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Last week, just six months following the Astroworld tragedy at Travis Scott’s Houston festival that left ten people dead and over 5,000 injury claims, Scott announced his first headlining concert return to the stage. His first solo show is taking place on August 6th at London’s O2 Arena, which has a capacity of 20,000 people. This performance comes before his already announced November headlining set at Primavera Sound in São Paulo, Brazil and would have come before Scott’s Day N Vegas festival headlining performance had it not been recently cancelled.

Tickets for the London show sold out within two hours of going on sale, and Scott wasted no time in adding a second show. Scott posted on his Instagram feed this past weekend to announce the second show, which will be happening the next night on August 7th at 02 Arena. The image shows both dates, but with a “Sold Out” tag in front of the first concert and his comment reads, “Ahhhhhhhhh…quicker than a flash,” with British flag emojis interspersed between the text. “Extra date added due to demand,” reads the caption above the newly added concert.

As Complex reports, a spokesperson for Scott issued a statement referencing Scott’s performance at this past weekends Coney Art Walls, saying, “Travis’s packed weekend performances and [the] fact that his O2 show in London sold out within two hours are just the latest signs that fan demand is sky-high for the return of one of the world’s favorite artists.”

To Scott’s credit, he stopped the Coney Island show to ensure that fans that were climbing a lighting truss made their way down before the show continued. When he takes the stage for two nights in London this coming August, things will surely have a different tone than in the past.

Debra Messing reportedly went off on Joe Biden during a call between celebrity Democrats, activists, and the White House. The call was organized in the wake of Roe v. Wade being overturned, and apparently, Messing was one of the more outspoken critics who blamed the administration for allowing abortion rights to be stripped away. The Will & Grace star reportedly wondered why she even bothered voting at all.

Via CNN:

The mood was fatalistic, according to three people on the call, which was also co-organized by the advocacy group Build Back Better Together. Messing said she’d gotten Joe Biden elected and wanted to know why she was being asked to do anything at all, yelling that there didn’t even seem a point to voting. Others wondered why the call was happening. That afternoon, participants received a follow-up email with a list of basic talking points and suggestions of Biden speech clips to share on TikTok.

In Messing’s defense, her criticism echoed many on social media who have voiced displeasure with the administration after Biden beat Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential thanks to a massive voter turnout. Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and Democrats, in general, have been raked over the coals for not “doing something” despite working with a Senate stymied by Republicans and a Supreme Court that’s now stacked with three Trump appointees, who have shown no signs of letting up on a laundry list of conservative agenda items.

(Via CNN)

By now, we’re all painfully aware of the process that plays out in the wake of a mass shooting like the one that occurred during a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Illinois yesterday: While the world mourns, lawmakers who have no intention of broaching the topic of gun control offer meaningless “thoughts and prayers” and claim that “now” is not the time to talk about how we can prevent further incidents of mass gun violence. But Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker is a different kind of lawmaker.

On Monday, as Mediaite reports, Pritzker took a hardline stance on the need for further gun control when he held a press conference and addressed the people of Highland Park, the state of Illinois, and America at large. Pritzker relayed that he had just spoken with Joe Biden, who “agrees with me: this madness must stop.” He went on to address the events of the morning directly, powerfully noting that “the families of six individuals woke up today to join a community celebration of our nation’s independence. They will go to bed tonight less than whole.”

Pritzker, noting how “furious” he was, let others know that they have every right to be angry, too:

“There are going to be people who say that today is not the day, that now is not the time to talk about guns. I’m telling you, there is no better day and no better time than right here and right now. It’s the Fourth of July, a day for reflection on our freedoms. Our founders carried muskets, not assault weapons. And I don’t think a single one of them would have said that you have a constitutional right to an assault weapon with a high-capacity magazine.”

Highland Park police arrested a 22-year-old suspect on Monday; he has yet to be formally charged.

