Sign up for IQ Index
The latest industry news to your inbox.
American rap duo ¥$, consisting of Ye (formerly Kanye West) and Ty Dolla $ign, have quietly cancelled their next series of US arena listening sessions for their collaborative project, VULTURES.
The six shows, announced last week, were set to take place between 7-15 April. The East Coast run of listening parties included Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena (20,000-capacity), Pittsburgh’s PPG Paints Arena (19,758-cap), Washington D.C.’s Capital One Arena (20,356-cap), Charlotte’s Spectrum Center (17,500-cap) Tampa’s Amalie Arena (21,500-cap), and Fort Lauderdale’s Amerant Bank Arena (20,000-cap).
“We regret to report that due to the time constraints for Ye and Ty Dolla $ign to curate production and meet logistic requirements, the upcoming dates for the VULTURES 1&2 listening experience will need to be revisited at a later date,” said both Amalie Arena and Amerant Bank Arena in public statements.
The duo have not publicly acknowledged the cancellations, with Ye deactivating his Instagram account over the weekend.
“It’s still better than other people’s shows that have a mic”
The listening party cancellations come after the duo delayed the second instalment of their three-part VULTURES series. Announced earlier this year, the three-part collaborative series was set to be released in February, March, and April, respectively. VULTURES 1 was released on 9 February to commercial acclaim, but no updates or timelines have been provided for the second and third instalments.
Alongside the release of VULTURES 1, multiple “hi-fidelity audio experience” gigs were announced and held in quick succession in February. These included three back-to-back gigs in the US, at Chicago’s United Center (23,500-cap), New York’s UBS Center (19,000-cap), and at an unnamed tent on the Las Vegas Strip, and three shows in Europe.
The European late-February listening experiences took place at Italy’s Mediolanum Forum (15,800-cap) and Unipol Arena (20,000), plus Paris’s Accor Arena (20,300). In October 2023, the duo had reportedly planned a joint concert at RCF Arena (100,000-cap) in Reggio Emilia, Italy, which was ultimately scrapped.
Two additional gigs were held in early March after the initial VULTURES 2 release date at Arizona’s Footprint Center (18,422-cap) and San Francisco’s Chase Center (18,064-cap). The pair went on to headline California’s Rolling Loud festival, where they played pre-recorded music without performing.
“It’s still better than other people’s shows that have a mic,” said Ty Dolla $ign following the Rolling Loud performance.
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.
Coachella Valley Arts & Music Festival organisers have announced the full line-up for the upcoming 2022 edition.
Harry Styles, Billie Eilish and Ye (aka Kanye West) are to headline the festival’s first in-person event since 2019, which will run across two weekends (15–17 and 22–24 April) at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California.
Styles’ headline set will mark his debut Coachella performance, while Eilish’s will qualify her as the youngest-ever headliner at Coachella, following a seminal performance at the festival back in 2019.
Travis Scott was reportedly set to top the bill but was allegedly removed following the crowd crush tragedy at his Astroworld event last year.
Other artists billed for the Goldenvoice-promoted festival are Swedish House Mafia, Flume, Megan Thee Stallion, Disclosure, 21 Savage, Phoebe Bridgers, Doja Cat, Joji, Jamie xx and Run the Jewels.
Danny Elfman, Carly Rae Jepsen, Big Sean, Idles, Spiritualized, Stromae, Brockhampton, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Caribou, Caroline Polachek, Vince Staples, Ari Lennox and Kim Petras are also slated to perform.
Travis Scott was reportedly set to top the bill but was allegedly removed following the tragedy at his Astroworld event
According to today’s announcement, the 2022 edition will also include a collaboration with 88rising, a US-based artist management company, record label and media brand focused on east Asian artists.
The poster references the label’s annual LA-based music festival, Head in the Clouds. No further details have been revealed yet.
Coachella had its 2020 festival postponed twice due to the pandemic. It was rescheduled to April 2021, but postponed once again in January of that year, when the public health officer in charge of Riverside County, where the festival is held, signed a public health order cancelling Coachella and its sister festival, the country music event Stagecoach.
News emerged last October that Goldenvoice had signed a long-term agreement with the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, which will enable the promoter to stage additional festivals on the site.
Goldenvoice is one of the world’s biggest promoters; the company produces several festivals, including recently announced California Vibrations, operates 14 mid-sized venues and promotes over 1,800 shows per year.
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.