Month: April 2023

Billy Idol made history earlier this month by becoming the first to play a show at the Hoover Dam, which separates Nevada and Arizona — and is typically reserved for class field trips (and that Vegas Vacation scene). Idol’s show, held on April 8, was kept to a small crowd, with just 250 attendees.

Throughout the set, Idol played the classics like “Eyes Without A Face,” “White Wedding,” “Rebel Yell,” and more. Adding to the exclusivity of the show, he was also joined by a lineup of special guests, including Alison Mosshart of The Kills, Steve Jones from the Sex Pistols, and No Doubt’s Tony Kanal.

The Hoover Dam stop was made between Idol’s current North American tour that continues until October. Along with the unique pop-up venue, Idol will be returning to a regular Nevada-style stage as he plays a five-night residency at The Cosmopolitan. A complete list of dates and more information can be found on his website.

The performance has been recorded for a concert film coming later this year and is produced by Lastman Media, according to NME. More details about a theatrical release will be coming soon.

For now, he has shared a teaser of the show, titled Billy Idol: Live At The Hoover Dam, that includes a snippet of his “Cradle Of Love” performance.

“I’ve played a few gigs in my time,” he jokes. “But not anything quite like this.”

Check out the clip above.

Tua Tagovailoa was limited to 13 games during the 2022 season due to head injuries. The former Heisman Trophy winner and No. 5 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft suffered concussions against the Cincinnati Bengals and New England Patriots that kept him on the sidelines, and he also made headlines when he struggled to walk off the field against the Buffalo Bills earlier in the year, although the team said that was due to a back problem.

The one against the Bengals, in particular, led to controversy, as Tagovailoa had to be carted off the field and the league responded with changes to its concussion protocol. And during a meeting with the media on Wednesday, Tagovailoa revealed that he mulled walking away from the NFL altogether.

Via ESPN:

“I considered it for a time, having sat down with my family, having sat down with my wife and having those kind of conversations,” Tagovailoa said. “But it would be really hard for me to walk away from this game with how old I am, with my son.

“I always dreamed of playing as long as I could to where my son knew exactly what he was watching, that he’s watching his dad. It’s my health, it’s my body and I feel like this is what’s best for me and my family.”

Tagovailoa went on to say that he spoke to experts who assured him that “CTE wasn’t gonna be a problem.” Tagovailoa completed 64.8 percent of his passes last season for 3,548 yards, 25 touchdowns, and eight interceptions with a league-best 105.5 passer rating.

There have been a lot of questions regarding the future of Yellowstone, mostly asked by your father or great-uncle who lives out in Missoula. While the Taylor Sheridan extended universe is just beginning, it seems like the flagship show is coming to a close, according to a report from The New York Post.

Sources tell The Post that the series has had a slew of problems after dominating TV screens last year. “Taylor spent years not being truly appreciated in Hollywood,” the source said, “and now that he’s the top of the heap, there’s definitely some ego to all of this.” In addition to creating Yellowstone and its many spinoff shows, Sheridan also co-created Tulsa King and Mayor Of Kingstown, so it’s clear he has a lot on his plate, in addition to Kevin Costner’s difficult shooting requirements.

“Taylor is overburdened and Kevin made himself available at the beginning of the year, but again, nothing was ready,” a source alleged to The Post “Kevin had already committed to making his other movies. He had given the producers his schedule.” Rumors of even more tension came about when half of the cast didn’t appear at a panel that they were scheduled to be at.

With Sheridan juggling multiple shows and Costner reportedly having one foot out the door, it seems unlikely that Yellowstone will get a sixth season. The first half of season five wrapped up in January, and production has been at a stand-still since, with Costner’s shooting schedule being one source of tension. Meanwhile, many of the show’s stars have tried to ease the minds of the fans, with not a lot of success.

Of course, nothing has been confirmed by the studio, who still insist that everything is fine and dandy over there, but it doesn’t seem like a sixth season will ever come to fruition. Sources also explained that the looming Hollywood writer’s strike might give Costner and Sheridan time to come to an agreement.

