Wilco’s Solid Sound Festival last took place in 2022, and now they’re prepping for a return in 2024. Next year’s lineup was announced today (December 18), and aside from Wilco themselves, the lineup poster also boasts Jason Isbell And The 400 Unit, Wednesday, Ratboys, and more.
The full lineup set to hit MASS MoCA (Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art) from June 28 to 30 features Wilco, Jason Isbell And The 400 Unit, Dry Cleaning, Nick Lowe & Los Straitjackets, Iris Dement, Hailu Mergia, John Hodgman’s Comedy Cabaret, Jeff Tweedy & Friends, Wednesday, Horsegirl, Water From Your Eyes, Soul Glo, Ratboys, Joanna Sternberg, Young@Heart, Story Pirates, Courtney Marie Andrews, Young Fresh Fellows, Song Exploder with Hrishikesh Hirway and Jeff Tweedy, Fenne Lily, Horse Lords, Mary Halvorson and Tomas Fujiwara, Etran De L’Air, Mikaela Davis, Autumn Defense, Saccata Quartet feat. Nels Cline, Darin Gray, Chris Corsano and Glenn Kotche, Mikael Jorgensen, Eucademix, Sylvan Esso DJ Set, Steve Keene (live painting), Ghost Town Screenprinting Demo, Bellweather Records & Autumn Records Pop-Up Vinyl Store, dysFUNKcrew, and Substack Pop-Up Interviews.
As for tickets, those are on sale now, so learn more about available options on the Solid Sound ticketing website. A bonus is that festival tickets also get you into MASS MoCA, making it a great opportunity to get your fix of music and contemporary art.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
In the last month or so, Jack Harlow has dropped two new singles: “Lovin’ On Me,” which reset expectations after the introspective Jackman, and “Stop Giving Me Advice” with British rapper Dave, shrugging off commenters whose input overlooks the hard work he’s put in to get to this level.
Jack’s also been on his No Place Like Home tour, hitting arenas across his home state, Kentucky. There’s good news for all those who don’t live in the state, though: Jack is giving fans a chance to experience the concert just like they were there, courtesy of Meta. On Thursday, January 4 at 5 PM PT / 8 PM ET, No Place Like Home: A VR Concert will premiere on Meta Horizon Worlds’ Music Valley. Using a Meta Quest headset, fans can watch the show and a behind-the-scenes documentary.
In a press release, Jack explained the movtivation behind the tour and turning it into a VR experience. “At some point last year I realized how much of my home state I’ve never seen,” he said. “I suddenly got this urge to take a tour bus across Kentucky with all my childhood friends. So that’s what we did: Six shows in different towns across the state, with the final stop being in Lexington. We decided my first show at the historic Rupp Arena was the perfect moment to capture in VR. Enjoy.”
No Place Like Home: A VR Concert launches on Meta Horizon Worlds 1/4/2024 at 5 PM PT.
Jack Harlow is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Disgraced former United States Representative George Santos may (or may not) be a lot of things. But one thing we can be sure of is the fact that he’s a Barb. During a sitdown interview with Ziwe, which was published to YouTube today (December 18), Santos spit some bars from one of Nicki Minaj‘s earlier verses.
In a portion of the interview, Ziwe went through a list of civil rights icons, and prompted Santos to tell her what they each mean to her.
When asked about Marsha P. Johnson, Santos deemed the LGBTQ+ rights trailblazer a “very respectful, honorable person,” though he wasn’t quite clear on why he admired her.
Santos also made it quite evident that he didn’t know who James Baldwin or Harvey Milk were. He did, however, say that Saturday Night Live actor Bowen Yang deserves an EGOT for his impression of him.
Ziwe then asked about Nicki Minaj, whom Santos called a “queen.” She proceed to rap a portion of Minaj’s verse on Kanye West’s 2010 hit, “Monster.”
“Pull up in the monster, automobile,” rapped Ziwe. Santos popped in, rapping “Gangsta, with a bad b*tch that came from Sri Lanka.” He then let out a big laugh, and Ziwe’s reaction said everything you need to know about her thoughts on the situation.
