Billy Strings walked onstage at Baltimore's CFG Bank Arena on Halloween dressed as Prince Adam and finished the night as He-Man. In between, he debuted two songs he wrote for the show, "Prince Adam" and "Teela's Quest," with Molly Tuttle out as Teela and Sierra Hull as Evil-Lyn. It was his third straight Halloween production at that arena, and afterward he posted that next year "might be the last one of these for a while cuz my son is gonna get bigger." Writing two songs about a cartoon for one night, songs he might never play again, is about the most generous thing a touring musician did this week.
The Long Take
Why a one-night reunion asks less of a band than a tour
Aerosmith played the Hollywood Bowl twice last week, and for most of both nights the band wasn't on the stage. On the first night the setlist ran 27 songs, Aerosmith played the last six, and Guns N' Roses, Heart, The Black Crowes and the rest spent everything before that covering Aerosmith songs.
That's the real difference between a one-night reunion and a tour, at least for veteran bands. One night can be built around whatever the band can still do that night, with guests carrying the rest. A tour needs the whole band rehearsed and healthy for every date in a row, so one health problem can take out an entire leg at once.
Aerosmith retired from touring in August 2024 because, in the band's words, a full recovery from Steven Tyler's vocal injury was not possible, and Loudwire said the short Bowl set seemed to cater to his condition, pointing out they'd averaged 18 songs a night at their 2022 Las Vegas residency. Six songs on one night is a job you can plan a whole week around. A residency or a tour doesn't give you that week.
Triumph cancelled all 17 dates of their reunion tour's second leg the next day, saying medical circumstances they didn't name had stopped them from being able to rehearse. That's the exposure that comes with a run of shows. Every date depends on the same people being well enough to practice, so when that goes it doesn't cost one night, it costs Grand Rapids through London, Ontario, in a single statement.
None of that tells you which one a band picks, because the offers mostly come for runs. Live Nation reportedly offered Talking Heads $80 million for six to eight dates, against a reported $10 million for one Coachella set, and Guns N' Roses' 2016 reunion was announced as Coachella plus a stadium tour. The format a band's body can handle and the format the money gets offered for aren't the same one, and the Bowl doesn't tell you how anybody else will choose.
On night two Run-DMC came out for "Walk This Way," Aerosmith played seven songs, and there was no show the next night to get ready for.
This Week in Shows
Deep Purple stop for Ian Gillan. Deep Purple have postponed the rest of 2026 "until further notice" after a medical emergency involving singer Ian Gillan, 21 dates from Dortmund on Nov. 3 to Mexico City on Dec. 19. Leipzig and Hamburg went first, on Oct. 31. In his letter Gillan said he'd hoped to "hang on until the end of the tour, but there are very serious risks involved in me doing so." The list includes the Royal Albert Hall on Nov. 25, and there are no new dates yet.
Haywire versus the NYPD. Hardcore band Haywire played a guerrilla set in Times Square on Oct. 28 and got a song and a half in before police shut it down. They finished "Flex Your Head" and were halfway through the next one when officers pushed through the crowd. Whoever was standing there has a story that's going to get longer every year.
MOTH Club is staying. Hackney Council has refused the second application for flats next to London's MOTH Club, after rejecting one in March, ending more than two years of not knowing. By December 2025 the council had over 27,000 objection emails, and 35,000 people signed the venue's petition. The club's own line: "This was never just about Moth Club." The fans' emails are why it's still open.
A grandstand collapse on the Gold Coast. A grandstand gave way at the Red Hot Summer Tour's Coolangatta Beach stop on Nov. 1, during Boom Crash Opera's set, and 22 people were injured, some of them going to hospital. The stand had been inspected and signed off by an engineer before the show, and Queensland Police and Workplace Health and Safety Queensland are investigating. The concert carried on about an hour later, and anyone affected gets a full refund.
The Venue Report
The Lizard Lounge, the basement club under Cambridge Common at 1667 Mass Ave, will close at the end of May 2027. Holly Heslop and Charlie Christopher opened it in 1997 and are selling the building. Patty Griffin, Guster, Martha Wainwright, Lori McKenna and Morphine's Mark Sandman all played there, and Club D'Elf held down every other Friday from 1998 until the room closed temporarily in March 2020. "It's been a long run, and we know it's time," Heslop told WBUR on Oct. 30. Nobody's forcing this one shut, which leaves seven months of last nights in a room that's been going since 1997.
Individual songs Phish played across 13 nights at Madison Square Garden, July 21 to Aug. 6, 2017, and the Baker's Dozen didn't repeat a single one.
Fan Debate
Mary J. Blige stopped her show at Dolby Live at Park MGM in Las Vegas on Oct. 28 to call a fan who was booing her an "idiot," telling them "you didn't have to come here," according to TMZ. She apologized, and about 20 minutes later she brought out Wyclef Jean for "911." Her camp hasn't commented. I'd rather an artist deal with it than let one person sour the room, but there's a fair case that calling someone out from the stage hands them the whole night. If someone's booing near you, do you want the artist to handle it or ignore it?
The Practical Bit
If you bought a Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits, Bourbon & Beyond, Lost Lands or Ultra pass through Front Gate and can't use it, you can now resell it on CashorTrade for no more than you paid, fees included. Each pass gets verified with Front Gate, so buyers there are getting the real thing at face value or less.
B-Sides
- Lily Allen went as the seat map. Lily Allen dressed as the Ticketmaster seat map for Halloween, in a white and blue polka-dot puffer captioned #bluedotfever. Anyone who's watched the blue dots vanish mid-queue got it before they finished looking.
- MCR say see you in 2028. Gerard Way told the Hollywood Bowl on Oct. 30 there'd "probably" be no My Chemical Romance shows in 2027: "We'll see you guys in 2028."
- Brazil switches off BTS resale. Brazil's consumer agency ordered StubHub, Viagogo, TicketSwap and two other sites to stop selling tickets to BTS at MorumBIS in São Paulo, citing price disclosure failures.
- Run the Jewels are back. Their first shows in nearly two years open Austin's new 4,000-capacity United Heritage Hall on March 5 and 6.
- Jandek is done playing live. "Please be advised that there will be no more Jandek concerts," his label posted, ending a live run that only started in 2004.
- Noah Kahan's presale deadline. Noah Kahan added four Fenway nights and three at Wembley to next year's tour, and presale sign-up closes Thursday, Nov. 5, at 11:59pm ET.
The Bit
Thirty nights in one arena, and here's how the last one went. Harry Styles closed his Madison Square Garden run on Halloween dressed as Pizza Rat, then changed into an "I Am a Rat" T-shirt. Zoë Kravitz came as a bodega plastic bag, and Knicks guard Jalen Brunson, dressed as Harry, handed him the 30-night banner.
The Lizard Lounge has seven months left, and that's the one I'd put on the calendar this week.
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