Love’ to be one of the first songs on the internet; hosting, with Duran Duran, what is believed to be the first music press conference online; supporting Spotify and music streaming in its early days, and encouraging the business away from one-time album sales; and producing The Dirt, the Netflix movie based on the Mötley Crüe book.
“Allen has innovated and tested the limits of marketing, social media, ticketing, streaming and sales reporting, which must make him feel as old as I am,” continued Branson. “He has worked towards benefitting the independent community and levelling the playing field between independents and the majors, as well as encouraging the fair valuation of music by tech giants. Whether it was Steve Jobs with the iPod and iTunes, Daniel Ek with Spotify or Amazon with smart speakers and in-car technology with Alexa, Allen has been ahead of the curve, collaborating, consulting and promoting new tech to the industry…”
“His next major project, with Nikki Sixx, is the Heroin Diaries musical,” Branson’s message concluded. “I hope that the Heroin Diaries will destigmatise addiction and do for the opioid crisis what Rent did for HIV and aids. I would like you all to join with me in congratulating Allen Kovac for his AIM innovator award. This could not be more well deserved.”
Kovac joins previous innovator award winners including artist Sophie and grime label/collective Boy Better Know. The AIM Independent Music Awards were established by the Association of Independent Music (AIM), a trade body for independent record labels, in 2011.
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