You can watch the full interview above (if you must).
Wednesday is Netflix‘s most-watched English language series ever. To capitalize on the show’s success, and in an attempt to do for pale, bald weirdos what Wednesday Addams did for goth girls, the streaming service is in the “early stages of development” on a spinoff centered around Uncle Fester, the character played by Fred Armisen.
Bloomberg reports that although “there is no guarantee the Uncle Fester show will ever happen,” Netflix is “eager to establish a pipeline of Addams Family programs to build off the success of Wednesday. It has a willing partner in Amazon, which acquired the rights to The Addams Family when it bought MGM and produces the show under that label.”
Wednesday co-creator Al Gough told the Hollywood Reporter he was interested in spin-offs before the original series even premiered. “When you create a world like this, the intention is any one of these characters could be the lead in their own show,” he said. “Certainly it’s cast that way, when you have Fred Armisen, when you have Catherine Zeta-Jones, when you have Luis Guzman. It’s certainly something we’ve discussed and would very much like to, in success, really branch out this world beyond just Wednesday.”
Fresh off his recent expulsion from Congress, and pivot into becoming a Cameo superstar, George Santos sat down for a Youtube interview with Ziwe where he attempted to deliver catty remarks while getting repeatedly zinged for his long, and well-documented history of lying.
While noting that Santos asked to be paid “three times” for the interview, Ziwe went to work trying to solve the greatest mystery of the disgraced congressman’s career: What was the deal with that random baby he was holding? Santos’ wild response set the stage for the tone of the interview.
The comedian also tries to get the bottom of the confusion over the mysterious baby Santos was carrying around Congress, which led to him say he could “probably make a Black baby” on his own due to his “biracial” identity.
“I feel like you’re lying to me,” Ziwe told him, repeatedly refusing to let Santos get away with his attempts to explain away his blatant exaggerations about his personal story.
However, it wasn’t all zingers. Santos tip-toed closely to spilling tea on his former colleagues. He called Kevin McCarthy and Lindsey Graham “frauds,” yet notably refused to fire shots at Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene. In fact, Santos made sure to reiterate that he’s all MAGA by proclaiming that “Gen Z loves Trump. He’s an icon.”
As for the rest of the Republican Party, Santos accused them of being liars, which is extremely rich considering the source.
“They’re hacks. They’re not doing anything but lying to you,” Santos said via The Hollywood Reporter. “If a politician’s mouth is moving on Capitol Hill, they’re lying to you.”
After almost getting him to confess to his crimes several times, Ziwe finally got to the next biggest question surrounding Santos after the mystery baby, of course.
“What could we do to get you to go away?” she asked to which Santos responded, “Stop inviting me to your gigs. But you can’t because people want the content.”
Tyler The Creator’s Golf Le Fleur season 2 collection is out now with everything from animal print-lined blazers to silk button-ups, along with accessories like Tyler’s signature ushanka hat, silk ties, and the coziest-looking cable knit socks, designed in collaboration with Goldtoe. Here’s how you can get your hands on a pair — or rather, your feet INTO them.
Hit the Golf Le Fleur season 2 collection for a pair, which cost $50 for a pack of three and come in three colors: sky blue, black, and cream. While you’re there, you can also pick up a pair of chain loafers, a tortoiseshell hair pick, a wallet, or even silk scarves. The Le Fleur collection definitely takes direction from Tyler’s recent looks while promoting Call Me If You Get Lost, with knit polos, leopard-print sweater vests, and loud patterned shirts, all in a wealth of eye-popping pastels and Tyler’s signature attention to details.
The collection ends the Grammy-winning rapper’s year on a high note after 12 months full of them. Early in the year, Tyler dropped the deluxe edition of his most recent album, surprised fans at Coachella by appearing during his friend Kali Uchis’ set, bought a huge mansion in Bel Air, and brought back his Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival, which received a hearty response from fans.
