#athens release 2023

[isolationaroundus]

Ah.. What a wonderful night... It was PERFECT.. All I ever wanted. To see my favorite band in the world live... Ah I cannot even explain how I feel... I am exhausted.....................

[nicoscheer]

I’m so glad they get to catch their breath and relax for a month now they more than deserve it

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Arctic Monkeys @ Release Athens 18th July 2023, By tbhc.love

[motherofplatypus]

Record of Genocide

[Part 2]

An opening:

The List:

Upon Children:

Beheading baby

Shot a kid that's running away

Shot a kid (again)

Shot a 6 years old 355 times

Slit a kid's throat

Creating a 14 pages long list of killed children under 1 year old

Bombed a pregnant lady that her fetus expelled from her

Burn a student alive

Torturing and sexually abusing civilians, including children

Blow a child's head until their brain splattered on the ground

Killing newborn twins, not even 4 days since their birth

Death toll from October 15th 2023 to July 6th 2024. 16k+ were children.

Released a dog to attack civilian (kid version)

44% of killed victims are children.

Killed a man's entire family, including his children

Harris' supporter harassing a baby

Killed a child when he was at the market with his mother

Killing an 8 years old girl along with 36 of her family members

US participation in genocide upon children

Assraeli soldier took a bike from a kid and throw it in the trash

Assrael killed a man's son (1)

Assrael killed a man's son (2)

Assrael killed a man's daughter

Assrael killed a man's daughter (2)

Assrael abused a 12 years old girl in prison, the youngest female to be held in prison

Assrael killed a mother's 3 daughters and her sister

Assraelis mocks children who lost their limbs and murdered

Assrael killed a mother's child

Upon Palestinian In General:

Killing Christians.

Demanding the rights to rape

Burning people alive

A concentration camp

Torturing civilians (featuring French people)

Destroying churches, hospitals, and schools

Bombing schools

Bombing civilians in their tents

Admitance of ethnic cleansing

Banning maternity kit and anaesthetic

Disguising as civilian to kill civilians

Destroying humanitarian aids

Released a dog to attack civilian

Bombing refugee camp

Stealing houses from their owner

Deliberately destroying properties in Lebanon (confirmed by UN peacekeepers)

Bombing school where people take shelter

Celebrating Trump's victory by shooting at homes in Gaza (featuring Trump's supporter)

Killing an entire family in a targeted attack

A Knesset member sending death threats in hospital

Using AI to kill more people

Publicly announcing annexation of Gaza

UNICEF spokesperson talked about the horror Assrael committed upon civilians

Targeting civilians in Safe Zone

Destroying humanitarian aids

Assraeli blowing up praying site

UK surgeon explains what Assrael did in Gaza

Assraeli glorifying the crimes their fallen soldiers committed

A son breakdowns during praying for his father that's killed by Assrael

A doctor's testimony of what Assrael did

The bodies of the people Assrael killed

Assrael bombing UN-run school, killing 10 people

Upon Lebanon:

Blows up an entire village in Lebanon

Assrael bombed Lebanon near a school

Assrael targeting civilians in Lebanon, killing at least one child

Assrael bombed a suburbs in Lebanon

Assraeli destroying an entire village in Lebanon

Assraeli killed 2 doctors and orphaned their child

Destroying praying site in Lebanon

15 paramedics in Lebanon murdered by Assrael

Upon Non-Palestinians:

Killing WCF workers (3 from UK, 1 from US, 1 from Australia, 1 from Poland, and 1 from Palestine.)

Attacking UN workers, killing 3 children during their attacks

Killing a medical worker through torture

Killing journalist (this is only two of 100+ journalists they've killed)

Beating and torturing journalist (featuring American journalist)

Attacking WFP workers

Bombing a UN shelter (featuring India)

Assaulting civilians in Athens

Ally in genocide (featuring USA)

An ambassador signing bombs before being dropped on civilians (featuring USA)

Killing animals

Ramming a police deliberately but no consequences (featuring USA)

META's complicity in genocide

Targeting family homes in Beirut

Assrael journalist demanding more violence, deaths, and river of blood

Bombed a residential building and killed 7 people in Syria

Harassment upon the people in Amsterdam

Property damage to assault people in Amsterdam

Assraeli physically attacked a woman

Biden's inappropriate answer to journalist who asked about the hostages

Assraeli hooligans singing song of death threats in Amsterdam

Assraeli hooligans attacking French people

Assrael genocide impact on animals

Justifying targeting civilians (featuring Germany)

Assraeli inciting violence on TV

The Pope calling Assrael as terrorist

AIPAC openly bragging about buying the US elections

Assraeli harassing a Christian tourist and defiling his cross necklace

Assraeli using genocide as tourist attraction

How US's "threat" on Assrael went

Where the US put their own people compared to Assrael

This is not a complete list.

