A scene from “Duran Duran: A Hollywood High.” Pictured from left to right: John Taylor, Roger Taylor, Simon LeBon, Anna Ross, Erin Stevenson, Dom Brown and Nick Rhodes. (Photo courtesy of Abramorama)
Directed by Gavin Elder, Vincent Adam Paul and George Scott
Culture Representation: Taking place in Los Angeles in March 2022, the documentary film “Duran Duran: A Hollywood High” features British pop/rock band Duran Duran performing the group’s first rooftop concert.
Culture Clash: In the documentary interviews, members of the band talk about the culture shock they experienced the first time they visited and performed in Los Angeles.
Culture Audience: Besides the obvious target audience of Duran Duran fans,“Duran Duran: A Hollywood High” will appeal primarily to fans of pop music artists who had their biggest hits in the 1980s.
A scene from “Duran Duran: A Hollywood High.” Pictured from left to right: Roger Taylor, John Taylor, Anna Ross, Erin Stevenson, Simon LeBon, Dom Brown and Nick Rhodes. (Photo courtesy of Abramorama)
Even though the British pop/rock band Duran Duran is mostly known for the band’s hits from the 1980s, the concert documentary “Duran Duran: A Hollywood High” is an admirable showcase of a still-vibrant Duran Duran performing songs from the 1980s to the 2020s. This 75-minute documentary is good but not outstanding or comprehensive. Avid fans of Duran Duran will consider this movie a must-see. Everyone else might watch out of curiosity to see the 2022 version of Duran Duran and what kind of live performance the band has to offer, 41 years after Duran Duran’s 1981 self-titled debut album was released.
Directed by Gavin Elder, Vincent Adam Paul and George Scott, “Duran Duran: A Hollywood High” at least has a unique concert setting for Duran Duran, because it shows the band performing its very first rooftop concert. The documentary was filmed in March 2022, at The Aster (a hotel and members’ club) in Los Angeles’ Hollywood district. The concert took place months before The Aster officially opened in October 2022. About 200 to 250 people were in the audience of this concert.
This particular concert location was chosen because The Aster is across the street from the iconic Capitol Records building, whose famous circular shape is designed to look like stacked vinyl records on a turntable. Capitol Records was the U.S. record label for Duran Duran from 1981 to 1999, the years when the band had its biggest hits. During the concert film, there are several sweeping shots of the band performing with the Capitol Records building as a backdrop.
The documentary begins with an approximately 15-minute introduction of background information (a mixture of archival footage and new footage) explaining Duran Duran’s history with Los Angeles. Duran Duran formed in 1978, in Birmingham, England. Bass player John Taylor and keyboardist Nick Rhodes co-founded the band; drummer Roger Taylor (no relation to John Taylor) joined in 1979; and lead singer Simon LeBon joined in 1980. Roger Taylor quit in 1986, and John Taylor quit in 1997, but both Taylors have been part of Duran Duran’s reunited lineup since 2001.
The documentary very briefly mentions Andy Taylor (no relation to John Taylor and Roger Taylor), who was Duran Duran’s guitarist from 1980 to 1986, and from 2001 to 2006. Since 2006, Dominic “Dom” Brown has been Duran Duran’s touring and recording guitarist. In the documentary, Rhodes has high praise for American guitarist Warren Cuccurullo, who worked with Duran Duran from 1986 to 2001. Rhodes says meeting Cuccurullo for the first time in Los Angeles was the most important and impactful meeting that Duran Duran ever had in Los Angeles.
In the documentary, Roger Taylor says in an exclusive interview that his experience of visiting Los Angeles for the first time in 1981 was almost like being in another world, because Los Angeles is so different from Birmingham, England. He mentions that sunshine and palm trees “are in real short supply” in Birmingham. And he remembers what his first impression was of Los Angeles: “I thought I’d arrived in paradise.”
Rhodes comments that when he thinks of Los Angeles, he always thinks of the Sunset Strip and Los Angeles’ obsession with fame. Two iconic Sunset Strip buildings are mentioned in this introduction: The Roxy nightclub (the first venue in Los Angeles that Duran Duran played during the band’s 1981 U.S. tour) and the now-defunct Continental Hyatt House, which was nicknamed the Continental Riot House, because it was a notorious party spot for rock stars and other celebrities. (The hotel has been renamed several times and has been known as the Andaz West Hollywood since 2009.) In true rock-star fashion, Duran Duran was expelled from the Continental Hyatt for some troublemaking antics during the band’s first U.S. tour. John Taylor, who has lived in Los Angeles since the 1990s, comments that Los Angeles is “a very uplifting place to be.”
LeBon says that New York City and Los Angeles are so different from each other, they’re like separate planets. He compares New York City to being like the grit of punk rock, and Los Angeles to being like the decadence of rock and roll. LeBon shares a vivid first-impression memory of Los Angeles having oil rig machines and an immense number of billboards on the Sunset Strip.
“I’d never seen so much commercial advertising,” he recalls. LeBon also says that Nina Simone was invited to Duran Duran’s first Los Angeles show, but she couldn’t attend. However, she sent him a hand-written note with an apology that she couldn’t be there and to wish Duran Duran the best. LeBon says he still has the note, and it’s one of his most-treasured possessions.
In addition to the documentary having archival footage of Duran Duran in Los Angeles (including the band’s 1984 press conference at Magic Castle Hotel and the band’s 1993 ceremony to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame), “Duran Duran: A Hollywood High” includes a brief new clip of Rhodes talking with music producer David Kershenbaum, who remixed the band’s 1982 album “Rio,” which became Duran Duran’s international breakthrough album after the album was remixed. Rhodes expresses gratitude to Kershenbaum for playing a pivotal role in Duran Duran’s career. Kershenbaum comments on working with Duran Duran in the early 1980s, “It was a magical time.”
If all of this sounds like the documentary is on a nostalgia trip, think again. The concert, which is the majority of “Duran Duran: A Hollywood High,” has a range of Duran Duran songs from the 1980s to tracks from the band’s 2021 album “Future Past.” Clad in black and white outfits, Duran Duran (accompanied by backup singers Anna Ross and Erin Stevenson) perform a setlist that’s not really a greatest-hits collection but more like a hodgepodge of Duran Duran songs from the 1980s, 1990s and the early 21st century.
The 12 songs performed in the documentary are (in order):
“A View to a Kill” (1985)
“Invisible” (2021)
“All of You” (2021)
“Notorious” (1986)
“Come Undone” (1993)
“Give It All Up” (2021)
“Pressure Off” (2015)
“White Lines” (1995)
“Anniversary” (2021)
“Ordinary World” (1993)
“Tonight United” (2021)
“Hungry Like the Wolf” (1982)
The concert begins with a lot of great energy, but it really starts to hit its stride when Duran Duran performs “Notorious.” Backup singers Ross and Stevenson get their moments to shine with solo refrains in songs (Ross on “Come Undone,” Stevenson on “Give It All Up”), while guitarist Brown has a standout moment with his soloing in “Ordinary World.” Because the stage is so small, John Taylor, LeBon and Brown don’t do a lot of running around back and forth and basically stay in the same positions on the stage.
The documentary’s cinematography stays mainly focused on stage, with a fair balance of wide shots and close-ups of the band members. Any glimpses of the audience are very brief, so as not to distract the documentary viewers from what’s happening on stage. There are multiple shots of keyboardist Rhodes, a longtime photographer, taking photos and videos on his phone from his vantage point behind the keyboards. The movie’s sound editing and sound mixing get the job done well enough, but nothing in this documentary is exceptional enough to be award-worthy.
The concert’s energy level is at its peak with Duran Duran’s blistering cover version of Melle Mel’s “White Lines” that the band turns into a stellar dance-rock party song. The band’s poignant rendition of “Ordinary World” is an example of why this ballad is a timeless Duran Duran classic. “Tonight United” and fan fave “Hungry Like the Wolf” were among the other standout performances. The main drawback to the documentary is that it seems too short, considering all the beloved Duran Duran songs that could have been in the movie but aren’t.
The vocals of many lead singers of rock bands usually don’t get better with age, but LeBon’s voice as a live performer has better tone and control than it did in the 1980s. LeBon, Roger Taylor, John Taylor and Rhodes are still solid and stylish performers, but understandably not as flashy and prone to doing the expected rock-star stage moves that were part of Duran Duran’s act in the 1980s. In other words, Duran Duran is aging gracefully and can still deliver a concert that’s worthy of the band’s memorable songs and unique sound.
Abramorama in association with Fathom Events released “Duran Duran: A Hollywood High” for a limited engagement in U.S. cinemas on November 3, 2022.
Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney, John Lennon and George Harrison in “The Beatles: Get Back—The Rooftop Concert” (Photo courtesy of Apple Corps Ltd./Disney Enterprises, Inc.)
Culture Representation: Taking place in London on January 30, 1969, the concert film “The Beatles: Get Back–The Rooftop Concert” features a predominantly white and mostly British group of people (with one Japanese person and one African American person) representing the middle-class and wealthy in this chronicle of the Beatles’ last live public performance.
Culture Clash: Before the band broke up in 1970, the Beatles had internal struggles and disagreements, including if and where they would do this live concert.
Culture Audience: Besides appealing to the obvious target audience of Beatles fans, “The Beatles: Get Back—The Rooftop Concert” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of 1960s rock music who want detailed observations of what music studio sessions looked like at the time.
Pictured clockwise, from center: Michael Lindsay-Hogg, Paul McCartney, Billy Preston, Mal Evans, an unidentified man, Ringo Starr, John Lennon and George Harrison in “The Beatles: Get Back—The Rooftop Concert” (Photo courtesy of Apple Corps Ltd./Disney Enterprises, Inc.)
If you’ve seen the Disney+ 2021 docuseries “The Beatles: Get Back,” then there are no surprises in the concert documentary “The Beatles: Get Back—The Rooftop Concert,” which consists of the entire rooftop concert that was in the docuseries. The concert, which was the last public performance by the Beatles, took place on the roof of Apple Corps headquarters in London, on January 30, 1969. Footage for the concert was originally directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg for the 1970 Beatles documentary “Let It Be,” and then restored for “The Beatles: Get Back” docuseries by director Peter Jackson.
To celebrate the 53rd anniversary of this concert, Walt Disney Pictures released “The Beatles: Get Back—The Rooftop Concert” in IMAX theaters in select cities worldwide, as a one-day-only global premiere on January 30, 2022. The event included a live Q&A with director Jackson, who was interviewed from New Zealand. He answered questions from a moderator and pre-selected inquiries from the public. (Most of the selected questions can from fans in the U.S.) Ironically, Jackson said during the Q&A that he couldn’t watch the movie in IMAX with the rest of the global audience because there were no IMAX theaters near him in New Zealand. The Q&A was about 30 minutes, while “The Beatles: Get Back—The Rooftop Concert” had a total running time of about 64 minutes.
A complete review of “The Beatles: Get Back” can be found here, including a summary of the concert. For the rooftop concert, the documentary shows the band performing “Get Back” (twice, but not consecutively), “Don’t Let Me Down” (twice, but not consecutively), “One After 909,” “Dig a Pony” and “I’ve Got a Feeling.” The members of the Beatles—singer/bass player Paul McCartney, singer/rhythm guitarist John Lennon, singer/lead guitarist George Harrison and drummer Ringo Starr—are all in fine form. The documentary makes good use of split screens to occasionally show different camera angles of the same scene.
The IMAX screening of “The Beatles: Get Back—The Rooftop Concert” included a new sound mix specifically for IMAX screens, making it well worth it to see the movie in the IMAX format—whether it was to hear the creaking of the rooftop floorboards or the breathing of the band members in between songs. Jackson said in the Q&A that the IMAX sound mixes were supervised by Gilles Martin (son of the Beatles producer George Martin) at Twickenham Studios in London, where the Beatles recorded much of what’s seen in “Let It Be” and “The Beatles: Get Back.” Jackson added that Twickenham is the only studio in the United Kingdom that could do IMAX sound mixing, so it was like full-circle destiny for this documentary. “Twickenham gets the last word,” Jackson quipped.
The concert film has the same introductory summary of the Beatles’ career up until 1969 that was the intro for “The Beatles: Get Back” docuseries. The docuseries included song titles in the captions, whereas “The Beatles: Get Back—The Rooftop Concert” does not have song titles as captions with the concert footage. What also isn’t in “The Beatles: Get Back—The Rooftop Concert” is the behind-the-scenes band squabbling (seen in the docuseries) over whether or not this rooftop concert was going to take place. Harrison initially didn’t want to do the concert on the roof, but he was outvoted by the other Beatles.
During this unannounced, surprise concert, which took place toward the end of a work day on London’s Savile Row, it’s clear that Harrison and the rest of the band were enjoying themselves. Any reluctance that Harrison previously had about doing the show was no longer apparent. The concert was also known for almost being interrupted by police officers, who arrived in response to noise complaints. Ray Dagg, the officer who led the investigation, repeatedly threatened that people would be arrested if the Beatles didn’t shut down the concert. The Beatles knew when to stop the show themselves instead of the police forcing them to shut it down.
“The Beatles: Get Back—The Rooftop Concert” has the same ending as “The Beatles: Get Back”—footage of the Beatles listening to the playback recordings of the concert. And then, the end credits show a compilation of footage taken of the Beatles in the studio recording some of the songs that would end up on the “Let It Be” album, such as the title track and “Two of Us.” An amusing highlight during this end-credits compilation is when Lennon silently and comedically mimics McCartney singing “Let It Be.”
For many Beatles fans, one of the main reasons to go to this IMAX event was to see the Q&A with Jackson, who is a self-described Beatles superfan. He said that there are about three or four hours’ worth of unreleased footage, including interviews that he and his team did with many of the people (including McCartney and Starr) who were involved in the rooftop concert and companion recording sessions. Jackson said he was unsure if these interviews would ever be released, but he knew that he didn’t want these “talking head” interviews in “The Beatles: Get Back” because the interviews would be too distracting to the immersive experience of viewers feeling transported back to January 1969.
However, he noted that if Lindsay-Hogg’s “Let It Be” documentary is ever released on Blu-ray or DVD, Jackson thinks these interviews would make ideal extras for this home video release. (The “Let It Be” documentary was taken out of distribution years ago, but bootleg copies exist.) Jackson said that he also hopes that the documentary’s recording studio footage showing complete performances of songs (not just snippets) will eventually be released too.
As a sneak peek of the “talking head” interviews, Jackson took out his iPad to show an approximately 15-second clip of an interview with Dagg, the constable who was the most agitated and uptight cop when the police showed up at Apple Corps in response to the noise complaints. Dagg, who was 18 years old in January 1969, was the cop making the threats to have people arrested because of the concert.
Jackson said that Dagg has become “a little bit of a cult figure” for some Beatles fans, because Dagg’s irritated reactions to the concert are hilarious in hindsight. In the interview clip that Jackson showed, a now-elderly Dagg is interviewed on the same rooftop where the concert took place. Dagg comments on his threats to arrest people and shut down the concert: “In those days, it was just to get the job done. And they had to stop, as far as I was concerned.”
Jackson urged Beatles fans to put “public pressure” on Disney and Apple to let these interviews and other unreleased footage be seen for posterity. He says of the footage: “I’m sure that Apple, sitting on this gold mine, can figure out some way that it can be used.” Jackson concluded the Q&A by saying of “The Beatles: Get Back” documentary: “I’m hoping at some point that I’ll get to do an extended cut. I’d love to put full-length performances of the songs in, and some songs we didn’t include at all. There are also some conversations that are historically interesting. They should probably be seen at some point.”
Walt Disney Pictures released “The Beatles: Get Back—The Rooftop Concert” as an exclusive IMAX event screening with a filmmaker Q&A on January 30, 2022. “The Beatles: Get Back—The Rooftop Concert” will have a global theatrical engagement on February 9, February 11, February 12 and February 13, 2022. The complete docuseries “The Beatles: Get Back” is available on Disney+ and will be released on Blu-ray and DVD on February 8, 2022.
Culture Representation: Taking place in Chicago on April 8, 2017, the concert documentary “Chance the Rapper’s Magnificent Coloring World” features a racially diverse group of performers and about 1,500 audience members (mostly white and black, with some Latinos and Asians), who are mostly young people, gathered for a concert by Chance the Rapper.
Culture Clash: Whimsical and carefree childhood themes are on stage, while the song lyrics sometimes address social unrest and drug use.
Culture Audience: Besides the obvious target audience of Chance the Rapper fans and people who like hip-hop, “Chance the Rapper’s Magnificent Coloring World” will appeal to people who enjoy high-energy concert films that are creative without being too extravagant and over-the-top.
Chance the Rapper in “Chance the Rapper’s Magnificent Coloring World” (Photo courtesy of House of Kicks and Park Pictures)
On April 18, 2017, Grammy-winning hip-hop artist Chance the Rapper held a secret concert in his hometown of Chicago. About 1,500 people were invited to watch him perform songs off of his breakthrough 2016 mixtape album “Coloring Book,” plus other notable tunes. (Based on who’s in the audience, most attendees were under the age of 30.) The result is this concert documentary that doesn’t do anything groundbreaking in its production and staging, but it’s a lively showcase for Chance the Rapper and his charismatic showmanship.
At 64 minutes long, it’s a briskly paced film that’s perfect for people who want a fairly quick dose of Chance the Rapper performing live. However, if the documentary had been 90 minutes or longer, it would have benefited from more behind-the-scenes footage of how this show’s production elements were put together. According to what Chance the Rapper says in the movie, the basic elements of the production happened in just a few weeks. It took a lot longer than a few weeks to plan it though.
In an interview shown before the movie gets to the concert footage, Chance the Rapper says that he had a vision for years to do a show like this—steeped in childhood nostalgia but reflective of who he is as an artist who expresses adult experiences. In keeping with the “Coloring Book”/childhood theme, fans who were invited to the show were transported to the venue in yellow school buses. One of the stage props is a Sunday Candy store.
Before getting to the concert footage, the movie begins with some grainy, archival footage in black and white of Chance the Rapper (whose real name is Chancellor Jonathan Bennett) at age 8 or 9, performing at a talent contest by singing and doing some Michael Jackson-inspired dance moves (including the moonwalk) and being elated when he won the contest. Then there’s a standard montage of people who work with Chance the Rapper talking about how great and visionary he is. It’s fairly predictable commentary that you would expect from people on a celebrity’s payroll.
Tour manager Colleen Mares says that Chance the Rapper becoming a husband and father affected his spirituality in a positive way. Choir director Rachel Robinson echoes those thoughts, by saying, “His musical journey is parallel to his spiritual journey.” Other people who weigh in with their praise include film director Jake Schreier, production designer Michael Apostolos, drummer Greg “Stix” Landfair, sound engineer Jabari “Jack Red” Rayford and choreographers Pause Eddie and Ian Eastwood.
In all, there were about 100 people in the crew who worked on the show, according to what Chance Rapper says in the documentary interview. He says his first thought in deciding to do the concert was: “How do we mic the audience?” He adds that he didn’t want it to be the type of concert film where the audio from the audience was toned down. He wanted the concert to feel fully immersive. “I like creating experiences,” he says.