Anthony Edwards has made a leap into superstardom, becoming one of the NBA’s best players on one of the league’s best teams this season. With Edwards leading the way, the Timberwolves are 19-5 on the year and hold a three-game lead on the Thunder for first in the Western Conference.
Seemingly the only thing that could stop Edwards’ climb to being one of the faces of the NBA is Edwards himself. On Monday, the star guard issued an apology on Twitter after a conversation was posted on social media between he and a woman he was involved with, Paige Jordae, in which he repeatedly told her to get an abortion and to send confirmation.
Edwards did not try to deny that was him in the exchange, and instead apologized for comments he says are not “aligned with what I believe and who I want to be as a man,” saying women should be “supported and empowered” with decisions about their own bodies.
It’s not the first time Edwards has had to issue an apology for comments he’s made that have gone public, as a year ago he apologized for using a homophobic slur in a video posted to social media. The Timberwolves star is one of the most outgoing personalities the NBA has among its young stars, but, at 22 years old now, he’s rapidly approaching the point where he’s running out of chances to cite still growing and maturing as an excuse for these kinds of missteps. Hopefully he can in fact learn and grow from this, while also taking care of his personal affairs in both this current situation and in the future with much more care and thoughtfulness.
Next year will mark a big one for Las Vegas favorites The Killers: The band will celebrate the 20th anniversary of their breakthrough album, Hot Fuss, which boasted hits like “Somebody Told Me” and the classic “Mr. Brightside.” The Killers’ lead vocalist Brandon Flowers may also release a solo album next year.
In an interview with NME, Flowers shared that he feels more confident in his craft than ever before, and that this will reflect in his music.
“You know how people say, ‘Oh, I don’t know what I’m doing?’ Bands are always self-deprecating but I’m going to be honest – I’m starting to know what I’m doing! Once you get to that point, it’s tough to lie and make music that your heart isn’t really behind,” Flowers said.
Elsewhere in the interview, Flowers revealed that he has been inspired by interpersonal relationships, and the life changes that take place within people as they grow together or they grow apart.
“Right now,” Flowers said, “I’ve been gravitating towards relationships and singing about what it takes for people to really make it, while still having empathy for the things that people go through that break them and trying to work through that.”
Amazon’s The Boys shows no signs of losing inspiration for more raucous tales full of bodily fluids and the worst (i.e. most entertaining) heroes known to the big or small screen. It’s no wonder that the only time that this show fell afoul of viewers was when Season 2 didn’t release every episode at the same time, which goes to show how well the writers and the ensemble cast and especially Eric Kripke know how to work this series to maximum effect.
It’s also a relief that this series can continue to skewer superheroes just like original writer Garth Ennis did and also outlast its target with the MCU and DCU both surfacing in 2023 like a shadow of their old selves. Fortunately as well, the Gen V spinoff landed in a relatively seamless position in terms of setting up the next round of its predecessor. And an effective Homelander cameo and a word from Billy Butcher acted as catalysts for Season 4.
Oi, let’s get cracking about what to anticipate from The Boys‘ next season.
Plot
Before we start talking about specifics, Amazon has revealed a new synopsis, which suggests that Homelander will totally get off scot free despite going on trial for murdering a civilian in broad daylight. As well, Butcher is on the outs with his vigilante group, and Victoria Neuman is still maneuvering:
The world is on the brink. Victoria Neuman is closer than ever to the Oval Office and under the muscly thumb of Homelander, who is consolidating his power. Butcher, with only months to live, has lost Becca’s son as well as his job as The Boys’ leader. The rest of the team are fed up with his lies. With the stakes higher than ever, they have to find a way to work together and save the world before it’s too late.
As well, The Boys provided a little refresher of the current state of the show:
– Homelander is standing trial and taking a splatter paint class. One of those statements is true.
– Butcher has six months to live, and still knows about that virus being cooked at Godolkin.
– Neuman is closer than ever to changing her title from “Congresswoman” to “VP.”
