protomartyr tour review

Protomartyr

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SPILL LIVE REVIEW: PROTOMARTYR w/ WEIRD NIGHTMARE @ THE HORSESHOE TAVERN, TORONTO

PROTOMARTYR w/ WEIRD NIGHTMARE

@ the horseshoe tavern, toronto, june 13, 2023.

Protomartyr may be the greatest post-punk band of this generation. The Detroit group was formed in the early 2010’s by Joe Casey who needed an outlet after his father tragically passed away. The band’s music lives within the darkest corners of grief, inequality, and political misdoings. They commenced their 2023 tour on June 13 and brought The Breeders member Kelley Deal along with them for the ride.

Weird Nightmare, The Metz side-project fronted by Alex Edkins kicked off the night with an energetic set of really fun punk music. There were lots of people in the crowd who were quite curious and excited to hear this band live. Edkins’ new project has lots of the same characteristics as Metz, but simplifies things in a very catchy way. The audience loved it.

Protomartyr took to the stage about 30 minutes later. In classic fashion, Casey walked out with a glass of whiskey in his hand and a bottle of beer stashed in his suit jacket pocket. They opened with “Make Way” and then quickly dived into “3800 Tigers”, which draws parallels between the number of tigers left on earth and Casey’s favourite sports team The Detroit Tigers. A lot of the audience members were wearing Toronto and Detroit sports gear, a somewhat rare occurrence for punk shows, and an obvious homage to the frontman’s known admiration for his hometown sports team.

Kelley Deal’s backing vocals on “Pontiac 87” and “A Private Understanding” were hauntingly chill-inducing and her guitar on “Processed By The Boys” fit perfectly in place of the bass clarinet heard on the studio recording.

Casey’s wailing was distinctly loud and vulgar during the entire performance, especially during “Windsor Hum” where he sang with a belligerent and sarcastic drawl. For those that don’t know, the hum is a real phenomenon in Windsor, ON where some locals are tormented by a mysterious low-frequency buzzing noise. This noise originates across the river from a Detroit steel factory. Casey updated the audience, to some cheering, that the dreadful hum no longer exists as the factory closed down during the pandemic “ Hey, you don’t like American workers? What the fuck! ” he joked before playing more songs off their latest album, Formal Growth in the Desert.

The band treated their fans to an encore and played old classics “Jumbo’s”, “The Devil In His Youth” and “Why Does It Shake?” to a crowd that was now even more riled up than during the original set of songs. It was a show for the books.

(Photography by Cory Barter)

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Protomartyr @ the majestic theatre 12/02/2023 (concert review by hunter j.).

In early February, the Detroit-based band Protomartyr collaborated with the multidisciplinary and experimental duo Lost Souls of Saturn, featuring on the last track of LSOS’s newest album, “Reality.” Melding evolving ambient atmospheres with droning fuzz and frontman Joe Casey’s metrical recitation of lyrics, the immersiveness and entrancing deviation from Protomartyr’s usual sound instantly caught the attention of me and my radio show co-host, Saima. As devoted fans of Protomartyr, we have made it a point to play one of their tracks every Monday since August on our show Monkey Business. While playing “Lilac Chaser” on air, we reflected on our experience at Protomartyr’s December 2nd concert at the Majestic Theatre, which we found evoked a similar excitement as this release.

A DJ set from Detroit-based artist Tammy Lakkis opened the show at the Majestic Theater, followed by a performance from the experimental noise duo Wolf Eyes. Having never heard of this group before, Saima and I were immediately fascinated by their live setup. The rhythm portion of their music seemed to be controlled by a drum machine that delivered a minimal beat and guided a bass line pulsing throughout the entirety of the venue. The low end coming from the speakers caused the stage barrier and everyone leaning on it to vibrate, creating a more tactile experience or what Saima described as a full-body dental filling, but in a good way. Wolf Eyes’ experimentation, including an effect-heavy reed instrument and spoken word over noise box improvisations, added an intriguing layer to their performance.

After around a 30-minute set, Toronto-based band Metz replaced Wolf Eyes on the stage. The trio began their performance with high energy, blazing through up-tempo rock songs that heavily contrasted Wolf Eyes’ sound. They captivated the audience with a lively stage presence, flailing their instruments and swaying energetically. Throughout their set, Metz interrupted their more traditional song structure with noise intermissions generated by guitar and bass effects. These interludes called to mind Sonic Youth with similarities in their guitar and bass drone improvisations. Metz, however, had a more directional approach as they always ended their noisy deviations by reverting to their high-energy rock songs. I overall enjoyed Metz’s set, with my favorite song being “Wet Blanket.”

Protomartyr finally concluded the night with a performance that surpassed expectations, providing Saima and me the long-awaited opportunity to witness one of our favorite bands live. Some concert attendees tend to assess a band by comparing the sound of their studio recordings to their live shows, and it was impossible to ignore how Protomartyr’s set sounded exactly like their records. The band’s playing was tight, and I detected no friction in any of the instrumentation as they consistently flowed through some of my favorite tracks in their discography. Kelley Deal was a fantastic inclusion to the lineup, contributing additional tones to Protomartyr’s live performance. She added backup vocals, as well as synth work and guitar pedal noise, giving a variable to the performance that makes seeing Protomartyr live quite a special experience. Both Saima and I agreed that the addition of Deal’s backing vocals to “Processed By The Boys” was definitely one of the highlights of their performance.

Joe Casey’s stage presence was an additional aspect of the show that affirmed our admiration for this band, as he ranged from aloofly reciting lyrics to aggressively singing choruses within the span of seconds. He continuously entertained throughout the entire performance, interacting with the audience as well as hurling beer cans behind him as he finished them. Protomartyr’s energy throughout the set was high, and they played some of our favorites, including “Maidenhead,” “Why Does It Shake?,” and “A Private Understanding” (Alex Leonard’s drums were fantastic on this one in particular). From Joe Casey’s captivating stage presence to Kelley Deal’s seamlessly incorporated contributions, the night not only met but surpassed expectations, reaffirming our deep appreciation for Protomartyr’s music.

(Photography by Saima S.)

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Concert Review: Protomartyr brings raw emotion to the Blind Pig

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When I walked into the Blind Pig, I found myself surrounded by guys with waxed mustaches, drowning in PBR. I came to the realization that I was in the center of “dad culture.” You know what I’m talking about. It’s like that awkward stage hipsters fall into when they feel too young to take life seriously, but they dress and act like dads. They’ve got the flannels and corduroy pants, their mustaches are straight from the ’70s like their favorite folk band, and they have a small beer belly. Probably every person you’ve met who has succumbed to dad culture was at this Protomartyr show. It was an experience.

The night started off with the Deadbeat Beat. They’re a soft punk band from — as their Facebook page says — “AROUND TOWN, MI.” Their sound was as vague as that location, but the guitarist and front man Alex Glendening was shredding so hard that one of his strings broke mid-set. Accompanied by an insanely talented female drummer, they were captivating. I wanted to sway back and forth and close my eyes to immerse myself in this weird punk rock that made me think of summer and the beach, but the crowd was close to lifeless during their whole set. It was kind of a bummer.