(Via Mediaite)

Ahead of their upcoming album, Maybe In Another Life…, Easy Life has dropped “OTT,” a new pop-rock collaboration with Benee.

Short for “over the top,” “OTT” is a conversational song telling the story of a friend who is on a self-destructive streak. The song was recorded by Easy Life and Benee remotely during quarantine.

“Like most things easy life,” said Murray Matravers of Easy Life in a statement, “there is still that element of optimism: that perhaps with enough care and attention, something can be done. Benee crushed it – her voice is like water and she’s a real queen of melody.”

In the song’s accompanying music video, the members of Easy Life are seen performing against a green screen, which then switches to a variety of quirky backgrounds — including a city skyline, an 80s-aesthetic sunset, and a blue sky with puffy clouds. Benee then shows up to deliver her verse in a colorful spotted shirt, as well as a lavender-colored coat with different-sized holes in it. After her verse, the men of Easy Life are seen laying down, as a kaleidoscopic spreads copies of them across the screen.

Check out “OTT” above.

Maybe In Another Life… is out 8/12 via Geffen. Pre-save it here.

Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (willful) refusal to read the room knows no bounds, it seems, including her decision to back Vladimir Putin right ahead of the holiday weekend. And when the past few days, meant for Americans to celebrate but leaving many feeling little reason to do so, ended up churning out more mass shootings (including against Americans attending a parade for the holiday in question), Greene didn’t change her tone at all. In fact, she’s pointing fingers elsewhere but at permissive gun laws.

The congressman famed for her many linguistic screwups and propensity for spreading damaging conspiracy theories is at it again. She fired off tweets about the Highland shooter, and of course, she completely made up a bunch of stuff about “psychiatric drugs” and “alternate reality games” in her haste to blame anything but guns and the shooter. She further argued that gun control accomplishes nothing.

She really wants that gun lobby money, it seems. Regardless of her motivation, people have had enough of the fiction that Greene passes off as truth. “It’s the guns” proved to be a pointed and resounding response to Greene’s latest refusal to read reality

Meanwhile, it’s worth noting that Greene won her Georgia primary, so her base is still here for her. Whether she survives the November election? That remains to be seen.

Ja Morant is an emerging face of the NBA, having made the leap into being a full-fledged All-Star last year, leading the Grizzlies to the 2-seed in the West and a second round appearance in the playoffs.

However, while Morant is well-known to NBA fans, he doesn’t quite create an immediate reaction for much more casual followers of the league out in public. That was on display in a delightful video of Morant at a restaurant where he left a $500 tip, leading to the waitress wondering who he was and why he would leave such a big tip. She goes on a pretty incredible ride, from skepticism about who he was to full on hysterics upon realizing it’s Ja Morant she’s been waiting on.

It’s pretty funny how Ja slow plays it, saying he’s a basketball player from South Carolina, and only divulging he’s in the NBA when she asks if he’s going to be an NBA player. She even knows who Morant is when they mention he’s on the Grizzlies, but doesn’t recognize him with his hair down and not pulled up like when he’s on the court.

Being a guard allows Morant to go through every day life a bit more incognito than a big man, as being 6’9 or more tends to be a giveaway that you might be somebody in the NBA, even if folks aren’t sure exactly who. In this case, it allowed Morant to spread a little goodwill via a big tip to the surprise of the waitress, who clearly had her day made by the entire interaction.

[This post contains spoilers about Stranger Things 4]

The Stranger Things creators didn’t remember poor Will’s birthday, but they’re making it up to him by talking him up as the show’s most important character (with the possible exception of Eleven).

In the final moments of season four of the Netflix-breaking show, Will feels a familiar tingle on his neck, and looks up to the sky; he’s the first to notice that the Upside Down has started to invade Hawkins, Indiana. It’s an important reminder of Will’s significance to the overall arc, and leads to the “biggest” question heading into the final season.