While Yellowstone might be coming to a close, the Dutton family will continue to thrive in other areas. Matthew McConaughey is gearing up to head to the ranch with his own show, assuming he is still acting after he changes the lives of millions with his groundbreaking seminar about life. Yellowstone might be ending, but the dawn of McConaugheyVerse is just beginning.

(Via The New York Post and Decider)

As the ongoing third season of Dave rolls on, Dave Burd/Lil Dicky is recruiting more and more celebrity firepower to guest-star in episodes. Rick Ross and Killer Mike popped up in last week’s show, for example. Now, Dicky is teasing what promises to be a fantastic Jack Harlow appearance.

A teaser video shared today (April 19) shows an encounter between Harlow and Dicky (who have been compared before) at what looks like the Met Gala. Harlow sniffs Dicky and tells him, “You stink a little bit: I like that.” Dicky retorts, “I see that you put on platform shoes to appear 6-foot-5.” Harlow replies while holding his crotch, “You want beef? ‘Cause I got a whole slab.”

Elsewhere, Rachel McAdams, Travis Barker, and Don Cheadle also make brief appearances in the clip.

A new episode is set to premiere tonight, so it appears we’ll get a look at Harlow (and McAdams, Barker, and Cheadle) on Dave soon.

In a recent interview with Uproxx, Dicky explained why he wouldn’t have wanted to be in Harlow’s White Men Can’t Jump remake, saying, “For me to be in a basketball movie, I would have to really dedicate my life to the game. If I’m going to be in a full-length motion picture about basketball, I would just care so much about just the footage of me, and that would require dedicating my life to the game. And I don’t think I can do that right now.”

Check out the teaser clip above.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Arlo Parks’ much-anticipated second album, My Soft Machine is imminent. Today (April 19), she has shared a new song, “Blades” from the album.

“Blades” is a more upbeat track than the previous two singles, “Impurities” and “Weightless.” On the track, she imagines reconnecting with an old friend from the past, longing for a sweet reunion.

“I remember there was something strangely romantic / In our friendship, we were dramatic / I wept in your arms / Talking for hours on thе gravel, letting our backs burn,” she sings on one of the song’s verse.

Parks revealed that she was inspired by the idea of reaching out to someone she hadn’t seen in a long time.

“I imagine this moment at a party where you see someone across the room that you haven’t seen in a while,” said Parks in a statement, “you felt yourself growing apart, and you’re like, should I, should I not? And then you find the courage to approach them. That’s the story of that song.”

The song was produced with Paul Epworth, who crafted a groovy track comprised of nu-disco loops and synths. This is one of three songs Parks and Epworth created together over the course of five days.

“Paul is just a wizard,” said Parks. “He has this childlike spirit that I’ve always really loved and he brought that to ‘Blades.’ I wanted to make something that I can dance to, finally, because I feel like my songs don’t really have that quality in general. So, I took inspiration from bands like ESG, artists like Kaytranada, and a lot of the kind of ’70s Zambian psychedelic rock that I love.”

In the song’s accompanying video, Parks embraces a helmeted stranger on a motorcycle, while imagining a colorful, harmonious world in which the lyrical reunion takes place.

Check out the video for “Blades” above.

My Soft Machine is out 5/26 via Transgressive Records. Find more information here.

Drake is facing a new possible lawsuit, after a Ghanian musician Obrafour has claimed that “Calling My Name” samples his song without permission. As Rolling Stone points out the lawsuit claims Drake’s Honestly, Nevermind album uses “elements” of Obrafour’s 2003 song “Oye Ohene (Remix).”

The filing claims that while Drake’s team sent two clearance emails to Obrafour to approve the sample the week before the surprise album dropped, he “had not yet responded” with his permission.

“Nonetheless, the Infringing Work is one of the songs appearing on the Honestly, Nevermind album, as released to the world by ‘surprise’ on June 17, 2022,” the lawsuit states. “The copying of the Sampled Phrase in the Infringing Work is so direct in nature that the audio of the Sampled Phrase heard in the Infringing Work contains little or no audible manipulation, processing, or other alteration to its original character as heard in the Copyrighted Work.”

Because of this, Obrafour is seeking at least $10 million, given “all profits and damages in the following categories attributable to the infringement” for “Calling My Name.”