My soul was revived again when the second band, Rebel Kind, took the stage. The band was composed of three women (hooray for all-girl bands!), and they totally kicked ass. They sang about boys and being broken and piecing themselves back together again, which sounds kind of sappy and lame, but they displayed it in such a punk-rock way. Each member contributed some vocals, but front woman Autumn Wetli had a particularly dreamy voice. It was soft yet aggressive and sounded like it should smell like vanilla. They made me feel like I should put on a velvet skirt and punch someone in the face and there’s just something about that strange combination that makes me feel — as corny as this sounds — alive or something.

They announced that it was their drummer’s 29th birthday and I remembered that the lead singer of Protomartyr, Joe Casey, is 38 years old. Just try to picture his lifestyle for a second – being almost 40 surrounded by people a decade younger than you who try to dress like you, traveling on the road probably eating McChickens every day.

And just that simple thought made me appreciate their set so much more because of this dynamic. There’s this crowd of people stuck between adolescence and adulthood trying to have a good time on a Friday who probably have a passion they can’t afford or are too afraid to follow. These bands aren’t giving up; they’re trying to fulfill their dreams and passions by evoking some emotions in at least one person. That’s what Protomayrtr did.

The band of four took the stage and with minimal crowd interaction, they put on a very enticing show. Joe Casey sounded like an angry drunk dad in the best way possible; he was enveloped in the music. His words came out harsh and cut the audience with every syllable. I could even see the beer spit fly out of his mouth — which was kind of gross — but with his eyes closed and head turned to the ceiling, he gave the set raw emotion.

Witnessing this 38-year-old man and even some of the older people in the crowd get totally entranced by music was inspiring. There were 30-year-old guys throwing down in a mosh pit screaming the lyrics of “Boyce or Boice” at the top of their lungs while making friends out of strangers.

The experience was a reminder that no matter how old you are, live music allows you to regress to a simpler time. There’s something kind of beautiful about being surrounded by sweaty bodies in intense heat, accepting gross conditions to hear something you love. And listening to a man who could be your drunk dad just makes it a little better. 

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Review: Protomartyr with Kelley Deal Delivers a Raucous Set for an Enraptured Thalia Hall

• November 18, 2022
• Music , Reviews

Protomartyr have been kicking around the indie-rock and punk scenes for over a decade now and their story is defined by more of a slog than a meteoric rise-and-fall. They’re booked by festivals sparingly, with their small but feverish fanbase turning out to small-ish rock clubs. And yet their growing discography has become a beloved body of work amongst critics and moody post-punk fans. 

Quantifying a band in terms of its hometown can be fraught, even downright lazy, but it’s hard to listen to Protomartyr ’s music without projecting our impression of Detroit, Michigan onto their harsh soundscapes and morose lyrics. These are four guys who grew up in a city that lost half its population within their lifetime and might not have enjoyed pre-Trump optimism like their Brooklyn or LA-based peers. These bleak realities do much to explain, or at least contextualize, their sound and persona. 

To many fans, it makes them more endearing and fortunately, their songwriting and musicality have allowed the band not to be defined by it. Sure, they play a specific type of gloomy punk, but they’re far from some rust belt oddity that lesser bands could stagnate into. 

While the crowds have never exploded in size, they have been steady and the musical growth of Protomartyr has been slowly leveling up with each release. Every few years, a facet is added to their repertoire. They developed an eye for more dynamic jams on 2015’s The Agent Intellect . In 2017, sincerity and tender moments cut through their trademark sarcasm on Relatives In Descent.  Mid-pandemic, the four-piece expanded their sonic qualities to include woodwind and brass instrumentation on their spectacular Ultimate Success Today. They have beefed up their live show quite a bit in recent years, adding Kelley Deal from The Breeders as a touring musician and collaborator. 

You could probably describe this particular cold and rainy November Wednesday as “Protomartyr weather,” and the Thalia Hall crowd’s energy was muted to start. Opening the night were local four-piece , which cut a nice contrast to the headliner’s sullen sensibilities with their kinetic brand of art-punk. Spread Joy’s spastic banter between songs and refreshing lack of polish energized the crowd, especially with some delightfully unhinged vocal deliveries. 

The four Detroiters (and Breeder) took the stage shortly after and started the set with the very, very slow-building “Day Without End.” As the opening track rumbled and expanded, the band added layers and volume until the track’s intentionally anticlimactic conclusion. As with every Protomartyr show, it felt good to hear Joe Casey’s speak-sing-shout vocal delivery in person again. 

The ferocious “Cowards Starve” immediately followed, drawing a burst of approval from a crowd in need of a pick-me-up. Greg Ahee’s inventive guitar playing weaved and wailed in between Casey’s vocal outbursts, while the seriously-tight rhythm section propelled the song to unexpected heights.

“Tarpeian Rock” was one of the oldest songs of the night, which was a welcome revisiting of their signature lo-fi garage rock. It’s a quick jam, and mainly featured Casey listing things he dislikes, including “dogs dressed as children,” “rich crusties,” “credit card users,” and “most bands ever.” It’s a fun track that encapsulates his ultra-wry humor. 

“June 21” stood out because it was one of the instances where Kelley Deal featured prominently on vocals. Her duet with Casey was the closest thing Protomartyr will ever come to sounding pretty, and probably left fans wishing she joined the band on earlier records. Her vocals were hardly the only contribution. Anyone who saw Protomartyr’s early shows would be astounded to hear the shimmering textures and melodic cacophony she adds to the band’s live show. Wednesday’s performance demonstrated what a massive addition she has been for this band. 

“The Devil In His Youth” is probably the closest thing Protomartyr have ever come to making a party track, with (almost) Strokes-esque guitar melodies jangling under impassioned vocals. “Processed By The Boys” is one of the more spirited tracks off of the most recent record, and acted as the set’s high-point. It’s a dystopian anti-anthem brooding over border politics and looming fascism, something only Protomartyr can pull off.

The encore featured the more raucous “Tranquilizer.” Like so many Protomartyr songs, the synth-washed arrangement bubbled and built for a minute or two until the bludgeoning percussion, guitar, and bass came crashing down on the enraptured Thalia Hall crowd to end the show.  

While Wednesday night’s show was hardly a major leap forward and the furthest thing from a letdown, it still showcased a number of Protomartyr ’s newer musical flourishes that show how the band has justified their popularity over the years.  The show was but another chapter in Protomartyr’s frequent touring through Chicago, which Casey referenced multiple times, although he did go so far as to call Detroit transplants as “turncoats.” It’s a short trek from their similarly windswept dystopian hometown, and for fellow Midwesterners bracing for the frigid walk home, a welcome reminder that we’re not alone. 