In an interview with Deadline, co-creators Matt and Ross Duffer were asked about how long they’ve been waiting for the scene where Vecna explains to Eleven how he “encountered” the Mind Flayer. “It’s been a long time coming,” Ross answered. “We knew we wanted to get there with this season and that’s obviously the big bombshell in the volume two. We really wanted to give the audience a lot of the big answers. There’s still a few of the question marks that remain.”

Such as?

“The biggest one being we set up in the volume one finale how the Upside Down is stuck in time on the day of Will’s disappearance. That’s something we don’t answer in volume two, and that is really the key plot point, the key question that is going to drive our final season as we try to wrap up this story and give the rest of the answers out.”

As we learned earlier in season four, the Upside Down is stuck on November 6, 1983, the day Will disappeared. Max was still two years from running up that hill, and no puppets would be mastered for three more years. The reason why time stopped the day after Alexa Chung was born and the day before Adam DeVine came into the world effects the rest of the story in the final season. I bet it involves his terrible haircut.

Stranger Things is expected to return in “mid-2024.”

(Via Deadline)

The meals being served at Russia’s new McDonald’s replacement aren’t leaving customers too happy.

Earlier this year, the fast-food franchise pulled out most of its business in protest of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. While that war continues, a new chain of burger joints has cropped up to co-op former McDonald’s-owned sites and the locals are not lovin’ it. The chain is called Vkusno & Tochka (which stand for “tasty and that’s that”) and it’s being accused of serving moldy bread and serving up insect legs in its Happy Meals (which are now labeled as Combos). A handful of customers have shared nauseating images of mold-covered buns, bug-infested cheese slices, and burgers with insect limbs dangling from the sides, all courtesy of the Kremlin’s McDonald’s successor.

“It looks like they don’t quite honor the standards of McDonald’s, at least in terms of product quality control,” TV personality and Russian opposition leader Ksenia Sobchak said on her Telegram channel (via Daily Mail). “Today alone, at least three cases have been recorded when burgers with moldy buns were sold to catering customers. Guys, you’ll figure it out. You don’t need to poison people.”

Other complaints site out-of-date sauces being served and video footage of birds attacking a stack of burger buns outside an outlet as proof that Russia’s blase attitude towards replacing the beloved fast-food chain has been a mistake.

McDonald’s has operated in the country for over three decades, opening its first store shortly after the Berlin Wall was knocked down but despite promises that this new, Russian-owned version would be “the same but better,” the reality is that anyone craving a burger and fries will just have to accept moldy buns and bug cheese so that Putin can continue to gleefully commit war crimes.

(Via The Daily Mail)

On The Up is Uproxx’s monthly column that brings you a round-up of the best new artists that you need to be listening to. Some of these musicians might be brand new, some might have been making music for a while and are starting to hit a major stride, but they’re all destined for bigger things in the very near future. Our July edition features a UK soul singer that crushed it at Glastonbury, an unreal vocalist, the second coming of The Roots, a singer-songwriter evoking shades of Elliott Smith, and Flying Lotus’ latest vocal muse. Check it out.

Greentea Peng

Neo-soul and R&B singer Greentea Peng has a style that harkens back to the ’90s British boombap R&B heyday. While the Londoner’s debut album Man Made dropped last year, she collaborated with UK garage innovator MJ Cole and Gorillaz/Jorja Smith/Ezra Collective drummer Femi Koleoso on the brand new “Stuck In The Middle.” Peng operates over psych-jazz and hip-hop instrumentation from her band, the Seng Seng Family, and drops metaphysical lyrics like, “I believe in magic because I’ve seen it,” (on “Nah It Ain’t The Same.”) She just left an indelible mark at Glastonbury and has appearances on deck at other UK summer festival staples like All Points East and End Of The Road.