[theageoftheunderstatement]

Arctic Monkeys at Release Athens, 18/07/2023. (Photo by Argiris Liosis)

[musicandotherstuff]

Alex Turner - Release Athens, Greece

July 2023

(Source)

[lalaballa]

Athens suits Alex

2016: Rockwave Festival, The Last Shadow Puppets 📸 a.zaggana (1) ch.kisatzekian (2,10)

2018: Rockwave Festival, Arctic Monkeys 📸 a.zaggana (3,4) t.karatzas (5,6)

2023: Release Festival Days, Arctic Monkeys 📸 a.zaggana (8) n.katsaros (9)

[darkmaga-returns]

President-elect Donald Trump's incoming "border czar" Tom Homan has claimed that the outgoing administration of President Joe Biden "has blood on their hands" for the murder of Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student, by an illegal immigrant in Georgia

In March, a Venezuelan national and undocumented migrant identified as Jose Antonio Ibarra brutally beat Riley to death. At that time, Riley was jogging on the University of Georgia campus when Ibarra dragged her into the bushes and murdered her.

According to the records from Customs and Border Protection, Ibarra was first arrested near the southern border on Sept. 8, 2022, for illegally entering the country. However, he was immediately released due to insufficient detention space and took refuge in New York City.

From here, Ibarra was even able to find employment as an Uber driver. But then, he was also apprehended in the state for endangering a child while riding a gas-powered moped without a helmet in 2023 but was released again, only to flee to Georgia and murder Riley.

The Department of Homeland Security ended the "Remain in Mexico" policy, officially known as the "Migrant Protection Protocols," in August 2022. The policy required undocumented migrants to await court hearings outside the United States. In short, this lax approach had something to do with the release of Ibarra into the United States.

Then, the trail for Ibarra resumed in the city of Athens on Nov. 18, and Homan, who formerly served as the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for five months during the first Trump administration, lambasted the outgoing Biden administration and its approach to immigration enforcement.

"If Trump was president, and he did get in the United States, and he got arrested in New York for a crime before he committed this murder, he would never have been released to the streets," Homan explained. "He would've been turned over to ICE."

Additionally. Homan argued that stricter enforcement and cooperation between ICE and local authorities could have prevented Riley's death. Therefore, he concluded: "So this administration has blood on their hands."

[dreamings-free]

IQ Magazine November 30th 2023

Usually, when an act completes a world tour, they come off the road for an extended period to rest, record new material, and then typically two or three years later the wheels are set in motion for an album release, promo, and tour dates. Louis Tomlinson did not get that memo.

His first solo tour ran late due to the pandemic restrictions, meaning that by the time it concluded in September 2022, his second album, Faith in the Future, was scheduled to drop and tickets for the associated tour were ready to go on sale.

“This tour went on sale last October or November – basically a year in advance,” explains agent Holly Rowland, who represents Tomlinson alongside Alex Hardee, internationally, while Wasserman Music colleagues Marty Diamond and Ash Mowry-Lewis do likewise for North America.

Despite that quick turnaround between tours, Rowland reports that ticket sales for the current tour are going very well indeed. “The first leg went through Scandinavia before doing the Baltics and Eastern Europe – Romania, Bulgaria, and Greece – places that most people, especially arena-level acts, don’t really go. And the second leg, which is more mainland Europe, started on 2 October.”

The tour is big. Very big for just a second outing in his own name. Between May and July this year, Tomlinson played 39 dates in the US and Canada across a mix of amphitheatres, arenas, pavilions, and stadiums. In August, he returned to Europe, where he is currently is in the midst of another 39 dates in arenas across the continent and the UK, which will take him to 18 November. Then, in early 2024, the Faith in the Future tour goes to Australia for two outdoor dates in Melbourne and Brisbane, before he takes the show to the country’s biggest indoor venue, the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney.

“The tour before obviously was a Covid tour where the dates had to be chopped and changed. The positive aspect of that was that we were able to upgrade venues where that made sense”

And, as IQ went to press, Tomlinson released dates for a return to Latin America in May 2024 for a mix of indoor and outdoor shows, including stadia, across Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Panama, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, and Uruguay.

“We’re going to Australia and part of Asia early next year,” states artist manager Matt Vines of London-based Seven 7 Management. “We then go into Latin America in May and June. And then we’ll handpick a selection of festivals next summer, before we draw the line on the campaign at the end of the summer.”

Rowland comments, “The tour before obviously was a Covid tour where the dates had to be chopped and changed. The positive aspect of that was that we were able to upgrade venues where that made sense. But it was really nice to start from scratch on this tour to make sure the routing was all going in the right direction.” She reports, “We’ve done nearly 16,000 tickets in Amsterdam, and 14,000 in Paris, which I think just underlines his credibility as an artist and his growing reputation among fans.”

Back to You Playing a major role in shifting that ticketing inventory is a network of promoters also enjoying Tomlinson’s rising star.