Protomartyr photo by Trevor Naud

This review of Protomartyr 's show at Thalia Hall was written by guest author Patrick Daul. Patrick Daul is an avid music fan and concertgoer living with his wife in Logan Square. When he's not standing towards the back of the crowd at his favorite vanues Empty Bottle or Thalia Hall, he's either cycling along the 606, hanging with his nieces and nephew, or enjoying a beer at one of Chicago's breweries. 

Patrick Daul

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Protomartyr with Weird Nightmare at the Horseshoe Tavern

American post-punk band, Protomartyr , performed to a sold out crowd at the Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto with Weird Nightmare. The band is currently on tour to support their sixth studio album, Formal Growth in the Desert , which was just released on June 2nd via Domino Records.

Connect with Protomartyr: Website || Facebook || Twitter || Instagram Connect with Weird Nightmare: Facebook || Twitter || Instagram

Be sure to check out Collective Concerts to see what other great artists they will be bringing to Toronto this year.

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Protomartyr have given in and accepted that the past few years have been nothing short of dreadful, and on their new record, the Detroit-reared post-punk band predict that little will change in the foreseeable future. But ‘Formal Growth In The Desert’ also proves to be the perfect vessel through which to express that sentiment, using their unforgiving sound to explore what frontman Joe Casey describes simply as “getting on with life”.

On a more grounded note, Fun In Hi Skool is a skittering mid-life crisis where yearning for youthful frivolity in midwestern America overrides any more pressing contemporary concerns. 

Some things never change, though, and Casey’s poetic prose is as refined as ever in this setting. Looking at becoming a lifeless husk he implores us to let ourselves become taken over in Graft Vs. Host—he sounds completely drained, with no further will left to resist. 

A track such as this is so simple that its worldbuilding almost passes you by, providing out of the way pockets of detail to revisit. The metatextual tragedy of characters dubbed Dismas and Dawn is reeled off during Fulfilment Center, with Greg Ahee’s squalling guitars collapsing around their car-turned-coffin. 

‘Formal Growth In The Desert’ is a novel to be read over and over again, where each cog turns the next to reward consumption as a whole, unabridged piece of work. The sonics of previous Protomartyr albums remain unchanged but allow for Casey’s words to shine in a more profound manner than before. 

Protomartyr Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:

Wed August 09 2023 - BRIGHTON Concorde 2 Thu August 10 2023 - NOTTINGHAM Rescue Rooms Fri August 11 2023 - CARDIFF Clwb Ifor Bach Sat August 12 2023 - LEEDS Brudenell Social Club Thu October 19 2023 - GALWAY Roisin Dubh Fri October 20 2023 - LIMERICK Dolans Sat October 21 2023 - DUBLIN Button Factory Mon October 23 2023 - MANCHESTER YES (The Pink Room) Tue October 24 2023 - BRISTOL Bristol Trinity Wed October 25 2023 - BIRMINGHAM Hare And Hounds Thu October 26 2023 - LONDON Electric Ballroom

Compare & Buy Protomartyr Tickets at Stereoboard.com.

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Concert review: protomartyr.

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For a minute, it looked like Philadelphia wasn’t going to brave sub-freezing temperatures to see Protomartyr. Lord knows it’d be hard to blame someone for not wanting to hang out in the cavernous basement that is Underground Arts on a single-digit evening, and it wasn’t until midway through show opener Taiwan Housing Project that bodies started to fill out the black-box theater.

I can only imagine what those who came mid-set thought of the Philadelphia art-rock project. The five-piece band, which includes saxophone, keyboard and the banshee-esque wailing of Kilynn Lunsford, offered a sonic texture that is a far cry from the burly post-punk of Protomartyr. It is tempting to say that Taiwan Housing Project suffered from sound issues, seeing as only the bass and drums were ever really able to rise about the atonal din that was wafting off the stage, but I suspect that even with pitch-perfect fidelity, the band’s specific definition wouldn’t have improved. Say this for them; they came with a great deal of energy and poured it over a half-empty room. People walked to the bar after the set, either dazed at the spectacle or armed with a new favorite band. They’re that kind of group.

Tour mates Priests made more sense for the show, at least in genre similarity. Their music offered visceral yin to the controlled chaos of Protomartyr’s yang. Falling more on the “punk” side of the equation, Priests vocalist Katie Alice sneered and screamed at the crowd, egged on by the heavy drumming of Daniele Daniele and the swirling, screeching guitar of G.L. Jaguar. They’re a funny collection of individuals on stage; Alice is a steely-eyed, scathing blonde, Daniele’s drumming is at odds with her friendly demeanor, Jaguar looks like a science teacher and, due to his slight frame, bass player Taylor Mulitz looks a bit like someone’s brother. The four of them delivered one of the more arresting punk performances I’ve seen a while, retching up the aggression and lightly antagonizing the crowd for not being rowdy enough. They seemed downright delighted when a mosh pit broke out.

Like Priests, half the fun of seeing Protomartyr is watching the band interact – or in this case, not interact. Bassist Scott Davidson, drummer Alex Leonard and guitarist Greg Ahee looked like a live rock band; they bobbed over their instruments, jumping around, doing their best to show they were feeling the rock music they were playing. Those outbursts played out while lead singer Joe Casey, dressed in a suit and looking like a middle-manager who had gotten out of work and gone right to the bar, stood emotionless and even in front of the mic, barking out his lyrics with a beer in hand. It served to highlight the tension of the band’s most recent album with the hopelessness of its lyrics.

The group spent most of the night running through it’s excellent 2015 record The Agent Intellect , with songs like “Uncle Mother’s” and “Why Does It Shake?” benefitting from the energy of live performance. Album highlight “Dope Cloud” was especially well performed; on record, the song is a tight wire of cascading guitar thunderclouds. Live, it’s a joyous outburst of cracking snare and driving bass. Toward the end of the band’s set, even Casey couldn’t keep his stone face any longer. He was grabbing the mic and, if not quite screaming like Priests, preaching and straining his spoken delivery. It was frozen outside, but sweaty at the front of the stage.

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Protomartyr - Formal Growth In The Desert

Their balancing act between decay and rebirth, love and hate, takes on an even sharper focus..

Reviewer: Matthew Davies Lombardi

Released: 2nd june 2023, label: domino.