As an example of how important sound is in enhancing the visual experience, he demonstrates in a kitchen how hearing a running faucet before you walk into a room can affect your anticipation of what to see in the room. And then, the movie shows how perspectives change when you see faucet with running water, but you don’t hear the water. Chance the Rapper is obviously fascinated with the technical aspects of filmmaking, which is why if this documentary has been longer, it definitely needed more behind-the-scenes insight into his decisions for how this concert was staged and filmed. (He’s one of the documentary’s producers.)
Not much in this concert will be surprising to people who saw Chance the Rapper on his “Coloring Book” tour, since this concert was filmed during the tour. At times, there’s a choir on stage. There’s also a string orchestra led by a conductor. For “Same Drugs,” he sings and plays the piano while sitting next to someone dressed as a bird wearing a hippie-like headband. Even though Chance the Rapper has collaborated with many artists, there are no surprise guest apperances in this concert documentary.
Some of the concert highlights include his rousing renditions of “Blessings Part 1” and “Blessings Part 2” with the choir and getting the audience to sing along like it’s a church revival. A more contemplative moment comes with “Summer Friends,” where it’s just Chance the Rapper on stage accompanied by a keyboardist using a vocal effects processor, as they’re bathed in a soft white lighting glow. Other songs performed in the film include “D.R.A.M. Sings Special,” “Everybody’s Something,” “Windows,” “Angels,” “All Night,” “We Go High” and “All We Got.”
The show features high-energy hip-hop backup dancers. And there’s some theatrical acting on stage too, with a set piece constructed like the outside of a nightclub and a bouncer who won’t let hopeful patrons past the security rope. It’s a little corny and better-suited for a Broadway show, but at least it does not take up too much of the concert.
Chance the Rapper is not a highly accomplished dancer (he lets his backup dancers do the flashy dance moves), but he’s very good at commanding the stage. He also excels at connecting with his audience. One of the highlights of the film is toward the end, when he goes down to the audience level in the front row to touch people hands and give them high-fives. He also namechecks Chicago multiple times, and says at one point, “Chicago, thanks so much for all you’ve done for me!”
“Chance the Rapper’s Magnificent Coloring World” is self-distributed through Chance the Rapper’s House of Kicks company, exclusively at AMC Theatres for a limited time. It’s reportedly the first time that a music artist has self-distributed a film with AMC Theatres. Considering that Chance the Rapper is not touring in 2021 (he’s only scheduled to perform at Milwaukee’s Summerfest in 2021), seeing this documentary in a movie theater will be the closest that most of his fans will have to experiencing a full Chance the Rapper concert with some late 2010s nostalgia of how his shows were back then.
This documentary is not the type of giant concert spectacle that people will be talking about for years. Nor is it extraordinary when it comes to the concert’s production theme, set designs, costume design or choreography. However, it’s very enjoyable to watch, especially for people who are inclined to like hip-hop or at least have an appreciation for music with catchy beats. And it’s a good way for people unfamiliar with Chance the Rapper to get a sense of who he is as an artist on stage.
House of Kicks and Park Pictures released “Chance the Rapper’s Magnificent Coloring World” in U.S. cinemas (exclusively in AMC Theatres) on August 13, 2021.
Daniel Craig as 007 spy James Bond in “No Time to Die.” The movie’s April 2020 release was postponed to October 2021 because of coronavirus concerns in key territories where the movie will be released. (Photo by Nicola Dove)
Concerns about the coronavirus (also known as COVID-19) pandemic have led to numerous cancellations or postponements in the entertainment industry. The way things are going in the United States and many other countries, any public gathering of at least 50 people per gathering is probably going to be cancelled or postponed until further notice. Shutdowns are occurring at public places for sports and entertainment.
Here’s a list of what’s been cancelled or postponed so far. This list will be updated as more cancellations and postponements are announced.
NOTE: This list does not include individual TV series, movies, plays or musicals that have shut down production until further notice. (There are too many of them to list.)
Academy Awards
The annual Academy Awards (also known as the Oscars) in Los Angeles (originally scheduled for February 28, 2021) has been postponed and rescheduled. The Academy Awards (televised in the U.S. on ABC) will now take place on April 25, 2021. (Updated June 15, 2020.)
Academy of Country Music Awards
The annual ACM Awards (originally scheduled for April 5, 2020) and its related ACM Party for a Cause events in have been postponed and rescheduled. The ACM Awards (televised in the U.S. by CBS) will now take place on September 16, 2020, and has moved from Las Vegas to Nashville. ACM Party for a Cause events will occur around this date in Nashville. Keith Urban was announced as host of the 2020 ACM Awards, which will take place in Nashville for the first time in the show’s 55-year history. (Updated April 27, 2020.)
ACE Comic Con Northeast
ACE Comic Con Northeast was scheduled to take place in Boston from March 20 to March 22, 2020, but the event has been cancelled.
AEG Presents
Live-events promotion company AEG Presents has cancelled or postponed almost all of its events for 2020. (Updated May 24, 2020)
All Points East
The annual All Points East for alternative rock music has been cancelled. The festival (which takes place in London) was scheduled for May 22 to May 24 and May 29 to May 31, 2020. Tame Impala, Caribou, Glass Animals and Kelly Lee Owens were among performers. (Updated March 27, 2020)
Anime Expo
The annual Japanese animation convention in Los Angeles has been cancelled as an in-person event and will now be a virtual/online event called Anime Expo Light, which will take place on July 3 and July 4, 2020. (Updated April 21, 2020.
“Antebellum”
Lionsgate has postponed and rescheduled the release of the drama “Antebellum,” starring Janelle Monáe. Originally set for release April 24, 2020, “Antebellum” will now be released on September 18, 2020. In the U.S., “Antebellum” will be released on VOD, while outside the U.S., the movie will be released in theaters that are open for business.(Updated August 6, 2020)
“Antlers”
Searchlight Pictures has postponed and rescheduled the release of the horror movie “Antlers,” originally set for April 17, 2020, and is now due out on October 15, 2021. The movie stars Keri Russell and Jesse Plemons. (Updated August 12, 2021)
The Apollo
The world-famous Apollo Theater in New York’s Harlem neighborhood has cancelled all in-person events until further notice. (Updated April 5, 2020)
Apple
The computer corporation is shutting down all Apple retail stores outside of China for two weeks, from March 14 to March 27, 2020. The re-opening date is subject to change. Apple did a similar shutdown of its retail stores in China. (Updated March 12, 2020)
“Artemis Fowl”
Disney’s sci-fi film “Artemis Fowl” (starring Ferdia Shaw, Judi Dench and Colin Farrell) was set for a theatrical release on May 24, 2020, but will instead forgo a theatrical release and go directly to the Disney+ streaming service on June 12, 2020. (Updated April 3, 2020)
“The Artist’s Wife”
Strand Releasing and Water’s End Productions have postponed and rescheduled the release the dramatic film “The Artist’s Wife,” starring Lena Olin and Bruce Dern. The film was originally scheduled to be released in New York City on April 3, 2020, in Los Angeles on April 10, 2020, and in the San Francisco Bay Area on April 17, 2020. The movie is now set for release in select U.S. theaters and on VOD on September 25, 2020. (Updated August 28, 2020)
ASCAP Experience
The annual Los Angeles networking event for ASCAP songwriters and publishers is now cancelled. ASCAP Experience, formerly known as the ASCAP “I Create Music” Expo, was scheduled for April 1 to April 3, 2020. (Updated March 11, 2020)
Austin City Limits Festival
The annual music festival in Austin, Texas, has been cancelled. The festival was scheduled for October 2 to October 4 and October 9 to October 11, 2020. Artists on the festival bill included Eminem, Fleetwood Mac, Rage Against the Machine, Chris Stapleton, STS9, Twenty One Pilots and Common. (Updated March 26, 2020)
“The Batman”
Warner Bros. Pictures has postponed and rescheduled this superhero reboot, starring Robert Pattinson. “The Batman” was originally set for June 25, 2021, was postponed to October 1, 2021, and is now scheduled for release on March 4, 2022. (Updated October 6, 2020)
Beale Street Music Festival
The annual music festival in Memphis, Tennessee, has been cancelled. Originally scheduled for May 1 to May 3, 2020, the event was then postponed to October 16 to October 18, 2020. Artists who had been scheduled to perform at the 2020 Beale Street Music Festival included the Lumineers, Lil Wayne, Three 6 Mafia, the Avett Brothers and the Smashing Pumpkins. (Updated June 18, 2020)
Beijing International Film Festival
The annual event in China has been postponed. The Beijing International Film Festival was set for April 19 to April 26, 2020.
Justin Bieber
The Grammy-winning pop star has postponed until further notice the North American concerts for his “Changes” Tour. The tour dates were scheduled to begin in Seattle on May 14, 2020, and end in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on September 26, 2020. (Updated April 1, 2020)
Big Ears Festival
The annual music and film event in Knoxville, Tennessee, has been cancelled. Originally scheduled for March 26 to March 29, 2020, the Big Ears Festival’s announced performers this year included Devendra Banhart, Anthony Braxton, Kronos Quartet and Patti Smith. (March 11, 2020)
Billboard Music Awards
The annual award show was scheduled to take place in Las Vegas on April 29, 2020, but the ceremony has been postponed and rescheduled for October 14, 2020. NBC has the U.S. telecast of the Billboard Music Awards. Kelly Clarkson has hosted the show since 2018. (Updated August 14, 2020)
“Black Widow”
Disney’s Marvel Studios has postponed and rescheduled the release of the superhero movie “Black Widow,” which was set for May 1, 2020. The movie was then postponed to May 7, 2021, and is now set for release on Disney+ (at an extra premium price for Disney+ subscribers) and in theaters on July 9, 2021. The stars of “Black Widow” include Scarlett Johansson, Rachel Weisz, David Harbour and Florence Pugh. (Updated March 23, 2021)
“Blue Story”
Paramount Pictures has postponed and rescheduled the U.S. release of this crime drama, starring Stephen Odubola and Micheal Ward. “Blue Story” was due in U.S. theaters on March 20, 2020, and will now be released direct-to-video on May 5, 2020. The movie was already released in the United Kingdom in November 2019. (Updated March 12, 2020)
BMI Latin Awards
The annual BMI Latin Music Awards ceremony has been postponed. The show had been scheduled for March 31 in Los Angeles. The rescheduled date is to be announced. (Updated March 10, 2020)
Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi’s summer 2020 North American tour has been cancelled. The New Jersey rock band’s tour had been scheduled to begin in Tacoma, Washington, on June 10, 2020, and end in New York City on July 28, 2020. (Updated April 20, 2020)
Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival
The annual festival in Manchester, Tennessee, has been cancelled in 2020 and 2021. Originally scheduled to take place June 11 to June 14, 2020, the event had been rescheduled for September 24 to September 27, 2020. Before the cancellation, the announced lineup included Tame Impala, Tool, Lizzo, Vampire Weekend, Lana Del Rey, The 1975, Run the Jewels and Brittany Howard. Bonnaroo in 2021 had been scheduled for September 2 to September 5 with many of the same performers, but the event was cancelled due to water damage from Hurricane Ida. (Updated August 31, 2021)
BookCon
The annual book fan event in New York City has been cancelled. Originally set for May 30 and May 31, 2020, BookCon had been rescheduled to place on July 25 and July 26, 2020. The event has now been completely scrapped for 2020. (Updated April 14, 2020)
Boston Calling
The annual rock festival in Boston has been cancelled. Boston Calling had been scheduled for May 22 to May 24, 2020. The festival’s performers this year would have included Foo Fighters, Rage Against the Machine, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Run the Jewels, Jason Isbell and The 1975. (Updated March 31, 2020)
Boston Symphony Orchestra
The Boston Symphony Orchestra has cancelled its tour of Asia. The trek had scheduled shows in South Korea, Taiwan, China and Hong Kong from February 6 to February 16, 2020.
BottleRock Napa Valley
The annual music and arts festival in Napa, California, has been cancelled. Originally scheduled to take place May 22 to May 24, 2020, the event was rescheduled for October 2 to October 4, 2020, but now has been completely cancelled. Artists announced for the festival included Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stevie Nicks, Miley Cyrus, Khalid, Zedd, and Anderson .Paak & the Free Nationals. (Updated July 16, 2020)
Bourbon and Beyond Festival
The annual rock music festival in Louisville, Kentucky, has been cancelled. The Bourbon and Beyond Festival was scheduled to take place from September 25 to September 27, 2020. The lineup of artists had not been announced. (Updated April 24, 2020)
Broadway and off-Broadway shows in New York City
All Broadway and off-Broadway shows in New York City have been cancelled until May 30, 2021, but that date could change, depending on the circumstances. (Updated October 7, 2020)
BST Hyde Park
The annual music festival in London has been cancelled. BST Hyde Park was scheduled for July 4 to July 11, 2020. The artists who were announced as performers included Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar, Pearl Jam, Post Malone, Rita Ora, Kesha, Zara Larsson, Pixies, James Blake and Little Mix. (Updated April 8, 2020)
BTS
The South Korean boy band has cancelled all of its concerts in Seoul for its “Map of the Soul” tour. The cancelled BTS shows were scheduled for April 11, 12, 18 and 19, 2020. (Updated March 10, 2020)
Bushfire Relief Charity Concert
The benefit show to help victims of Australia’s wildfires has been cancelled, after being scheduled to take place in Melbourne on March 13, 2020. Miley Cyrus was the headliner, while other artists announced for the show were Lil Nas X, the Veronicas and DJ Seb Fontaine. (Updated March 10, 2020)
Burning Man
The annual music and arts festival that takes place in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert has been cancelled for the second year in a row. For 2021, instead of an in-person event, a virtual Burning Man will be held from August 21 to September 5. (Updated April 27, 2021)
Byron Bay Bluesfest
The annual festival in Australia was abruptly cancelled just hours before it was set to begin on April 1, 2021, because a local man tested positive for a COVID-19 variant. (And this wasn’t an April Fool’s Day joke.) The 2021 edition of Byron Bay Bluesfest had been scheduled to run until April 5. Artists who were supposed to perform at the event included Jimmy Barnes, Kasey Chambers, Courtney Barnett, Mo’Ju & Birdz and Kate Miller. (Updated April 1, 2021)
CAAMFest
The Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) in San Francisco has postponed CAAMFest 38 until further notice. The Asian American festival of film, music and food was originally scheduled for May 14 to May 24, 2020. CAAMFest was formerly known as the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival. (Updated March 19, 2020)
Camila Cabello
The former Fifth Harmony pop star has postponed her Romance world tour, which was set to begin in Oslo on May 26, 2020 and end in Miami September 26, 2020. A concert that was supposed to take place in Dundee, Scotland, on May 24, 2020, has been completely cancelled. (Updated March 24, 2020)
Canadian Music Week
The annual showcase event in Toronto has been postponed and rescheduled. Originally set for May 19 to May 23, 2020, Canadian Music Week will now take place September 8 to September 13, 2020. (Updated March 18, 2020)
“Candyman”
Universal Pictures has postponed and rescheduled the release of the horror-movie reboot “Candyman,” starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. “Candyman” was originally scheduled for release on June 12, 2020. The new release date is August 27, 2021. (Updated December 2, 2020)
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, has been cancelled. The event had been scheduled to take place May 12 to 23, 2020. (Updated May 10, 2020)
Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity
The annual networking event for creative marketers was set to take place in Cannes, France, from June 22 to June 26, 2020. The event is postponed until further notice. (Updated March 18, 2020)
Canneseries
The annual drama event in Cannes, France, has been postponed and rescheduled. It was originally scheduled to take place March 27 to April 1, 2020, and will now take place October 9 to October 14, 2020.
Mariah Carey
The Grammy-winning superstar has postponed her March 10, 2020, concert in Honolulu and will reschedule it for sometime in November 2020.
“Charm City Kings”
Sony Pictures Classics has dropped the release of this drama, starring Jahi Di’Allo Winston and Meek Mill. “Charm City Kings” had been scheduled for release in select theaters on April 10, 2020. Instead, the streaming service HBO Max will premiere “Charm City Kings” (under the Warner Max label) on October 8, 2020. (Updated August 6, 2020)
Ciara
The R&B singer has cancelled her Fort Hood USO show in Texas that was scheduled for March 19, 2020.
CineEurope
The annual cinema convention in Barcelona has cancelled. CineEurope was originally set for June 22 to June 25, 2020, and was rescheduled to take place August 3 to August 5, 2020. However, CineEurope was officially nixed after it became obvious that Spain would not be ready to host large-scale events during the rescheduled dates. (Updated May 12, 2020)
CinemaCon
CinemaCon, the National Association of Theatre Owners’ annual convention in Las Vegas, has been cancelled. The event was scheduled to take place from March 30 to April 2, 2020. (Updated March 12, 2020)
Cirque du Soleil
The international acrobatic dance company has cancelled all of its performances worldwide until further notice, as of March 15, 2020. (Updated March 14, 2020)
Kelly Clarkson
The Grammy-winning original “American Idol” winner has postponed until further notice her “Invincible” Las Vegas residency, which had been set to begin on April 1, 2020. In addition, her NBCUniversal-syndicated daytime talk show “The Kelly Clarkson Show” has temporarily shut down production. (Updated March 16, 2020)
“The Climb”
Sony Pictures Classics has postponed and rescheduled the release of this buddy comedy, starring Michael Angelo Covino and Kyle Marvin. “The Climb” had been scheduled for release in New York City and Los Angeles on March 20, 2020. The movie will, now open in select U.S. theaters on November 13, 2020. (Updated October 21, 2020)
CMA Fest
The Country Music Association’s annual fan festival in Nashville has been cancelled. CMA Fest had been scheduled to take place June 4 to June 7, 2020. The lineup of performers had not been announced. Because CMA Fest will not happen this year, there also won’t be an ABC TV special for CMA Fest in 2020. (Updated March 31, 2020)
CMT Music Awards
The annual CMT Music Awards in Nashville has been postponed and rescheduled. Originally set to take place on June 3, 2020, this award show for country music will now take place on October 14, 2020. (Updated April 3, 2020)
Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
The world’s biggest annual music festival (in terms of ticket sales) has been cancelled. Originally scheduled for April 10 to April 12 and April 17 to April 19, Coachella was rescheduled for October 9 to October 11 and October 16 to October 18, 2020. The Coachella Festival (which takes place in Indio, California) has also been cancelled for 2021. Artists who were announced for the 2020 Coachella Festival included Rage Against the Machine, Travis Scott and Frank Ocean, as well as Calvin Harris, Big Sean, Lewis Capaldi, Lana Del Rey, Flume, Lil Nas X, 21 Savage and Charlie XCX. (Updated March 11, 2021)
Comic-Con International
The annual comic-book/sci-fi/fantasy entertainment fan convention in San Diego (also known as San Diego Comic-Con) has been cancelled for the first time in its 50-year history. Comic-Con International had been set for July 23 to July 26, 2020, with preview night taking place on July 22. Instead of an in-person event for the 2020 edition of Comic-Con, there will be a virtual online event called Comic-Con@Home, which will take place from July 22 to July 26, 2020. Click here for more details. Comic-Con in 2021 will also not be an in-person event and instead will be the online virtual event Comic-Con@Home, which will take place from July 22 to July 25, 2021. (Updated March 10, 2021)
Critics Choice Awards
The 27th annual Critics Choice Awards in Los Angeles has been postponed and rescheduled for March 13, 2022. The CW and TBS will have the U.S. telecast of the show, which was originally scheduled to take place on January 9, 2022. (Updated January 13, 2022)
“Cruella”
Walt Disney Pictures has postponed and rescheduled the release of the origin story “Cruella” (starring Emma Stone as the “101 Dalmatians” villain), which moves from December 23, 2020, to May 28, 2021. The movie will be released on Disney+ (at an extra premium price for Disney+ subscribers) and in theaters on the same date. (Updated March 23, 2021)
DC Entertainment
DC Entertainment (the company behind Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman and the Suicide Squad) has cancelled all participation in comic conventions taking place in March 2020, including Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle. In addition, DC has cancelled the New York City premiere of its animated film “Superman: Red Sun,” which had been scheduled for March 16, 2020.