“On this tour, it’s mainly Live Nation – we use a lot of the One Direction promoter,” explains Rowland. “But for Greece, we used Honeycomb Live, Charmenko did Romania, 8 Days A Week promoted the three shows in the Baltics, All Things Live did Finland, Fource are doing Prague, it’s Gadget in Switzerland, Atelier in Luxembourg, and when we get to the UK, it’s SJM, and MCD in Ireland.”

With a total of 39 European dates, Rowland split the outing into separate legs, scheduling a break after Scandinavia, the Balkans, Baltics and Athens, Greece and another after mainland Europe ending in Zurich, Switzerland.

“Louis has a real desire to perform to fans in markets that are often overlooked”

“It’s a perfect ratio, if I do say so myself,” she laughs. “It was right to split it up – 39 dates is a long, long tour, especially with the American tour throughout the summer being 11 weeks! We made sure to schedule days off, for everyone to recharge their batteries.”

In Spain, Nacho Córdoba at Live Nation promoted Tomlinson’s shows in Bilbao, Madrid, and Barcelona and reports sell-outs at each of the arenas involved.

“When Louis was last here, it was three days before the pandemic shut everything down in Spain. In fact, I think he played the final show before the market closed because of Covid,” says Córdoba.

“Last year, Louis organised his Away From Home festival in Fuengirola, and that also sold out, so we know he has a big following in Spain, and we also know that Spanish fans are super loyal. So, on this tour we sold out 7,000 tickets at Bilbao Arena Miribilla, 13,600 tickets at WiZink in Madrid, and 11,200 at Palau St Jordi in Barcelona.”

Already looking forward to Tomlinson “and his fantastic team” returning on the next tour, Córdoba believes it will be important to see what happens with the next album – and Tomlinson’s expectations – before making any plans.

“The most important thing is to keep the fans happy and keep the momentum building with Louis,” he states. “I am a big fan of the arenas, because the atmosphere at his shows was incredible. So, rather than look at going bigger, it might be a case of looking at other arenas in other markets. Whatever he does, we cannot wait to have Louis back in Spain.”

“He’s kept the ticket prices reasonable – and he never wants to do any gold circle or VIP tickets. I think that’s why he’s so close to his fans, because it’s not about maximising profits”

Stefan Wyss at Gadget abc Entertainment in Switzerland promoted Tomlinson when he visited Zurich’s Hallenstadion on 23 October and explains that he previously played the city’s Halle 622 venue on the first tour.

Recalling that debut solo outing, Wyss tells IQ, “At first, we announced a mid-size theatre club show, 1,800-capacity, but it sold out instantly. Then we moved it to Halle 62, which is 3,500-cap, and that also sold out immediately, so it was a really big success.

“They’ve invested a lot in the production of this current tour, and it’s doing really strong numbers, so that’s why we decided to go to the arena this time around, where we set a mid-size capacity of 7,000, which is good for a small market like Switzerland, especially because he’s coming back just one year later and playing a much bigger show.”

Wyss adds, “He’s kept the ticket prices reasonable – and he never wants to do any gold circle or VIP tickets. I think that’s why he’s so close to his fans, because it’s not about maximising profits. Another reason for his success is that in addition to attracting a mainstream audience, he’s also getting the music lovers because he’s just a very good songwriter and has brilliant songs.”

Wyss also notes that with many young fans typically arriving the day before the concert, the responsibility to look after them is extended.

“We set up toilets, we have security overnight, we give water away. It’s part of the organisation that we will take care of the fans.”

Fresh from announcing 12 dates across Argentina, Brazil (x 3), Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Peru, Paraguay, Panama, Puerto Rico, and Uruguay, promoter Fabiano Lima De Queiroz at Move Concerts reports that Tomlinson will visit a mix of arenas, as well as stadiums in Santiago, São Paolo, and Buenos Aires during his May tour.

“Louis really looks after his fans. On the last tour they did a deal with Greggs [bakery chain] to give free food to the people waiting in line, as some of them camped out for days in advance”

“Our first tour with Louis was supposed to be in 2020 and we’d booked half arenas everywhere – 5,000-6,000 capacities,” he informs IQ. “Louis was one of those acts who connected very well with the fans during the pandemic, so when we shifted the dates, first to 2021, and then to 2022, we ended up selling out and having to upgrade in certain metropolitan markets.

“In Santiago, for instance, we’d sold out two full arenas of 13,000 cap, but then the government declared that for mass gatherings the numbers needed to be limited to 10,000 people.”

Rather than let fans down, Move added a third date, which again ended up selling out. “I remember being on a night plane from Miami, while Matt Vines was flying in from Dallas, and we were both using the aircraft wi-fi to negotiate via text for that third show,” says Queiroz. “It was an interesting way to confirm putting the third date on sale, just three days before the actual show!”

He adds, “We’re taking a big bet on this tour when it comes to the number of cities and the capacities of the venues, but we’re hoping for the best, and we’ve gone out strong. We feel that the artist is in a good moment and that the latest album has just created more interest, so we’re looking forward to when he arrives in May.”

Further north, Ocesa will promote three dates in Mexico, including a stadium show at the F1 circuit, Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, deepening Tomlinson’s footprint in that crucial North American market.

