Month: August 2024

Can you sense it? The salt air? The rust on your door? That’s right: August is here, and so is “August.”

One of the most beloved tracks on Taylor Swift‘s 2020 pandemic-released album Folklore is “August,” named after the best month of the year (because it’s when Spirit Halloween re-opens). It’s become a tradition for the song to shoot up the streaming charts beginning in late July, and it’s happening again: “August” is No. 82 on Spotify’s Daily Top Songs Global chart dated July 31, after rising 92 spots with over 1.7 million streams. It’s only going to keep rising throughout August.

Swifties are aiming to make “August” the “All I Want For Christmas Is You” for the sweatiest month of summer.

“August” is part of a trilogy of songs from Folklore, along with “Cardigan” and “Betty,” about a teenage love triangle between James, Betty, and Augustine (or possibly Augusta). In Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions, Swift explains that “August” is “about the girl that James had this summer with. She seems like she’s a bad girl, but really she’s not. She’s a sensitive person who really fell for him, she was trying to seem cool and seem like she didn’t care… but she really did, and she thought they had something really real.”

If Swifities want to unite and use their unparalleled power to help the title track from Counting Crows’ 1993 album August And Everything After chart, too, that would be swell.

The Osheaga festival is hitting Montreal this weekend from August 2 to 4. Yesterday (July 31), organizers announced a last-minute change: Dominic Fike and Ayra Starr are no longer able to perform, but D4vd and Ray Bull have been added to the lineup.

For a closer look at who’s performing when and where, check out the set time schedule highlights below.

Osheaga Festival Set Times For Friday, August 2, 2024

Leading the festival’s opening day are Mannequin Pussy at 3:10 (all times p.m. and ET) on the Coors Light Mountain Stage, Blonde Redhead at 3:50 p.m. on the Bell River Stage, The Japanese House at 4 on the Belairdirect Valley Stage, Sleater-Kinney at 4:35 on the Coors Light Mountain Stage, D4vd at 5:20 on the Bell River Stage, Arlo Parks at 5:30 on the Belairdirect Valley Stage, Teezo Touchdown at 6:15 on the Green Stage, Teddy Swims at 6:55 p.m. on the Bell River Stage, Romy at 7 on the Coca-Cola Island Stage, Skepta at 8:40 on the Belairdirect Valley Stage, and Noah Kahan at 9:25 on the Bell River Stage.

Osheaga Festival Set Times For Saturday, August 3, 2024

Highlighting the Saturday lineup are The Linda Lindas at 2:40 on the Belairdirect Valley Stage, Chappell Roan at 3:30 on the Bell River Stage, Denzel Curry at 5:55 on the Coors Light Mountain Stage, Brittany Howard at 6:15 on the Green Stage, Reneé Rapp at 6:45 on the Bell River Stage, T-Pain at 7 on the Belairdirect Valley Stage, The Smashing Pumpkins at 7:45 on the Coors Light Mountain Stage, Labrinth at 8:40 on the Belairdirect Valley Stage, and Green Day at 8:45 on the Bell River Stage.

Osheaga Festival Set Times For Sunday, August 4, 2024

Closing out the festival are Confidence Man at 4:05 on the Coca-Cola Island Stage, Diiv at 4:15 on the Green Stage, Raye at 4:50 on the Coors Light Mountain Stage, Kevin Abstract at 5:45 on the Green Stage, Alvvays at 6:20 on the Coors Light Mountain Stage, Tyla at 6:30 on the Belairdirect Valley Stage, Hozier at 8 on the Coors Light Mountain Stage, Justice at 9:15 on the Green Stage, and SZA at 9:15 on the Bell River Stage.

Find the full schedule here.

In August 2022, Demi Lovato told Alt Press that they’d wished they “would have waited until I had my sh*t figured out more” before releasing documentaries such as Demi Lovato: Stay Strong (2012), Demi Lovato: Simply Complicated (’17), and Demi Lovato: Dancing With The Devil (’21).

In March 2023, Variety reported that Lovato would make their directorial debut with Child Star, a documentary about, yes, child stars; more importantly, it speaks to Lovato’s point about losing agency over what is made public and what is kept private.

