2 New Festival Announcements

Bonnaroo on YouTube 

The big news for this week is the announcement of Bonnaroo 2014. This years line-up includes  Elton John, Kanye West, Jack White, Lionel Richie. Passes will be for single day only. Full details

The other fest is  Cincinnati’s Bunbury Music Festival, this year held July 11-13. Check it out!

Season's Greetings

From all of us at BackstagePassDirect, we would like to extend the warmest holiday wishes to our over 9000 members who have made 2013 such a great year.

2014 is just around the corner and whether you want to rub elbows with Taylor Swift, Kanye West, One Direction, Bruce Springsteen or Toby Keith, BPD are the folks who can make it happen.

We'll be back blogging after New Years; check in with us then.

Member Review: Kanye West/Jay-Z

BPD member Devil's Itch took time out from T'Day to send this in:

I found it to be impossible to keep my eyes off the two of them as they first appeared on opposing satellite stages on the floor while their small band - one guy on turntables, and a guitarist and pianist as far as I could tell - remained in the dark on the main stage.

Kanye West was the flashier dresser in a black leather skirt with black leather leggings, while Jay-Z appeared in a baseball hat (his beloved Yankees), t-shirt and pants. (His pregnant wife Beyonce was supposed to be in the crowd.)

However, the real wow factor came when their satellite stages rose up by the second new song, Who Gon Stop Me, and visuals of snarling rottweilers and sharks on the prowl in the deep, blue sea, were projected onto the four sides of each cube while laser lights appeared overhead.

It was scary cool.

By the third song, Otis, another Watch The Throne cut featuring Otis Redding vocals, an enormous American flag had unfurled on stage giving the two rappers time to join each other on the main stage for the first time amid fire while their larger-than-life images appeared on two huge side-by-side video screens.

For the rest of the night it was either them performing alone or together, either their collaborations or solo hits, in an action-packed, marathon show that stretched over some 40 songs and two hours and 20 minutes.

It never really let up in pace or energy.

West delivered the first highlight of the night with the trio of Jesus Walks - which saw him down on his knees - All Falls Down, and Diamonds From Sierra Leone and pull out all the stops again later in the show with Power, and another threesome - Runaway, Heartless, and Stronger, the latter featuring him back on one of those satellite stages all lit up in red or blue lights.

And when the golden light show failed to kick in twice during All Of The Lights, West stopped the song each time, until it kicked in the third time.

The early kill-or-be-killed theme continued visually with images of leopards projected during Welcome to the Jungle, and lions and tigers and bears - oh shit! - during Monster with both rappers on stage for both tunes.

But it was when someone threw a bra on stage while they performed Monster that both men smiled but said nothing.

The imagery turned to more thoughtful subjects like Martin Luther King and Malcolm X during another new tune, Made In America, and jet fighters and eagles during West’s own Touch The Sky.

“We’re living our dream!” said Jay-Z, who got his own moments in the spotlight with Run This Town, Hard Knock Life, and Empire State Of Mind, which all had the crowd in major sing-along mode.

His solo turns on Onto The Next One and Dirt Off Your Shoulders, with him back on the other satellite stage bathed in green lights and featuring his silhouette, along with I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me), were also memorable.

Towards the end of the night, the two rappers shared the stage again for another great trio of tunes - West’s Golddigger, Jay-Z’s 99 Problems and their collaborative Ni**as in Paris.

When they finally exited, Jay-Z proclaimed to the crowd, all Ringo-like but without the Liverpool accent: “Peace and love.”

Before the show, I asked Kanye why he works so hard onstage. His reply was simple and straightforward: “I want people to get what they pay for.”

We sure did.

Thanks Devil's Itch.

Ya know, as we close out 2011, everyone here at BackstagePassDirect would like to extend our sincerest Holiday good wishes and to say "Thanks" for making 2011 sch a killer year.

If you've been sitting on the fence about subscribing, give yourself a present for 2012. A full one year membership is only $49; sign up today.