– Sage and Firecracker are two of the most dangerous supes you’ll ever meet, and let’s just leave it at that for now.
– Deep hasn’t changed one fuckin bit.
– MM is still the team’s rock, just with less beard.
– Somehow, Noir has returned.
While ya wait for 2024, here’s what we can say about Season 4 so far…
– Timeline wise, it takes place about a month after the events of the @genv finale.
– Butcher knows about the virus. Do with that lil piece of intel what ya will.
Whew. It’s good to know that some things will stay constant, so Deep will probably find a new octopus to have sex with as the chaos swirls around him. Additionally, Homelander will clearly have the backing of Vought International for killing that civilian, since we did see Ashley call him in to save the day at the end of Gen V, which took place in the immediate aftermath of The Boys‘ third season. (Speaking of Gen V: do you need to catch up on that spinoff before watching The Boys Season 4? It’s not entirely necessary, but you’d probably enjoy it, so just do it.)
As Gen V viewers know, Victoria Neuman revealed herself (to Marie Moreau) to be a blood bender and the mysterious entity that was exploding heads back in that Senate hearing. We also know that Billy Butcher has discovered the lab where the Supe virus was manufactured and tested, and god only knows if The Boys will believe him after he seriously went off the rails during his last excursions with them.
To recap as well, Starlight/Annie January is now fully defected from The Seven and apparently riding with The Boys. There was speculation that Cate and Sam might crossover to The Boys and possibly help replace Starlight and Queen Maeve, and perhaps we will see them at some point in the main series, but for now, the official replacements would be Firecracker and Sister Sage. It will be interesting, however, to see how Homelander twists that Gen V bloodbath to his own ends. Perhaps Cate and Sam will be in his pocket in case he needs to split and create his own group, but that is sheer speculation over here.
Now, what of The Boys’ shifting dynamic? Laz Alonso, who portrays Mother’s Milk, previously hinted that his character will be resentful of Butcher, with whom he will have “unfinished business” because “Butcher teaming up with Soldier Boy was not cool to MM.” With any luck, we’ll receive a lot more of MM this season because he earned all the screen goodwill after enduring that money shot in the “Herogasm” episode.
Finally, can we expect this season to be as disgusting and nutso as the rest? Well, obviously! Prosthetic penis guru (and VFX wizard) Stephan Fleet has promised the goods: “I’m excited for the cast of @TheBoysTV to see the crazy sh*t I’m cooking up in VFX! They really put a lot of trust in me.” Oh man.
I’m excited for the cast of @TheBoysTV to see the crazy shit I’m cooking up in VFX! They really put a lot of trust in me
Returning cast members include, of course, Starr as Homelander, Erin Moriarty as Annie January/Starlight, Chace Crawford as The Deep, Jessie T. Usher as A-Train, Karl Urban as Billy Butcher, Jack Quaid as Hughie, Laz Alonso as Mother’s Milk, Karen Fukuhara as Kimiko, Tomer Capone as Frenchie, Colby Minifie as Ashley, and Claudia Doumit as Victoria Neuman. As well, Nathan Miller will still portray Black Noir, but since Homelander killed the original Black Noir, it will be a separate and distinct Black Noir from the one we previously knew. Got it? Good.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s much shrouded role will also become apparent one of these days, but it appears that he’s either aiding or abetting Billy Butcher, or both. Who, exactly, is JDM portraying? Hell, perhaps The Boys decided that it needed a second Tek Knight after all, but the show’s eagerness to dive into photoshop f*ckery sure does work with the vibe of both the actor and the project.
The new Supes on the block should be a handful for everyone. Firecracker (Valorie Curry) looks like she’s attempting to slide right into Queen Maeve’s position with more than a little Homelander in her. Her name also suggests an explosive source of power. A bigger source of intrigue, as far as powers go, would be Sister Sage (Susan Hayward), whose name might reveal that her powers are more on a mental and emotional level, and I would expect her to either side with or firmly against Homelander. Might she manipulate him into a “Caesar”-like downfall? We shall see, and there’s no telling whether he will prevail or fall right into such a trap.