On Wednesday, July 31, The Hollywood Reporter exclusively reported the other child stars Lovato has recruited to participate in the 90-plus-minute Hulu documentary due to premiere on September 17.

“Rather than have it focus solely on Lovato’s past, which has been the subject of other docs, this one will incorporate her intimate and, at times, heart-breaking conversations with other former child stars, including Drew Barrymore, Kenan Thompson, Christina Ricci, Raven-Symoné, JoJo Siwa and Lovato’s Camp Rock co-star Alyson Stoner,” THR relayed.

“I’m so proud to make my directorial debut with this documentary that sheds light on the complexities of child stardom, a topic that is very close to my heart,” Lovato told THR. “I want to thank our cast for being so vulnerable with their stories and our contributors for sharing their knowledge to help push the conversation forward. I hope viewers will gain a deeper understanding of the challenges and pressures faced by young people in the industry so we can achieve our goal of creating a safer and more supportive environment for future generations young talents in entertainment, social media and beyond.”

Nicola Marsh co-directed Child Star with Lovato.

Charli XCX won this summer with Brat, which began as Charli XCX’s sixth LP and ballooned into a pop cultural phenomenon to the point where Vice President Kamala Harris adopted the Brat aesthetic for her presidential campaign.

But Charli XCX is not resting on her lime-green laurels.

On Wednesday, July 31, the platinum-certified UK pop star teased what appeared to be a “Guess” remix. Charli XCX posted a photo that everyone guessed features Billie Eilish, and Eilish stoked the rumors by posting a selfie alongside “?” on her Instagram Story.

Then, Wednesday night, people began posting photos of flyers encouraging people to “call Charli XCX at 310-861-2831.” By doing so, a presumptive snippet of the “Guess” remix played.

“Guess” is a track from Charli XCX’s Brat And It’s The Same But There’s Three More Songs So It’s Not deluxe version.

Brat debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 albums chart following its initial June 7 release. Last week, Charli XCX hinted she had more Brat in store by reposting claims that Brat summer is dead and captioning her Instagram post, “oh? see u next week :)”

As of this writing, Charli XCX has not confirmed anything beyond the aforementioned photo, but, at this point, it would be totally unsurprising if a “Guess” remix featuring Eilish dropped this Friday, August 2.

Patrick Mahomes is the best quarterback in the NFL. He’s got a rocket arm, he’s deadly accurate, and he has the remarkable ability to raise his game when he has to perform in big moments. As a result, quarterbacks across America are modeling their games after Mahomes, even if he’s about as 1-of-1 as we’ve ever seen at the position.

As it turns out, there are quarterbacks who want to resemble Mahomes off the field, too. Nebraska football landed one of the best recruits in program history this past recruiting class in Dylan Raiola, a 5-star quarterback who 247Sports called the second-best signal caller in his class. Raiola showed up for camp on Wednesday, and I promise, this is not a picture of Patrick Mahomes I am about to embed in this post.

He legitimately looks just like Mahomes, right down to the fact that he’s wearing adidas gear. And even Mahomes had to admit that the resemblance is pretty impressive, as he responded to a tweet from Tyreek Hill where the Dolphins receiver wondered what the heck was going on.

As for whether Raiola can look like Mahomes on the field and help the Huskers return to glory, well, that remains to be seen.

USA Basketball coach Steve Kerr made a controversial decision with his rotation during the team’s first game at the Paris Olympics. The team took on a Serbia, and while Kerr played 10 members of his 12-man roster, Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton did not get on the floor in the 110-84 win.

Tatum, in particular, was a surprising omission, as the Boston Celtics star has established himself as one of the best players in the world and can fit into just about any team context. Kerr expressed some regret over the decision, but considering the Americans won and Tatum made it back into the starting five for the team’s win over South Sudan, it was largely water under the bridge.

