Usher delivers ‘daring’ Super Bowl halftime show
Usher was joined by an all-star cast of artists for his ‘daring’ halftime show at the Super Bowl in Las Vegas, last night.
The R&B star delivered a revered 12-minute medley at the Allegiant Stadium before the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers in an overtime thriller.
The title clash – predicted to be the most-watched NFL game of all time – was watched by an in-person crowd of 65,000 and shown in 190 countries.
The coveted halftime slot saw Usher perform alongside a raft of artists including H.E.R., Alicia Keys, Lil Jon, Ludacris, the Black Eyed Peas’ Will.I.am and Jermaine Dupri.
The singer’s 14-song set included hits such as Yeah!, Confessions Part II, Love in this Club, My Boo, Caught Up and Burn.
Prior to the Super Bowl halftime performance, Usher said he would honour Black musical legacy at the event. “I think about what our country has represented for Black artists, having to, at some point, go through kitchens to even be able to perform for an audience,” he told Good Morning America.
“I was not exaggerating when I [said] that my performance would be a celebration of the past 30 years of my career”
“They had to leave back through that same door, you know, fearing for their lives as they went to the next state to do the same thing. So I’m coming through the front door with this one. I think about all the R&B performers who are carrying this moment.”
Earlier in the night, Post Malone kicked off the festivities, delivering a special acoustic performance before the game began.
“I was not exaggerating when I shared with the world that my performance would be a celebration of the past 30 years of my career,” said Usher after the event. “I will never forget the energy from the cast & crew, the fans in the stadium, the guest performers and the adrenaline from this monumental milestone in my career. I’m so happy everyone enjoyed it, my goal always is to bring people together and feel good through my music and performance.”
The 45-year-old today extended his upcoming North America tour, USHER: Past Present Future, to 51 dates.
Last week, the eight-time Grammy Award-winner hit his highest-ever gross from touring with his Las Vegas residencies.
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Usher hits $100m mark with Vegas residencies
Usher has reportedly earned more than $100 million from his prolonged stint in Las Vegas, marking his highest-ever gross from touring.
In July 2021, he launched Usher: The Las Vegas Residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace and a year later, he moved down the strip to MGM’s Dolby Live for My Way: The Vegas Residency.
The Caesars residency comprised 14 shows in July and August 2021, and another six at the beginning of 2022. Those 20 dates earned $18.8m and sold 84,000 tickets.
The MGM run was more extensive, with 80 shows between July 2022 and December 2023, during which he grossed $95.9m and sold 394,000 tickets.
Usher’s Vegas shows grossed $114.6m and sold 479,000 tickets across 100 dates
Altogether, Usher’s Vegas shows grossed $114.6m and sold 479,000 tickets across 100 dates. Both residencies have averaged a $239 ticket.
On a per-show scale, My Way: The Vegas Residency averaged $1.198m each night, according to Billboard.
The news comes a day before Usher is due to release Coming Home, his first studio LP in eight years. This weekend, the 45-year-old will perform at the Super Bowl.
The eight-time Grammy Award winner has also lined up a US arena tour for later this year called Usher: Past Present Future.
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Saweetie set for virtual Super Bowl gig on Roblox
Hip-hop artist Saweetie is to star in a free virtual concert as part of the NFL’s Super Bowl LVII event lineup.
The Saweetie Super Bowl Concert Presented by Intuit on Roblox will take place in Warner Music Group’s Rhythm City, a music-themed social roleplay experience on the online game platform.
The American rapper will perform a family-friendly, fully motion-captured concert to celebrate the 2023 Super Bowl and promote a message of female empowerment. The show, which premieres on Friday 10 February at 7pm ET and will re-air every hour on the hour until 12 February, will also be paired with a collection of digital items that will be sold on the Roblox marketplace.
“I’m really excited to bring this iconic moment to the metaverse and share my music with a whole new audience in such a unique way,” says Saweetie. “As an artist, innovator, and football fan, to be able to perform during Super Bowl LVII weekend in this new world – Rhythm City on Roblox – is something I never imagined that I would be involved in. I am very grateful and happy about this opportunity.”
“The Saweetie Super Bowl Concert Presented by Intuit will be an anchor entertainment event bringing fans together in the metaverse”
The Philadelphia Eagles will face off against the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII in State Farm Stadium, Glendale, Arizona on Sunday 12 February. Rihanna is scheduled to headline the coveted Halftime Show.