Meanwhile, in Tomlinson’s homeland, Jack Dowling at SJM is promoting seven UK dates in November at arenas in Sheffield, Manchester, Glasgow, Brighton, Cardiff, London, and Birmingham, which will round out the European leg of the tour.

“We have a responsibility to look after [the fans]. Coming to a show should be a safe space, it’s where they find joy, and we have a responsibility to protect that”

“SJM has done every show Louis has been involved with, including all the One Direction arena and stadium shows,” notes Dowling, adding that on the first tour, the London show was originally pencilled in as a Roundhouse, then two Roundhouse shows, before finally being upgraded to Wembley Arena.

“This time, The O2 arena show in London will be sold out, while all the others have passed the expectations of where we wanted to be on this tour. In fact, when the UK dates were announced, it ranked as the fourth most engaged tour on social media in SJM’s history – his fans are just nuts.”

But Dowling also reports that the fanbase for Tomlinson is expanding. “The demographics are pulling not just from pop but also from indie rock now.”

Dowling adds, “Louis really looks after his fans. On the last tour they did a deal with Greggs [bakery chain] to give free food to the people waiting in line, as some of them camped out for days in advance.”

Out of my System Ensuring his fans are looked after properly is the number one priority in Tomlinson’s live career.

Noting that Tomlinson’s audience comprises mainly young women and girls, Rowland reveals that, at the artist’s insistence, a safety team has been added to the tour to ensure everyone that attends his shows is looked after. “They manage all the safety within the shows for the fans,” she explains. “They came in for the Wembley show last year and have been with us ever since – they’ve been beneficial to the running of the tour.

“When he played in South America, some of his fans were camping outside for a month. So we have a responsibility to look after them. Coming to a show should be a safe space, it’s where they find joy, and we have a responsibility to protect that.”

Manager Vines comments, “One issue that we came up against almost all last year was crushing and fans passing out. We adopted a system where we could communicate with fans, who could hold up a mobile phone with a flashing red-and-white sign if they were in trouble but then we’d see them all popping up.

“I don’t know whether some of that was a hangover of the pandemic where fans just weren’t used to being in venues. But we experienced a number of situations where hydration and temperatures in venues became an issue. I know Billie Eilish went through similar issues.”

“I get detailed incident reports after each show… So far on this tour, we haven’t had any issues with crushing or hydration, which is fantastic”

With Tomlinson determined to meet a duty of care toward his fans, Vines says that the team now sends a “considerable advance package” to promoters ahead of their tour dates. “Our safety team goes into venues in the morning and basically ensures that a number of different things are in place – making sure that water is given to the fans, where the water comes from, and at what points in the show it happens.”

And on the crushing phenomena, he reports, “We’ve worked out how many fans it’s safe to have without a secondary barrier. So we instruct promoters to have certain barriers in place to relieve that pressure and avoid crushing.”

He adds, “I get detailed incident reports after each show, which lets myself and my management team know exactly what happened, and so far on this tour, we haven’t had any issues with crushing or hydration, which is fantastic.”

Production manager Craig Sherwood is impressed by the way the tour has pivoted to protect the ‘Louies.’ “The welfare officers are vital for the young girls who are aged from, I guess, 14 upwards. They can get dehydrated and malnourished pretty quickly if they are camping out for days, so it’s important that we look out for their wellbeing,” says Sherwood.

Citing the extremes that the Louies will put themselves through in an effort to secure themselves prime positions at the front of the stage, Sherwood recalls, “The first show on our US tour was in February, and it was freezing, but we found out that girls had been camping out on the pavement for five days. It’s crazy, as we know these young girls are coming from all over the world to see Louis.”

However, Tomlinson’s connection with those fans is evident in the level of merchandise sales at each show. “It’s a huge part of our business,” says Vines. “In America, we averaged about $36 a head, and it’s not much shy of that in Europe – we’ve set a few national records in terms of spend per head. But we spend a lot of time on merch plans, and we do venue-specific drops and give it a lot of care and attention, as it’s a really important element of Louis’ business.”

“We don’t do dynamic pricing, we don’t do platinum ticketing, we don’t do paid VIPs, we don’t increase ticket prices on aisle seats – all those tricks that everyone does that most fans don’t know about: we don’t do any of those”

We Made It Making sure that the Faith in the Future tour delivers Tomlinson to his growing legion of fans, PM Sherwood’s long association with artist manager Vines made him the obvious choice when the artist first began his solo career.

“I remember doing a lot of promo dates around the UK and US before we started touring properly,” says Sherwood of his work with Tomlinson. “In fact, one of the first shows I remember doing with Louis was in Madrid when he played in a stadium, and I could see it was a taste of things to come.”

The partnership between Sherwood and Vines is crucial. “In terms of the show growing, our biggest challenge is keeping costs down, because we’re extremely cautious on ticket pricing,” says Vines. “We don’t do dynamic pricing, we don’t do platinum ticketing, we don’t do paid VIPs, we don’t increase ticket prices on aisle seats – all those tricks that everyone does that most fans don’t know about: we don’t do any of those.