“To date, over the mere 304 days that have elapsed since the Infringing Work was released, the Infringing Work has already been streamed over 4.1 million times on YouTube, streamed over 47,442,160 times on Spotify, and streamed tens of millions of times on Apple Music,” the suit adds.

Drake’s team did not return the publication’s request for comment.

Well, looks like I may have gotten my wish about The Mandalorian going back to basics. But what a strange and long way to get there. I like to think today’s episode title, “The Return,” even hints at that. That this show will be returning to form after losing its way a bit. And it’s hard to deny it has after wrapping up the arc it established over its first two seasons on literally another show. That’s not really the sign of a formulated plan. But what’s weird is Grogu’s training with Luke was abruptly wrapped up so we could spend this season with our title character and Grogu taking a backseat to the rest of the Mandalorians reclaiming their home world. And then that gets abruptly wrapped up when Din is told he needs to leave and now he and Grogu are going to freelance for the New Republic hunting down Imperial warlords. I was honestly expecting a new show to be announced in the credits, like they did with The Book of Boba Fett after season 2, because this season very clearly exists to set up something else that’s not The Mandalorian.

(Maybe that was the premise from the outset. Maybe The Mandalorian was never about a guy traveling from planet to planet collecting bounties. It was instead always about a guy traveling the galaxy looking for possible spinoff shows.)

But look, like I said, the season finale of season 3 puts the show in a good spot and back on track for some interesting adventures. I am not convinced this show can resist the temptations of more lore and trying to tie everything into some epic sense of structure. Not everything needs to be epic. The Mandalorian works best when the stories are kept small. And I certainly enjoyed “The Return” more than I did last week’s episode – Din actually gets to do quite a few things, which has been few are far between this season – I think I could go the rest of my life without seeing another CGI jet-pack battle. I’m good.

Moff Gideon has been defeated … again. What was even the point of his return? What a weird thing. Last week’s episode gave us this grand reintroduction. Watch out! He’s back! And, now, a week later, he’s gone again. I have little doubt Moff Gideon will be back again next season, only to fail again. He’s kind of turning into the Cobra Commander of Star Wars villains. Just this guy who always gets beat, but thinks his next plan will work, but doesn’t. Well, better luck next season, Moff Gideon. Also, I could go along with Gideon’s explanation that his team was setting up shop on Mandalore to mine for Beskar. Fair enough! But he’s also making clones of himself that will know how to use the Force somehow? Why can’t he just be an evil general who wants power? No, no, instead he has this unbelievably convoluted idea of cloning himself, only now he can use the Force. An idea destroyed by one push of the button by Din with no resistance. Then Moff Gideon gets mad that his evil scheme has been foiled and gives us a speech. He really is Cobra Commander. Maybe next season he’ll have a weather laser or something.

Look, I’ve been pretty clear I didn’t much care for the main plot point of this season being all about the lore of the Mandalorians and trying to reclaim their planet. I enjoy a show about one Mandalorian. Two of them aren’t bad. But hundreds of them are boring. But I stuck with it, and then the whole season came down to, “Tanks for your help, Din. But time for you to go. Maybe go back to the career you had before?” “Yeah okay. This is the way.” Seems like maybe we could have just started at this point for this season? My point is, if the events of this season are so unimportant to The Mandalorian as a show that now it’s just Din and Grogu going back to bounty hunting, why did we have to sit through it? Since it appeared in the season finale of season one, all we’ve heard about is the importance of the Dark Saber. Then it’s just kind of destroyed as an afterthought. Oh well. (To be honest, I’m glad it’s gone.) Anyway, all of this really moved Din’s story kind of nowhere. I mean, sure, he officially adopted Grogu. But wasn’t that already assumed? The only answer that makes sense was, again, this whole season was just to set up something else.

But hey, I’m strangely optimistic about The Mandalorian going forward? Yeah, question mark, maybe I don’t feel super confident about that statement. But a show about Din and Grogu hunting down war criminals for the new republic sounds great actually. I just wish that would have been this past season. (And there’s always the fear a new show will be announced, let’s say Lobot, and Din and Grogu’s arc about hunting down war criminals is wrapped up in episode four an five of Lobot. For the record, I’d totally watch a Lobot show.)

You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.