“Can you hate yourself and still deserve love?” asks the tender yet acerbic Joe Casey, repeatedly, as he ends ‘Polacrilex Kid’. It’s a lot to ponder, but Protomartyr have never been the band to avoid delving into the philosophical. Six albums in and without ever relenting in quality, intensity and sheer abyss-like emotional depth, this Detroit foursome own such a space in the intellectual, nihilistic end of post-punk that they might as well charge rent to anyone else who dares to cross that territory. Like a melee in a ballroom, Protomartyr’s balancing act between decay and rebirth, love and hate, takes on an even sharper focus here. Touching on so many emotional themes that could swamp another album - his engagement; the death of his mother; leaving his childhood home after a series of break-ins - Protomartyr are uniquely equipped to express and elucidate in the most compelling of ways. They retain their characteristic dissection of contemporary America too - ‘Let’s Tip the Creator’ skewers the billionaire magnates, ‘Fulfilment Center’ the gig economy and ‘3800 Tigers’ might be the first extinction and baseball themed song. It’s definitely the most catchy. The band remain successful at finding lush nuances in their well-established formula and ‘Formal Growth in the Desert’ packs more hooks than any of their albums since 2015’s ‘The Agent Intellect’. Closer ‘Rain Garden’ addresses the earlier doubts, finding anyone deserving of love who works for it, in a cautiously optimistic, delicate croon of “Love has found me,” fatefully blissful and moving. For an act who have spent so much time contemplating their worth and their place, thirteen years into this journey they’re only going from strength to strength. While they’re one of the most expert chroniclers of our modern misfortunes one thing is obvious - we’re lucky to have Protomartyr.

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Check out lead single ‘Make Way’.

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Protomartyr - Ultimate Success Today

The doom may have arrived, but at least Protomartyr are back in our lives.

16th July 2020, 7:58am

Protomartyr to premiere ‘Ultimate Success Today’ visual album today

Streaming live via their website at 7pm BST.

15th July 2020, 12:00am

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Protomartyr Gig Timeline

• May 02 2024 PNE Forum Vancouver, BC, Canada Start time: 8:00 PM 8:00 PM
• May 03 2024 PNE Forum Vancouver, BC, Canada Add time Add time
• May 04 2024 Roseland Theater This Setlist Portland, OR, USA Add time Add time
• May 05 2024 Roseland Theater Portland, OR, USA Add time Add time
• May 07 2024 Paramount Theatre Seattle, WA, USA Add time Add time

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Tour Update

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Protomartyr tour dates 2024

Protomartyr is currently touring across 4 countries and has 18 upcoming concerts.

Their next tour date is at PNE Forum in Vancouver, after that they'll be at Roseland Theater in Portland.

Currently touring across

Upcoming concerts (18) See nearest concert

Roseland Theater

Paramount Theatre

Fox Theater

Brooklyn Bowl Las Vegas

Crystal Ballroom at Somerville Theatre

No Fun (Troy NY)

Underground Arts

Spirit Hall

Natalie's Grandview

The Empty Bottle

Fort de Saint Père

Past concerts

Pitchfork Music Festival CDMX

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Protomartyr – “Make Way” [Video]

Fire Note Staff | March 8, 2023 March 8, 2023 | Videos

Detroit post-punk band Protomartyr have announced their new album, Formal Growth In The Desert , out June 2nd on Domino, and present its lead single/video, “Make Way.” Additionally, they have announced 2023 North American and EU tour dates (below). Composed of vocalist Joe Casey, guitarist Greg Ahee, drummer Alex Leonard, and bassist Scott Davidson, Protomartyr have become synonymous with caustic, impressionistic assemblages of politics and poetry, the literal and oblique. Casey describes the underlying theme of Formal Growth In The Desert as a 12-song testament to “getting on with life,” even when it feels impossibly hard.

The moody lead single/video, “Make Way,” doubles as Formal Growth In The Desert’s opening track, with Casey beginning the record by facing tragedy head-on: “Welcome to the haunted earth // The living after life // Where we chose to forget // the years of the Hungry Knife.” The accompanying video, directed by Trevor Naud, is a striking cinematic feat. Of the video, Naud says: “There’s a deliberate through-line between the videos for ‘Make Way’ and 2020’s ‘Worm In Heaven.’ The two songs feel partnered with each other, so I wanted the videos to feel like they exist in the same world. There are layers of experiments happening–all within a closed environment. We don’t know what’s happened to the world outside, but there’s an undertone that things maybe aren’t quite right.”

You can order the album HERE.

PROTOMARTYR TOUR DATES (new dates in bold) Sat. Mar. 11 – Columbus, OH @ Soupfest Sun. Mar. 12 – Chattanooga, TN @ JJ’s Bohemia Mon. Mar. 13 – New Orleans, LA @ Gasa Gasa Wed. Mar. 15 – Austin, TX @ SXSW- Laneway Official Showcase – Lucille Thu. Mar. 16 – Austin, TX @ SXSW – Levitation Showcase – Hotel Vegas Thu. Mar. 16 – Austin, TX @ SXSW – Brooklyn Vegan Showcase – Empire Fri. Mar. 17 – Austin, TX @ SXSW – Third Man Showcase – 13th Floor Sat. Mar. 18 – Dallas, TX @ Texas Theater Mon. Mar. 20 – Phoenix, AZ @ Rebel Tue. Mar. 21 – San Diego, CA @ Casbah Wed. Mar. 22 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Fri. Mar. 24 – Bakersfield, CA @ Temblor Brewing Sat. Mar. 25 – Reno, NV @ Holland Project Sun. Mar. 26 – Boise, ID @ Treefort Tue. Mar. 28 – Denver, CO @ Hi-Dive Wed. Mar. 29 – Omaha, NE @ Slowdown Thu. Mar. 30 – Davenport, IA @ Raccoon Motel Fri. Mar. 31 – Grand Rapids, MI @ Pyramid Scheme Tue. June 13 – Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern Wed. June 14 – Montreal, QC @ Fairmount Fri. June 16 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom Sat. June 17 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s Tue. June 20 – Washington, DC @ Black Cat Wed. June 21 – Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle Thu. June 22 – Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West Fri. June 23 – Nashville, TN @ Blue Room Sat. June 24 – St. Louis, MO @ Off Broadway Mon. June 26 – Oklahoma City, OK @ 89th Street Tue. June 28 – Tucson, AZ @ 191 Toole Wed. June 29 – Santa Ana, CA @ Constellation Room Sat. July 1 – San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel Sun. July 2 – Santa Cruz, CA @ Moe’s Alley Wed. July 5 – Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom Thu. July 6 – Vancouver, BC @ Cobalt Fri. July 7 – Seattle, WA @ Crocodile Sat. July 8 – Spokane, WA @ Lucky You Tue. July 11 – St. Paul, MN @ Turf Club Wed. July 12 – Madison, WI @ High Noon Thu. July 13 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall Sun. Aug. 6 – Frankfurt, DE @ Zoom Mon. Aug. 7 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso Wed. Aug. 9 – Brighton, UK @ Concorde 2 Thu. Aug. 10 – Nottingham, UK @ Rescue Rooms Fri. Aug. 11 – Cardiff, UK @ Clwb lfor Bach Sat. Aug. 12 – Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club Mon. Aug. 14 – Eindhoven, NL @ Effenaar Tue. Aug. 15 – Hannover, DE @ Indiego Glocksee Thu. Aug. 17 – Copenhagen, DK @ Loppen Fri. Aug. 18 – Bodo, NO @ Parkenfestivalen Sat. Aug. 19 – Trondheim, NE @ Pstereo Thu. Oct. 26 – London, UK @ Electric Ballroom

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How much are BottleRock Napa Valley tickets?