Release Date
Lead “Supebuster” Billy Butcher might be at odds with the rest of The Boys, but he still announced a 2024 arrival from the group:
Butcher also convinced Hughie to announce a 2024 arrival on social media:
“The following statement was released today by Billy Butcher, through his mate Hugh Campbell, who is much better at this technology shite, former employee of the Federal Bureau of Superhuman Affairs (‘C*NTs’) located in New York, NY, in response to Season 4, coming in 2024: ‘Oi, we’re f*ckin’ back.’”
At the beginning of Renaissance: A Film By Beyoncé, the legendary entertainer is seen opening up the stage for one of her Inglewood shows, which took place on her birthday. During her remarks, Beyoncé hammers home that the world encapsulated within the various arenas during the Renaissance World Tour is a free universe, where each audience member is encouraged to express themselves.
“I’m thankful to be able to provide a safe space for all of y’all,” she says to a cheering audience, dressed to the nines in their flashy, glimmering outfits. Throughout the nearly three-hour-long concert film, which doubles as a documentary, fans get a look at the hard work that went into the tour — which, in and of itself, took four years of planning. The Beyhive also learns more about Bey’s childhood with her late Uncle Jonny, who inspired the Renaissance era, and her concerted efforts to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community and ballroom culture.
In the liner notes of Beyoncé’s Renaissance album, Bey offers a dedication to the openly gay Jonny. “He was my godmother and the first person to expose me to a lot of the music and culture that serve as an inspiration for this album. The album itself features many samples from the ballroom era, as Bey breathes new life into these underground classics that served as an escape for Jonny and the queer community. This is especially true of “Pure/Honey,” a song from the album that features a prominent sample of “C*nty” by Kevin Aviance. While “C*nty” was a hit in the late ‘90s within the ballroom scene, Aviance says he felt he didn’t get his 10s during that time.
“I found myself doing more Club Kid stuff in downtown New York City,” says Aviance. “Hosting parties, and stuff like that.”
Aviance says he found out that Bey used the “C*nty” sample at the same time everyone else did, and remembers a feeling of pure elation as he arrived to the 15th track on Renaissance.
“I mean, someone taking my baby and revamping her and making her feel c*nty again — it was incredible,” says Aviance. “The song never let me down in any way, shape, or form. I’ve never stop performing it. So it’s just one of the things that is such a staple in our community. It means a lot to a lot of people, and it was so nice to see that it meant something to Beyoncé.”
Over the course of the Renaissance World Tour, Aviance hosted drag shows and after-parties in various cities. As a ballroom figure and former Club Kid, Aviance says he’s found himself “in and out” of his career. But since Bey breathed new life into “C*nty” through Renaissance, he has been nabbing gigs left and right, and says he’s currently booked until July 2024.
“I’m in limbo a lot sometimes,” says Aviance, “but I’m always working and something happens, and with this, people started going back to my catalog, and were visiting my shows. I’m still riding that high.”
Producer and mash-up DJ Amorphous is also experiencing a new breakthrough during the Renaissance era. The 25-year-old artist known for his viral mash-ups earned a spot on the tour’s musical arrangement team — a connection he had been manifesting for six years.
Back in 2017, Amorphous went viral after dropping an album he made featuring Beyoncé and Jay-Z mashups. One of the mixes caught wind of the husband-wife duo and was used during their joint On The Run II Tour in 2018. Amorphous made this discovery after seeing a video clip of dancers rehearsing with the mashup playing in the background.
“I remember freaking out about that, because I’m like, ‘Oh, my God, so that must mean that she knows who I am,’’ says Amorphous. Though a working relationship wouldn’t come to fruition for another five years, Bey kept Amorphous inspired.
When Renaissance dropped in 2022, Amorphous released a mashup featuring the album’s “Plastic Off The Sofa” and Solange’s “Cranes In The Sky.” Bey later used the clip in one of her Instagram reels. “So then. I really knew like, ‘Okay, she absolutely has to know who I am.”