Kanye West + Jay-Z Announce Tour

BPD members sure don't waste any time. Within minutes of the announcement of the Kanye West/ Jay-Z album and tour, the pass requests started coming in.

If you've been living under a rock, here's the story:

Performing under the name “The Throne,” Kanye West and Jay-Z will release the "Watch the Throne" album next month and begin the supporting tour in September. Venue and dates below:

Thu 09/22/11 Auburn Hills, MI The Palace Of Auburn Hills
Tue 09/27/11 East Rutherford, NJ IZOD Center
Wed 09/28/11 East Rutherford, NJ IZOD Center
Thu 09/29/11 Washington, DC Verizon Center
Tue 10/04/11 Philadelphia, PA Wells Fargo Center
Thu 10/06/11 Chicago, IL United Center
Fri 10/07/11 Chicago, IL United Center
Sat 10/08/11 Minneapolis, MN Target Center
Mon 10/10/11 Denver, CO Pepsi Center
Thu 10/13/11 Tacoma, WA Tacoma Dome
Sun 10/16/11 San Jose, CA HP Pavilion At San Jose
Mon 10/17/11 Sacramento, CA Power Balance Pavilion
Wed 10/19/11 Los Angeles, CA Staples Center
Thu 10/20/11 Los Angeles, CA Staples Center
Fri 10/21/11 Las Vegas, NV MGM Grand Garden Arena
Tue 10/25/11 Dallas, TX American Airlines Center
Wed 10/26/11 Houston, TX Toyota Center
Sat 10/29/11 Atlanta, GA Philips Arena
Sun 10/30/11 Greensboro, NC Greensboro Coliseum
Tue 11/01/11 Baltimore, MD 1st Mariner Arena
Thu 11/03/11 Boston, MA TD Garden

What are you waiting for? Request passes now!!

Coachella Setlists: Arcade Fire and Kanye West

Just back from Coachella, BPD member Joachim21 sends in these setlists for Arcade Fire and Kanye West:

AF

Month of May
Rebellion (Lies)
No Cars Go
Haïti
City With No Children
The Suburbs
The Suburbs (Continued)
Crown of Love
Rococo
Intervention
Neighborhood #2 (Laika)
We Used to Wait
Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)
Keep the Car Running
Wake Up
Encore:
Ready to Start
Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)
Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)

KW

Dark Fantasy (with Justin Vernon)
Power
Jesus Walks
Can't Tell Me Nothing
Diamonds from Sierra Leone
Hell of a Life
Monster (with Justin Vernon)
Flashing Lights
Good Life (With "P.Y.T." by Michael Jackson intro)
Love Lockdown (With "Sirius" by The Alans Parsons Project intro)
Say You Will
Heartless
Swagger Like Us (Jay-Z cover)
Run This Town (Jay-Z cover)
E.T. (Katy Perry cover) (With "We Will Rock You" by Queen intro)
Homecoming
Through The Wire
All Falls Down
Touch The Sky
Gold Digger
All of the Lights
Stronger
Runaway (with Pusha T)
Lost in the World (with Justin Vernon)
Hey, Mama

Are you still sitting on your hands and waiting to become a member? What are you waiting for?

Sign up today.

Coachella 12

The Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival has unleashed its artist lineup for No. 12.

Happening April 15-17 at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, Calif., headliners include Arcade Fire, Kanye West and Kings of Leon plus an almost endless list of artists and bands including a re-formed Big Audio Dynamite.

With Kings Of Leon topping the Friday, April 15 bill, other first-day acts include The Black Keys, Interpol, The Chemical Brothers, Caifanes, Robyn, Sasha, Ms. Lauryn Hill, Brandon Flowers, Crystal Castles and Magnetic Man.

Along with Arcade Fire’s Saturday, April 16 performance the second-day list includes Animal Collective, Mumford & Sons, Bright Eyes, Empire Of The Sun, Big Audio Dynamite, Steve Angello, the Kills, London Suede, Broken Social Scene, One Day As A Lion, Erykah Badu and Paul van Dyk.