Need travel arrangements, who is playing at bottlerock napa valley, how to buy bottlerock napa valley tickets.

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Bringing some of the biggest artists together for a three-day festival in Northern California, BottleRock Napa Valley celebrates its 11th year as it kicks off this May. Though the music festival begins this month and tickets are going quickly, there are still a few avenues for how to buy Bottlerock Napa Valley 2024 tickets.

The 2024 BottleRock Napa Valley festival begins on Friday, May 24, and ends on Sunday, May 26. Though the festival takes place over Memorial Day Weekend, there won't be any shows on Monday's holiday. Alongside numerous big names headlining the festival, BottleRock Napa Valley will feature plenty of food, beer, and, of course, wines from the area's nearby vineyards.

Over the past decade, artists like OutKast, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Cage the Elephant, Stevie Wonder, The Red Hot Chilli Peppers, The Killers, and Miley Cyrus have served as headliners for BottleRock Napa Valley. For the 2024 festival, the big headliners include Stevie Nicks, Pearl Jam, Ed Sheeran, and Megan Thee Stallion.

If you're still wondering how to buy tickets to BottleRock Napa Valley 2024, we've got you covered. Here's our breakdown of the festival's musical performers, types of tickets available, purchasing details, and original and resale ticket prices. You can also browse ticket specifics on StubHub and Vivid Seats at your leisure.

• See also: Billie Eilish tickets | Taylor Swift tickets | Adele tickets

BottleRock Napa Valley 2024 schedule

Four different types of tickets can be purchased for the three dates of BottleRock Napa Valley's festival. The options include one-day passes for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday or a three-day pass that grants access for each day of the festival.

The time listed in PT is when the first shows start each day.

How to buy tickets for BottleRock Napa Valley 2024 music festival

Since BottleRock Napa Valley 2024 tickets went on sale in January, the number of remaining original tickets is extremely limited. However, you can still buy original tickets to the festival through the BottleRock Front Gate Tickets website .

Unfortunately, the original tickets for Saturday and Sunday General Admission day passes, all one-day VIP passes, three-day General Admission tickets, three-day VIP passes, three-day Skydeck passes, and three-day Platinum tickets are sold out. However, the BottleRock website still has some original General Admission tickets for Friday-only passes.

You can also buy tickets to BottleRock Napa Valley 2024 through verified resale vendors such as StubHub and Vivid Seats . With so many original ticket options already sold out, resale ticket sites are your best chance to get single-day Saturday and Sunday tickets, three-day passes, or VIP tickets to the 2024 music festival.

Very few original BottleRock Napa Valley 2024 tickets remain, which means there's only one price available on the festival's site. With only Friday General Admission passes available, the cheapest (and only) cost of original tickets is $233, including fees, before taxes.

On the other hand, verified resale ticket prices on StubHub and Vivid Seats are less expensive than original passes and have more variety in ticket types. For general admission passes to BottleRock on Friday, the cheapest price on StubHub is $186 or $174 on Vivid Seats. Meanwhile, the least expensive Saturday-only passes are $160 on StubHub or $173 on Vivid Seats, with Sunday-only tickets similarly being $191 on the former or $207 on the latter.

On verified resale sites, three-day passes aren't much more expensive than the original single-day passes that are still available. StubHub's cheapest General Admission three-day passes begin at $250, while Vivid Seats' start at $244. Of course, prices go up for VIP three-day passes for BottleRock 2024 on the sites, which begin at $1574 on StubHub and $1707 on Vivid Seats. The prices increase exponentially for each VIP pass tier, such as Skydeck, Marriott VIP Suite, The Suites, and Platinum.

You can browse the various details and offers for BottleRock Napa Valley 2024's premium tickets on the music festival's website .

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BottleRock Napa Valley 2024 has a wide variety of acts booked for this year's music festival, including some legendary headliners. The top headliners are Stevie Nicks on May 24, Pearl Jam on May 25, and Ed Sheeran on May 26. These three acts will be the main stage's final shows of their respective days.

Here's a breakdown of the artists that will be performing on each day of BottleRock Napa Valley 2024's lineup:

Friday, May 24

• Stevie Nicks, Megan Thee Stallion, St. Vincent, Nelly, Miike Snow, Bebe Rexha, Jessie Murph, All Time Low, Gogol Bordello, Boywithuke, Chevy Metal, Loveless, Pete Yorn, Royal Otis, The Moss, Say She She, Chris Shiflett, Grace Bowers, Alexsucks, The Takes, Fleece, Con Brio, Akira Galaxy, Sage Bava, and Sanho

Saturday, May 25

• Pearl Jam, Maná, Kali Uchis, The Kid Laroi, My Morning Jacket, T-Pain, Oliver Tree, Cold War Kids, Tower of Power, Holly Humberstone, The Record Company, Jack Kays, Larussel, Momma, Celisse, Deep Sea Diver, Mondo Cozmo, John Cruz, The Alive, Moonalice, Linka Moja, The Aquadolls, Grace McKagan, Mama Said, DJ Umami, Napa Valley Youth Symphony

Sunday, May 26

• Ed Sheeran, Queens of the Stone Age, Dominic Fike, Norah Jones, The Offspring, Stephen Sanchez, Cannons, Action Bronson, The Beaches, Stephen Marley, Colony House, The Soul Rebels feat. Talib Kweli, Monsieur Periné, Dehd, Bully, Windser, The Scarlet Opera, Mononeon, Brittany Davis, Tors, Forrest Day, Jane Leo, Jared Harper, Naima, The Silverado Pickups, and Sophia Zamani.

You can check out the festival's lineup's full schedule, times, and stage locations here .

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StarTribune

Review: judas priest delivers for minnesota's 'defenders of the metal faith'.

Beavis and Butt-head are in the lexicon again. A new "Spinal Tap" movie is being made. There's a renewed fear of an approaching apocalypse. Maybe it's high time vintage heavy metal makes a major comeback, too.

That idea didn't seem so boneheaded Thursday night at the Armory in Minneapolis, when one of metal's greatest o.g. bands, Judas Priest, returned to a roomful of open arms and raised fists. Heck if they didn't still sound hellishly powerful, too.

The motorcycle-employing British hard-rock vets are riding something of a late-career reup that includes their Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction and their 50th anniversary celebrations, both in 2022.

They're not just motoring along on a nostalgia wave, though. They also rolled into town again with a well-received new album, "Invincible Shield."

"We've been coming to this beautiful part of your country for so long," Priest's banshee-voiced frontman Rob Halford said in a mutual-admiration moment with the nearly 8,000 fans on hand. "Thank you for being defenders of the metal faith."

At 72, Halford did not exactly look ageless. He walked slowly and mostly stood in a crouched-over position most of the night.