The only cast members to appear in both seasons of The White Lotus are Jennifer Coolidge, who deserved every award that was thrown her away, and Jon Gries, as Greg. Freaking Greg. There were supposed to be more, but the scene was cut. It’s unknown if Coolidge will reprise her role as Tanya in season three of the HBO series because, well, you know, but another actress from season one is returning for the upcoming Thailand-set season.

Variety reports that Natasha Rothwell, who played spa manager Belinda Lindsey, will be back next season. No other plot details were released, although creator Mike White has said that season three will be a “satirical and funny look at death and Eastern religion and spirituality.”

Rothwell is best known for playing Issa’s (Issa Rae) close friend Kelli in HBO’s Insecure, which she also wrote, produced, and directed on. The tole earned her Peabody and NAACP Image awards. Her other prominent credits include writing for Saturday Night Live and acting in episodes of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Bojack Horseman, Bob’s Burgers, and American Dad.

Former Survivor contestant Mike White should do a Survivor-style The White Lotus: All Stars season. Bring back Lucia and Mia, bring back Rachel and Shane, bring back everyone but Olivia and Paula. They scare me too much.

(Via Variety)

Ken Jennings reminded everyone that he’s not afraid to clap back at Jeopardy! fans who question the trivia show’s accuracy. Mispronounce a word, and they’ll pounce all over you.

However, this time, Jennings had the dictionary on his side. The debacle started after a recent episode that involved rhyming the word sake. Little did Jeopardy! know it was stepping on a land mine. Via Decider:

Under the category “Potent Potable Rhyme Time,” the trio had to guess two rhyming words, with one of them being an alcoholic beverage. The $200 clue, which read, “Rice wine for the guy who rides a racehorse,” was guessed correctly by Elsila, who responded, “What is: ‘Sake’ and ‘Jockey.’”

On social media, Jeopardy! fans called out the show for the seemingly controversial rhyming. “Dear @Jeopardy writers ‘Sake’ and ‘Jockey’ are not rhyming words,” one fan tweeted.

The fan then decided to tag Jennings, who shot back with a screenshot that confirmed the show’s pronunciation is correct. “I am once again asking Americans to buy a dictionary,” Jennings replied.

But the back and forth didn’t end there. The user replied, “Love when English changes foreign words, I guess,” which prompted another snarky response from Jennings. “Yeah, I’m always mad when people say the ‘s’ in Paris. Shameful.”

(Via Decider)

I’m not sure whether The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon could be more or less interesting than watching Norman Reedus talk about the spinoff. Could it possibly be more entertaining than hearing Reedus say “Boom Boom”? Doesn’t seem possible.

On Tuesday night, Reedus was on hand to promote the AMC spinoffs coming over the next year or so. He was flanked by fellow cast members Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Lauren Cohan, and Andrew Lincoln in the above photo, along with Danai Gurira, who stole the show while joining the below photo.

All five actors will appear in spinoffs, including the even more disgusting Dead City and the Rick and Michonne show. As well, Reedus will appear in the very starkly titled, The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon series, which will begin with him washing ashore in France with no idea how he got there.

Previously, Reedus revealed that his spinoff includes “destroying the Louvre and stuff.” My wish of seeing the walkers in the Catacombs will come true, as Reedus revealed while deeming his show “poetic,” via Entertainment Tonight:

“It’s kind of a reset for me,” Reedus said of his Daryl Dixon-focused series, The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, which is slated for a June premiere. “Everything kind of breathes in a romantic way. We have the backdrop of France, we have the Catacombs, the Eiffel Tower. … The whole vibe is different.”

Reedus went on to explain that the entire look and tone of the upcoming show is a departure from its predecessor, gushing about the beauty of its size and scope. “A lot of the story is me trying to figure out what’s happening and how to get out of here,” he continued. “There’s a lot going on, but it’s super poetic, it’s super beautiful. It’s not a repeat of the same show at all.”

Let’s hope, however, that even though it’s a different type of show, that we’ll still see Daryl with a crossbow at some point. And a vespa. Also, it should be comical to see Daryl in France when he cannot speak French to save his life. With all of that said, I still don’t feel great about any The Walking Dead scene including a horse. Be careful, Daryl.

(Via ET Online)