Sunday’s lineup has Kanye West closing after a day of performances by The Strokes, Duran Duran, The National, P.J. Harvey, Death From Above 1979, Wiz Khalifa, Ratatat, Nas & Damian Marley, Jimmy Eat World, Axwell, Sven Vath and The Bloody Beetroots.

These acts are only the short list as the lineup goes deeper each day, listing performances by such notables as Flogging Molly and Ozomatli (Friday), Scissor Sisters, The New Pornographers and Gogol Bordello (Saturday) and Chromeo, Duck Sauce, She Wants Revenge, and Jack’s Mannequin (Sunday). Plus tons more.

We'll have a limited number of passes for individual days. When you make your requests, please include the day you'd like to be backstage.

Fame Kills Cancelled

Kanye West and Lady Gaga's highly anticipated tour is over before it even began.

Just days after announcing dates for an ambitious joint show that was to kick off next month, the tour was cancelled without any explanation.

It was to kick off Nov. 10 in Phoenix and was scheduled to run through at least January.

"Fame Kills" is Official

Kanye West revealed in a recent TV appearance that he’ll embark on a joint tour with Lady Gaga later this year. West said, “She’s talented and so incredible that she’s not an opening act. We’re doing it together, with no opening act.” Perez Hilton says that Gaga and Yeezy will instead spend the entire show onstage performing together. One thing is certain: This show will definitely be one of the hottest backstage pass requests this year.

It’s no surprise that Kanye is a fan of Lady Gaga, who fronted Rolling Stone’s annual Hot Issue. West recently interpolated Gaga’s “Poker Face” hit into the Kid Cudi track “I Make Her Say” or “I Poke Her Face” as the kids on the streets call it. Kanye has even gone as far as saying Gaga is this generation’s Madonna. Kanye is also no stranger to recruiting the top talent on the charts to join him on tour, as his epic Glow In The Dark tour last year featured Rihanna, Chris Brown, N.E.R.D. and Lupe Fiasco.

The multiplatinum artists will unite for 34 shows in 34 cities, kicking off at the US Airways Center in Phoenix, AZ on November 10th and runs through January 24th at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

Here's the full US schedule:

Tue 11/10/09 Phoenix, AZ US Airways Center

Wed 11/11/09 San Diego, CA San Diego Sports Arena

Fri 11/13/09 Las Vegas, NV Mandalay Bay Events Center

Sun 11/15/09 Anaheim, CA Honda Center

Mon 11/16/09 Los Angeles, CA Staples Center

Wed 11/18/09 Sacramento, CA ARCO Arena

Thu 11/19/09 San Jose, CA HP Pavilion At San Jose

Wed 12/02/09 Denver, CO Pepsi Center

Fri 12/04/09 St. Louis, MO Scottrade Center

Wed 12/09/09 Miami, FL AmericanAirlines Arena

Fri 12/11/09 Atlanta, GA Philips Arena

Sat 12/12/09 Greensboro, NC Greensboro Coliseum

Sun 12/13/09 Norfolk, VA Norfolk Scope Arena

Wed 12/16/09 Worcester, MA DCU Center

Fri 12/18/09 Philadelphia, PA The Wachovia Center

Sat 12/19/09 Baltimore, MD 1st Mariner Arena

Sun 12/20/09 Buffalo, NY HSBC Arena

Tue 12/22/09 East Rutherford, NJ Izod Center

Wed 12/23/09 Cleveland, OH Quicken Loans Arena

Sat 12/26/09 Hartford, CT XL Center

Wed 12/30/09 Washington, DC Verizon Center

Sun 01/03/10 Uniondale, NY Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum

Thu 01/14/10 Auburn Hills, MI The Palace Of Auburn Hills

Sat 01/16/10 Chicago, IL United Center

Thu 01/21/10 San Antonio, TX AT&T Center

Fri 01/22/10 Houston, TX Toyota Center

Sun 01/24/10 Dallas, TX American Airlines Center

Passes are awarded on a first come first served basis, so don't delay. Join now and get your requests in early.