Since he bore a chrome dome even back in the hairspray-coated '80s, though — and his studded leather outfits stayed in rock fashion better than spandex — Halford's age has long seemed to matter less than it does with many of his metallic peers with thinning, long hairdos. He's become something of an LGBTQ icon, too, since opening up about his homosexuality in the 1990s.

What really mattered most in Thursday's show, tough: Halford can still scream with a vengeance. He sounded as impressive bellowing new songs such as the manic show-opener "Panic Attack" as he did shrieking out 1982′s "Devil's Child" six songs later.

Sure, Halford let the loud crowd do the heavy lifting in the big-chorused hits "You've Got Another Thing Comin'," "Breaking the Law," "Hell Bent for Leather" and "Living After Midnight," the latter two saved for the encore. But he hit the high notes when he needed to, most conspicuously in the less-familiar late '70s oldies "Saints in Hell" and "Sinner."

Mötley Crüe's resident shrieker Vince Neil, by comparison, is a decade younger than Halford and performing in bigger venues, but he hasn't been able to hit notes like those in over two decades.

The Crüe should be so lucky to have a replacement guitarist fit in as well as both of Priest's current players, Richie Faulkner and Andy Sneap — the latter now standing in for heyday-era player Glenn Tipton, who has Parkinson's disease and no longer tours. (The only other classic Priest member in tow Thursday besides Halford was bassist Ian Hill, whose steady presence was felt but not seen much; he's always mostly stayed in the shadows.)

Faulkner and Sneap thrillingly evoked Tipton and ex-axman K.K. Downing in "Sinner" and another '70s nugget, "Victim of Changes." They also hit their own high marks in the new album's title track near show's end.

Between the tight, rapid-fire guitar shredding and the still-scorching vocal screeching, Priest fans likely did not even notice that one other key element of a heavy metal show was missing Thursday night: Not a single ounce of pyro was blown off at the concert. Beavis and Butt-head would've loved it anyway.

Here's Judas Priest's set list from Thursday's Armory concert:

• 1. "Panic Attack"
• 2. "Rapid Fire"
• 3. "You've Got Another Thing Comin'"
• 4. "Breaking the Law"
• 5. "Lightning Strike"
• 6. "Love Bites"
• 7. "Devil's Child"
• 8. "Saints In Hell"
• 9. "Crown of Horns"
• 10. "Sinner"
• 11. "Turbo Lover"
• 12. "Invincible Shield"
• 13. "Victim of Changes"
• 14. "The Green Manalishi (With the Two Pronged Crown)"
• 15. "Painkiller"
• 17. "Electric Eye"
• 18. "Hell Bent for Leather"
• 19. "Living After Midnight"

Chris Riemenschneider has been covering the Twin Cities music scene since 2001, long enough for Prince to shout him out during "Play That Funky Music (White Boy)." The St. Paul native authored the book "First Avenue: Minnesota's Mainroom" and previously worked as a music critic at the Austin American-Statesman in Texas.

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Protomartyr Announce New Album Formal Growth in the Desert , Share Video for New Song: Watch

By Evan Minsker

Protomartyr have announced their new album. Formal Growth in the Desert , the follow-up to 2020’s Ultimate Success Today , is out June 2 via Domino . They’ve also announced tour dates in North America and Europe. Check out the Trevor Naud –directed video for the new album’s lead single, “ Make Way ,” below.

“The desert is more of a metaphor or symbol of emotional deserts, or a place or time that seems to lack life,” the band’s Joe Casey said in a statement. Naud added that the new video has a through-line to the group’s 2020 video for “ Worm in Heaven .”

Formal Growth in the Desert :

01 Make Way 02 For Tomorrow 03 Elimination Dances 04 Fun in Hi Skool 05 Let’s Tip the Creator 06 Graft vs. Host 07 3800 Tigers 08 Polacrilex Kid 09 Fulfillment Center 10 We Know the Rats 11 The Author 12 Rain Garden

Protomartyr:

03-11 Columbus, OH - Soupfest 03-12 Chattanooga, TN - JJ’s Bohemia 03-13 New Orleans, LA - Gasa Gasa 03-15 Austin, TX - SXSW- Laneway Official Showcase Lucille 03-16 Austin, TX - SXSW Levitation Showcase Hotel Vegas 03-16 Austin, TX - SXSW Brooklyn Vegan Showcase Empire 03-17 Austin, TX - SXSW Third Man Showcase 13th Floor 03-18 Dallas, TX - Texas Theater 03-20 Phoenix, AZ - Rebel 03-21 San Diego, CA - Casbah 03-22 Los Angeles, CA - Teragram 03-24 Bakersfield, CA - Temblor Brewing 03-25 Reno, NV - Holland Project 03-26 Boise, ID - Treefort Music Fest 03-28 Denver, CO - Hi-Dive 03-29 Omaha, NE - Slowdown 03-30 Davenport, IA - Raccoon Motel 03-31 Grand Rapids, MI - Pyramid Scheme 06-13 Toronto, Ontario - Horseshoe Tavern 06-14 Montreal, Quebec - Fairmount 06-16 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom 06-17 Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda’s 06-20 Washington, D.C. - Black Cat 06-21 Carrboro, NC - Cat’s Cradle 06-22 Atlanta, GA - Terminal West 06-23 Nashville, TN - Blue Room 06-24 St. Louis, MO - Off Broadway 06-26 Oklahoma City, OK - 89th Street 06-28 Tucson, AZ - 191 Toole 06-29 Santa Ana, CA - Constellation Room 07-01 San Francisco, CA - The Chapel 07-02 Santa Cruz, CA - Moe’s Alley 07-05 Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom 07-06 Vancouver, BC - Cobalt 07-07 Seattle, WA - Crocodile 07-08 Spokane, WA - Lucky You 07-11 Saint Paul, MN - Turf Club 07-12 Madison, WI - High Noon 07-13 Chicago, IL - Thalia Hall 08-06 Frankfurt, Germany - Zoom 08-07 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Paradiso 08-09 Brighton, England - Concorde 2 08-10 Nottingham, England - Rescue Rooms 08-11 Cardiff, Wales - Clwb Ifor Bach 08-12 Leeds, England - Brudenell Social Club 08-14 Eindhoven, Netherlands - Effenaar 08-15 Hannover, Germany - Indiego Glocksee 08-17 Copenhagen, Denmark - Loppen 08-18 Bodo, Norway - Parkenfestivalen 08-19 Trondheim, Netherlands - Pstereo 10-26 London, England - Electric Ballroom

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Bon Jovi docuseries 'Thank You, Goodnight' is an argument for respect

Eric Deggans

Jon Bon Jovi at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn., in 2013. David Bergman/Hulu hide caption

Jon Bon Jovi at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn., in 2013.

