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The saying goes that all publicity is good publicity, Chris Rock probably agrees, but the jury’s out on Eric Church and Expo Dubai. Plus sports continues to drive Las Vegas’ growth with an F1 race and (another) new arena on the horizon.

Credit: UMG NashvilleSuper Fan On Saturday night, country artist Eric Church canceled a sold-out concert at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas, to watch the historic NCAA Final Four basketball game between UNC and Duke. Church explained that, although this was selfish, the “lifelong Carolina basketball fan” had to share this moment with his family and sports community. While ticket purchasers were immediately refunded, Church later announced a FREE concert in September as a make-good.

Tickets Going Fast Formula One recently announced a deal to hold a Las Vegas Grand Prix over a three-year contract, seeing F1 return to Las Vegas for the first time since 1984. It is expected that the race, which will become the third US circuit on F1’s calendar, will take place around Thanksgiving weekend of next year.

Honoring A Legacy

The Foo Fighters canceled their

Grammy performance

following the tragic death of drummer Taylor Hawkins, along with the rest of their upcoming tour stops. In a statement earlier this week, the band wrote, “Let’s take this time to grieve, to heal, to pull our loved ones close, and to appreciate all the music and memories we’ve made together.”  

The band was nominated for three Grammy Awards: Best Rock Performance, Best Rock Song, and Best Rock album taking home all three. The Recording Academy honored Hawkins’s legacy as part of the Grammys broadcast. 

Live Gives Back 

British television network ITV recently unveiled its earnings for the star-studded Concert For Ukraine, which ended up raising a grand total of £13.4 million (about $17.65 million) for the UK’s Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC). The DEC is still accepting donations for their Ukraine fund.

Arena Development Oak View Group has revealed plans to develop an arena in Las Vegas, acquiring 25 acres of land that will also include a casino and luxury hotel. The $3 billion entertainment campus has already held preliminary conversations with potential concert promotion partners and may serve as a home for events and professional sports teams that do not yet travel to Vegas.

Following the slap on his face from Will Smith at last week’s Oscars, Chris Rock has experienced a huge

increase

in ticket sales. As per secondary marketplace TickPick, more tickets were sold for the comedian’s tour following the award show than throughout all of last month. Further, while on March 18 the tour’s cheapest ticket was $46, the average ticket now is $314. 

Back To Performing Travis Scott publicly performed for the first time since the Astroworld tragedy at a pre-Oscars party, as seen in a video that emerged after the event. In addition to facing many dropped shows and billions of dollars in lawsuits, Scott has received backlash accusing him of creating the $5 million initiative Project HEAL as a PR stunt rather than a genuine effort. 

Album Live-Stream

Thomas Rhett worked with Amazon Music to live-stream the artist’s sixth studio album, Where We Started on April 1. This live album show promotes Amazon Music’s efforts to focus on country music and attract more country listeners.

Capitol Records Dance LabelAs part of the EMI label group, Capitol Records UK has launched the dance label Lift Me Up Records. The label will be home to both established and up-and-coming producers, with plans to expand the brand to merchandise and special events.

Green Cups ♻️

Glasgow’s Scottish Event Campus (SEC) has announced its plans to remove single-use plastic cups at live events by introducing reusable Stack Cups, a product initially unveiled at Planet Earth II at the OVO Hydro arena. This effort would save 2 million cups annually and shrink the campus’ carbon footprint by 1,500 tons over the next decade. Fans pay a £1 deposit for a cup and either return it to get their deposit back at the end of the night or put it in a collection bin and donate the deposit to the SEC’s charitable and environmental projects.

Wasserman Music is seeking a full-time Fairs & Festivals Coordinator in L.A. to work with festival buyers, manage offers, oversee data entry, and more. 

Seat Geek is hiring a full-time Customer Service - Event Expert (remote) to provide specialized support for customers via email and phone, and use metrics and consumer insight to improve the company. 

Disney Parks is looking for an on-site, Casual-Temporary (CT) Production Manager in Florida to work with Disney Live Entertainment Broadcast Production and produce various aspects of the company’s broadcast projects. 

Have you been to a World’s Fair / Expo?

OR

Last Week's Results:

11% of BOH readers

have attended a concert/live event in support of Ukrainian relief.  

Lineup Announcements and New Country Festivals The lineup for Milwaukee’s Summerfest was announced, featuring a robust lineup with headliners Jason Aldean, Justin Bieber, Lil Wayne/Wiz Khalifa/Wu-Tang Clan, Machine Gun Kelly, Halsey, Rod Stewart, the Backstreet Boys, and Thomas Rhett. The event will take place at the 23,000-capacity American Family Insurance Amphitheater from June 23-25, June 30-July 2, and July 7-9.The Wonderfront Music & Arts Festival in San Diego have announced their headliners, with Zac Brown Band, Kings of Leon, Gwen Stefani, and G-Eazy. After their 2019 debut, the waterfront festival will take place November 18-20 following a two-year hiatus due to Covid. There will be a second set of artist announcements, including an additional headliner, in May. Contrary to the standard lineup announcement, Coachella reports that Kanye West has dropped this year's festival. The jury is still out on the official reasoning behind the decision.AEG Presents-owned Goldenvoice has announced a new summer music event, the Palomino Festival. The alternative country event will be held on July 9 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, featuring country artists Kacey Musgraves, Willie Nelson and Family, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, and more. Stacy Vee, Goldenvoice talent buyer, said, “It has been a dream for as long as I can remember to do a festival taking a modern, fresh approach to today’s alt-country music.”And that’s not all for new country festivals - Danny Wimmers Presents is partnering with Visit Sacramento to create a new country music festival GoldenSky. Scheduled to debut October 15-16 at Discovery Park in Sacramento, the festival will feature three stages, with a full lineup announced in the coming weeks. In addition to music, GoldenSky will offer craft beer halls, mechanical bull rides, ‘farm-to-fork’ dining experiences, a dance hall saloon, and more. The festival will take place on the weekend following DWP’s Aftershock festival.

Credit: @eloc8Expo 2020 officially shut its gates last week after 6 months and just over 24 million visitors visited the 1.7 square mile city-like site located in Dubai, UAE, after being postponed 12 months due to Covid. The world’s fair was themed “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future” and featured a record-setting 192 countries showcasing their interpretation of the three sub-themes (Opportunity, Sustainability, Mobility) in each of their own pavilions. The closing ceremonies were just as star-studded as the opening ceremony 6 months prior, with performances by Andrea Boccelli, Ellie Goulding, and others, an airshow, fireworks, and more. 

The site, originally commissioned in 2013, cost $7 million to build and took over 200,000 workers to complete. Built in the desert outside of the city, the 200 pavilions weren’t the only things that had to be built. Instead, the site’s master plan had to include roads, infrastructure services, networks, and transportation. Now that the Expo is over, the site will be transformed into District 2020, a smart city featuring residential, commercial, and retail spaces that is designed to take no more than 15 minutes to traverse via bike.

The UAE’s controversial labor system, normally lurking just below the surface of the country’s opulence, was brought to the forefront during the Expo, in a report by Equidem Research: “Discrimination and forced labour practices at Expo 2020 Dubai”. The report called out the low wages, packed living quarters, confiscated passports, and 70+ hour work weeks in desert heat, among other inhumane practices. 

Osaka, Japan will host the next world fair, with Expo 2025 opening on April 13, 2025.

Paul McCartney recently asked Starbucks to sell their vegan milk at the same price as their dairy milk sold in the U.S. - something that is already typical for countries such as the UK and India.

Read about the coolest music festival in the U.S. right now, the indie-themed Treefort Music Fest in Boise, Idaho. 

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