Still, we had not heard from Tatum about all of this, but after the South Sudan game, he opened up about the situation and called it a “humbling experience.” Via BasketNews:

“It’s a unique situation, and it’s not about one individual player, competitor in you wants to play obviously, but I’m not here to make a story about myself,” Tatum said after the win against South Sudan. “You win a championship, new contract, NBA 2K25 cover, Sports Illustrated… so after all of this, it’s definitely a humbling experience.”

“We won; I was just glad to get back out there and play again, as there was a lot of chatter over the last few days,” Tatum added.

At the very least, it seemed like Kerr learned from how this experiences blew up. After Joel Embiid got a DNP-CD against South Sudan, Kerr told the media that the decision was entirely based on the matchup, and that Embiid would start the team’s group finale against Puerto Rico.

As a (controversial) Coachella 2023 headliner, Frank Ocean vaguely teased a new album but ensured everybody knew that it was not imminent. In November 2023, Ocean teased unreleased music for the first time since December 2021. And this week, Ocean is back to cryptically utilizing his Instagram Story.

On Monday, July 29, Ocean posted a photo showing him playing the guitar in a studio, which was perfectly summed up by someone named Jenski on X (formerly Twitter): “I know Frank Ocean was manically laughing posting that picture of him in the studio knowing damn well he’s not putting out sh*t.”

In other words, anybody still trying to predict if or when Ocean will release his first album since 2016’s Blonde is a masochist. Instead, everyone should enjoy Ocean showing signs of life publicly whatsoever.

On Wednesday, July 31, Ocean posted several times to his Instagram Story. One video showed a suited Ocean swaying back and forth while holding a coffee. The next photo is a certified thirst trap — a shirtless Ocean sticking his tongue out in a mirror selfie. Then, there’s a sunset photo, an unidentified man’s back, a steep staircase that Ocean must have climbed, and a beautiful rainbow over the ocean.

While we all helplessly wait for new Frank Ocean music, check out some of his latest posts below.

Joshua Bassett released The Golden Years last week, and Bassett wasted approximately zero time in taking his debut album on the road.

Here Is Joshua Bassett’s The Golden Years Tour Setlist

Bassett kicked off his The Golden Years Tour in Phoenix, Arizona on Tuesday, July 30. The former High School Musical: The Musical: The Series star will next play three dates across Texas — in Irving on August 1, Houston on August 2, and Austin on August 3 — and will snake across North America until playing Los Angeles’ YouTube Theater on September 3 before going overseas.

Below is Bassett’s purported opening night setlist, as chronicled on setlist.fm by fans in attendance.

1. “The Golden Years” (Live debut)
2. “Secret”
3. “Cherry Blossom” (Live debut)
4. “Circles” (Live debut)
5. “Biting My Tongue”
6. “Lie Lie Lie”
7. “Mirror” (Live debut)
8. “Lifeline”
9. “Different”
10. “Would Ya Tell Me” (Live debut)
11. “Little Rita” (Live debut)
12. “All In Due Time”
13. “Smoke Slow”
14. “Just Love”
15. “Feel Something”
16. “Dancing With Tears In My Eyes” (Live debut)
17. “The Best Part / Even When” (Olivia Rodrigo & Joshua Bassett cover) (Live debut)
18. “Set Me Free”

Encore

19. “SHE SAID HE SAID SHE SAID”
20. “Look How Far You’ve Come” (Live debut)