Dead and Company
The Grateful Dead spinoff group has cancelled its 2020 U.S. tour. Dead and Company had been scheduled to begin the tour in Boulder, Colorado, on July 10, 2020, and conclude the tour in Boston on August 8, 2020. These were the only concerts that the band was going to perform in 2020. (Updated April 21, 2020)
“Death on the Nile”
Disney’s 20th Century Studios has postponed until further notice the release of the Agatha Christie mystery thriller “Death on the Nile,” the sequel to 2017’s “Murder on the Orient Express.” “Death on the Nile” was set for release on October 23, 2020 and then rescheduled for December 18, 2020. The stars of “Death on the Nile” include Kenneth Branagh, Gal Gadot, Armie Hammer and Letitia Wright. The movie’s new release date is February 11, 2022. (Updated March 23, 2021)
“Deep Water”
Disney’s Twentieth Century Studios has cancelled the release of the thriller movie “Deep Water,” which was set for November 13, 2020. The movie was then postponed to August 13, 2021, and was set for release on January 14, 2022. The stars of “Deep Water” include Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas. (Updated November 23, 2021)
“Deerskin”
Greenwich Entertainment has postponed and rescheduled the U.S. release of the French horror-comedy film “Deerskin,” starring Jean Dujardin. “Deerskin” was originally set for a U.S. release in select theaters on March 20, 2020. The new U.S. release date (on digital and VOD) is June 26, 2020. “Deerskin” was already released in France in 2019. (Updated March 30, 2020)
“Diana Kennedy: Nothing Fancy”
Greenwich Entertainment has postponed and rescheduled the release of the documentary “Diana Kennedy: Nothing Fancy.” The movie was originally set for release on April 22, 2020. In the U.S., the movie will be released in virtual cinemas on May 22, 2020, on digital/VOD on June 19, 2020, and on DVD on June 23, 2020. (Updated March 23, 2020)
“Dino Dana: The Movie”
Amazon Prime Video and Fathom Events have postponed and rescheduled the release of this movie spinoff of the “Dino Dana” children’s series. The movie was originally scheduled for a one-day-only release in theaters on March 21, 2020. Amazon Prime Video will now release the movie on September 4, 2020. (Updated July 23, 2020)
Disney
Disney has cancelled its launch event for its streaming service Disney+ Europe, which had been scheduled to take place in London on March 24, 2020. In addition, all Disney theme parks—which were supposed to re-open on March 31, 2020—have different re-opening dates. Disney World in Orlando, Florida, re-opened on July 11, 2020. Disneyland in Anaheim, California, is set to re-open on April 30, 2021. (Updated March 15, 2021)
“Doctor Strange 2”
Disney’s Marvel Studios has postponed and rescheduled the release of the superhero movie “Doctor Strange 2,” starring Benedict Cumberbatch. “Doctor Strange 2” was originally scheduled for release on May 7, 2021. The new release date is November 5, 2021. (Updated April 3, 2020)
Doha Film Institute’s Qumra Event
The Doha Film Institute’s Qumra event for mentor networking with upcoming talent in the movie industry has been cancelled. The conference was supposed to be from March 20 to March 25 in Doha, Qatar.
Dollywood
Dolly Parton’s theme park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, has temporarily closed until further notice, as of March 14, 2020. (Updated March 13, 2020)
Download Festival
The annual Download Festival for hard rock/heavy metal has been cancelled. The festival (which takes place in Derby, England) was scheduled for June 12 to June 14, 2020. Kiss, Iron Maiden, System of a Down, Deftones, Gojira and Korn were among the performers. (Updated March 26, 2020)
Dreamville Festival
The annual music festival in Raleigh, North Carolina, has been cancelled. Dreamville Festival, which is from hip-hop artist J. Cole, had originally been scheduled for April 4, 2020, and was postponed to August 29, 2020, until the event was shuttered altogether for 2020. The event’s lineup had not been announced. (Updated May 16, 2020)
“Dune”
Warner Bros. Pictures has postponed and rescheduled this sci-fi remake, starring Timothée Chalamet, Josh Brolin, Zendaya, Jason Momoa and Rebecca Ferguson. “Dune” was originally set for December 18, 2020, and is now scheduled for release on October 1, 2021. (Updated October 6, 2020)
East Coast Music Awards: Festival & Conference
Canada’s East Coast Music Association has cancelled the 2020 East Coast Music Awards: Festival & Conference. The event was scheduled to take place in St. John’s from April 29 to May 3, 2020. (Updated March 17, 2020)
Ebertfest
The annual film festival founded by the late film critic Roger Ebert was scheduled for April 15 to April 18, 2020, in Champaign, Illinois, but the event is now cancelled. The next Ebertfest will take place in Champaign from April 14 to April 17, 2021. (Updated March 15, 2020)
Edinburgh Art Festival
The annual event in Scotland has been cancelled. The Edinburgh Art Festival had been scheduled for August 7 to August 29, 2020. (Updated April 1, 2020)
Edinburgh Fringe Festival
The annual performing-arts event in Scotland has been cancelled. The Edinburgh Art Festival had been scheduled for August 7 to August 31, 2020. (Updated April 1, 2020)
Edinburgh International Film Festival
The United Kingdom’s longest-running film festival has been postponed until further notice. The Edinburgh International Film Festival in Scotland had been scheduled to take place June 17 to June 28, 2020. The festival’s main programming slate for 2020 has not been announced yet.(Updated April 1, 2020)
Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC) Las Vegas
Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC) Las Vegas has been cancelled. Originally set for May 15 to May 17, 2020, EDC Las Vegas was rescheduled for October 2 to October 4, 2020, and then completely scrapped. The lineup was supposed to include The Chainsmokers, David Guetta, Carl Cox, Alison Wonderland, Martin Garrix, Tiësto, DJ Snake and Major Lazer. EDC Las Vegas is set to return from May 21 to May 23, 2021. (Updated August 2, 2020)
Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3)
The annual consumer event in Los Angeles for electronic entertainment has been cancelled. Electronic Entertainment Expo, also known as E3, had been scheduled to take place from June 9 to June 11, 2020. (Updated March 11, 2020)
Electric Forest
The annual music and arts festival in Rothbury, Michigan, has been cancelled. The event had been scheduled for June 25 to June 28, 2020. Artists who were scheduled to perform included Major Lazer, Duke Dumont, the String Cheese Incident and Big Gigantic. (Updated April 21, 2020)
“Ella Fitzgerald: Just One of Those Things”
Eagle Rock Entertainment has postponed and rescheduled the theatrical release of this Ella Fitzgerald documentary, which was set for a one-night-only release on April 3, 2020. The movie will now be released in virtual cinemas on June 26, 2020. (Updated June 4, 2020)
Emerald City Comic Con
Scheduled to take place March 12 to March 15, 2020, the annual comic-book convention in Seattle has been postponed. The event will be rescheduled for the summer; the exact dates are to be announced. Before the postponement, Emerald City Comic Con experienced several cancelled appearances. DC Entertainment, Dark Horse Comics, Penguin Random House, as well as individual speakers and panelists, cancelled their participation this year.
Emmy Awards
The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences has postponed the Daytime Emmy Awards until further notice. The Daytime Emmy Awards had been scheduled to take place in Pasadena, California from June 12 to June 14, 2020. The show’s host and nominations haven’t been announced yet. The Daytime Emmy ceremonies have not been televised in several years. Instead, the live ceremonies can be seen via webcast. (Updated on March 19, 2020)
The National Television Academy of Arts and Sciences has also postponed the annual Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards (originally scheduled for April 19, 2020, in Las Vegas) and the Sports Emmy Awards, originally scheduled for April 28, 2020, in New York. The rescheduled dates for the ceremonies are to be announced. (Updated March 13, 2020)
“Emperor”
Universal Home Entertainment has postponed and rescheduled the release of the dramatic film “Emperor,” starring Dayo Okeniyi, Brad Carter, James Cromwell and Bruce Dern. The movie was set to be released on March 27, 2020, and will now be released on DVD, digital and VOD on August 18, 2020. (Updated July 16, 2020)
Epicenter
Concert promoter Danny Wimmer Presents has cancelled the annual Epicenter festival, which was scheduled to take in place in Concord, North Carolina, from May 1 to May 3, 2020. The lineup of performers included Lynyrd Skynyrd, Deftones, Godsmack, Volbeat, Staind, Papa Roach, David Lee Roth, Gojira, Chevelle, Cypress Hill and Rancid. Many of the artists who were scheduled to perform at the festival will instead perform at the Louder Than Life festival in Louisville, Kentucky (another Danny Wimmer Presents event), which has expanded to four days (September 17 to September 20, 2020), with Metallica headlining on September 17. Louder Than Life pass holders will not be charged extra for the fourth day. Ticket/pass holders for the cancelled festival have three options: get a refund, use their purchase for the same festival in 2021, or exchange the purchase for another Danny Wimmer Presents event in 2020. (Updated March 23, 2020)
Essence Festival
The annual music and culture festival presented by Essence magazine in New Orleans has been cancelled. The Essence Festival, which was scheduled to include headliners Bruno Mars and Janet Jackson, had been set for July 1 to July 6, 2020. (Updated April 15, 2020)
“Eternals”
Disney’s Marvel Studios has postponed and rescheduled the release of the superhero movie “Eternals,” starring Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Kit Harington, Kumail Nanjiani, Richard Madden, Brian Tyree Henry and Gemma Chan. “Eternals” was originally scheduled for release on November 6, 2020, then moved to February 12, 2021. The current release date is November 5, 2021. (Updated September 23, 2020)
Eurovision Song Contest
The annual music event was supposed to take place in Rotterdam, Netherlands, from May 12 and 14, 2020 (for semi-final rounds) and on May 16, 2020 (for the final round), but Eurovision Song Contest has been cancelled. It’s the first time in the event’s 64-year history that it has been shut down. (Updated March 18, 2020)
“Fast & Furious 9”
Universal Pictures has postponed the U.S. release of this action sequel to June 9, 2021. (The U.S. release will had previously been postponed to April 2, 2021.) “Fast & Furious 9,” starring Vin Diesel and Michelle Rodriguez, was originally scheduled for release on May 22, 2020. (Updated March 12, 2020)
Festival d’été de Québec
The annual music festival Québec Cityhas been cancelled. Festival d’été de Québec was scheduled for July 9 to July 19, 2020. Artists were announced as performers included Imagine Dragons, Jack Johnson, The National, Marshmello, Alanis Morissette, G-Eazy, 5 Seconds of Summer and Halsey. (Updated April 9, 2020)
Film at Lincoln Center
The membership-funded organization Film at Lincoln Center in New York City became one of the first in the U.S. to close its movie theaters, as of March 12, 2020, until further notice. Film at Lincoln Center operates the Walter Reade Theater and the Elinor Bunin Monroe Film Center. Film at Lincoln Center has also postponed the New Directors/New Films Festival (which had been scheduled to run from March 25, to April 5, 2020) and the Chaplin Award Gala honoring Spike Lee, which was set for April 27, 2020. The rescheduled dates are to be announced. In addition, Film at Lincoln Center’s membership magazine Film Comment (which has been published since 1962) is going on an indefinite hiatus after the May/June 2020 issue, which will be published in digital form only. (Updated March 28, 2020)
Film Independent Spirit Awards
The annual Film Independent Spirit Awards in Santa Monica, California, (originally scheduled for February 27, 2021) has been postponed and rescheduled. The Film Independent Spirit Awards (televised in the U.S. by IFC) will now take place on April 24, 2021. (Updated June 16, 2020.)
Firefly Festival
The annual music festival in Dover, Delaware, has been cancelled. The event had been scheduled to take place from June 18 to June 21, 2020. Artists who were announced for the event included Rage Against the Machine, Billie Eilish, Halsey, Khalid, Blink-182, Maggie Rogers, Cage the Elephant, Illenium, Diplo and Run the Jewels. (Updated March 26, 2020)
FlameCon
The annual LGBTQ comic-book/sci-fi convention in New York City has been cancelled as an in-person event but has pivoted to being a online virtual event. FlameCon had been scheduled to take place August 15 and August 16, 2020. The virtual FlameCon is set for August 15, 2020. The next FlameCon will take place August 21 and August 22, 2021. (Updated July 24, 2020)
Foo Fighters
The Grammy-winning rock band has postponed April 2020 U.S. concerts for its Van Tour. Some of the concerts have already been rescheduled for December 2020. (Updated March 13, 2020)
Fox Entertainment
Fox Entertainment has cancelled all development presentations at industry events until further notice. Fox Broadcasting Company’s “WWE Smackdown Live” will not have live audiences until further notice. (Updated March 12, 2020.)
Fox News
Fox News has cancelled its upfront presentation that was scheduled to take place in New York City on March 24, 2020. In addition, Fox News’ “The Greg Gutfeld Show” will not have live audiences until further notice. (Updated March 12, 2020.)
“Free Guy”
Disney-owned 20th Century Pictures (formerly known as 20th Century Fox) has postponed and rescheduled the release of the action flick “Free Guy” (starring Ryan Reynolds), which moved from July 3, 2020 to December 11, 2020. The movie’s current release date is August 13, 2021. (Updated March 23, 2021)
“The French Dispatch”
Searchlight Pictures has postponed until further notice the comedy “The French Dispatch,” starring Benicio del Toro, Owen Wilson, Bill Murray, Adrien Brody, Tilda Swinton, Léa Seydoux, Frances McDormand and Timothée Chalamet. “The French Dispatch” was originally set for release on July 24, 2020 and then postponed to October 16, 2020, before being shelved again. The movie’s new release date is to be announced.
Frozen Dead Guy Days
Frozen Dead Guys Days in Nederland, Colorado, was scheduled to take place from March 13 to March 15, 2020, but has been cancelled. The annual event celebrates “frosty merriment featuring live bands and outrageous events—paying homage to Bredo Morstol, frozen in a Tuff Shed,” according to a statement on the event’s website.
Full Frame Documentary Festival
The annual Full Frame Documentary Festival in Durham, North Carolina, has been cancelled. The event had been set for April 2 to April 5, 2020. (Updated March 11, 2020)
Game Developers Conference
The annual video-game industry conference in San Francisco was scheduled to take place March 16 to Mach 20, 2020, but the event has now been postponed. The new dates for the event are to be announced.
“The Ghost of Peter Sellers”
Film Movement has postponed and rescheduled the release of this documentary, which chronicles the ill-fated production of the Peter Sellers movie “Ghost of the Noonday Sun.” “The Ghost of Peter Sellers” had been scheduled for release in New York City on March 27, 2020. The movie’s VOD release is on June 23, 2020. (Updated May 1, 2020)
“Ghostbusters: Afterlife”
Sony’s Columbia Pictures has postponed and rescheduled this “Ghostbusters” sequel. “Ghosbusters: Afterlife,” starring original “Ghostbusters” headliners Dan Aykroyd and Bill Murray, was due out in cinemas on July 10, 2020, rescheduled to open on March 5, 2021, and then rescheduled again for release on November 19, 2021. (Updated June 3, 2021)
Gibson
The world-famous guitar manufacturer has temporarily closed its headquarters in Nashville and its facility in Bozemon, Montana, as of March 20, 2020. The operations will re-open on a date to be announced. (Updated March 20, 2020)
GLAAD Media Awards
The GLAAD Media Awards have been cancelled. The bi-coastal ceremonies for LGBTQ people in entertainment/media had been set for New York City on March 19, 2020, and Beverly Hills, California, on April 16, 2020. (Updated March 11, 2020)
Glastonbury Festival
The Glastonbury Festival, one of Europe’s largest annual music events, has been cancelled. The festival (which takes place in Glastonbury, England) was scheduled for June 24 to June 28, 2020. Kendrick Lamar, Paul McCartney, Taylor Swift and Diana Ross were among the headliners. The 2021 edition of the Glastonbury Festival has also been cancelled before any artists were announced for the event. (Updated January 21, 2021)
Global Media Summit
The annual Global Media Summit (GMS) in Carrollton, Texas, has been cancelled. Described by organizers as “a Christian alliance uniting media professionals globally,” the event, which includes the GMS Music Awards, was scheduled to take place from April 22 to April 25, 2020. (Updated March 13, 2020)
“Godzilla vs. Kong”
Warner Bros. Pictures has postponed and rescheduled “Godzilla vs. Kong,” starring Millie Bobby Brown, Alexander Skarsgård and Rebecca Hall. “Godzilla vs. Kong” was originally set to premiere on November 20, 2020, and is now set for release on March 31, 2021. (Updated June 11, 2020)
Google I/O and Google Cloud Next events
Google has cancelled Google I/O. The annual event for Google developers to announce consumer products was scheduled to take place in Mountain View, California, from May 12 to May 14, 2020. Meanwhile, the Google Cloud Next event that was supposed to happen in San Francisco from April 6 to April 8, 2020, will shift from a physical event to a virtual online event, where attendees will be participate through digital resources.
Governors Ball
The annual Governors Ball music festival in New York City has been cancelled. The festival was scheduled for June 5 to June 7, 2020. Artists on the festival bill included Stevie Nicks, Missy Elliott, Tame Impala, Vampire Weekend, Solange, Miley Cyrus, Flume, Maren Morris, Ellie Goulding, H.E.R., Banks, Of Monsters and Men, Milky Chance, Bleachers and Swae Lee. (Updated March 26, 2020)
Grammy Awards
The 63rd annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles has been postponed to March 14, 2021. CBS will have the U.S. telecast of the show, which was originally scheduled to take place on January 31, 2021. The 64th annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles has been postponed and rescheduled for April 3, 2022 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. CBS will have the U.S. telecast of the show, which was originally scheduled to take place on January 31, 2022. (Updated January 4, 2022)
Great Escape Festival
The annual Great Escape Festival for alternative rock has been cancelled. The festival (which takes place in Brighton and Hove, England) was scheduled for May 13 to May 16, 2020. Balming Tiger, House of Pharaohs and Amber Van Day were among performers. (Updated March 23, 2020)
Green Day
The Grammy-winning rock band has postponed all of its concerts in Asia for the band’s Hella Mega Tour. The shows have not been rescheduled yet. The postponed concerts were scheduled to take place from March 8 to March 27, 2020, in Singapore, The Philippines, Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea and Japan.