“So, when it comes to the production side of things, we need to be incredibly careful. But I’ve been working with Craig for a decade, and he knows the importance of trying to keep costs as low as possible. For instance, we’ll run the show virtually a number of times so Louis can watch it with the show designer, Tom Taylor, make comments and tweak things. Then we’ll go into pre-production. But we try to do as much in virtual reality as possible before we take it into the physical world.”

Sherwood states, “Basically, we started out with two or three trucks, but now we’re up to nine, and things seem to be getting bigger day by day.”

Thankfully, Sherwood has amassed a vastly experienced crew over the years, allowing them to handle even the most unexpected scenarios. “I’ve been touring since the dawn of time, but the core crew I work with now have been together since about 2010, and I trust them implicitly, so I leave it up to them who they hire, as long as they think I’m going to like them, and they’ll get along with everyone. So far, it has worked well,” Sherwood reports.

And that veteran crew has dealt with some terrifying weather extremes on the current tour, including a show at Red Rocks in Colorado where the audience were subjected to a freak storm with golf ball-sized hail stones injuring dozens of people.

“We need to tweak the rigging on a daily basis, as we move to different venues”

Elsewhere, the crew has had to act quickly when the threat of high winds in Nashville caused problems on that outdoor run. “We didn’t want the video screens blowing about above the heads of the band, so it must have been amusing for the audience to see us taking them down,” Sherwood reports.

Indoors in Europe, the environment has been more controllable. The production itself involves an A-stage set 180 degrees across the barricades, although Sherwood says that on occasion a catwalk is also used by the performers.

“It’s a great lighting show and fantastic for audio, as we have a phenomenal front-of-house sound engineer – John Delf from Edge Studios – who makes life very easy for the rest of us,” says Sherwood. He also namechecks Barrie Pitt (monitor engineer), Oli Crump (audio system designer), Tom Taylor (lighting designer), Sam Kenyon (lighting technical director), and Torin Arnold (stage manager), while he praises Solo-Tech for supplying the sound, and Colour Sound Experiment (CSE) for taking charge of lighting, video, and rigging equipment.

Indeed, CSE has ten personnel out with the Faith in the Future tour. “We have eight screens on the road – six on stage plus two IMAGS that we use wherever appropriate,” the company’s Haydn Cruickshank tells IQ.

“We need to tweak the rigging on a daily basis, as we move to different venues, but other than that it’s a fairly smooth process thanks to Craig Sherwood. He is old-school and planned and worked on the production very far in advance, which is a great scenario for all involved. Craig is definitely one of our favourite production managers to work with.”

“Post-pandemic, the number of long-haul flights still aren’t as frequent as they were. As a result, the production is being reverse-engineered”

Garry Lewis at bussing contractors Beat The Street is also a fan of PM Sherwood. “Craig split the European tour into different runs. So, from Hamburg to Zurich, we had two super high-decker 12-berth buses for the tour party and two 16-berth double-deckers for the crew,” says Lewis. “After the show in Athens, we still have the two super high-deckers, as Louis loves them – he prefers to spend time on the bus, rather than in hotels – but we also have two 12-berth super high-deckers for the crew, as well as another crew 16-berth double-decker.”

Lewis continues, “We’ve worked with Craig for a good few years, and we have a great relationship with him. He plans everything way in advance, so it means it’s all very straightforward for us with no issues. So, we use single drivers for each bus, except on the longer runs or when our drivers are scheduled for prolonged breaks, and then we’ll fly in extra drivers as needed.”

If I Could Fly With the production travelling to Australia in early 2024, before shifting to Latin America, Andy Lovell at Freight Minds is gearing up to become involved with Tomlinson once again.

“We’ve never failed anywhere to open the doors on time, so we know we’re capable of getting things done, even if we have a late start at mid-day”

“We did the Central and South America dates on the tour last year, and onto Mexico,” says Lovell. “It was very challenging back then as we were still coming back from Covid, and various systems and infrastructure were in pieces. But it all went well in the end, as we kept an eye on things and worked on it every day to make sure we had solutions to everything that was thrown our way.”

Lovell continues, “Things on this tour kick in early next year for us. Historically, Australian services were quite reliable, as we could use any number of airlines. But post-pandemic, the number of long-haul flights still aren’t as frequent as they were. As a result, the production is being reverse-engineered with the budget being worked out before we can see what we can afford to take as freight, and then we try to plan accordingly.

“Similarly, in Central and South America there are still just a fraction of the flights operating, compared to pre-Covid, so that makes it very challenging. If there aren’t the flights to handle the gear, then you have to start looking at chartering aircraft, or alter your schedule, and that can become very expensive, very fast.”

With everyone working on the artist’s behalf to make sure the tour remains on track, being able to call on such experienced production experts is paying off on a daily basis.