Hulu's docuseries Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story , spends a lot of time building up the Bon Jovi legend — exploring the band's almost unbelievable 40-plus-year run from playing hardscrabble rock clubs in New Jersey to earning platinum albums and entry into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

But what moved me most in the four-part series was something more revealing: its close look at the struggle by lead singer Jon Bon Jovi to overcome vocal problems which nearly led him to quit the band.

Footage of the singer croaking through vocal exercises, undergoing laser treatments, enduring acupuncture and finally turning to surgery is sprinkled throughout the series, which toggles back and forth between his problems in 2022 and a chronological story of the band's triumphs and tragedies from its earliest days.

Refusing to be Fat Elvis

Jon Bon Jovi was interviewed for Thank You, Goodnight . Disney/Hulu hide caption

Jon Bon Jovi was interviewed for Thank You, Goodnight .

Through it all, a question hangs: Will Bon Jovi ever recover enough vocal strength to lead a 40th anniversary tour?

"If I can't be the very best I can be, I'm out," he tells the cameras, still looking a bit boyish despite his voluminous gray hair at age 62. "I'm not here to drag down the legacy, I'm not here for the 'Where are they now?' tour ... I'm not ever gonna be the Fat Elvis ... That ain't happening."

Filmmaker Gotham Chopra — who has also directed docuseries about his father, spiritualist Deepak Chopra, and star quarterback Tom Brady — digs deeply into the band's history, aided by boatloads of pictures, video footage and early recordings provided by the group.

Former Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora in Thank You, Goodnight Disney/Hulu hide caption

Former Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora in Thank You, Goodnight

Chopra gets folks from the group's tight inner circle to speak up, including former manager Doc McGhee and guitarist Richie Sambora, who quit the band in 2013. ("Are we telling the truth, or are we going to lie, what are we going to do?" Sambora cracks to his offscreen interviewer. "Let's figure it out.")

But anyone expecting gossipy dish will walk away disappointed. Even major scandals in the band's history are handled with care, including the firing of founding bassist Alec John Such in 1994 (and the admission that his replacement, Hugh McDonald, already had been secretly playing bass parts on their albums for years), drummer Tico Torres' stint in addiction treatment and Sambora's decision to quit midway through a tour in 2013, with no notice to bandmates he had performed alongside for 30 years.

Alec John Such, a founding member of Bon Jovi, dies at 70

Sambora's explanation: When issues with substance use and family problems led him to miss recording sessions, Bon Jovi got producer John Shanks to play more guitar on their 2013 record What About Now . And Sambora was hurt.

"[Bon Jovi] had the whole thing kinda planned out," Sambora says, "which basically was telling me, um, 'I can do it without you.'"

Building a band on rock anthems

Jon Bon Jovi with guitarist Phil X. Disney/Hulu hide caption

Jon Bon Jovi with guitarist Phil X.

The docuseries shows how young New Jersey native John Bongiovi turned a job as a gofer at legendary recording studio The Power Station – owned by a cousin — into a recording of his first hit in the early 1980s, Runaway . His song eventually caught the ear of another little-known artist from New Jersey called Bruce Springsteen.

"The first demo I got of Jon's was a good song," says Springsteen, a longtime friend of Bon Jovi. "I mean, Jon's great talent is these big, powerful pop rock choruses that just demand to be sung by, you know, 20,000 people in an arena."

Music Interviews

Rock star jon bon jovi comes full 'circle'.

Thank You, Goodnight shows the band really took off by honing those rock anthems with songwriter Desmond Child, while simultaneously developing videos that showcased their status as a fun, rollicking live band. Hits like You Give Love a Bad Name, Livin' on a Prayer and Wanted: Dead or Alive made them MTV darlings and rock superstars.

Through it all, the singer and bandleader is shown as the group's visionary and spark plug, open about how strategically he pushed the band to write hit songs and positioned them for commercial success.

"It wasn't as though I woke up one morning and was the best singer in the school, or on the block, or in my house," he tells the camera, laughing. "I just had a desire and a work ethic that was always the driving force."

I saw that dynamic up close in the mid-1990s when I worked as a music critic in New Jersey, spending time with Jon Bon Jovi and the band. Back then, his mother ran the group's fan club and was always trying to convince the local rock critic to write about her superstar son – I was fascinated by how the band shrugged off criticisms of being uncool and survived changing musical trends, led by a frontman who worked hard to stay grounded.

Bon Jovi was always gracious and willing to talk; he even introduced me to then-New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman at one of his legendary Christmas charity concerts. (And in a crazy coincidence, the band's backup singer Everett Bradley is an old friend from college.)

I think the docuseries captures Bon Jovi's skill at leading the group through challenges musical and otherwise — from metal's slow fade off the pop charts to the rise of grunge rock — something the singer rarely gets credit for achieving.

Still, much of Thank You, Goodnight feels like an extended celebration of the band and its charismatic frontman, leavened by his earnest effort to regain control of his voice. If you're not a Bon Jovi fan, four episodes of this story may feel like a bit much (I'd recommend at least watching the first and last episodes.)

More than anything, the docuseries feels like an extended argument for something Bon Jovi has struggled to achieve, even amid million selling records and top-grossing concert tours – respect as a legendary rock band.

The audio and digital versions of this story were edited by Jennifer Vanasco .

Kylie Minogue’s Vegas Residency Never Stumbles, Even as She Recovers From an Ankle Injury: Concert Review

By Todd Gilchrist

Todd Gilchrist

• How Jerry Seinfeld Parodied the Pop-Tart’s Origins Without Permission: ‘If People Are Dead, It’s Much Harder for Them to Sue You’ 10 hours ago
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• Kylie Minogue’s Vegas Residency Never Stumbles, Even as She Recovers From an Ankle Injury: Concert Review 4 days ago

After a five-month stint in art deco concert venue/nightclub Voltaire at Las Vegas casino The Venetian, Kylie Minogue has just two more performances left before the conclusion of her concert series “More Than a Residency.” Given the grueling schedule she’s maintained since the beginning of the promotional cycle for “Tension,” her sixteenth album, it feels understandable, even appropriate, for Minogue to take her foot off the gas — especially while she’s nursing three torn ligaments and an ankle injury she must ice immediately after every show.

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Across a set that ran just shy of an hour, they exploited the venue’s expressive, stylized lighting both to acclimate the crowd to the genre-spanning blend of dance music that would be included in Minogue’s performance, and to emphasize every one of their gobsmackingly strong muscles. Songs by Jane Birkin (“Baby Alone In Bablyone”), Cerrone (“Supernature”), Frankie Goes to Hollywood (“Relax”) and Gessafelstein (“Opr”) provided a soundtrack as performers contorted, swung and posed, all while stripping down to various levels of not-quite nudity that were at once thrilling and titillating. During some numbers dressed like Catherine Deneuve in “The Hunger” or a Patrick Nagel painting come to life and others wearing only loincloths or see-through bodysuits, the ensemble expertly warmed up the crowd ahead of Minogue’s performance.