“The Grizzlies”
Mongrel Media had planned to release this Canadian lacrosse movie in the U.S. on March 20, 2020, but the movie’s U.S. release has been rescheduled to be on digital and VOD on September 15, 2020. “The Grizzlies,” whose cast includes Ben Schnetzer and Booboo Stewart, was already released in Canada in 2019. (Updated August 28, 2020)
“The High Note”
Focus Features has postponed and rescheduled the release of the comedy film “The High Note” starring Tracee Ellis Ross and Dakota Johnson. “The High Note” was originally scheduled for release in theaters on May 8, 2020. The new release will be direct-to-video on May 29, 2020, with a premium rental price. (Updated May 4, 2020)
HistoryCon
The History Channel’s annual fan convention in Pasadena, California, has been postponed until further notice. HistoryCon was originally scheduled to take place April 3 to April 5, 2020. (Updated March 20, 2020)
Hometown Rising
The annual country music festival in Louisville, Kentucky, has been cancelled. Hometown Rising was scheduled to take place on September 12 and September 13, 2020. The lineup of artists had not been announced. (Updated April 24, 2020)
Hot Docs
The annual documentary festival in Toronto has been postponed until further notice. The event had been scheduled for April 30 to May 10, 2020. (Updated March 13, 2020)
“I Am Not Alone”
Avalanche Entertainment has postponed until further notice the release of this documentary about Armenian activist Nikol Pashinyan. The movie had originally been scheduled for release in New York City on April 10, 2020, and in Los Angeles on April 17, 2020. (Updated March 18, 2020)
“I Know This Much Is True”
HBO has postponed and rescheduled the TV premiere of the limited drama series “I Know This Much Is True,” starring Mark Ruffalo. “I Know This Much is True” was originally set to premiere on April 27, 2020, and will now premiere on May 10, 2020. (Updated March 31, 2020)
iHeartRadio Music Awards
The iHeartRadio Music Awards in Los Angeles (originally scheduled for March 29, 2020) has been postponed, and the rescheduled date is to be announced. Fox has the U.S. telecast of the annual award show. (Updated March 14, 2020)
“In the Heights”
Warner Bros. Pictures has postponed and rescheduled this musical movie, starring Anthony Ramos. The “In the Heights” movie, which is based on Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tony Award-winning musical, was originally scheduled to be released on June 26, 2020. The new release date is June 18, 2021. (Updated on March 24, 2020)
Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles
The annual event has been postponed until further notice. The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles was originally scheduled for April 1 to April 5, 2020. (Updated March 14, 2020)
Isle of Wight Festival
The annual Isle of Wight Festival for rock and pop music has been cancelled. The festival (which takes place in Newport, England) was scheduled for June 11 to June 14, 2020. Lionel Richie, Lewis Capaldi, Snow Patrol, the Chemical Brothers and Duran Duran were among the performers. (Updated March 26, 2020)
Ivors With Apple Music Awards
The annual award show in London has been postponed and rescheduled. Originally set for May 21, 2020, the ceremony will now take place on September 2, 2020. (Updated March 19, 2020)
Elton John
The Grammy-and-Oscar-winning superstar has postponed all of his North American concerts that were scheduled to take place from March 25 to May 2, 2020. The shows are going to be rescheduled for 2021, on dates to be announced. (Updated March 16, 2020)
Jonas Brothers
Sibling pop trio the Jonas Brothers have cancelled their Las Vegas residency, which had been scheduled to run April 1 to April 18, 2020. (Updated March 13, 2020)
“Judy & Punch”
Samuel Goldwyn Films has postponed and rescheduled the release of the drama “Judy & Punch,” starring Mia Wasikowska and Damon Herriman. Originally scheduled for release on April 24, 2020, “Judy & Punch” will now be released in select U.S. theaters (if they’re open) and on VOD on June 5, 2020. (Updated April 6, 2020)
“Jungle Cruise”
Disney has postponed and rescheduled the release of the action-adventure flick “Jungle Cruise,” starring Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt. The movie’s release date moves from July 24, 2020, to July 20, 2021. (Updated April 3, 2020)
Just for Laughs
The annual comedy festival in Montreal has been postponed and rescheduled. Originally set for July 15 to July 26, 2020, Just for Laughs will now take place from September 29 to October 11, 2020. (Updated April 3, 2020)
“King Richard”
Warner Bros. Pictures has postponed and rescheduled this drama, starring Will Smith as Richard Williams, father to tennis icons Venus and Serena Williams. “King Richard” was originally set for November 25, 2020, but will now be released on November 19, 2021. (Updated April 20, 2020)
“The King’s Man”
Twentieth Century Pictures has postponed and rescheduled the action flick “The King’s Man,” starring Ralph Fiennes. “The King’s Man” was originally set to be released on November 15, 2019, then postponed to February 14, 2020, and then to September 18, 2020. The current release date is December 22, 2021. (Updated March 23, 2021)
“Koko-Di Koko-Da”
Dark Star Pictures has postponed and rescheduled the U.S. release of this Swedish horror film. “Koko-Di Koko-Da” (starring Peter Belli, Leif Edlund and Ylva Gallon) had been scheduled for release in New York City on March 27, 2020, with more U.S. cities to follow in subsequent weeks. The movie is now scheduled for a U.S. release in virtual cinemas on November 6, 2020, and on digital and VOD on December 8, 2020. (Updated September 30, 2020)
Lady Gaga
The Grammy-and-Oscar-winning pop star has postponed until further notice the release of her album “Chromatica,” which was originally due out on April 10, 2020. In addition, Lady Gaga’s Las Vegas shows that were set for April 30 to May 11, 2020, have been postponed. (Updated March 24, 2020)
Avril Lavigne
The Grammy-winning pop star has postponed the Asian leg of her “Head Above Water” world tour. The concerts (which were to take place from April 23 to May 24, 2020) were scheduled for China, Japan, The Philippines, Taiwan and Hong Kong. The rescheduled dates are to be announced.
“The Library That Dolly Built”
Abramorama has postponed and rescheduled the release of this Dolly Parton documentary, which was originally scheduled to be released in U.S. cinemas for one night only on April 2, 2020. The one-night-only release will now take place on September 21, 2020. (Updated March 30, 2020)
Life Is Beautiful
The annual music and arts festival in Las Vegas has been cancelled. Life Is Beautiful had been scheduled for September 18 to September 20, 2020. The event’s lineup had not been announced. (Updated April 21, 2020)
Live Nation
Live Nation, the world’s largest live-events promotion company, has cancelled or postponed almost all of its events for 2020. (Updated May 24, 2020)
Locarno Film Festival
The annual event in Switzerland has been cancelled. The Locarno Film Festival had been scheduled for August 5 to August 15, 2020. Instead, the festival will launch Locarno 2020 – For the Future of Films, an online program to promote independent films. (Updated April 29, 2020)
Lollapalooza Festival
The annual music festival in Chicago has been cancelled. The event had been scheduled for July 30 to August 2, 2020. The 2020 Lollapalooza lineup had not been announced. (Updated June 9, 2020)
London Book Fair
The annual London Book Fair has been cancelled. The event was scheduled for March 10 to March 12, 2020.
Louder Than Life
The annual heavy-metal festival in Louisville, Kentucky, has been cancelled. Louder Than Life was scheduled to take place between September 18 and September 20, 2020. Metallica had been announced as the headliner. (Updated April 24, 2020)
“The Lovebirds”
Paramount Pictures has dumped the release of this comedy, starring Issa Rae and Kumail Nanjiani. The movie was supposed to have its world premiere at the SXSW Film Festival, which was also cancelled. “The Lovebirds” was due in U.S. theaters on April 3, 2020, but will now be released on Netflix on May 22, 2020. (Updated March 12, 2020)
Lovebox Festival
The annual Lovebox Festival for electronica dance music has been cancelled. The festival (which takes place in London) was scheduled for June 12 to June 14, 2020. Fatboy Slim, DJ Harvey and Annie Mac were among the performers. (Updated March 27, 2020)
“Luca”
Disney’s Pixar Animation Studios has postponed and rescheduled the release of the superhero movie “Luca,” which was set for May 1, 2020. The movie was then postponed to May 7, 2021, and is now set for release on Disney+ (at an extra premium price for Disney+ subscribers) and in theaters on July 9, 2021. (Updated March 23, 2021)
Made in America Festival
The annual music festival in Philadelphia has been cancelled. The event had been scheduled for September 5 and September 6, 2020. The 2020 Made in America Festival lineup had not been announced. (Updated July 1, 2020)
“Malignant”
Warner Bros. Pictures has postponed and rescheduled this thriller, starring Annabelle Wallis. “Malignant” was originally scheduled to be released on August 14, 2020. The new release date is September 10, 2021. (Updated on March 24, 2021)
Mammoth Lakes Film Festival
The annual Mammoth Lakes Film Festival in California has been cancelled. The event had been scheduled for May 20 to May 24, 2020. (Updated March 26, 2020)
“The Many Saints of Newark”
Warner Bros. Pictures has postponed and rescheduled this prequel to “The Sopranos,” starring Michael Gandolfini, Ray Liotta and Vera Farmiga. “The Many Saints of Newark” was originally set for September 25, 2020, and then changed to March 12, 2021. The current release date is October 1, 2021. (Updated April 20, 2021)
“The Matrix Resurrections”
Warner Bros. Pictures has postponed and rescheduled the fourth “Matrix” movie, whose official title is “The Matrix Resurrections.” The sci-fi sequel was originally due out on May 21, 2021, and then the release was changed April 1, 2022. The release date was changed again to December 22, 2021. (Updated December 11, 2020)
Melbourne International Film Festival
The annual Melbourne International Film Festival in Australia has been cancelled. The event had been scheduled for August 6 to August 23, 2020. (Updated April 7, 2020)
Method Fest Independent Film Festival
The annual festival for independent film actors has been postponed and rescheduled. It had been originally scheduled to take place in Beverly Hills, California, from March 20 to March 26, 2020. The new dates for the event are May 29 to June 4, 2020. (Updated March 18, 2020)
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera in New York City has cancelled all performances until December 31, 2020. (Updated June 2, 2020)
Miami Film Festival
The annual event began on March 6, 2020, and was scheduled to end on March 15, 2020, but was abruptly cancelled on March 12, 2020. (Updated March 12, 2020)
MIDEM
The annual music-industry conference in Cannes, Frances, has been cancelled. The event had been scheduled for June 2 to June 5, 2020. MIDEM officials have announced that some of the previously announced keynote speakers will still deliver their speeches, but will do so online. Previously announced keynote speakers include singer/songwriter Akon, SoundCloud CEO Kerry Trainor, the Raine Group partner Fred Davis, and Downtown Music Holdings CEO Justin Kalifowitz. (Updated March 30, 2020)
“Minions: The Rise of Gru”
Universal Pictures has postponed and rescheduled the release of this animated sequel. “Minions: The Rise of Gru” had originally been due out in late June 2020 (in some countries) and on July 8, 2020 in the United States. The release date was then changed to July 2, 2021. The movie, whose cast includes voice actor Steve Carell, is now set to be released on July 1, 2022. (Updated April 1, 2021)
MIPDoc
The annual documentary industry event in Cannes, France, has been cancelled. It was scheduled to take place March 28 and March 29, 2020.
MIPFormats
The annual producer/buyer event in Cannes, France, has been cancelled. It was scheduled to take place March 28 and March 29, 2020.
MIPTV
The annual TV industry event in Cannes, France, has been cancelled. It was scheduled to take place March 30 to April 3, 2020.
MobMovieCon
The annual event in Atlantic City, New Jersey, that focuses on mobster movies and related entertainment has been postponed and rescheduled. The inaugural Mob Movie Awards will still be part of the event, which has moved from April 18 and April 19, 2020 to August 22 and August 23, 2020. In addition, SopranosCon Part II will be incorporated into MobMovieCon this year. (Updated March 13, 2020.)
Montclair Film Festival
The annual festival in Montclair, New Jersey, has been postponed until further notice. The Montclair Film Festival had been originally scheduled to take place from March 20 to March 26, 2020. (Updated March 12, 2020)
Montreaux Jazz Festival
The annual Montreaux Jazz Festival in Switzerland has been cancelled, for the first time in the event’s 53-year history. The festival had been scheduled for July 3 to 18, 2020. Artists (Updated April 17, 2020)
“Morbius”
Sony’s Columbia Pictures has postponed and rescheduled this vampire flick, based on the Marvel Comics character. “Morbius,” starring Jared Leto as the title character, was originally due in cinemas on July 31, 2020, was rescheduled to open on March 19, 2021, was delayed to open on October 8, 2021, and is now set to open on January 21, 2022. (Updated March 11, 2021)
Movie theaters
In March 2020, movie theaters were shut down in several countries, with each country having various policies on when they would re-open. Drive-in theaters are remaining open. In the United States, each individual state is deciding when movies theaters can re-open. Most U.S. theaters re-opened in August 2020. If there are any indoor movie theaters in the U.S. that are open, most have pledged to not book theater rooms at more than 50% capacity. But given the huge dropoff in moviegoing since the coronavirus outbreak was classified as a pandemic, attendance at movie theaters was reaching well below 50% anyway. Cineworld (which owns Regal Cinemas in the U.S., and Cineworld and Picturehouse cinemas in the U.K.) announced that it’s once again shutting down all locations until further notice, as of October 8, 2020. (Updated October 5, 2020)
“Mulan”
Disney has postponed and rescheduled the release of its live-action remake of “Mulan,” starring Liu Yifei as the title character. The movie was originally scheduled to be released on March 27, 2020, was postponed to July 24, 2020, and will now be released on September 4, 2020. In the U.S., “Mulan” will be available to Disney+ subscribers for an additional $29.99 until December 3, 2020. As of December 4, 2020, there will be no extra charge for Disney+ subscribers to watch the movie. “Mulan” will be released in theaters in countries outside the U.S. where theaters are open for business. Premieres for the movie were already held in Los Angeles on March 9, 2020, and in London on March 12, 2020. (Updated April 3, 2020)
Music Biz
The Music Business Association’s annual Music Biz conference in Nashville has been postponed and rescheduled. Originally scheduled for May 11 to May 14, 2020, the event is now set for August 16 to August 19, 2020. (Updated March 20, 2020)
“My Spy”
STX Films has dumped the comedy “I Spy,” which was supposed to be released in U.S. theaters on April 17, 2020. The movie’s U.S. release will now be on Amazon Prime Video on June 26, 2020. “My Spy,” starring Dave Bautista and Chloe Coleman, was already released in Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Croatia, Germany and the Netherlands. (Updated June 11, 2020)
NAACP Image Awards
The National Association of the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Image Awards in Pasadena, California, has been postponed. The ceremony was originally set for February 20, 2021, and has been rescheduled for Match 27, 2021. BET will have the U.S. telecast of the ceremony. (Updated January 20, 2021)
National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Show
The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Show in Las Vegas has been cancelled. The annual convention had been scheduled to take place from April 19 to April 22, 2020. (Updated March 11, 2020)
National Symphony Orchestra
The U.S. ensemble has cancelled its tour of China and Japan. The National Symphony Orchestra concerts were scheduled for March 6 to March 17, 2020.
Netflix Is a Joke Fest
Netflix has postponed until further notice its inaugural comedy festival in Los Angeles. Netflix Is a Joke Fest had been set for April 27 to May 3, 2020. Announced stand-up comedy performers included Dave Chappelle, Ali Wong, Marlon Wayans, Amy Schumer, Pete Davidson, Taylor Tomlinson, Iliza Shlesinger, Deon Cole and Ken Jeong. (Updated March 17, 2020)
“The New Mutants”
20th Century Pictures (formerly known as 20th Century Fox) has postponed and rescheduled the release of the superhero flick “The New Mutants,” originally set for April 3, 2020. The new release date in theaters is August 28, 2020. The movie’s ensemble cast includes Anya Taylor-Joy, Maisie Williams and Charlie Heaton. (Updated August 12, 2020)
New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
The annual music and arts event has been cancelled in 2020 and 2021, and rescheduled to take place in 2022. The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (also known as Jazz Fest) had been scheduled for April 23 to May 3, 2020. The performers for the 2020 event would have included The Who, Dead & Company, Stevie Nicks, Foo Fighters, Lionel Richie and Lizzo. The 2021 edition of the event was originally set for April 22 to May 1, 2021, and was rescheduled for October 8 to October 17, 2021, but then the event cancelled again. Jazz Fest has been rescheduled to take place April 29 to May 8, 2022. The Rolling Stones are among the headliners. (Updated August 8, 2021)
New York Comic Con
The annual sci-fi/fantasy/comic book fan convention in New York City has been cancelled. The event had been scheduled to take place October 8 to October 11, 2020. For people who want to experience something related to the event that weekend, New York Comic Con has teamed up with sister event MCM Comic Con in London to bring New York Comic Con’s Metaverse, a new online portal, which will be available October 8 to October 11, 2020 at YouTube.com/NYCC and FindtheMetaverse.com.(Updated April 21, 2020)
Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards
The annual award show in Los Angeles has been postponed and rescheduled as a virtual ceremony. The Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards had been set for March 22, 2020 but the virtual ceremony will take place on May 2, 2020. Chance the Rapper had been announced as the ceremony’s host, but the virtual ceremony will be hosted by Victoria Justice. (Updated April 24, 2020)
“Nina Wu”
Film Movement has postponed and rescheduled the U.S. release of this Chinese drama, starring Ke-Xi Wu as the title character. Originally scheduled for a U.S. release on March 20, 2020, the new U.S. release date for “Nina Wu” is by virtual cinema in New York City (at the Museum of the Moving Image) on March 26, 2021. The movie expands to more cities via virtual cinemas and will be released on VOD on April 2, 2021. (Updated March 13, 2020.)