Sherwood notes, “There are a few back-to-back shows over long distances that occasionally mean we don’t arrive at the next venue until 11am, rather than 6am. But we’ve never failed anywhere to open the doors on time, so we know we’re capable of getting things done, even if we have a late start at mid-day.”

Such dilemmas are not lost on agent Rowland. “It’s not so much the routing, it’s more like the timings, because Louis does have two support acts, so the show starts at 7 o’clock, and then when we’re done, we need to load out to get to the next show in good time for loading in the next morning and soundchecks, etc.”

Nonetheless, Sherwood admits that he loves the trickier venues and schedules. “Because I’m a dinosaur, I relish anything that makes things difficult or awkward for us on the production side of things,” he says. “I think everyone on the crew looks forward to challenges and finding the solutions to problems.”

“We have this amazing platform where we can put these bands in front of these audiences as a showcase that allows them to build these authentic new audiences”

Common People Having amassed millions of fans through his association with One Direction, Tomlinson very much has a ‘pay it forward’ attitude to music and is building a reputation as a champion for emerging talent, wherever he performs.

“He’s a great advocate for alternative music,” says manager Vines. “Louis realises that he’s in an incredibly privileged position in terms of what he can create in terms of awareness. He loves alternative music and indie music, and he understands how hard it is for that music to be heard. But we have this amazing platform where we can put these bands in front of these audiences as a showcase that allows them to build these authentic new audiences. It’s a huge part of his love of music, wanting to help younger bands.”

Rowland agrees. “He took an act called Andrew Cushin – a very new artist – on the road in America with him as his support, and he’s doing the same for Europe. Louis is a fan and is championing his career.

Indeed, Tomlinson’s A&R skills have knock-on effects for his agent, too. “He asked me to confirm the Australian band Pacific Avenue as support for his Australian tour last year. The music was great and they didn’t have an agent, so now I’m representing them!” says Rowland.

Perfect Now As the European tour speeds toward its conclusion, agent Rowland is enjoying every minute of it. “It’s incredible – they’ve really stepped things up,” she says, fresh from seeing the show in Athens and Paris. “They’ve got 6 hanging LED screens on the stage, and the whole production just looks polished and professional.”

And Rowland is especially excited about next year’s Latin American dates, which will deliver her first stadium shows as an agent. “The return to Latin America is going to be huge – Louis is playing arenas and stadiums in South America and Mexico: 15 shows across 11 countries,” she says.

“He loves his fans, and he loves performing for them, it’s as simple as that. He just loves being on the road and seeing how the songs connect live”

Vines is similarly enthused. Harking back to the Covid situation, when a show would go on sale, sell out, be postponed, and then rescheduled in a bigger venue, Vines says, “For example, in Chile, originally the show was scheduled at a 5,000-cap, half-capacity arena in Santiago. And what we ended up doing was three nights at 10,000-cap in that same venue.”

Vines contends that Tomlinson’s work ethic is outstanding. “He loves his fans, and he loves performing for them, it’s as simple as that,” he says. “He just loves being on the road and seeing how the songs connect live. In fact, the second album was very much written with the tour and live shows in mind – ‘This song could work live,’ ‘This one will open the set,’ ‘This is the one we can do for the encore.’”

Fearless Another element to Tomlinson’s psyche has been his decision to visit places off the usual tour circuit. “Louis has a real desire to perform to fans in markets that are often overlooked,” says Rowland.

Manager Vines explains that while the Covid-delayed first tour allowed them to upgrade venues pretty much everywhere, “On this tour, we’re a bit more competent on venue sizes, but we still speculate a little bit in different territories. In Europe, for example, we’ve gone into the Baltics and a number of different places to test the markets there, while in America, we are looking at A and B markets but also tertiary markets as well – we go to places where people just don’t tour in America, just to see what the reaction is. That was something that very much interested Louis – to play in front of people who don’t normally have gigs in their town. So there’s been a lot of experimentation on this tour in terms of where we go and what room to play.”

“Louis also is extremely fan-focused in everything that he does. He comes at it from a perspective of ‘I want to take the show to them'”

That concept is something that Vines has employed before. “I manage a band called Hurts who were pretty much overlooked by the British radio system and we have spent 15 years building a business outside of the UK. And that was built on going to play at those places where people didn’t normally go. They built to multiple arena level in Russia, for instance.

“If you can build fanbases in lots of different places, you have festivals that you can play every summer, as well as touring those places. It allows you to have more consistency over a number of years, by having more opportunities.”

Such a strategy found a convert in Tomlinson. Vines tells IQ, “Louis also is extremely fan-focused in everything that he does. He comes at it from a perspective of ‘I want to take the show to them,’ meaning he’s always more willing to take the risky option to try something out.”

And the results? “It’s a combination,” concludes Vines. “There have been a couple of places where we now understand why tours don’t go there. But there’s are more places where it’s worked incredibly well. For example, we enjoyed incredibly good sales in Budapest. And overall, it’s allowing us to get a clearer idea, globally, of where the demand is, which will help us when we go into the next tour cycle.”