“The Saweetie Super Bowl Concert Presented by Intuit will be an anchor entertainment event bringing fans together in the metaverse and further cementing the tradition of content innovation at the Super Bowl,” says Ed Kiang, VP of video gaming at the NFL. “Working with Roblox has enabled us to create interactive shared experiences.”
The Saweetie Super Bowl Concert and Rhythm City are experiences developed in partnership with gaming and content company Gamefam.
“Bringing a cultural moment like the Super Bowl to the metaverse with such innovative partners marks a shift in how brands are coming together to create the next generation of metaverse gaming experiences,” adds Gamefam chief business officer Ricardo Briceno.
As previously announced, Paramore, Dave Matthews Band and Imagine Dragons will top the bill at the fourth Bud Light Super Bowl Music Fest at Phoenix’s 18,000-cap Footprint Center from 9-11 February 2023.
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Bud Light Super Bowl Music Fest reveals ’23 lineup
Paramore, Dave Matthews Band and Imagine Dragons will headline the fourth Bud Light Super Bowl Music Fest.
The three-day festival, which serves as a precursor to the Super Bowl and its coveted Halftime Show, will take place at Phoenix’s 18,000-cap Footprint Center from 9-11 February 2023.
The event kicks off on Thursday 9 February with Paramore and a special guest to be announced, and is followed by Friday night with Dave Matthews Band plus a DJ set by DJ Pee .Wee (Anderson .Paak). The festival then wraps Saturday night with Imagine Dragons and Kane Brown.
“This music festival continues to be at the heart of the Super Bowl Fan Experience and will continue to offer everyone an unforgettable lifetime of memories,” says Paul Caine, president of On Location and IMG Events. “We couldn’t be more excited for those in Phoenix to experience an amazing lineup of headliners who normally wouldn’t perform together for fans.”
The Bud Light Super Bowl Music Fest has previously featured never-before-paired line-ups with artists including Bruno Mars and Cardi B, Post Malone and Aerosmith, Maroon 5 and Dan + Shay with a surprise performance from Demi Lovato, and a night with Guns N’ Roses and special guest Snoop Dogg. Last year’s festival was topped by Halsey, Miley Cyrus and Green Day.
“Beyond the Super Bowl itself, our three-day festival has become the marquee event of Super Bowl week”
“Music and football are core to Bud Light’s DNA, and we’re thrilled to bring our annual Bud Light Super Bowl Music Fest to Phoenix,” says Lane Joyce, director of experiential marketing for Bud Light. “Beyond the Super Bowl itself, our three-day festival has become the marquee event of Super Bowl week. This year, we have an all-star line-up of musicians from various genres, ensuring we have something for all fans whether they’re traveling early for the game or live right here In Arizona.”
The 2019, 2020 and 2022 festivals were held at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida and the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, respectively.
“Super Bowl Music Fest is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and Footprint Center is honoured to be this year’s host,” adds Ralph Marchetta, general manager of Footprint Center. “We look forward to welcoming fans for three nights of incredible music and showcasing downtown Phoenix as an entertainment destination.”
Rihanna will headline the 2023 Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show on Sunday February 12 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
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Bud Light Super Bowl Music Fest line-up revealed
Halsey, Miley Cyrus and Green Day are among the headliners revealed for the Bud Light Super Bowl Music Fest.
The three-night festival will run from 10-12 February 2022 at the 20,000-cap Staples Center (soon to be the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles, kicking off with performances from both Halsey and Machine Gun Kelly on night one.
Night two will feature Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani with Mickey Guyton, while the final night Super Bowl Eve concert line-up is topped by Green Day and Miley Cyrus.
Now in its third year, the event serves as a precursor to the Super Bowl and its coveted Halftime Show, which in 2022 will star Dr Dre, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, Mary J Blige and Snoop Dogg at the 100,000-cap SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California on Sunday, 13 February.
The Bruno Mars and Cardi B concert in 2019 was the highest-grossing event in State Farm Arena’s 20-year history
“Staples Center and LA Live are incredibly excited and honoured to host three amazing nights of music as part of Super Bowl Music Fest,” says Lee Zeidman, president of Staples Center, Microsoft Theater and LA Live. “We look forward to welcoming music and football fans to downtown as part of Super Bowl week in Los Angeles.”