“No Time to Die”
The release of this James Bond 007 movie, starring Daniel Craig, has been postponed and rescheduled. MGM Pictures’ “No Time to Die” had been scheduled to be released in the U.K. and other territories on April 2, 2020. The movie was postponed to November 2020 and then rescheduled for April 2, 2021. The movie’s release date was then changed again and is now set for October 8, 2021. (Updated January 21, 2021)
Olivier Awards
The annual award show in London for West End stage shows has been cancelled. The Olivier Awards had been scheduled for April 5, 2020. The winners will be announced in another way, most likely online. (Updated March 17, 2020)
Orange Warsaw Festival
The annual music and arts festival in Poland has been cancelled. The Orange Warsaw Festival had been scheduled for June 5 and June 6, 2020. (Updated March 24, 2020)
Outside Lands
The annual Outside Lands music festival in San Francisco has been cancelled. The festival was scheduled for August 7 to August 9, 2020. The festival was scheduled return on August 6 to August 8, 2021, and then postponed to October 29 to October 31, 2021. Most of the same artists who were scheduled for the 2020 Outside Lands event will perform on the rescheduled dates. Artists on the 2021 Outside Lands bill include Tame Impala, Lizzo, The Strokes, Tyler, the Creator, The 1975, J Balvin, Kehlani, Vampire Weekend, Young Thug and Zhu. (Updated March 24, 2021)
PaleyFest
PaleyFest in Los Angeles has been postponed until further notice. The event, which showcases TV programs and TV stars, had been scheduled to take place from March 13 to March 21, 2020. (Updated March 11, 2020)
Pearl Jam
The Grammy-winning rock band has postponed the North American leg of its “Gigaton” tour. The tour dates consisted of U.S. and Canadian concerts that were scheduled to begin on March 18 in Toronto and run through April 19 in Oakland, California. There’s no word yet on when these Pearl Jam shows will be rescheduled.In addition, Pearl Jam has cancelled the “Gigaton Listening Experience,” which was supposed to take place March 25, 2020, as a one-night-only listening event at numerous Dolby movie theaters worldwide for the band’s “Gigaton” album. (Updated March 17, 2020)
PEN America Literary Gala
The annual PEN America Literary Gala has been postponed and rescheduled. The event was originally set for May 19, 2020, and will now take place on September 15, 2020. (Updated March 20, 2020)
“The Personal History of David Copperfield”
20th Century Pictures has postponed and rescheduled the U.S. release of the drama “The Personal History of David Copperfield,” originally set for May 8, 2020. The new U.S. release date is August 28, 2020. The movie, which was already released in the United Kingdom in January 2020, stars Dev Patel. (Updated August 11, 2020)
“Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway”
Sony’s Columbia Pictures has postponed and rescheduled the release of this live-action/animated sequel. “Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway” was originally due in U.S. cinemas on April 3, 2020, was postponed to August 7, 2020, then to January 14, 2021, then to April 2, 2021, and is now set for release on June 11, 2021. The cast of “Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway” includes Rose Byrne, Domhnall Gleeson and David Oyelowo as live actors and Margot Robbie and Elizabeth Debicki as voice actors. (Updated February 22, 2021)
Pilmgrimage Music and Cultural Festival
The annual music festival in Franklin, Tennessee, has been cancelled. The event had been set to take place September 26 and September 27, 2020. (Updated May 19, 2020)
“Praise This”
Universal Pictures has postponed until further notice the release of the music-choir drama “Praise This,” which was originally scheduled for release on September 25, 2020. (Updated April 3, 2020)
Primavera Sound Festival
The annual music festival in Barcelona has been postponed and rescheduled. Originally set for June 4 to June 7, 2020, the festival will now take place August 26 to August 30, 2020. The artists announced for the event include Massive Attack, Disclosure, Kacey Musgraves, the Strokes, Lana Del Rey, Beck, Bikini Kill, Iggy Pop, Bauhaus, Bad Bunny, Jesus and Mary Chain and Tyler, the Creator.
Premios Platino
The annual film and TV awards event has been cancelled. Premios Platino had been scheduled to take place in Riviera Maya, Mexico, from May 1 to May 3, 2020.
“A Quiet Place Part II”
Paramount Pictures has postponed and rescheduled the release of this horror sequel, starring Emily Blunt, which was originally scheduled to be released from March 18 to March 20, 2020, depending on the territory. (The U.S. release was supposed to on March 20.) The movie was then postponed to September 4, 2020, and then to April 23, 2021. The movie’s new release date is now May 28, 2021. “A Quiet Place Part II” already had its world premiere in New York City on March 8, 2020. (Updated December 22, 2020)
“Radium Girls”
Juno Films has postponed and rescheduled the release of the drama “Radium Girls,” which is about a group of young female labor activists in the 1920s. The movie, which stars Joey King and Abby Quinn, was originally scheduled for release on April 3, 2020. The new release date is October 23, 2020. (Updated September 22, 2020)
Rage Against the Machine
The Grammy-winning rock band has postponed until further notice the first two months of its Public Service Announcement reunion tour that was set begin March 26, 2020 in El Paso, Texas, and continue to May 23, 2020, in Boston. (Updated March 13, 2020)
Record Store Day
Record Store Day, which takes place at various retail music stores around the world, has been postponed and rescheduled. Originally set for April 4, 2020, Record Store Day is now set for June 20, 2020. (Updated March 13, 2020)
Red Sea Film Festival
The inaugural event (which was scheduled to take place March 12 to March 21, 2020 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia) has now been postponed until further notice. Oscar-winning filmmakers Oliver Stone and Spike Lee had been announced to attend the event. Stone was selected as a jury member, while Lee was supposed to present a special screening of his 1992 film “Malcolm X.”
“Rewind”
FilmRise has postponed and rescheduled the theatrical release of director Sasha Joseph Neulinger’s autobiographical documentary about abuse that he experienced as a child. “Rewind” had been set to be released in New York City on March 27, 2020, and in Los Angeles on April 3, 2020. The movie will now be released on digital and VOD on May 8, 2020. “Rewind” will also be shown on the PBS series “Independent Lens” on May 11, 2020. (Updated April 16, 2020)
Ride for Ronnie Motorcycle Ride and Concert
The Ride for Ronnie Motorcycle Ride and Concert (which was planned for May 17, 2020) has been postponed until further notice. The annual event benefiting the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund is comprised of a motorcycle ride originating at Harley-Davidson of Glendale, California, followed by an afternoon of live music at Los Encinos Park in Encino, California. (Updated March 17, 2020)
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum
The 2020 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, which was supposed to take place on May 2 in Cleveland, was postponed to November 7, 2020, but has now been cancelled. The performers who were to be inducted in the live ceremony were Depeche Mode, the Doobie Brothers, Whitney Houston, Nine Inch Nails, Notorious B.I.G. and T. Rex. Instead of a live telecast of the show, HBO will televise a pre-recorded special to honor the inductees. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland temporarily closed for a few months, as of March 14, 2020, but it has now re-opened. (Updated July 8, 2020)
Rolling Loud Festival
The Rolling Loud festival in Miami has been postponed and rescheduled with the same lineup. The festival was originally set for May 8 to May 10, 2020, and will now take place February 12 to 14, 2021. The artists who are scheduled to perform include Post Malone, Travis Scott, A$AP Rocky, Lil Uzi Vert, 21 Savage, Rick Ross, Big Sean, Megan Thee Stallion, Swae Lee, Juicy J, A$AP Ferg, Tyga, Young Thug, Gucci Mane, T-Pain, YG, Playboi Carti, Lil Yachty and Young M.A. (Updated April 1, 2020)
Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones have postponed and rescheduled the 2020 North American leg of their “No Filter” tour. The 15 concerts were scheduled to begin May 8 in San Diego and end July 9 in Atlanta. The rescheduled dates begin in St. Louis on September 26, 2021, and end in Austin on November 20, 2021. (Updated July 22, 2021)
Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo
The annual event in Scotland has been cancelled. The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo had been scheduled for August 7 to August 29, 2020. (Updated April 1, 2020)
“Run”
Lionsgate has dropped the release of the horror film “Run,” originally set for release in theaters May 8, 2020. Hulu will now release “Run” on November 20, 2020. The movie stars Sarah Paulson. (Updated September 22, 2020)
RuPaul’s DragCon LA
This annual Los Angeles event celebrating the culture of drag queens has been cancelled. RuPaul’s DragCon LA had been scheduled to take place May 1 to May 3, 2020. (Updated March 10, 2020)
San Francisco Silent Film Festival
The annual event has been cancelled. Originally set to take place from April 29 to May 3, 2020, the San Francisco Silent Film Festival was rescheduled for November 11 to November 15, 2020. However, the festival has now been cancelled for 2020, and is set to from May 5 to May 9, 2021. (June 3, 2020)
“Scoob!”
Warner Bros. Pictures will release directly to home video this animated film, based on the “Scooby-Doo” TV series. “Scoob!” was originally scheduled to be released in theaters on May 15, 2020. The release date is still the same, but it will now be on digital and VOD. The movie’s voice cast includes Frank Welker, Will Forte, Gina Rodriguez, Amanda Seyfried and Zac Efron. (Updated on April 21, 2020)
Screen Actors Guild Awards
The 27th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles has been rescheduled to April 4, 2021. The original date for the show (which will be televised in the U.S. on TNT and TBS) was March 14, 2021, but had to move when the 2021 Grammy Awards was postponed to this date. (Updated on January 13, 2021)
“The Secret: Dare to Dream”
Roadside Attractions has postponed and rescheduled the release of this dramatic film, starring Katie Holmes and Josh Lucas. “The Secret: Dare to Dream” was due in U.S. theaters on April 17, 2020, and is now set for release on digital and PVOD (premium video on demand) on July 31, 2020. (Updated March 12, 2020)
Series Mania
The annual TV festival in Lille, France, has been cancelled. Series Mania was supposed to take place from March 20 to March 28, 2020. (Updated March 11, 2020)
“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”
Disney’s Marvel Studios has postponed and rescheduled the release of the superhero movie “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” starring Simu Liu and Tony Leung. “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” was originally scheduled to be released on February 12, 2021, was postponed to May 7, 2021, and will now be released on September 3, 2021. (Updated March 23, 2021)
“Sing 2”
Universal Pictures has postponed and rescheduled the release of this animated sequel. “Sing 2,” which includes voice actors Reese Witherspoon and Matthew McConaughey, was originally set to open July 2, 2021, and will now be released on December 22, 2021. (Updated April 1, 2020)
“Slay the Dragon”
This critically acclaimed documentary about gerrymandering in U.S. politics had been scheduled for a limited U.S. theatrical release on March 13, 2020. Magnolia Pictures will now release “Slay the Dragon” on VOD and on other digital platforms on April 3, 2020. (Updated March 10, 2020)
“Sometimes Always Never”
Blue Fox Entertainment has postponed and rescheduled the U.S. release of this British thriller, starring Bill Nighy and Sam Riley. “Sometimes Always Never” had been rescheduled for a U.S. theatrical release on April 15, 2020, after being postponed from March 6, 2020. The movie will now be released in virtual cinemas on June 12, 2020, and on VOD on July 10, 2020. The movie was already released in 2019 in several countries, including the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Hungary. (Updated June 1, 2020)
Songwriters Hall of Fame
The annual Songwriters Hall of Fame ceremony in New York City has been postponed and rescheduled for 2021, and the show will award the previously announced honorees. Originally set for June 11, 2020, the ceremony will now take place on June 10, 2021. The previously announced honorees are Mariah Carey; Eurythmics co-founders Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart; the Isley Brothers members Ernie Isley, Marvin Isley, O’Kelly Isley, Ronald Isley, Rudolph Isley and Chris Jasper; Steve Miller; the Neptunes founders Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo; Rick Nowels; and William “Mickey” Stevenson. Paul Williams will receive the Johnny Mercer Award. Universal Music Publishing chairman/CEO Jody Gerson will receive the Abe Olman Publisher Award. (Updated March 31, 2020)
Sonic Temple Arts + Music Festival
Concert promoter Danny Wimmer Presents has cancelled the annual Sonic Temple Arts + Music Festival, which was scheduled to take in place in Columbus, Ohio, from May 15 to May 17, 2020. The lineup of performers included Metallica, Slipknot, Deftones, Bring Me the Horizon, Evanescence, and Staind. Many of the artists who were scheduled to perform at the festival were going to perform at the Louder Than Life festival in Louisville, Kentucky (another Danny Wimmer Presents event), which has expanded to four days (September 17 to September 20, 2020), with Metallica headlining on September 17. However, the 2020 edition of Louder Than Life has now also been cancelled. (Updated April 24, 2020)
“Soul”
Disney’s Pixar Studios has postponed and rescheduled the release of this animated film, which is the first Pixar movie to have an African American character in the lead role. The voice cast of “Soul” includes Jamie Foxx, Daveed Diggs, Tina Fey, Phylicia Rashad, Angela Bassett, Questlove and Graham Norton. “Soul” was originally scheduled to be released in theaters on November 19, 2020, and will now be released on December 25, 2020. “Soul” will be available to Disney+ subscribers in countries where Disney+ is available, while the movie will be released in theaters in countries where Disney+ is not available. (Updated October 9, 2020.)
South by Southwest (SXSW) Conference and Festivals
The 2020 edition of SXSW has been cancelled for the first time in the event’s 34-year history. The event was scheduled to take place from March 13 to 22 in Austin, Texas. A public health state of emergency has also been declared in the city of Austin. SXSW includes festivals for music, film and live comedy, as well as conferences for technology, education and gaming. Days before the cancellation, several companies pulled of out participating in the event this year, including Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, Intel, Lionsgate, Starz, TikTok, Twitter, Vevo and WarnerMedia. The SXSW Film Festival announced that it will still give awards this year in the jury-voted categories. The films in competition are being made available online to jurors. Winners will be announced online and not at an awards ceremony. Click here for the full story of the SXSW event cancellation. On April 2, it was announced that the 2020 SXSW Film Festival has partnered with Amazon Prime Video to make select films from the cancelled festival available for free on Amazon Prime Video for a limited time. Click here for more details. (Updated April 2, 2020)
“Spiral”
Lionsgate has postponedand rescheduled the release of the horror movie “Spiral,” originally set for May 15, 2020 and is now set for release on May 14, 2021. The movie, which is a reboot of the “Saw” franchise, stars Chris Rock and Samuel L. Jackson. (Updated December 17, 2020)
“The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run”
Paramount Pictures has postponed and rescheduled the release of this animated sequel, starring voice actor Tom Kenney, which was originally scheduled to be released May 22, 2020. “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run”was then pushed back to July 17 and then July 31, 2020. The movie’s new U.S. release date will be sometime in early 2021, where it will be released on premium VOD (PVOD). After being released on PVOD, the movie will be available on CBS All Access, which is changing its name to Paramount+ in 2021. (Updated July 8, 2020)
Stagecoach Music Festival
The annual country music festival has been cancelled. Originally scheduled for April 24 to April 26, 2020, Stagecoach (which takes place in Indio, California) was rescheduled for October 23 to October 25, 2020, but now the event will not take place in 2020. Artists who had been announced to perform included headliners Thomas Rhett, Carrie Underwood and Eric Church, as well as Brett Young, Billy Ray Cyrus, Lil Nas X, Dan + Shay, Alan Jackson, Jon Pardi and Bryan Adams. (Updated June 11, 2020)
Harry Styles
The former One Direction star has postponed and rescheduled the U.K. and continental European dates of his Love on Tour. The shows were originally scheduled to begin April 15, 2020 in Birmingham, England, and end June 3, 2020, in Moscow. The concerts will now take place in 2021, beginning February 12 in Bologna, Italy, and end March 30 in Moscow. (Updated March 25, 2020)
Taylor Swift
The Grammy-winning superstar has postponed all of her tour dates for the remainder of 2020. The rescheduled dates for the concerts are to be announced. Unlike other artists’ tour dates that have been postponed, refunds will be available for Swift’s postponed tour dates. (Updated April 17, 2020)
Summerfest
The annual music festival in Milwaukee has been postponed and rescheduled. The event was originally set for June 24 to July 5 to the weekends of September 3 to September 5, September 10 to September 12, and September 17 to September 19, 2020. Performers include Justin Bieber, Guns N’Roses, Dave Matthews Band, Luke Bryan, Khalid, Halsey, Sam Hunt and Jessie Reyez. (Updated March 23, 2020)
Sun Valley Film Festival
The annual festival in Sun Valley, Idaho, has been cancelled. The event had been scheduled to take place from March 18 to March 22, 2020. (Updated March 12, 2020)
Sydney Film Festival
The annual film festival in Australia had been scheduled for June 3 to June 14, 2020, but the event has been cancelled. The Sydney Film Festival plans to return in 2021. (Updated March 17, 2020)
Edinburgh Fringe Festival
The annual event in Telluride, Colorado, has been cancelled. The Telluride Film Festival had been scheduled for September 3 to September 7, 2020. (Updated July 14, 2020)
“Tenet”
Warner Bros. Pictures has postponed and rescheduled the thriller “Tenet,” starring John David Washington and Robert Pattinson. “Tenet” was originally set to premiere on July 17, 2020, was postponed to July 31, 2020, and then August 12, 2020. Theatrical release dates for the movie will now vary by country. The new U.S. release date for “Tenet” is September 3, 2020. In Canada, the movie will be released on August 26, 2020. (Updated August 2, 2020)
“The Third Day”
HBO has postponed the TV premiere of the limited drama series “The Third Day,” starring Jude Law and Naomie Harris. “The Third Day” was originally set to premiere on May 11, 2020, and will now premiere on September 14, 2020. (Updated July 22, 2020)
“Thor: Love and Thunder”
Disney’s Marvel Studios has postponed and rescheduled the release of the superhero movie “Thor: Love and Thunder,” starring Chris Hemsworth and Natalie Portman. “Thor: Love and Thunder” was originally scheduled for release on November 5, 2021. The new release date is February 8, 2022. (Updated April 3, 2020)
“Tom & Jerry”
Warner Bros. Pictures has postponed and rescheduled the live-action animated film “Tom & Jerry,” starring Chloë Grace Moretz, Michael Peña, Ken Jeong and Rob Delaney. The film was originally due out on December 23, 2020, and is now set for release on March 5, 2021. (Updated June 11, 2020)
Tomorrowland
The annual electronic-music festival Tomorrowland in Alpe d’Huez, France, has been cancelled. The event had been scheduled for March 14 to March 21, 2020.
“The Tomorrow War”
Paramount Pictures has sold this sci-fi/fantasy film, starring Chris Pratt, which was originally scheduled to be released December 25, 2020. The movie will now premiere on Amazon Prime Video on July 2, 2021. (Updated April 2, 2021)
Tony Awards
The Tony Awards, an annual ceremony in New York City for Broadway shows, had originally been scheduled for June 7, 2020. The show will be televised in the U.S on CBS on September 21, 2021. (Updated July 8, 2021)
“Top Gun: Maverick”
Paramount Pictures has postponed and rescheduled the release of this action sequel, starring Tom Cruise, which was originally scheduled to be released June 24, 2020. The movie’s release date was changed to December 23, 2020, and then postponed to July 2, 2021, and then changed again to November 19, 2021. The movie’s current release date is May 22, 2022. (Updated December 9, 2021)
Toronto Comic Arts Festival
The annual comic-book convention has been cancelled. The Toronto Comic Arts Festival had been scheduled for May 8 to May 10, 2020. (Updated March 19, 2020)
Treefort Music Fest
The annual festival in Boise, Idaho, for emerging talent has been postponed. Treefort Music Fest had originally been scheduled to take place from March 25 to 29, 2020, and will now take place from September 23 to September 27, 2020. (Updated March 12, 2020)
Tribeca Film Festival
The Tribeca Film Festival in New York City has been turned into a semi-open virtual event, with industry people and the media being able to access certain films online from April 15 to May 15, 2020. The annual event had been scheduled for to be open to the public from April 15 to April 26, 2020. Winners of the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival’s jury awards were announced on April 29, 2020. (Updated April 29, 2020)
“The Truth”
IFC Films has postponed the U.S. release of this French drama, starring Catherine Denueve, Juliette Binoche and Ethan Hawke. Originally scheduled for a U.S. release on March 20, 2020, the new U.S. release date for “The Truth” is on July 3, 2020. The movie was already released in France and in Japan in 2019. (Updated June 20, 2020.)
TV Network Upfront Presentations
TV networks’ annual upfront presentations for advertisers take place in New York City, mostly in April and May. In 2020, all of these events have now been cancelled or switched to being online presentations only. (Updated March 15, 2020)
TV Shows With Live Audiences
Almost all nationally televised series that are known to have live audiences have announced that they will continue without live audiences or they are temporarily shutting down production. These include talk shows, game shows, talent shows and variety shows. Some of these shows have already taped episodes with audiences, before bans on large gatherings went into effect. (Updated March 16, 2020)
Ultra Music Festival
The annual electronica-dance music event in Miami has been cancelled and will return in 2021. Ultra Music Festival had been scheduled to take place March 20 to March 22, 2020. Performers at the 2020 Ultra Music Festival would have included David Guetta, DJ Snake, Major Lazer, Above & Beyond, Afrojack and Martin Garrix.