Joshua Bassett’s 2024 Tour Dates: The Golden Years Tour

08/01 — Irving, TX @ The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory
08/02 — Houston, TX @ 713 Music Hall
08/03 — Austin, TX @ Austin City Limits Live at The Moody Theater
08/05 — New Orleans, LA @ Fillmore New Orleans
08/06 — Jacksonville, FL @ Daily’s Place
08/08 — Atlanta, GA @ Coca-Cola Roxy
08/09 — Birmingham, AL @ Avondale Brewing Co.
08/10 — Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium
08/12 — Raleigh, NC @ Red Hat Amphitheater
08/13 — Charlotte, NC @ Skyla Credit Union Amphitheatre
08/14 — Baltimore, MD @ Pier Six Pavilion
08/16 — Philadelphia, PA @ The Met Presented by Highmark
08/17 — Boston, MA @ MGM Music Hall at Fenway
08/20 — New York, NY @ Radio City Music Hall
08/21 — Toronto, ON @ Massey Hall
08/23 — Rochester Hills, MI @ Meadow Brook Amphitheatre
08/24 — Chicago, IL @ Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom
08/25 — Minneapolis, MN @ Armory
08/27 — Denver, CO @ Fillmore Auditorium
08/28 — Sandy, UT @ Sandy Amphitheater
08/30 — San Francisco, CA @ Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
09/01 — San Diego, CA @ Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre at SDSU
09/03 — Los Angeles, CA @ YouTube Theater
09/16 — Dublin, IE @ 3Olympia Theatre
09/17 — Belfast, UK @ Ulster Hall
09/19 — Glasgow, UK @ O2 Academy
09/20 — Birmingham, UK @ O2 Academy
09/22 — Manchester, UK @ O2 Apollo
09/23 — London, UK @ Eventim Apollo
09/25 — Brussels, BE @ La Madeleine
09/27 — Amsterdam, NL @ Melkweg
09/29 — Paris, FR @ Salle Pleyel
10/01 — Barcelona, ES @ Razzmatazz
10/03 — Milan, IT @ Fabrique
10/05 — Munich, DE @ Muffathalle
10/06 — Cologne, DE @ Carlswerk Victoria
10/07 — Berlin, DE @ Huxleys Neue Welt
10/09 — Copenhagen, DK @ Vega

Michael Phelps’ 2008 Olympics performance is arguably the single most dominant Games by one athlete in history, as Phelps competed in eight events and won eight gold medals. This year, French swimming sensation Leon Marchand might not get to eight golds, as that’s dependent on the French relay teams, but he’s chasing a similar individual schedule as Phelps, competing in four individual events, and has the same coach as Phelps did, Bob Bowman.

After winning gold in the 400 individual medley on Sunday, Marchand spent Tuesday racing in the heats and semifinals of the 200 meter breaststroke and butterfly, earning one of the top seeds in both finals on Wednesday. The first of those finals was the 200m butterfly, which figured to be his stiffest test as Hungary’s Kristof Milak is the world record holder and reigning Olympic champion in the event.

At the final turn, Marchand was trailing by a considerable margin and was going to need an unbelievable final 50 meters to get his second gold of the Games. Phelps was in NBC’s Paris studio with Mike Tirico for Wednesday’s swimming events and was losing his mind watching Marchand’s closing 50, as he reeled in and passed the world record holder for the gold.

It’s always very cool to see elite athletes cheering on other elite athletes, but it’s especially the case for Phelps to be doing this for Marchand, who isn’t an American swimmer and is the closest thing we’ve seen to Phelps since he retired. Not every retired great would be rooting (much less rooting this hard) for their heir apparent, but Phelps loves seeing the young Frenchman getting his moment in Paris — Marchand also cruised to gold in the 200 meter breaststroke later in the evening for his third in three events.

Drake hasn’t released a song since Kendrick Lamar metaphorically punted him into the sun with “Not Like Us,” and Drake meekly responded with “The Heart Part 6.”

However, Drake has had plenty to say on his Instagram Story — from causing a stir with a graphic tee to seemingly referencing Lamar and calling out Gordo (formerly known as DJ Carnage).

The trend continued on Wednesday, July 31, when Drake celebrated Vybz Kartel’s release from prison by posting a selfie showing him posing in a “FREE KARTEL FREE WORLD BOSS” graphic tee.

According to Rolling Stone, the Jamaican dancehall artist is “a free man after a decade in prison” after “a Jamaican court of appeals declined Wednesday to retry Vybz Kartel after the dancehall star’s 2014 murder conviction was overturned earlier this year.”

As per Rolling Stone, Kartel had been found guilty in 2014 of murdering Clive “Lizard” Williams, but the UK-based Privy Council overturned the ruling this March after “finding evidence of juror misconduct in Kartel’s initial trial.”

As happens every time Drake gets involved with anything, this news was overshadowed online by people reacting to Drake’s post — mostly jokingly (or maybe seriously) hoping that Kartel will not collaborate on a song with Drake.