30/11/23

IQ is the leading global news platform for the live music business. IQ’s news, features, information and analysis are read by 100,000 professionals worldwide each month. IQ publishes a regular magazine, several annual reports, and a daily news digest, IQ Index. The IQ family also includes ILMC, the live music industry’s top international conference, and the International Festival Forum (IFF).

[wub-fur-radio]

New Brooms & Pantries!! More 21st Century Post-Punk for Your House

Wub-Fur presents another eclectic mix of new post-punk rock music that you should listen to. 19 tracks featuring selections by Iguana Death Cult, Egyptian Blue, Mannequin Pussy, Yard Act, Pylon Reenactment Society, Uranium Club, Hot Garbage, and a dozen more bands who know what “a new broom sweeps clean” means.

Cover Art by the Photoshop AI (we asked it for "Abstract album cover art for a compilation album of 21st century post-punk rock music"). Apologies to Ian Dury and the Blockheads, whose classic 1977 first album is the inspiration for the title of this mix.

▶︎🎶  Listen on Mixcloud or 🍎 Music

Running Time: 1 hour, 10 seconds

Tracklist

Intro / WUAMLWM [Brief Excerpt] (0:10)

Pushermen (3:50) — Iguana Death Cult | The Netherlands †

Nylon Wire (2:14) — Egyptian Blue | Brighton, UK †

Hyperglam (1:50) — Opinion | Occitanie, France ‡

Accidental Momentary Blur (2:41) — Ulrika Spacek | London, UK †

Small Grey Man (4:02) — Uranium Club | Minneapolis, MN ‡

I'll Do What I Can (3:46) — Folly Group | London, UK ‡

Dream Death (2:47) — Feeling Figures | Montreal, Canada †

Redecabbaged (3:01) — Sachet | Sydney, Australia ‡

Educate Me (3:53) — Pylon Reenactment Society | Athens, GA ‡

Who Do You Wanna Be? (3:48) — Dream Wife | London, UK †

Dead Meat (1:29) — The Tubs | London, UK †

When the Laughter Stops (3:16) — Yard Act | Leeds, UK ‡

Long Way from the Top (4:03) — TV’s Daniel | Austin, TX †

I Got Heaven (2:51) — Mannequin Pussy | Philadelphia, PA †

Lowering (4:02) — Hot Garbage | Toronto, Canada ‡

A Brash Child (3:00) — The Pheromoans | UK †

Pop Star (2:53) — Lime Garden | Brighton, UK ‡

Ex-KGB (3:42) — The Toads | Melbourne, Australia †

The Ring (2:51) — Flowertown | San Francisco, CA ‡

All tracks released in 2023 † or 2024 ‡.

[usafphantom2]

IMAGES: Russia resumes production of modernized Tu-160 bombers

Russia plans to eventually buy 50 new Tu-160M and modernize 15 existing Tu-160.

Fernando Valduga By Fernando Valduga 02/22/2024 - 08:17 in Military

Russia restarted the production of the Tupolev-160 strategic bombers, known as Blackjack, with the announcement coming from Sergey Chemezov, CEO of the state company Rostec.

"Restarting the production of the Tu-160 was quite a task for all Rostec affiliates. The project documentation was fully digitized within the tightest deadlines. The vacuum welding technique of titanium parts was restored and the production of fuselage units was resumed. Today we can safely say that we have been successful in all aspects," he said, according to the Russian state media.

The updated Tu-160M maintains the exterior design of its predecessor, but incorporates a technological base and completely new digital solutions.

The recent visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to the S.P. aviation factory. Gorbunov Kazan, in Tartaristan, where he inspected four updated strategic bombers, drew attention amid concerns about the country's military capabilities.

The Tu-160, recognized as the largest and most powerful supersonic aircraft with wings of variable geometry in the history of military aviation, underwent an update program initiated by Putin's decision.

The government contract, signed between the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and the Tupolev design department, facilitated the digitization of the Tu-160M aircraft design documentation and the restoration of vacuum welding techniques for titanium products, leading to the resumption of the production of fuselage units.

Rostec's main industrial companies in metallurgy, aircraft design, engineering and instrument manufacturing have played crucial roles in revitalizing their cooperation for the successful resumption of production.

The first Tu-160M strategic bomber built from scratch made its first 30-minute flight on January 12, 2022. It is equipped with modern weapons, electronic warfare system, as well as on-board electronic equipment.

According to reports, the Tu-160 entered Soviet service for the first time in the late 1980s, with production until 1995. In 2015, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the resumption of production of the updated variant of the Tu-160M to strengthen the strategy of the Russian Air Force in the capabilities of the bombers at a time of increasing tension with the West, and to compensate for delays in the future PAK-DA bomber program.