Laufey

There are gorgeous voices, and then there’s Laufey. The Icelandic-Chinese singer, violinist, and pianist now lives in Los Angeles and when you hear her sing, it feels like you cozied up to a fancy piano bar and stumbled into a jaw-dropping vocalist. Her music is cinematic, instantly elegant, and even a bit showy. “Fragile” hums with pronounced strings painting a canvas for Laufey’s delivery, which will legit send chills down your spine. Her debut album, Everything I Know About Love is due out on August 26th and Laufey’s U.S. headlining tour that begins in September is almost entirely sold out.

Butcher Brown

If you’re a fan of The Roots, then Butcher Brown is for you. You might’ve heard the Richmond, VA jazz and hip-hop five-piece led by MC/multi-instrumentalist Tennishu with their rendition of Little Richard’s “Rip It Up” as the theme music to Monday Night Football for the 2020 NFL season. They’ve established their prowess in a series of albums, but are now embarking on the more expansive big band jazz sound with the Triple Trey album due out on September 16th. Tennishu comes across like golden era rap legend J-Live, as drummer Corey Fonville lays groundwork for a horn section, synths and Andrew Randazzo’s sick sax solo on “Liquid Light.” Finger snaps, bells, and even tuba pop up everywhere, and it’s clear that these dudes are master jazz-hop instrumentalists. Butcher Brown is on the festival circuit this summer, including appearances at Afropunk, Pitchfork Fest, and the Blue Note Jazz Fest in Napa.

Blondshell

The solo project of indie singer-songwriter Sabrina Teitelbaum, we highlighted Blondshell’s debut single, “Olympus,” in June. Skillfully produced by indie superproducer Yves Rothman, the song has heavy, visceral lyricism, where Teitelbaum confesses her helplessness in a destructive relationship. “I wanna save myself, you’re part of my addiction. I just keep you in thе kitchen while I burn,” she sings. Moments like this seethe with shades of Elliott Smith’s dark honesty and you root for her to come out on the other side. More music is on the way soon and the LA-based, New York City-raised Blondshell is undoubtedly one to watch.

Devin Tracy

Probably the same spark that went off for Flying Lotus when he discovered LA future-soul vocalist Devin Tracy at a recent session, is what hearing Tracy for the first time will do to you. Tracy was FlyLo’s vocal muse of sorts on their mid-June collaborative double single release, “The Room” and “You Don’t Know.” Tracy floats in wavelengths over Lotus’ silos of strings on the former and rides a controlled wormhole of snare drums on the latter. He just appeared on Sango’s new Great Lakes Series mixtape, soaring on the dance floor batucada of “Winter All Year.” There’s a sensual androgyny to Tracy’s voice that’s just irresistible, and we want to hear more of it stat.

It’s the year 2022, and movie theaters are back! TikTok teens are wearing suits to see the latest Minions flick, Tom Hanks and his subpar accent are starring in Elvis, and there is a Buzz Lightyear-themed movie that is currently pulling some weak numbers at the box office. What more could you ask for?

As it turns out, Hanks wanted to “go head to head” with Tim Allen, the original voice of Buzz, but he was unable to do so thanks to Chris Evans, who voices Lightyear in the movie that is not actually about a toy, a fact that most people are completely missing, including, apparently, Hanks.

In an interview with CinemaBlend, Hanks said, “I actually, I wanted to go head to head with Tim Allen and they didn’t let Tim Allen do it. I don’t, I don’t understand that.” To be fair, it wouldn’t really make sense for Allen to do it. Besides, he’s busy being Santa Claus (again).

Hanks then went on to say that it doesn’t really matter who voices who, as long as people are still seeing movies. “Here’s the thing,” Hanks explained, “As long as people come back to the motion picture theater…I want to go back into the theater with a bunch of strangers and leave with something in common. That’s what I want to do.”

Instead of dueling his former co-star, he actually wants to head to the theaters with him. “Going to see a movie with him — I’m looking forward to that,” Hanks concluded. Perhaps they will be in the front row for Greta Gerwig’s Barbie movie.

(Via CinemaBlend)