“Uncharted”
Sony’s Columbia Pictures has postponed and rescheduled this video-game-based movie. “Uncharted,” starring Tom Holland and Bryan Cranston, was due out in cinemas on March 5, 2021, and has been rescheduled to open on October 8, 2021. (Updated March 30, 2020)
Universal Studios
Universal Studios Hollywood will be closed until further notice, as of March 14, 2020. Universal Studios in Florida closed on March 16, 2020 and re-opened on June 5, 2020. (Updated April 1, 2020)
“Venom: Let There Be Carnage”
Sony’s Columbia Pictures has postponed and rescheduled the release of the superhero sequel “Venom: Let There Be Carnage,” starring Tom Hardy. “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” was originally scheduled to be released on October 2, 2020, was postponed to June 25, 2021, delayed to September 21, 2021, then postponed to October 15, 2021, and then moved up to October 1, 2021. (Updated September 5, 2021)
VidCon
VidCon, the annual networking event for video-based media influencers, has postponed all of its conferences. The flagship VidCon in Anaheim, California, was supposed to take place from June 17 to June 20, 2020, but the event will be rescheduled on dates to be announced. The inaugural VidCon Mexico in Mexico City was scheduled for April 30 to May 3, 2020, and has been rescheduled for September 17 to September 20, 2020. The inaugural VidCon Abu Dhabi was scheduled for March 25 to March 28, 2020, and has been rescheduled for December 16 to December 19, 2020. (Updated March 23, 2020)
Wango Tango
The annual star-studded music concert, hosted by Los Angeles pop radio station KIIS-FM, has been cancelled. The show was set for June 5, 2020, in Carson, California. The 2020 Wango Tango lineup included headliner Harry Styles. (Updated March 24, 2020)
Webby Awards
The annual award show in New York City honoring World Wide Web content and creators has been postponed until further notice and will be changed from an in-person event to an online event. The original date for this year’s Webby Awards was May 11, 2020. (Updated March 19, 2020)
Welcome to Rockville
Concert promoter Danny Wimmer Presents has cancelled the annual Welcome to Rockville festival, which was scheduled to take in place in Daytona Beach, Florida, from May 8 to May 10, 2020. The lineup of performers included Metallica, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Godsmack, Deftones, Social Distortion, The Offspring, Staind, Lamb of God, Rancid. Many of the artists who were scheduled to perform at the festival were going to perform at the Louder Than Life festival in Louisville, Kentucky (another Danny Wimmer Presents event), which has expanded to four days (September 17 to September 20, 2020), with Metallica headlining on September 17. However, the 2020 edition of Louder Than Life has now also been cancelled. (Updated April 24, 2020)
“West Side Story”
Disney’s 20th Century Studios has postponed and rescheduled the release of the musical remake of “West Side Story,” which was set for December 18, 2020. The movie’s new release date is December 10, 2021. The stars of “West Side Story” include Ansel Elgort, Rachel Zegler and Rita Moreno. (Updated September 23, 2020)
WhedonCon
The annual convention in Los Angeles celebrating the work of writer/director Joss Whedon (who’s best known for the first two “Avengers” movies and the “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” TV series) has been postponed, rescheduled and turned into an online-only event. WhedonCon was originally scheduled for June 5 to June 7, 2020, then postponed to October 30 to November 1, 2020. The event will now be online only on October 24, 2020. (Updated August 19, 2020)
“Wicked”
Universal Pictures has postponed until further notice the release of this movie adaptation of the Tony-winning Broadway musical. “Wicked,” starring Katie Rose Clark and Jessica Vosk, had originally been set for release on December 22, 2021. (Updated April 1, 2020)
Winter Music Conference
The annual convention in Miami for electronica-dance music was scheduled to take place March 16 to March 19, 2020, but has been postponed and will be rescheduled on dates to be announced.
“The Witches”
Warner Bros. Pictures has postponed and rescheduled the horror/fantasy film “The Witches,” starring Anne Hathaway and Octavia Spencer. “The Witches” was originally set to be released in theaters on October 9, 2020, and will now go directly to streaming on HBO Max on October 22, 2020. (Updated October 2, 2020)
“The Wolf House”
Independent movie distributor KimStim has postponed and rescheduled the U.S. release of this Chilean animated film, which tells the story of Colonia Dignidad, a German émigré-run colony in post-WWII Chile that was revealed to have been used to imprison, torture and murder dissidents during the Pinochet regime. “The Wolf House” is now set for release in virtual cinemas on May 15, 2020. The movie was originally scheduled for release in New York City on March 20, 2020, and in Los Angeles on March 27, 2020. (Updated May 1, 2020.)
WOMAD Festival
The annual World of Music and Dance (WOMAD) Festival in Wiltshire, England, has been cancelled. The festival (founded by Peter Gabriel) was scheduled for July 23 to July 26, 2020. Artists on the festival bill included the Flaming Lips, Angélique Kidjo, Kate Tempest and Fatoumata Diawara. (Updated June 8, 2020)
“The Woman in the Window”
20th Century Pictures has sold the thriller “The Woman in the Window” to Netflix. Originally set for release in theaters on April 18, 2020, “The Woman in the Window” (which stars Amy Adams) is now set for release on May 14, 2021. (Updated December 30, 2020)
WonderCon
The annual comic-book/sci-fi/fantasy entertainment fan convention in Anaheim, California, has been cancelled. WonderCon had been set for April 10 to April 12, 2020.The event will return on March 26 to March 28, 2021. (Updated April 17, 2020)
“Wonder Woman 1984”
Warner Bros. Pictures has postponed and rescheduled this superhero sequel, starring Gal Gadot. “Wonder Woman 1984” was originally set for June 5, 2020, then rescheduled for August 14, 2020, and then October 2, 2020. The movie’s current theatrical release dates are December 16, 2020, in countries outside of the U.S. and Canada, and on December 25, 2020 in the U.S. and Canada. “Wonder Woman 1984” will also be available on HBO Max at no additional charge to subscribers on December 25, 2020. (Updated November 18, 2020)
YouTube
The London edition of YouTube on Stage, an event to showcase YouTube talent, was cancelled just hours before the event was supposed to happen on March 11, 2020. In addition, YouTube has switched its annual Brandcast marketing presentation (set for April 30, 2020) to be an online event instead of an in-person event. (Updated March 16, 2020)
Culture Representation: Taking place in various locations in Southern California, the music documentary “Desolation Center” interviews a racially diverse group of people (white, African American, Latino and Asian) talking about the notable 1980s rock concerts promoted by the independent team Desolation Center, with commentaries from artists, fans and behind-the-scenes industry people.
Culture Clash: Desolation Center concerts, which rejected anything that was corporate, often operated outside the law by not filing permits and by being held in unconventional places.
Culture Audience: “Desolation Center” will appeal primarily to people interested in the non-mainstream Los Angeles rock scene in the 1980s and stories about music festivals.
Perry Farrell and Aaron Sherer (both facing camera) in “Desolation Center” (Photo by Mariska Leyssius)
Imagine a well-attended music festival that takes place in the California desert. Event permits weren’t filed, people were transported by school bus to the festival, and most attendees were so excited about going that they didn’t think about bringing sunscreen, water or food. And there wouldn’t be any vendors at the festival to sell anything. This festival obviously isn’t Coachella.
The documentary film “Desolation Center” is a nostalgic and fascinating look at five of the biggest concerts staged by a Los Angeles-based independent promotion team called Desolation Center. In its relatively short existence (1983 to 1986), Desolation Center influenced several festivals that ended up becoming corporate behemoths, including Burning Man, Lollapalooza and Coachella. The five Desolation Center concerts that get the spotlight in the documentary are Mohave Exodus, Mohave Auzug, Joy at Sea, Gila Monster Jamboree and Solstice.
“Desolation Center” director Stuart Swezey, who also appears on camera for his commentary, is the best person to helm this documentary, since he founded Desolation Center and had hands-on involvement in every show presented by the team. His deep history with Desolation Center serves this film well, since it’s packed with a lot of great archival photos and video footage, as well as an extremely well-rounded set of interviews from artists, fans and behind-the-scenes industry people who usually have first-hand accounts of Desolation Center shows.
Artists interviewed include the members of Sonic Youth (except for Kim Gordon), Meat Puppets, Minutemen, Redd Kross and Einstürzende Neubauten. Also giving an artist perspective are Perry Farrell (co-founder of Lollapalooza Festival and the band Jane’s Addiction); Aaron Sherer (who was in Psi Com, Farrell’s pre-Jane’s Addicition band); Kurt Schellenbach of Nip Drivers; Suzi Gardner of L7; Michael Gra of Swans; Dan Bolles of the Germs; Chuck Dukowski of Black Flag; Steve Housden of Lawndale; Ian Rakow of Valley Punk; F.M. Einheit; artist Anthony Ausgang; noise musician Boyd Rice; performance artist Ron Athey; poet John Tottenham; and performance artists Mark Pauline and Matt Heckert of Survival Research Laboratories.
Unlike many music documentaries that shun or limit perspectives of non-famous fans, “Desolation Center” gives almost as much screen time to fans as it does the artists. Among the fans who share their fond memories of Desolation Center shows are poet Maw Shein Win; musician Sean DeLear; community organizer Linda Kite; costumer designer Nancy Steiner; Sandy Glaze; Lisa Derrick; Janet Housden; Easter Seals COO Bev Mendes; artist Kristine Kryttre; Bertell Ferguson; Skip King; ML Compton; Mike Guerena; Fourway Cross bandmates Courtney Davies, Steve Gerdes and Tom Dolan; and married couple Joy and Ken Abbott, who’ve been together since the ’80s.
Also giving their insight are Goldenvoice founder Gary Tovar; Burning Man co-founder John Law; indie music operative Carmel Conlin; SST producer Spot; photographer/musician Mariska Leyssius; sound engineer Ed Cirino of Gold Sound; Re/Search Publications editor/publisher V. Vale, music publisher Adam Wolf; and journalists Chris Morris, Simon Reynolds, Joseph Bien-Khan.
“Desolation Center” begins with a contextual backdrop of what was going on in the Los Angeles music scene during the 1980s that laid the groundwork to form Desolation Center. If there’s any villain of this story, it’s Daryl Gates, who was chief of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) from 1978 to 1992. DeLear calls Gates “rotten” and “creepy” in the documentary.
And several people who comment in the film, including Swezey, describe the LAPD under Gates’ leadership as an oppressive force that targeted punk rock musicians and fans for harassment and arrests. Bolles says, “The LAPD freaked out about punk rock, like it was the second coming of the Black Panthers.”
Therefore, nightclubs and bars in Los Angeles that booked punk artists frequently had those shows shut down or heavily enforced by the LAPD. Meat Puppets lead singer/guitarist Curt Kirkwood adds, “It seems like they [the LAPD] were going through the newspaper and finding bands that sounded punk rock and making sure they didn’t happen.” Performance artist Athey comments on Los Angeles: “I grew up here. I wasn’t enlightened that you could live in a non-police state, so you figured out how to skirt around it.”
The good news is that in the early 1980s, the alternative/underground music scene was very diverse, in terms of race, gender, sexuality and economic backgrounds. Kite, who was the fiancée of Minutemen singer/guitarist D. Boone, comments on the Los Angeles punk/underground music scene during this era: “There was just as much people of color in it as there were white kids. Bands were multicultural, as well as the scene was multicultural.”
This diversity was in stark contrast to Los Angeles’ heavy metal scene and classic rock scene, which pretty much excluded musicians who weren’t straight white males. Another big difference between the punk scene and communities for other rock genres was that punk was all about rejecting conformity and corporate greed.
Swezey comments in the documentary: “In the early ’80s, I think the rest of the world saw L.A. as this brain-dead, sun baked, smoggy sprawl—which it kind of was. For those of us who grew up here, the early ’80s was actually a really vital and interesting time.”
Before Swezey founded Desolation Center, he was a 21-year-old college dropout doing phone sales for a municipal broker in 1982. Although he was a fan of punk music and went to a lot of shows, he wasn’t inspired to become a show promoter until he saw a Throbbing Gristle concert and later met its promoter Michael Sheppard. Swezey says of that fateful Throbbing Gristle show: “Their sonic assault changed the way I thought of music and performance forever.”
He took the plunge to form Desolation Center in 1983, as an independent collective to promote “alternative” rock and performance artists. At the time, Swezey was living in a very seedy and run-down part of downtown Los Angeles. He says he came up with the name Desolation Center “because that’s how I was feeling about my environment at the time.”
Desolation Center was born out of nonconformity, not just because of punk ideals but also out of financial necessity. The tiny start-up didn’t have the budget to book artists at established nightclubs and advertise those types of shows. Therefore, Swezey and Desolation Center had the great idea to do the opposite of what most concert promoters were doing.
Desolation Center booked shows in abandoned warehouses and other under-the-radar places. The shows also didn’t follow industry norms: Guests lists weren’t allowed, everyone had to pay to get inside, and the shows didn’t sell alcohol (which would get the attention of the police), but people of legal drinking age were allowed to bring their own alcohol. Desolation Center also didn’t advertise its shows and did not court publicity.
Having these shows in non-traditional venues also allowed Desolation Center to not have to deal with Ticketmaster or city permits to put on these shows. And finding about these shows, not through advertising or media publicity, but through word of mouth, gave Desolation Center a cool, underground reputation with fans. Nowadays, with insurance liabilities being more of a concern for artists and promoters, an outfit like Desolation Center wouldn’t have been able to stay in business for as long as it did.
It wasn’t long before Desolation Center wanted to do something bigger than just a small show in a warehouse, without having to go to a traditional large venue. After taking a road trip through the Sonora Desert in Mexico, Swezey was inspired to have the first Desolation Center festival in the desert. He approached Savage Republic band member Bruce Licher, who came up with the idea to have the show in the Mohave Desert, about three hours east outside of Los Angeles.
That show ended up being a mini-festival called Mohave Exodus, which took place on April 24, 1983, and featured performances by Savage Republic and Minutemen. Licher had access to a printing press, so he was essentially in charge of making the tickets and signage that were used for the show. Farrell says of Licher: “He was like the Benjamin Franklin of our scene.”
Getting to the concert site was unconventional. There was a secret place in downtown L.A. where ticketholders were told to meet. From there, rented school buses took them to the remote area in the desert. Many of the fans were completely unaware of how hot the desert heat would be and were decked out in full-on heavy punk gear.
Kryttre, an artist who attended the event, remembers how driving to the concert site was a challenge because some of truck stop managers would lock their restrooms when they saw all the “alternative”-looking young people coming out of the buses to use the restrooms. The way these fans looked back then wouldn’t be considered a big deal today, but it was a big deal back then.
The concert was so bare-bones and do-it-yourself that nothing was set up in the middle of the desert except for the band’s equipment and sound system. There was no stage separating the band from the audience. Most concertgoers had to sit on the hard desert ground, although some people thought of bringing lawn chairs. And forget about places to eat, drink and use toilets at the concert site. There weren’t any.
And they weren’t prepared for the forceful desert winds in the area. Sound engineer Cirino remembers that socks had to be put on microphones, and the buses had to be parked behind the bands to form a wall that would be a wind barrier. It was about as unglamorous and uncomfortable as you can imagine. But looking back on it, the concertgoers and band members interviewed in the documentary say they loved the experience.
Win comments, “I felt we were these young people creating this great, alternative world for ourselves out in the desert.” Guerena says, “There was no violence, no weirdness. It was like everybody was in this one cool group.” Joy Abbott adds, “I just remember thinking, ‘This is one of the coolest things I’ll ever do in my whole life.'”
After the Mohave Exodus show, Swezey quit his day job and went backpacking around Europe. While he was in West Berlin, he saw German industrial band Einstürzende Neubauten perform for the first time and was completely awed by the experience. It was around this time that Swezey saw director Werner Herzog’s epic 1982 movie “Fitzcarraldo,” which also gave Swezey the idea for the next big Desolation Center festival.
In “Fitzcarraldo,” a European opera fan becomes obsessed with building an opera house in the Peruvian jungle. Swezey explains how Einstürzende Neubauten and “Fiztcarraldo” inspired him: Instead of bringing opera to the jungle, he wanted to bring industrial music to the desert.
And that led to the Desolation Center show Mohave Auzug, held in Mecca, California, on March 4, 1984. Einstürzende Neubauten headlined the show, which was more elaborate—and crazier and more dangerous—than Mohave Exodus. A pacifist percussion group Djemaa-El-Fna greeted concertgoers as they arrived.
But that peaceful atmosphere was quickly destroyed by Survival Research Laboratories, a rebellious group of performance artists (whose most famous member is Mark Pauline), who loved to literally blow things up. And the desert was their playground at the show, as they set off explosives in a cave, as well as other places outside, despite the objections of Djemaa-El-Fna and some concertgoers.
Luckily, no one was hurt at Mohave Auzug by these explosions. Pauline and the rest of the anarchists look back with no regrets and say the explosions were all in the name of fun and performance art. Lawndale band member Housden remembers that at this industrial-oriented concert, power tools were used as musical instruments and other playthings: “They were giving a hard time to our dad’s power tools … They ruined them.”
With two well-received desert concerts under his belt, Swezey decided that the next big Desolation Center concert would be at an opposite location: on the water. The Joy at Sea concert was held in the San Pedro Harbor in California, on June 15, 1984. The headliners were San Pedro hometown band Minutemen and Arizona-based band Meat Puppets. Meat Puppets bass player Cris Kirkwood says of the experience: “It was one of the highlights of my musical career in a lot of ways—just magical as crap.”
Then, it was back to the California desert. Gila Monster Jamboree was Desolation Center’s biggest event yet, and is probably considered the most important one for Desolation Center. Taking place on January 5, 1985, the bill included Sonic Youth (in the New York City band’s West Coast debut), Meat Puppets, Redd Kross and Psi Com, which was Farrell’s band before he formed Jane’s Addiction.
In the documentary, Farrell admits that Psi Com got the gig because he was Swezey’s roommate at the time. “It was really cool, so I thank you for that,” Farrell says. Meat Puppets frontman Curt Kirkwood remembers that everybody at the concert seemed to be in a good mood because most people were flying high on LSD. Montgomery, one of the fans at the concert, says: “There were very few people who weren’t tripping.”
Unlike previous Desolation Center concerts in the desert, where the concertgoers could only get there by Desolation Center’s provided buses, Gila Monster Jamboree gave concertgoers the option to take their own transportation to the concert site, although bus transportation was still provided for those who wanted it. There were was still none of the commercial trappings (merchandise booths and food vendors), sanitary facilities, or safety precautions that are presumed for today’s music festivals. Because, just like other Desolation Center concerts, the promoters didn’t have a permit to hold the event.
Steve and Jeff McDonald, the brothers who co-founded Redd Kross, remember the nerve-racking experience of having a driver who got lost for hours, making the band very late for the concert. Redd Kross was the first “glam rock” band to perform at a Desolation Center festival. And ironically, the band was so late, the members of Redd Kross didn’t have time to change into their glammed-up stage clothes and instead performed in jeans and sweatpants, which was outside their comfort zone for their stage wardrobe.