The Bud Light Super Bowl Music Fest has previously featured unique and never-before-paired line-ups with artists including Bruno Mars and Cardi B, Post Malone and Aerosmith, Maroon 5 and Dan + Shay with a surprise performance from Demi Lovato, and a night with Guns N’ Roses and special guest Snoop Dogg.
The 2019 and 2020 festivals were held at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia and the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida, respectively. The Bruno Mars and Cardi B concert in 2019 was reportedly the highest-grossing event in State Farm Arena’s 20-year history, generating $6.473 million.
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Super Bowl party organisers slammed for unsafe gigs
Rapper 50 Cent and DJ Steve Aoki both performed at Super Bowl parties during the weekend where there were no masks or social distancing.
The ‘In Da Club’ rapper celebrated the annual championship game of the NFL (National Football League) with a performance in an airport hangar in St Petersburg, Florida, with a crowd of maskless fans who had paid between $85 and $7,000, according to TMZ.
The concert was slammed by St Petersburg mayor, Rick Kriseman, who tweeted: “This isn’t how we should be celebrating the Super Bowl. It’s not safe or smart. It’s stupid. We’re going to take a very close look at this, and it may end up costing someone a lot more than 50 cent.”
Aoki, meanwhile, played a gig at WTR Tampa Pool inside the Godfrey Waterfront Hotel, at which he shared a bottle of champagne with a few fans in the huge, maskless crowd.
The Tampa Police Department said: “Scenes from WTR last night and a few other clubs were incredibly disappointing. The city spent the better part of a year educating residents on precautions due to the pandemic and have recently put a mask order in place for both the entertainment and event zones to ensure the safety of our residents and visitors to our great city.
“We’re going to take a very close look at this, and it may end up costing someone a lot more than 50 cent”
“When the governor lifted the capacity restrictions and opened bars, we turned to the tight-knit hospitality community to reopen safe and sound but there’s a level of personal responsibility that must be followed or risk getting shut down.”
The event organiser, Michael Piper, says the concert was in a 40,000 square-foot outdoor space with sanitation stations throughout and Covid-symptom detectors at the entrance – adding, “It’s the best we can do”.
“I’m not sure what else [we could do],” said Piper. “We expanded the area. We encourage masks. We clean. We put up the machines that can help identify someone who maybe didn’t know they had it.”
Dr Anthony Fauci, the chief medical advisor to US president Joe Biden, had urged Americans to watch the Super Bowl within their immediate households due to the coronavirus pandemic, saying large events could become “mini super spreader” events.
Around 25,000 people were in attendance at the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, to see the Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Kansas City Chiefs for the Super Bowl 2021.
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Endeavor confirms On Location acquisition
Endeavor has confirmed the acquisition of a majority stake in On Location Experiences, a luxury hospitality firm formerly part of the US’s National Football League (NFL).
The deal, reportedly worth US$660 million, sees Endeavor – the parent company of global booking agency WME Entertainment, among others – acquire On Location from its current owners, RedBird Capital Partners, Bruin Sports Capital, the Carlyle Group and 32 Equity. The NFL remains a minority shareholder through 32 Equity.
News of the acquisition was first reported last September, ahead of Endeavor’s ultimately scrapped initial public offering.
“By bringing together a leader like On Location with Endeavor’s access and reach, we can advance the way consumers and brands think about money-can’t-buy experiences,” says Ariel Emanuel, CEO of Endeavor.
“Partnering with the NFL will enable us to leverage the best-in-class executions around one of the biggest events in the world, the Super Bowl, and extend this same level of service and experiences to other sports and entertainment properties globally.”
“Together […] we can advance the way consumers and brands think about money-can’t-buy experiences”
On Location organises experiences for both corporate clients and fans around major sports and entertainment events, including the Super Bowl Music Fest, which last year featured Cardi B, Bruno Mars and Aerosmith.
“We are excited to partner with Endeavor to grow On Location Experiences globally,” comments NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
“We are committed to offering NFL fans unique and first-class experiences at our events. On Location shares this commitment and delivers value for its partners and delights fans at events around the world.”
The new Endeavor-owned On Location Experiences will be led by president Paul Caine, formerly of Bloomberg, Time Inc. and Westwood One.
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StubHub debuts ‘practical use for AR’ with immersive view
StubHub has upgraded its virtual view feature, which allows potential ticket buyers to preview their seat in virtual reality (VR) before buying, with an AR component, in a development the company’s CTO, Matt Swann, calls “an important milestone for the industry”.
