Concert News & Culture
Weekly issues on Wednesdays. Deep cuts on Thursdays. Deep reports monthly. The stuff worth knowing before you buy tickets.
- Historyhistory
When Ticketmaster Traded Concert Tickets for Guns, 1993-94
In 1993 a Ticketmaster office and six L.A. churches swapped concert tickets for guns: 412 in five days, an Uzi for Janet Jackson seats, and what the LAPD said.
- Deep Cutnostalgia
Why Big Artists Still Play Tiny Rooms (And What It Exposes)
A stadium star squeezing into a 230-capacity bar looks like humility. It's the opposite: the one stage on the whole tour where the voice has nowhere to hide.
- Issuetouring
Why the Opener Slot Is a Tour's Most Revealing Choice
Luke Combs kept four openers for all twelve stadium dates, two huge cameos hit LA in one night, and what an artist's stage-sharing choices really tell you.
- Deep Cutfan-culture
Why Bands Bring Fans Onstage (And When It Goes Wrong)
The onstage serenade is one of live music's last unrepeatable gifts. It only curdles when the fan never volunteered. Keep the ritual, kill the ambush.
- Issuetouring
The Hometown Show Is the Best Ticket a Band Sells
Rush came home to Toronto, Rod Stewart's farewell tour hit pause after heart surgery, and the case for buying the hometown show over the arena near you.
- Reportfestivals
The Festival Correction: 200 Gone, a Record $25 Billion
Live Nation booked a record $25.2 billion in 2025 while more than 200 UK festivals vanished since 2019. Inside the margin math breaking the middle.
- Deep Cutfan-culture
Why Do Bands Play Encores? (And How to Tell a Real One)
The encore break is theater, and the songs are usually printed before doors. Here is why the ritual survives and how to spot the rare one a band means.
- Issuevenues
A Crowd Is Not a Community
Lollapalooza's rainy surprise-guest weekend, two beloved small rooms reopening, and the Long Take on what a venue actually loses when it goes multi-purpose.
- Deep Cutnostalgia
Why The Last Waltz Is the Concert Film You Can't Trust
The Last Waltz sold The Band's 1976 farewell as a group's goodbye. It was really one man's exit, shot on 35mm while everyone else only had memory.
- Issuemoments
The Last Real Surprise
Bon Jovi closed his MSG run beside Springsteen, heritage acts pulled summer shows, and Jake argues the surprise guest quietly became a marketing tactic.
- Reportindustry
The Landlord at the Merch Table
On a $45 tour shirt the artist keeps about $13, and the venue takes almost as much. Inside the venue commission that reshaped concert merch pricing.
- Deep Cutfan-culture
Phones Aren't Ruining Concerts. Filming the Whole Show Is.
Jack White locks fans' phones in a pouch. Billie Eilish says film all you want. A memory study sides with neither, and so does the fan who films ten seconds.
- Issueticketing
Resale Caps Won't Save You From Ticket Fees
DC and Massachusetts capped ticket resale this week. But most resales already sell below face. The real markup is the checkout fee no law touches.
- Deep Cuttouring
Why a Streaming Hit Can't Sell Out an Arena Yet
A viral streaming smash does not mean an artist can actually fill an arena. The live crowd shows up only after the small rooms have sold out first.
- Issueetiquette
You Already Knew the Encore
A phone-free Jack White show and a Northeastern study reopen the real question: what a live setlist loses when you read it off a screen first.
- Deep Cutvenues
Why Music Venues Really Close (And Why You Hear About It Last)
Concert venues don't die the day they announce it. The decision comes months earlier, and the signs are readable if you know where to look for them.
- Issuetouring
The Tour the Body Can't Cash
Rush postponed twice in a week, Lionel Richie went down on opening night, and Elton John un-retired. On the 80-date tour, and who actually pays for it.