Desolation Center’s permit-avoiding ways eventually caught up to the team, which was fined $400 for the Gila Monster Jamboree show. Swezey says that $400 was a lot of money to them at the time. So, in true D.I.Y. fashion, Desolation Center held a Trespass Benefit show to raise funds to pay off the fine. Minutemen and Nip Drivers performed at the fundraising concert, which was held at the Anti Club on Augusts 4, 1985.
Desolation Center’s last big hurrah was the Solstice concert on December 21, 1985. Sonic Youth and Swans topped the bill for the show, which had the unusual distinction of being partially funded by the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA). Swezey says that a friend who received NEA grant money approached him to do the show.
But tragedy struck on December 22, 1985, when Minutemen lead singer D. Boone was killed in a car accident that injured his fiancée Kite and permanently disabled Kite’s sister. It was an end of an era. Swezey says in the documentary that Boone’s death and the stricter laws being enforced for concert promotion led to the decision to say goodbye to Desolation Center and move on to other things. Swezey then founded Amok Books, an alternative publishing company.
“Desolation Center” isn’t just for people who remember what it was like to be a fan of alternative music in the early ’80s. It’s the type of documentary that people of many generations can enjoy if they like the bands in the film and if they want to get a meaningful historical time capsule of a specific subculture of the Los Angeles music scene in the early-to-mid-1980s.
It might also make people wistful for a bygone era when people went to concerts and festivals and lived in the moment, instead of worrying about how things were going to look on social media. Remarkably, no one was killed or maimed at a Desolation Center concert, which is in stark contrast to all the concerts that have happened since the ’80s that have experienced mass shootings, bombings and other weapons of war against innocent concertgoers.
Desolation Center wasn’t exactly about “peace and love” all the time, but one of its greatest legacies that’s been largely abandoned by most big concert promoters is that the shows embraced people from all sorts of backgrounds, by not excluding people through ticket prices that are too high for certain people’s budgets. Those days might be long gone for music festivals, but this documentary is a significant reminder of how it was possible back in the ’80s and how well it worked.
Passion River Films released “Desolation Center” on digital, VOD and DVD on June 23, 2020.
The following is a press release from iHeartMedia and Fox:
iHeartMedia and Fox announced today Fox Presents the iHeart Living Room Concert of America, a music event to provide entertainment relief and support for Americans to help fight the spread of the COVID-19 virus and to celebrate the resilience and strength of the nation during this pandemic. Hosted by Elton John, the event will feature performances by Alicia Keys, Backstreet Boys, Billie Eilish, Billie Joe Armstrong, Mariah Carey, Tim McGrawand more, from their own homes, filmed with their personal cell phones, cameras and audio equipment, to ensure the health and safety of all involved. The concert will air in the iHeartRadio Music Awards’ original broadcast time slot—Sunday, March 29, from 9:00-10:00 PM ET/6:00-7:00 PM PT on Fox—and on iHeartMedia radio stations nationwide, as well as via the iHeartRadio app. The benefit special will be broadcast commercial-free.
In addition to featuring music, the hour-long concert will pay tribute to the front line health professionals, first responders and local heroes who are putting their lives in harm’s way to help their neighbors and fight the spread of the virus. It also will encourage viewers to support two of the many charitable organizations helping victims and first responders during the pandemic: Feeding America® and First Responders Children’s Foundation.
To extend the reach of the commercial-free special’s charitable component, FOX will offer the event across all of its linear and digital platforms.
Additional details and performers to be announced soon. For more information, visit iHeart.com/LivingRoomConcert.
Executive producers for Fox Presents the iHeart Living Room Concert of Americaare John Sykes and Tom Poleman, for iHeartMedia; and Joel Gallen, for Tenth Planet Productions, who produced the multi-network telethons immediately following 9/11, Hurricane Katrina and the Haiti Earthquake.
About iHeartMedia
iHeartMedia (NASDAQ: IHRT) is the number one audio company in the United States, reaching nine out of 10 Americans every month – and with its quarter of a billion monthly listeners, has a greater reach than any other media company in the U.S. The company’s leadership position in audio extends across multiple platforms, including more than 850 live broadcast stations in over 150 markets; digital radio via its iHeartRadio digital service available across more than 250 platforms and 2,000 devices; through its on-air influencers; social; branded iconic live music events; and podcasts as the #1 commercial podcast publisher. iHeartMedia also leads the audio industry in analytics, targeting and attribution for its marketing partners with its SmartAudio product, using data from its massive consumer base. Visit iHeartMedia.com for more company information.
About FOX Entertainment
A division of Fox Corporation, FOX Entertainment’s 30-year legacy of innovative, hit programming includes “9-1-1,” “9-1-1: Lone Star,” “The AMsked Singer,” “Lego Masters,” “Prodigal Son,” “Empire,” “Last Man Standing,” “24,” “The X-Files” and “American Idol.” Delivering high-quality scripted, non-scripted and live content, Fox Entertainment’s broadcast network airs 15 hours of primetime programming a week, as well as major sports; and is the only major network to post year-over-year growth among viewers during the 2018-2019 broadcast season.
March 27, 2020 UPDATE: iHeartMedia and Fox announced that Camila Cabello, Dave Grohl, H.E.R. and Sam Smith have been added to the lineup. The concert will also feature inspirational messages from guests as well as special appearances from Ciara, Demi Lovato, Lizzo, Russell Wilson and more.
March 29, 2020 UPDATE: Ellen DeGeneres, Lady Gaga, Ken Jeong, Ryan Seacrest, Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone have been added to the lineup.
March 30, 2020 UPDATE: Last night’s broadcast of the benefit special Fox Presents iHeart Living Room Concert of America brought viewers together to thank our first responders and medical workers on the front lines and to celebrate America’s everyday heroes. The event raised money to support two charities that are doing critical work during these challenging times – Feeding America and First Responders Children’s Foundation. The one-hour special was created to help fight the spread of the COVID-19 virus and to celebrate the resilience and strength of the nation during this pandemic.
The benefit special raised nearly $8 million (and counting) for Feeding America® and First Responders Children’s Foundation. This is thanks to the generosity of fans, as well as corporate partner Procter & Gamble, which donated $500,000, and which Fox Corporation matched. Additionally, FOX employees raised funds in support of the cause, as did corporate partner PwC.
YouTube, which also made a donation in support of the cause, is nowstreaming FOX PRESENTS THE IHEART LIVING ROOM CONCERT FOR AMERICA, through Wednesday (April 1, 2020) at 10:00 PM ET oniHeartRadio’s YouTube Channel.
“Our goal from the start was to ‘do good’ at a tough time in the world. And that we were able to accomplish anything of that sort is because of the amazing artists who participated in this event, our producing partners, iHeart Media, and the outpouring of support from our employees, viewers and corporate partners,” said Charlie Collier, CEO, FOX Entertainment. “Many thanks to everyone involved with the production of this special and everyone who gave generously to the wonderful charities. It is they who support the really important work happening across our communities.”
In addition to airing on FOX, the special ran on iHeartMedia radio stations nationwide, via the iHeartRadio app; and is streaming on YouTube both domestically and globally until Wednesday, April 1, 2020. To extend the reach of the commercial-free special’s charitable component, FOX also offered the event across all of its linear and digital platforms, including FOX.com and the FOX NOW app. FOX will air an encore of the special Monday, April 6 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT).
The Fox Presents iHeart Living Room Concert of America delivered 8.7 million viewers and a 2.0 Live + Same Day aggregate rating among Adults 18-49 across all of FOX’s linear properties, including Fox Network, Fox News, Fox Business, FS1, FS2 and FOX Deportes. It added more than 700,000 starts and eight million minutes viewed across FOX’s digital properties. On Fox, it delivered a 1.5 Live + Same Day rating and 5.5 million viewers, making it the #1 and most-watched iHeart Radio special ever (excluding awards shows) and this year’s #1 Sunday entertainment telecast (excluding post-NFL and award shows) among Adults 18-49 (#1T) and Adults 18-34.
Hosted by Elton John, the event featured performances by Alicia Keys, Backstreet Boys, Dave Grohl, Billie Eilish and Finneas, Camila Cabello and Shawn Mendes, Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day, Tim McGraw, Sam Smith, Demi Lovato, H.E.R., and Mariah Carey, from their own homes, filmed with their personal cell phones, cameras and audio equipment, to ensure the health and safety of all involved.
The hour-long concert also featured inspirational messages from guests, as well as special appearances from Ken Jeong, Ciara and Russell Wilson, Ryan Seacrest, Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone, Lady Gaga, Lizzo, and Ellen DeGeneres, as the benefit special paid tribute to the front line health professionals, first responders and local heroes who are putting their lives in harm’s way to help their neighbors and fight the spread of the virus.
Executive producers for Fox Presents iHeart Living Room Concert of Americaare John Sykes and Tom Poleman for iHeartMedia and Joel Gallen for Tenth Planet Productions, who produced the multi-network telethons immediately following 9/11, Hurricane Katrina and the Haiti earthquake.
Alicia Keys at the 2019 iHeartRadio Music Awards at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on March 14, 2019. (Photo by Frank Micelotta/FOX/PictureGroup)
Halsey at the 2019 Billboard Music Awards at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on May 1, 2019. (Photo by Todd Williamson/NBC)
Camila Cabello at the 2018 American Music Awards at Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on October 9, 2018. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images North America via ABC/AMA2018)
June 4, 2019
The following is a press release from iHeartMedia:
iHeartMedia announced the lineup for the 2019 iHeartRadio Music Festival, the annual legendary concert event on Friday, September 20 and Saturday, September 21 at Las Vegas’ hottest entertainment venue, T-Mobile Arena. This year, the epic two-day lineup will feature performances by Alicia Keys, Cage The Elephant, Camila Cabello, Chance The Rapper, Def Leppard, French Montana, Halsey, Heart, H.E.R., Miley Cyrus, Mumford & Sons, Tim McGraw, Zac Brown Band and more. Hosted by Ryan Seacrest, the iHeartRadio Music Festival will once again feature one-of-a-kind collaborations and surprise performances.
The Daytime Stage at the iHeartRadio Music Festival will take place at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds on Saturday, September 21 with performances by Juice WRLD, Maren Morris, Billie Eilish, Old Dominion, H.E.R., Zara Larsson, CNCO, Brett Young, FLETCHER, Monsta X, Bryce Vine and Lauv, with more to be announced. In addition to live performances from today’s emerging artists, the Daytime Stage will also feature fan zones and interactive experiences by iHeartRadio’s brand partners.
“Year after year, the iHeartRadio Music Festival continues to captivate audiences nationwide,” said Tom Poleman, Chief Programming Officer for iHeartMedia. “Since its inception in 2011, this festival has become the can’t miss music event of the year. We’re thrilled to once again bring the world’s biggest artists together on one stage for one incredible weekend.”
Each night, the 2019 iHeartRadio Music Festival will broadcast live for fans via iHeartMedia radio stations throughout the country across more than 150 markets. The CW Network will broadcast a two-night television special on Wednesday, October 2 and Thursday, October 3 from 8 p.m. – 10 p.m. EST/PST. Leading up to the official television special, The CW will also air an hour-long Best Of Special on Sunday, September 29 at 8 p.m. EST/PST. In addition, The CW will exclusively livestream both nights of the festival via The CW App and CWTV.com.
“Each year we strive to live up to our reputation as the most diverse music festival in the world,” said John Sykes, President of Entertainment Enterprises for iHeartMedia. “This year we have the best in class from all genres of music performing indoors and out, all weekend long.”
Beginning Tuesday, June 11 at 1 p.m. EST/10 a.m. PST through Thursday, June 13 at 1 p.m. EST/10 a.m. PST, Capital One cardholders will have access to a special pre-sale for the iHeartRadio Music Festival. Tickets will be available only at iHeartRadio.com/CapitalOne. Additionally, Capital One cardholders can purchase an exclusive Capital One Access Pass which includes an intimate acoustic performance with Cage The Elephant, a meet and greet with the band and a backstage tour of T-Mobile Arena. Tickets go on sale to the general public on June 14 at 1 p.m. EST/10 a.m. PST via AXS.com. Tickets for the Daytime Stage are also on sale and can be purchased via Ticketmaster.com.
In addition, throughout a summer-long on-air and online promotion, iHeartMedia station listeners across the country will have the chance to win a one-of-a-kind dream trip to Las Vegas where they will join thousands of other dedicated music fans to experience the 2019 iHeartRadio Music Festival at T-Mobile Arena.
Proud partners of this year’s event include: Capital One(R), The CW Network, Macy’s, Progressive(R) Insurance, T-Mobile, Taco Bell(R) and Tic Tac with more to be announced.
The 2019 iHeartRadio Music Festival is co-produced by John Sykes, and Tom Poleman. For more details about the iHeartRadio Music Festival visit iHeartRadio.com/festival.
Artists and/or event are subject to change or cancellation without notice.
About iHeartMedia
iHeartMedia is the #1 audio company in the United States, reaching nine out of 10 Americans every month – and with its quarter of a billion monthly listeners, has a greater reach than any other media company in the U.S. The company’s leadership position in audio extends across multiple platforms including 848 live broadcast stations; its iHeartRadio digital service available across more than 250 platforms and 2,000 devices including smart speakers, smartphones, TVs and gaming consoles; through its influencers; social; branded iconic live music events; and podcasts as the #1 commercial podcast publisher. iHeartMedia also leads the audio industry in analytics and attribution technology for its marketing partners, using data from its massive consumer base. iHeartMedia is a division of iHeartMedia, Inc. (PINK:IHRTQ). Visit iHeartMedia.com for more company information.
D’Angelo in “Devil’s Pie – D’Angelo” (Photo by Carine Bijlsma)
“Devil’s Pie – D’Angelo”
Directed by Carine Bjilsma
Back in the mid-to-late ‘90s, the media singled out a select number of rising R&B artists and labeled them as part of a “neo-soul” movement—artists releasing music that had something more interesting to say than bump’n’grind of acts like Bobby Brown or Jodeci or safe crossover acts like Boyz II Men or Brandy. The so-called “neo-soul” artists included D’Angelo, Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill, Maxwell, Angie Stone and Macy Gray. D’Angelo’s first album, 1995’s “Brown Sugar,” was a critical and commercial success. His follow-up was even bigger and remains his best-selling album. By the time D’Angelo’s Grammy-winning, chart-topping second album, “Voodoo,” was released in 2000, he was on a hot streak. And he became a bona fide sex symbol, thanks largely to his naked “Untitled (How Does It Feel)” video.
But then, fame, alcohol and drugs took their toll on D’Angelo (whose real name is Michael Eugene Archer), and he went on a very long hiatus. It took 14 years before his third album (2014’s “Black Messiah”) was released. D’Angelo went on a world tour in 2015 called “The Second Coming” in support of the album. The documentary “Devil’s Pie – D’Angelo” is a chronicle of that tour.
The concert scenes are very good, but the main reason why people want to see this film is to hear D’Angelo answer this question: “What really happened when you disappeared from the spotlight for all those years?” You have to sit through the expected footage of tour rehearsals and concert performances before “Devil’s Pie” director Carine Bjilsma gets to the heart of the matter about halfway through the movie. Watching the film, it’s apparent that it took a while for D’Angelo to open up to her on camera.
D’Angelo talks about his downward spiral, which included a serious car accident and arrest for DUI and marijuana possession in 2005. He was devastated by the deaths of his beloved grandmother Alberta, his Uncle Cece, and a close friend (not mentioned by name in the film but it’s widely believed to be MTV executive Fred Jordan), who all passed away within a short period of time of each other in the early 2000s. In 2010, D’Angelo was arrested again, this time for soliciting an undercover cop posing as a prostitute. He doesn’t talk about those arrests in the film, but he does admit that his addictions were the main reasons why he faded from the public eye.
“I started going down a dark path,” D’Angelo says in the movie. “I started drinking and getting high. It was tough to get out of it.” He also says that the car accident was a “second chance” at life, and he went to rehab three times before he could get his life back in order. However, D’Angelo says with his eyes tearing up, he can’t talk about certain things because “they’re too deep.”
One of D’Angelo’s personal issues is dealing with anxiety, according to him and people interviewed in the documentary. Questlove, who was a drummer in D’Angelo’s band on the “Voodoo” tour, says of his longtime friend: “It’s a struggle for him to do simple stuff, like leave his apartment and coming somewhere to play. He has fears about being the chosen one.”
Through flashback archival footage, which is shown at different parts of this non-chronological story, we see what this “chosen one” description is all about. Raised in a strict, religious family in Richmond, Virginia, he was the son of a Pentecostal minister, and expectations were high for D’Angelo from a very early age. There is footage of him performing in church.
He was considered a musical prodigy by people close to him (he won The Apollo’s amateur contest three times in a row at the age of 13), and there was a lot of pressure put on him to pursue a religion-related career as a minister or a gospel singer. But D’Angelo chose R&B music, much to the disapproval of many of his family members. One of the key influences on him was his feisty grandmother Alberta Cox, who encouraged him to do his own thing, while other people in his family warned him not to do the “devil’s music.” (This movie’s title come from the D’Angelo’s song “Devil’s Pie” from the “Voodoo” album. “Devil’s pie” is also a phrase that can be found in the Bible’s Revelation 13 chapter describing the apocalypse.)
As for how he feels about religion now, D’Angelo says that “God, not religion” feeds his soul. We see early on in the film that he still prays (there’s the expected prayer session with his band), and he says of this ritual: “When we pray at night, it’s not a game.”
In addition to showing how religion still impacts D’Angelo’s life, this movie has a lot of talk (mostly from Questlove) about D’Angelo’s soul. Questlove says of D’Angelo: “He’s Superman, but a Kryptonite-filled Clark Kent is trapped in his soul.” In another scene, Questlove has this to say about D’Angelo’s sex-symbol status that began to overshadow the music: “Part of his soul was being consumed.” And then Questlove offers this explanation for D’Angelo’s tormented soul: “Survivor’s guilt is what every black genius wrestles with.” If D’Angelo needs someone to write a book about his soul, he might want to ask Questlove to do it.
There’s also some rare archival footage of D’Angelo in the studio recording his “Voodoo” album, with Questlove and Q-Tip hanging out in the background. Questlove says that it took a while for him to get used to D’Angelo’s avant-garde musical style: “He was blatantly, beautifully disrespectful of rhythm structure.”
Feeling emotionally paralyzed by intense pressure is a recurring theme in the story of D’Angelo, as he tells of wasted recording sessions in the years that people were expecting him to release the follow-up to “Voodoo.” There are also scenes of him backstage, usually accompanied by his hovering tour manager Alan Leeds, where it looks like D’Angelo is silently coping with stage fright before the concert starts.
There are a few signs that D’Angelo’s long hiatus means that he’s still catching up to a lot of the technological changes that affect how artists get feedback about their shows. After a concert, instead of waiting for critics’ reviews, his manager Kevin Liles explains to D’Angelo that he can just check out social-media comments about the show. Liles then shows the singer some of the comments on his phone.
The documentary also shows some of the famous guests who visited backstage during the tour, including Busta Rhymes, Dave Chappelle and Bobby Seale. Chappelle is seen asking D’Angelo how it feels to be back, which is somewhat ironic, since Chappelle took his own break from showbiz in the 2000s, after freaking out over being famous, and then made a comeback in the following decade.