As kaleidoscopic light surrounded her, Minogue beamed while the crowd cheered her arrival. It marked the first of many moments of seemingly sincere gratitude, underscoring her reputation as one of the most approachable pop divas. Then again, that intimacy may also have been the byproduct of Voltaire’s comparatively modest size. But the closeness (both physical and atmospheric) made the diminutive singer seem like an artist performing for friends and the towering international singer who’s sold 80 million records worldwide.

Minogue shuffled through “Vegas High,” reiterating that it was written expressly for her residency as she completed the final tracks for “Tension,” then performed singalong versions of “In Your Eyes” (from “Fever”) and “Get Outta My Way” (from “Aphrodite”) ahead of her first costume change. Returning to the stage dressed in skintight PVC, she performed a pair of her sexiest tracks, “Tension” and the “Body Language” lead single, “Slow.” On the latter, she paired its seductive lyrics with a live performance of the instrumental to Donna Summer’s “Love to Love You Baby” — a welcome callback to one of the many disco singers whose work has inspired and influenced her own. She then paid tribute to her Las Vegas forebears with a cover of Elvis’ “Can’t Help Falling In Love,” whose chorus the audience joined her in singing.

After another costume change, Minogue bounced through “Spinning Around” before reaching all of the way back to 1987 for a rendition of “The Loco-Motion,” the song that first put her on the map. Sandwiching the track between songs from 2000 and 2010, the singer not only reminded ticketholders how long she’s been around, but how long she’s been delivering earworm dancefloor fillers. While members of Belle du Nuit performed more acrobatic movements around her, Minogue easily kept pace with the choreography, a feat made more impressive by the fact that she is recovering from her aforementioned ankle injury — which was virtually undetectable, even while maneuvering around during the show on platform heels.

Though “All the Lovers,” featuring a cascading rainbow light show, ended the third act of the set on an appropriately triumphant note, Minogue returned for three more songs, the biggest of her career: the Grammy-winning “Tension” track “ Padam Padam ” and her instantly-recognizable “Can’t Get You Out of My Head,” plus the Grammy-nominated “Love at First Sight,” both from 2001’s “Fever.” Wearing all white like in the iconography of her “Fever” era, Minogue performed her final few tracks with extra gusto; even on her eighteenth performance of this particular set, she exuded a clear joy on stage, an appreciation to those in attendance not just for joining her in the room but for helping make those songs so popular for so long.

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No one rocks like The Rolling Stones: Mick Jagger, band thrill on Hackney Diamonds Tour

HOUSTON − It’s not only stunning, but it's somewhat miraculous that more than 60 years after their first tour, the Rolling Stones are still filling stadiums.

It’s even more head-spinning to realize that along with their treasured hits, the Rolling Stones are enhancing their set list with a trio of songs from last year’s well-received “Hackney Diamonds” – their first album of original material in 18 years and the impetus for this 16-city tour.

We’d call it a victory lap, but frontman Mick Jagger is better suited for marathons.

At the kickoff Sunday at NRG Stadium in Houston, the core triumvirate of Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood – along with their supporting cast of exceptional musicians and singers – hit the massive stage to the sounds of Richards’ slashing out the riff of, fittingly, “Start Me Up.”

Jagger, the nimble CEO of Stones Inc., peacocked in a silver shimmering jacket, his elastic legs a mere pedestal for his rotating torso.

Richards, still owning his disheveled pirate look with a knit cap and multicolored scarf dangling from his hip, and Wood, grinning continuously and occasionally scampering down the lengthy catwalk, retained their roles as faithful consiglieres.

There isn’t a patch of smooth facial skin among them (Jagger and Richards are 80 and Wood is 76). But with the energy to plow through an 18-song, two-hour set – yes, shorter than previous Stones shows, but still fulfilling – no one is looking to crown them pageant winners.

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While the band needed a couple of songs to fully find their groove – the striding cadence of a reworked “Get Off Of My Cloud” and a ramshackle “Rocks Off” felt curious rather than robust – Jagger compensated with his riveting presence and still-supple vocals.

Along with the “Hackney Diamonds” songs plucked for their major live debuts (the band played a few of the new tracks at an intimate New York club gig in October ), including the feisty “ Angry ” and encore of gospelized “ Sweet Sounds of Heaven ,” the 1966 tune “ Out of Time ” also received its U.S. debut. The band revived it last year during some performances for the overseas Sixty tour.

“I don’t think you really knew it, but you got to know it,” Jagger said with a smile after leading the nearly full stadium through the arm-waving chorus.

As typical for a Rolling Stones production, the stage ran the width of the stadium, blanketed with screens beaming images of the band with magnificent clarity. Close-ups of drummer Steve Jordan, who assumed rhythm duties after the death of original drummer Charlie Watts in 2021, joyfully thundering through the gem “ Paint It, Black ” and birthday boy Chuck Leavell ripping out a fleet-fingered solo on his Yamaha keyboard on “Honky Tonk Women” offered fans a peek at the magic happening a few feet behind Jagger and Co.

During the always-visceral “ Sympathy for the Devil ,” as serpents and fire crawled across the screens, Jagger prowled through the sinister groove, augmented by percussion provided by background vocalist Bernard Fowler and chunky bass lines from Darryl Jones.

Keyboardist Matt Clifford added French horn to “ You Can’t Always Get What You Want ” as Jagger, playing an acoustic guitar, strolled through the message of acquiescence that escalated into a gospel throwdown.

The horn duo of Karl Denson and Tim Ries coated many familiar anthems – “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” and “Miss You” among them – with their rich brass sounds. But, as fans have realized over the decades, the ominous “Gimme Shelter” remains a centerpiece of any Rolling Stones concert, and Jagger has a new onstage playmate in powerhouse background vocalist Chanel Haynes.

The woman who starred as Tina Turner in the West End musical of Turner’s life and officially became part of the band last year steamrolled through “Gimme Shelter” with a voice blaring attitude and vigor. As she and Jagger strolled the catwalk, sharing vocals and chemistry, Jagger wisely backed off a couple of times, allowing Haynes to unleash her theatrical verve.

But this is still Jagger’s circus, and whether he’s bobbing like a jittery prizefighter or wiggling his shoulders like the world’s most slender Chippendales dancer, he is an octogenarian who captivates.

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The band has enlisted various openers throughout the tour. In Houston, blues-rock guitar ace – and Texas native – Gary Clark Jr. landed the opening-night slot and for 45 minutes enchanted the mostly full stadium.

With a large band – five musicians, three background vocalists – behind him, Clark was the epitome of cool in dark shades and a bandanna as he took the stage with “Maktub” from his recently released fourth album, “JPEG Raw.”

Clark is a big name for an opener (then again, it is the Rolling Stones) and he used his time well with massive licks on the crunch rockers “Bright Lights” and “This is Who We Are,” with singer Naala joining him.

The soul-inflected “Feed the Babies” seared as a set highlight as the singer/guitarist displayed sizzling playing and a breezy vibe for the crowd.