Russia plans to eventually buy about 50 Tu-160M bombers and is upgrading 16 existing Tu-160s to the modernized standard. With the first Tu-160M scheduled to be delivered soon, series production is expected to begin in 2023, at a production rate of at least three aircraft per year. This would fit the order for 10 aircraft in the period 2023–27.

The update of the Tu-160M is being implemented in two phases, with the first phase of the Tu-160M1 comprising the new navigation system K-042K-1 and autopilot ABSU-200-1, as well as the removal of some previous systems, such as pump observation systems. This variant of the Tu-160M1 has been operational in the Russian Air Force since the end of 2014.

The second phase of the Tu-160M2 includes the new Novella NV1.70 radar, a digital glass booth, modern communications and anti-jamming equipment, updated NK-32 engines (designated NK-32-02) and modern conventional and nuclear weapons.

Tags: Military AviationROSTECRussiaTu-160 Blackjack

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Fernando Valduga

Fernando Valduga

Aviation photographer and pilot since 1992, he has participated in several events and air operations, such as Cruzex, AirVenture, Dayton Airshow and FIDAE. He has works published in specialized aviation magazines in Brazil and abroad. He uses Canon equipment during his photographic work in the world of aviation.

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[dustedmagazine]

Ned Collette — Our Other History (Sophomore Lounge)

Back in 2018, Ned Collette released an astonishing double album called Old Chestnut. Across the album’s four sides, Collette laid out a mesmerizing patchwork of folk, prog and jazz that felt intimate yet expansive. On his new album, Our Other History, Collette has invited a host of luminaries to color in his compositions — including Jim White and Mick Turner of Dirty Three on drums and electric guitar; Leah Senior on backing vocals; and Chris Abrahams of The Necks on piano — while the songs themselves feel more traditional in flavor, rooted in folk, blues and country influences.

The heart of most Ned Collette songs is his robust finger-picked nylon-string guitar playing, and his nasal, conversational vocal delivery. On the opening title track, limpid cascades of synthesizer connect a throughline from Old Chestnut, while each of the guest players takes a turn to shine. Senior’s airy vocals and Turner’s subtle guitar work flesh out the song so effectively that the eight-minute run-time flies by before gently closing with an elegant fade-out. This tendency towards fading out several of the songs on the track list gives the impression of listening in to a room full of excellent musicians who are unselfconsciously feeling their way through the performances. On “Little Hans,” however, the song is cruelly faded out just as it threatens to boil over into a sizzling jam session.

Given the caliber of players on this album, each take of the songs no doubt yielded unrepeatable magic, so it must have been hard to settle on the versions that would not only work best as individual songs, but also play off each other as a collection. For this reason, it seems like either the players were being polite and restrained in their contributions, or takes were selected that have the same subdued, easy-flowing grace.   

“Bridges of Sunlight” and closer “Blue Rooms” seem to take up the same cosmic, incandescent thread introduced on “Our Other History,” while “Athens,” “Endtimes Boogie” and “Shot Through” take on more familiar, grounded idioms that are as well-worn as a beloved piece of furniture. Then, to lend an authentic “album” feel, Collette includes guitar instrumental “Friendly Fucker” and a spoken-word piece called “The Kitchen Tunnel.”

Collette toured with some of the line-up featured on Our Other History back early in 2023, and it’s only now we’re hearing the fruits of the recording sessions. It’s incredibly exciting to witness the product of these collaborations, but also tantalizing to imagine where the sessions may have ventured given freer rein.

Tim Clarke

[isolationaroundus]

Standing firm Against all odds We are guardians Asgaard's migthy walls We protect The realm of asagods No matter What they send at us We will never Let them fall

We're the guardians Guardians of Asgaard!

[alexturner2005]

tbhc.love: 1 year ago today 🏹💘 eycte alex. playing cupid for us with his tits out and sweat marks on his back, screaming OPAAA (cause we’re in Greece, get it…?) and ending it with a cool trick (you’re so cool) Arctic Monkeys at Release Festival, Athens, Greece - July 18, 2023

[black-metal-artists]

Ithil is a two-man band that has risen from the ashes of other projects (Ásgarðr, Brognor solo project) reviving and recording songs some of which were written more than ten years ago. They are located in Athens, Hellas, and most music and lyrics were written in Moscow, Russia.

Their main influences are Burzum, Forgotten Woods, and Ulver, with references to the Finnish Black Metal scene.

So far they have released a single demo song in 2023 (Úlfhéðnar) and the first demo/EP with the concept of Wolves and Nordic folklore, and they have a plan to release another demo/EP with a theme of Ancient Hellenic dark fantasy and finally an album with songs about Tolkien's world, to complete their demo run.

Official links: Bandcamp: https://ithil-bm.bandcamp.com/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Ithil_BM

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ithil_bm

Spotify Pre-save: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/ithil2/ulvenfolk

[theageoftheunderstatement]

Arctic Monkeys at Release Athens, 18/07/2023. (Photos by ruxandraadumitru)

[musicandotherstuff]

Alex Turner - Release Athens, Greece

July 2023

(Source)