Because D’Angelo has a reputation for being unpredictable, there’s a sense that his handlers are always on edge that he might disappear or be very late for a public appearance. Instead, toward the end of the movie, D’Angelo’s keyboardist Cleo “Pookie” Sample is the one who has a major flake-out, by disappearing right before D’Angelo is supposed to hit the stage at the high-profile Montreux Jazz Festival. A frantic search ensues, but they don’t find him before showtime, and D’Angelo and the band have to go on without him. The missing keyboardist isn’t seen for the rest of the movie, which means the split was not a good one.
“Devil’s Pie” ends with a mention that D’Angelo is working on his fourth studio album, but—D’Angelo fans are used to hearing this by now—no one knows yet when it will be completed or released. In the meantime, this movie will likely end up being a direct-to-video release, since a documentary about a faded R&B star’s tour from several years ago isn’t going to sell a lot of movie tickets. “Devil’s Pie” is what it is—a niche documentary made in a conventional (but not bad) way that might not have much appeal outside of die-hard D’Angelo fans.
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the legendary 1969 Woodstock Music Festival, PBS commissioned a documentary about the event, which is often credited as being the most influential concert festival in history. Emmy-winning director Ken Burns was announced as the documentary’s director, but he left the project. The documentary ended up in the very capable hands of director Barak Goodman, whose credits include the Oscar-nominated documentary “Scottsboro: An American Tragedy” and the gerrymandering documentary “Slay the Dragon,” which had its world premiere at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival.
Of course, this PBS “Woodstock” documentary and any other movie about Woodstock will be overshadowed by director Michael Wadleigh’s Oscar-winning 1970 “Woodstock” documentary epic, which is still considered the definitive chronicle of the event. However, Goodman’s “Woodstock” (which has plenty of concert footage from the festival) stands as a solid companion piece. Whereas the original “Woodstock” movie was essentially a concert film, this PBS “Woodstock” documentary attempts to fill in a lot of the behind-the-scenes blanks, much like bonus commentary does on a home-video release.
There has been so much that’s already been written, said and reported about the original Woodstock Music Festival that there is not much new information to uncover. The festival—which took place August 15 to August 18, 1969, in Bethel, New York—was billed as “An Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music.” (The concert ended up extending into the morning hours of a fourth day.) The lineup was a who’s who of many of the biggest names in music in the late 1960s, including Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Santana, The Who, Jefferson Airplane, Joe Cocker, the Grateful Dead, Joan Baez, Creedence Clearwater Revival (who were not in the original “Woodstock” documentary), Sly and the Family Stone and Crosby, Stills & Nash. The concert was originally expected to attract about 50,000 people. Instead, approximately 400,000 people showed up and made it an unprecedented cultural event, despite the overcrowding, food shortages, drug-induced freakouts, downpours of rain, safety issues and the underlying threat that the government might shut down the concert.
“Woodstock: Three Days That Defined a Generation” takes a chronological look at the challenges and problems that the festival encountered, told mostly from the perspective of the festival’s organizers and attendees. There are only a handful of artists (including David Crosby and Richie Havens) interviewed for this documentary. All of the new interviews for the movie are voiceovers, which was a wise artistic choice, since video cutaways to talking-head commentators would just distract from the movie’s intentions of transporting viewers back to the Woodstock Festival.
The four people who are given the most credit for being the founders of the Woodstock Festival are John Roberts, Joel Rosenman, Artie Kornfeld and Michael Lang. Roberts (an heir to the Poligrip/Polident fortune) and Rosenman were the producers who put up the money for the event. It was through Roberts and Rosenman’s New York-based Media Sound company that they met Kornfeld and Lang, who both came from music backgrounds. Lang was the only one at the time who had experience as a concert promoter. All of them are interviewed for the documentary, as are other key members of the original Woodstock team, such as director of operations Mel Lawrence and Stan Goldstein, a campground coordinator who researched portable toilet needs for the event.
The opening-day party for Media Sound morphed into the idea of putting on an all-star outdoor festival named Woodstock, much like the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival in California. The city of Woodstock in upstate New York wasn’t actually available, but the idea was to have the festival in a sprawling area in the region, since the urban density of New York City wasn’t an option. Lang was adamant about having the festival in a grassy area, not at a raceway.
The Woodstock promoters originally chose Wallkill, New York, for the concert site. But when Wallkill’s city officials realized that their city would be overrun with hundreds of thousands of hippies and other counter-culture people, they voted in an ordinance to prevent gatherings of more than 5,000 people, thereby canceling Woodstock’s permit. Fortunately, an unexpected hero stepped in to save the festival: a conservative Republican named Max Yasgur, who donated his farm in Bethel for the concert site. Within two days, the city of Bethel approved the permit, and Woodstock was revived, but the festival had to scramble to create the stages and other infrastructure in time for the event. They didn’t have enough time to do a thorough job, and many aspects of the festival’s production were incomplete by the time the festival began. It’s repeated many times in the documentary that Woodstock was under-staffed and under-stocked. Needless to say, because most of the overcrowded festival’s attendees got in for free, Woodstock’s investors lost a lot of money because of this event.
Ironically, Lang’s Woodstock Ventures faced similar financial and legal issues for its Woodstock 50 concert, which had been announced to take place in Watkins Glen, New York, from August 16 to August 18, 2019. At the time of this writing, Woodstock 50’s main investor pulled out (citing concerns about overcrowding and safety), a permit for the festival hasn’t been issued, and tickets haven’t even gone on sale. The concert industry is very different today than it was in 1969, so there probably isn’t enough time to clear all the legal hurdles that Woodstock 50 is facing in order for this 50th anniversary concert to happen.
One of the best things about this PBS “Woodstock” documentary is that it really shines a spotlight on many of the unsung heroes who worked behind the scenes at the original Woodstock Festival—the people who slogged through it from beginning to end. The artists on stage got most of the glory, and most of the celebrities didn’t mingle with the (sometimes literally unwashed) masses in the crowds. The big stars who attended Woodstock also had the luxury of leaving behind the messiness of Woodstock by helicopter, since the festival had traffic jams and roadblocks during the entire event.
Food for Love was a three-person operation that made a huge but underrated difference at Woodstock. The group was hired on relatively short notice, because the original food contractor for Woodstock backed out of the event after Wallkill canceled the festival’s permit. When the food supply at the festival began to run dangerously low, Food for Love, with the help of numerous volunteers, stepped in to help feed people and even gave away a lot of food for free—something that would be unheard of in today’s over-priced festival environment. (According to the documentary, a lot of people “paid” for the free food by giving marijuana joints to the people handing out the food.) Yasgur, who died in 1973 at the age of 53, also provided a lot of the free food from his farm, which inevitably became a garbage-filled disaster area after the festival was over. Milk, oats and rice became welcomed and common nourishment at the festival.
The documentary interviews hippie icon Wavy Gravy, who stepped in to emcee at Woodstock and brought his Hog Farm community to the festival as unofficial security. The Hog Farm called themselves a “please force” instead of a “police force.” Wavy Gravy and the Hog Farm were instrumental in keeping the crowds calmer than they could have been, given the high levels of drug use at the concert. Speaking of drug use at Woodstock, the documentary mentions that the festival was perhaps the first major concert event to have a massive amount of “freak-out” tents, where people tripping out on drugs could go to ride out their experiences. The tents were a necessity, given that medical assistance was also in short supply.
Another aspect of the festival that would be unthinkable today was the lack of adequate communication coming in and out of the festival. Because Woodstock happened decades before smartphones and the Internet existed, the festival had to make news announcements on stage, since most attendees did not have on-site access to radios, TV and newspapers. In addition, announcements were made on stage for festival attendees to contact frantic loved ones or friends who were looking for them. At the festival’s information center, attendees had to pin notes on the walls to get messages to other attendees. It’s hard to imagine today’s generation of young concertgoers being able to cope with these conditions.
Through testimonials of several attendees, the documentary de-mystifies the image of Woodstock being a blissful “peace and love” party. Yes, there were numerous people who had a good time and have fond memories of Woodstock, even if many of those memories were clouded by whatever drugs they were on at the time. But partying at Woodstock wasn’t the whole story. The reality was that most of the attendees had inadequate food and shelter, and things got worse when the festival was hit with rainstorms that caused a lot of disgusting mud. The rain could have caused electrocutions on stage, but fortunately did not.
In addition, government helicopters were constantly hovering, as if ready to step in and treat the festival like a war zone. Nelson Rockefeller, the governor of New York state at the time, kept threatening to send in the National Guard. Speaking of war, the documentary mentions that many of the male attendees of Woodstock were afraid of being drafted into the Vietnam War, so the hovering military helicopters that caused a lot of noise and discomfort probably didn’t help their nerves.
Of course, the best part of the festival that gets the most recognition and the highest praise is the music. The artists who are mentioned the most as being standout acts at Woodstock were Hendrix, Sly and the Family Stone, The Who, Crosby Stills & Nash (who did their second public performance as a group at Woodstock) and Santana. In the documentary, Woodstock Festival opener Havens remembers that he didn’t want to be Woodstock’s first performer on stage, because the concert started late, and he thought the crowd would be angry. (He ended up getting a standing ovation.)
Although this “Woodstock” documentary could have used more artist interviews, they might have overshadowed the testimonials of the non-famous people in this documentary who spent a lot more time at Woodstock than the artists did. In the end, “Woodstock: Three Days That Defined a Generation” is a deeper dive into the harsh realities behind the festival. The documentary may not have a lot of new information, but it’s recommended viewing for people who want more of the real story of what happened behind the scenes.
PBS/American Experience Films will release “Woodstock: Three Days That Defined a Generation” in New York City on May 24, 2019, and will expand the release to more U.S. cities on June 7, 2019. PBS will premiere “Woodstock: Three Days That Defined a Generation” as part of the PBS “American Experience” series on August 6, 2019.
The Woodstock 50 festival has crashed and burned before tickets even went on sale. On April 29, 2019, “Dentsu Aegis, the festival’s financial backers, pulled out and stated that it was canceled, yet the organizers vowed to press on,” according to Variety.
As a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the original Woodstock Festival, Woodstock 50 had been scheduled to take place at Watkins Glen International race track in Watkins Glen, New York, from August 16 to August 18, 2019. Jay-Z, The Killers, Miley Cyrus, Santana and Chance the Rapper were among the artists announced as performers at the event.
However, the on-sale date for tickets kept getting postponed, and festival promoters (which included original Woodstock Festival promoter Michael Lang) were vague about ticket prices and festival packages. At this late stage, even if Woodstock 50 finds an investor in time to resurrect the event, there is still the issue of getting city permits in time to do the event.
Dentsu Aegis Network’s Amplifi Live, the main investor in Woodstock 50, issued this statement: “We have a strong history of producing experiences that bring people together around common interests and causes, which is why we chose to be a part of the Woodstock 50th Anniversary Festival. But despite our tremendous investment of time, effort and commitment, we don’t believe the production of the festival can be executed as an event worthy of the Woodstock Brand name while also ensuring the health and safety of the artists, partners and attendees. As a result and after careful consideration, Dentsu Aegis Network’s Amplifi Live, a partner of Woodstock 50, has decided to cancel the festival. As difficult as it is, we believe this is the most prudent decision for all parties involved.”
Lang’s company Woodstock Ventures reacted with this statement: “We are committed to ensuring that the 50th Anniversary of Woodstock is marked with a festival deserving of its iconic name and place in American history and culture.Although our financial partner is withdrawing, we will of course be continuing with the planning of the festival and intend to bring on new partners. We would like to acknowledge the State of New York and Schuyler County for all of their hard work and support. The bottom line is, there is going to be a Woodstock 50th Anniversary Festival, as there must be, and it’s going to be a blast.”
Ironically, the original Woodstock also faced the same problems with not being prepared for the large crowds of people expected at the event. (The organizers predicted about 50,000 people would be there. Instead, about 400,000 people showed up.) The original Woodstock Festival also had problems with city permits, which forced the event to move from its originally planned location in Wallkill, New York, to Bethel, New York, on relatively short notice. The relocation of the original Woodstock Festival site was thanks to a farmer named Max Yasgur who generously allowed his farm to be used for the Woodstock Festival.
There are more laws and insurance issues for concert festivals these days, compared to 1969, so even if a private citizen wanted to let the Woodstock 50 promoters use his or her property for the festival, all the necessary permits would still have to be approved by the city hosting the festival site. You would think that Lang and his colleagues would have learned from the mistakes that they made during the original Woodstock Festival. It’s a major embarrassment that they announced Woodstock 50 and booked the acts before they had the necessary permits. (Most of the major acts who signed on for the festival have contracts guaranteeing payment, even if the festival is canceled.)
An unofficial Woodstock 50th anniversary festival that had been competing with Woodstock 50 is still scheduled to happen: the Bethel Woods Music and Culture Festival, on August 15 to August 17, 2019, at the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts (the site of the original Woodstock Festival) in Bethel Woods, New York. The event is produced by Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, Live Nation and brand communications agency INVNT. The Bethel Woods festival has a lineup that leans heavily toward classic rock, with performers that include Carlos Santana, Ringo Starr, Arlo Guthrie, the Doobie Brothers and Edgar Winter. Woodstock 50’s Watkins Glen venue would have been larger (with a capacity of 39,000) than the Bethel Woods venue, which has a capacity of about 15,000. But because both festivals were going to take place on overlapping days, they were essentially competing for a lot of the same customers. One festival was bound to come out the winner in that battle. Woodstock 50 has now been knocked out of the competition.
Pitchfork has a timeline of the news leading up to the Woodstock 50 cancellation.
May 17, 2019 UPDATE: Woodstock 50 issued a press release stating that investment firm Oppenheimer & Co, a unit of Oppenheimer Holdings Inc., has agreed to serve as an advisor for the festival to find new financial backers.
Oppenheimer & Co. head of debt capital markets and syndication John Tonelli commented in a statement: “We are thrilled to be onboard for this incredible weekend of music and social engagement. We believe in Woodstock as an important American cultural icon and look forward to its regeneration.”
Reading between the lines, this statement essentially says that Oppenheimer & Co. is not a new investor in Woodstock 50 but will only help Woodstock 50 find new investment money. At this point, the festival is bound to lose money. If Woodstock 50 had already obtained permits to have the event, then it might look more promising that the festival will happen. But with no permits and no tickets on sale only three months before the event, it’s increasingly unlikely that Woodstock 50 can happen.
June 10, 2019 UPDATE: In another nail in the coffin for Woodstock 50, Watkins Glen International race track has canceled the license for the event. According to the Poughkeepsie Journal, the race track released this statement: “Watkins Glen International terminated the site license for Woodstock pursuant to provisions of the contract. As such, WGI will not be hosting the Woodstock 50 Festival.”
Woodstock Ventures is still telling the media that the show will go on, but with two months left to go before the announced Woodstock 50 dates, it’s highly improbable that the promoters will be find a new festival site on time, get a permit, and build the infrastructure needed for an event of this size. Tickets for Woodstock 50 never went on sale either. Unless Woodstock Ventures wants to get Fyre Festival levels of ridicule and scorn, it’s best if the company just admit that Woodstock 50 is canceled and move on from this debacle.
July 10, 2019 UDATE: More proof that Woodstock 50 is dead: According to Variety, the city of Vernon in New York state has denied Woodstock 50’s application for a permit. After being booted from Watkins Glen, Woodstock 50 had been hoping to relocate to Vernon Downs, a racing track and entertainment facility. Vernon city officials cited the same reasons why Watkins Glen denied the permit for Woodstock 50: There wasn’t enough time to put an infrastructure in place to meet safety and health standards. Unlike the Watkins Glen location, the location in Vernon could not accommodate overnight camping.
Woodstock 50 had expected 65,000 people to attend at Vernon Downs but, according to reports, there simply isn’t enough hotel space nearby to accommodate crowds of that magnitude. Woodstock 50 organizers were hoping that enough private citizens would open up their homes for rental, but it was ultimately a foolish idea, given the short time frame involved (a month before the expected event) and the legal hurdles that were necessary to overcome. Woodstock 50 organizers have appealed Vernon city officials’ decision to deny the permit. Once again, the Woodstock 50 organizers stubbornly refused to admit that the event is not going to happen, even thought it’s extremely obvious to anyone with common sense.
July 31, 2019 UPDATE: The people behind Woodstock Ventures have finally admitted what has been obvious for months: Woodstock 50 is officially canceled. In the days leading up to this inevitable announcement, several of the top artists announced for the festival canceled their Woodstock 50 appearances, including Jay-Z, Miley Cyrus, Dead & Co., John Fogerty, Santana, the Raconteurs, the Lumineers, John Sebastian and Country Joe McDonald.
After getting rejected by two venues in New York state, Woodstock Ventures made a misguided attempt in July 2019 to move the festival to Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland. Merriweather Post Pavilion has a capacity of between 20,000 to 32,000 people. However, there were issues with the artists’ contracts (most were contracted to play Woodstock 50 only if the event was held in Watkins Glen, New York), as well as the fact that Merriweather Post Pavilion would only be available for Woodstock 50 on August 16 or August 18, since Smashing Pumpkins are scheduled to perform at the venue on August 17.
Adding to all the desperate measures to keep Woodstock 50 alive and with no tickets ever put on sale, festival principals said that Woodstock 50 would probably be a free, one-day charity concert, with patrons having the option to donate money. However, Woodstock 50 could not name any charity partners, give details on how free tickets would be distributed, or even confirm if the one-day Woodstock 50 would take place on August 16 or August 18. In fact, the event never revealed any ticketing details for Woodstock 50, even when the festival was originally supposed to sell tickets.
Here are the cancellation statements from the chiefs who botched Woodstock 50:
Michael Lang, co-founder of Woodstock Ventures: “We are saddened that a series of unforeseen setbacks has made it impossible to put on the Festival we imagined with the great line-up we had booked and the social engagement we were anticipating. When we lost the Glen and then Vernon Downs we looked for a way to do some good rather than just cancel. We formed a collaboration with HeadCount to do a smaller event at the Merriweather Pavilion to raise funds for them to get out the vote and for certain NGOs involved in fighting climate change. We released all the talent so any involvement on their part would be voluntary. Due to conflicting radius issues in the DC area many acts were unable to participate and others passed for their own reasons. I would like to encourage artists and agents, who all have been fully paid, to donate 10% of their fees to HeadCount or causes of their choice in the spirit of peace. Woodstock remains committed to social change and will continue to be active in support of HeadCount’s critical mission to get out the vote before the next election. We thank the artists, fans and partners who stood by us even in the face of adversity. My thoughts turn to Bethel and its celebration of our 50th Anniversary to reinforce the values of compassion, human dignity, and the beauty of our differences embraced by Woodstock.”
Greg Peck, principal of Woodstock 50: “The unfortunate dispute with our financial partner and the resulting legal proceedings set us off course at a critical juncture, throwing a wrench in our plans and forcing us to find an alternate venue to Watkins Glen. The timing meant we had few choices where our artists would be able to perform. We worked hard to find a way to produce a proper tribute—and some great artists came aboard over the last week to support Woodstock 50 — but time simply ran short. We are greatly disappointed and thank all of our supporters, including the team at Merriweather Post Pavilion and Howard County Executive Calvin Ball. Woodstock’s values of peace and tolerance are more important today than ever for all of us to stand for and we look to the future for ways to honor and celebrate these ideals.”