Though he’s not sure how his role on the tour came to fruition, he remembers someone from Bey’s team hitting him up to join them on tour.
Amorphous’ passion for music production dates back over a decade, when he discovered the transcendental sounds of queer, ballroom-inspired artists like LSDXOXO, Cakes Da Killa, and MikeQ. A then self-described “preppy, quaker school student,” Amorphous would get lost in this music, and he would once again gravitate toward these sounds when creating his mix for the Renaissance World Tour.
His time on the tour came as a full circle moment, but also as a pleasant indicator of what’s to come.
“As a queer artists, I’d look back to the little version of me that didn’t want to be here anymore,” says Amorphous. “I was struggling coming to terms with my sexuality or my identity, and I would sit in at the computer while my friends would go out during recess, or when my cousins were over to play video games, I would be on the computer creating and honing in my craft, whether that was music or film. So to have that translate through the joy of just creating to being able to work directly with Beyoncé, to being credited in my first Hollywood film, it’s a weird place to be in. Because you look back at those moments of self-doubt, when you were asking yourself ‘Do you want to come out? Do you want to be yourself? And I’m just so proud that I’ve stuck to that. And it’s something that I want to continue to stick with in the future.”
This likely won’t be Amorphous’ first go-around with Queen Bey, as she tends to keep her collaborators close, like family.
This is the case with dancer and choreographer Jonte Moaning, who has been working with Beyoncé since The Beyoncé Experience Tour in 2007. He’s also choreographed several of her videos, including “Freakum Dress” and “Single Ladies.” In the Renaissance film, viewers will immediately notice Moaning’s impeccable moves, as well as his vibrant hair pieces and colorful makeup. Having worked with Bey for nearly two decades, Moaning has become familiar with all the moving parts of a Beyoncé-level production.
“I also work with wardrobe. I work with hair, and I work with the technicians,” says Moaning. “I need to know everything that’s happening. I need to know the whole body in order for me to be my best self. You know what I mean? Because when I walk in, I want to make sure that everybody knows that they’re respected.”
Originally from Portland, Moaning recalls moving to New York City in the early 2000s during the Club Kid era, quickly becoming “a spectator of the world of ballroom.” Keeping his finger on the pulse of the world of dance, Moaning has kept his momentum amid rapidly changing dance trends and platforms.
Moaning was discovered by Beyoncé during the dawn of YouTube, on which Moaning created his dance channel shortly after the video-sharing service’s launch. YouTube launched just over a year after Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake’s 2004 controversial Super Bowl Halftime performance, for which, Moaning was also a dancer.
Moaning has often displayed his confidence through his moves and his fashion, remaining unapologetically queer, and defying gender norms by design. “Even in places where you would be very uncomfortable to walk around,” Moaning says, he found community within Beyoncé’s team, and with the Beyhive. One of his fondest memories of the tour surprisingly came from a stop in Kentucky.
“Kentucky was like so dry,” Moaning says. “I looked outside of my f*cking hotel window and I saw, like, dust bunnies rolling down the street. It was desolate, there was nothing there. But that day, I went out to get a new hairpiece for the show, and there was this small boutique that had trinkets and cute dresses, and it was full of people who were getting ready to go to that show the next day. When we performed there were like, 60,000 people there, and they were all decked out, ready to go.”
Throughout the Renaissance film, we see that Beyoncé does not cut a single corner. With an internal team comprised of over 400 people — the best lighting crew, the best make-up artists, the best costume designers, and more — Beyoncé spotlights the community that delivered the show, as well as honoring the communities that came before her and inspired the entire Renaissance era.
“Can you imagine doing a world tour with over 400 people traveling with them every single day?” says Moaning. “Every single day, I stepped into the stadium and said hello to 400 different people. When you travel with so many different groups of people, you get to see so many different types of individuals, and you learn to work with them, and we become family.”
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