The latest version of the StubHub app uses augmented reality (AR) – the same technology that allowed Pokémon Go players to catch digital creatures in real locations – to create a virtual model of the US Bank Stadium (66,555-cap.) in Minneapolis ahead of next month’s Super Bowl LII.
Using the feature, dubbed ‘immersive view’, eventgoers can visualise both the stadium and the surrounding area by pointing their iPhone/iPad camera at an open surface, where a 3D rendering of the venue will appear.
“StubHub’s immersive view experience demonstrates a practical use case for AR within ticketing and live events”
“StubHub’s immersive view experience not only demonstrates a practical use case for AR within ticketing and live events, but also serves as an important milestone for the industry,” comments Swann. “When it comes to our users, we’re passionate about providing solutions in ticket buying and selling that offer a clear value.
“As the first ticketing player to implement this technology, we hope to further enhance the purchasing experience ahead of the biggest day in [American] football.”
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Nissen assets seized over $120m ticket ‘scam’
A New York judge has ordered the seizure of cash, property, shares and other assets from a ticket broker who allegedly conned investors out of US$32 million to prop up a “basic yet audacious” ticket-selling scam.
Jason Nissen and eight of his companies are accused of funnelling more than $120m through a ponzi scheme in which investors were promised “impossibly high returns” on resold tickets for events including Broadway musical Hamilton, Adele’s Adele Live 2016/2017 world tour, the Super Bowl and several other sporting events. In reality, allege prosecuting lawyers Morrison Cohen, “the ‘returns’ on the ticket sales were illusory, financed by cash infusions from new investors who were told their money would be used to purchase tickets for resale”.
The two investors who brought the lawsuit, Taly USA Holdings and SLL USA Holdings, said in the initial complaint they have been “damaged in an amount to be determined at trial, but believed to be in excess of $25m, plus interest”.
According to the complaint, Nissen confessed he had faked financial documents in order to secure investment from Taly and hide the scam from other investors. “They’re inflated numbers,” he allegedly told Taly’s Yaron Turgeman in a phone conversation. “We really had those events and really sold the tickets and they’re inflated, you know, two- to three-fold depending on how it was.”
In a court order yesterday, judge O. Peter Sherwood authorised New York sheriffs to seize five of Nissen’s bank accounts, his stocks and shares in two companies (New World Events Group and National Events of America) and two properties, both in New York, with all monies held until the conclusion of the case.
“The ‘returns’ on the ticket sales were illusory, financed by cash infusions from new investors”
In addition, Nissen is forbidden from making “any sale, assignment or transfer” or property or money “in which the defendants have an interest as will satisfy $25m” to any person other than a sheriff.
While the case continues, Sherwood says he believes the Taly and SSL “have a cause of action for a money judgment against the defendants for no less than $25m” and that “plaintiffs are likely to succeed”.
Nissen’s National Event Company (NEC) was part of the National Association of Ticket Brokers (NATB), roughly equivalent to the Association of Secondary Ticket Agents (ASTA-UK) in the UK, prompting criticism from some outlets about the association’s effectiveness in policing its members.
In a response provided to TicketNews, NATB says the criticism is unfounded, suggesting it is “outlandish […] to suggest that our trade association should have known about it and taken measures about it before law enforcement did”.
NEC’s website was still up as late as yesterday, although it now shows an “under construction” page. National Event Holdings has reportedly filed for bankruptcy.
Hamilton last summer became the most expensive ticket in Broadway history after producers raised the price in response to touts taking a reported $30,000 out of every show.
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Post-Super Bowl, Lady Gaga announces world tour
Lady Gaga’s triumphant, drone-filled, subtly Trump-bashing comeback show at yesterday’s Super Bowl LI will be followed by a 48-date world tour.
The Joanne world tour, produced by Live Nation’s Global Touring division, kicks off at the Rogers Arena (18,630-cap.) in Vancouver on the 1 August, taking in arenas and stadia in North America and Europe – and a solitary festival date at Rock in Rio in Brazil on 15 September – and wrapping up at Salt Lake City’s Vivint Smart Home Arena (19,911-cap.) on 14 December.
No Asian or Australasian dates have yet been announced. A full list is available on Gaga’s website.
Lady Gaga’s last headlining tour, 2014’s ArtRave: The Artpop Ball, was the seventh highest-grossing of the year. The Cheek to Cheek tour in 2015, co-headlined with Tony Bennett, failed to place in the top 100.
She was then represented in North America by WME, but switched to CAA in January 2016.
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