mcfly tour 2004

• International edition
• Australia edition
• Europe edition

Mad about the boys

M anchester's Trafford Centre has yet to find a place among the pantheon of notorious rock venues. According to a representative from the vast shopping mall's branch of HMV, however, that could well be an oversight. Some of the biggest artists in Britain are as good as queuing up to perform in The Orient, a hideous plaza that has, for reasons which are not entirely clear, been decorated to look like an enormous ship. "We had Peter Andre recently," he says heavily. "And next week we've got Matt Goss."

However, not even these musical titans can overshadow this evening's entertainment. The Orient is heaving with teenagers. They scream at the videos being shown on a huge screen above the stage: Busted, Blazin' Squad. When the videos run out, they scream at a promotional film about the Trafford Centre's non-stop shuttle-bus service. They wave banners, some of which are surprisingly explicit, given the age of the girls who are holding them. Two pre-pubescent tots hold aloft a sign that suggests they would like erections to be pointed in their direction.

In a nearby dressing room, the owners of the erections in question regard the pandemonium with a peculiar combination of bemusement and resignation. This sort of thing has constituted a normal day's work for the members of McFly since the start of the year, when they were launched as the support act on an arena tour by Busted, with whom the quartet share a management company, Profile.

Younger, cuter and slightly less inclined to waste their energy pretending to be an American punk band, McFly were nevertheless modelled on Busted: a spiky-haired, baggy-shorted boy-band who play their own instruments and more or less write their own songs. The hysteria was not so much instantaneous as ready-made. McFly's first two singles, Five Colours in Her Hair and Obviously, both entered the charts at number one. So did their debut album, Room on the Third Floor - something Busted have yet to achieve. "We jumped from being completely unknown to being screamed at," says the band's 18-year-old drummer, Harry Judd. "It was literally overnight fame."

Six months on, not even the banners shock him any more. "We've had them all: 'Harry, bang me like you bang your drums', 'Do me Dougie style', 'Danny, let me unzip your McFly'."

"I don't get any banners," sighs vocalist and guitarist Tom Fletcher, 19. In contrast to his sharp-cheekboned bandmates, Fletcher does not look like obvious pin-up material; something about his face makes you think of Kelly Osbourne. Nevertheless, he has found his teen idol niche. "I get the girls that are in love with me. Danny gets the girls that are dirty, I get ones that want to marry me."

Across the room, 18-year-old guitarist Danny Jones vigorously nods his assent. Bass player Dougie Poynter, 16, says nothing. This, it turns out, is standard practice: aside from the occasional on-stage shout or gnomic utterance when pressed by a teen magazine journalist, Poynter maintains his Trappist approach to the media throughout my time with the band. One theory is that it is his way of avoiding saying anything that would land the band in trouble.

"I've had my words completely twisted by a tabloid," cautions Judd. "They asked me if I thought we were the new wave of boy-bands and my answer was that I think they're still good at what they do, but I think people like the fact that we play our own instruments. Next day," he continues, "the first paragraph is: 'Harry from McFly hates all boy-bands, he thinks McFly are proper rock.'"

The quartet are due on stage. With the sort of logic that operates only at the highest levels of the teen-pop phenomenon, McFly are smuggled out of the Trafford Centre in order to be immediately driven back into the Trafford Centre in a people carrier. It gives the fans outside the shopping mall something to scream at. Meanwhile, whoever is operating the video screen has discovered something that the fans inside won't scream at. Immediately before McFly arrive, it shows the promo clip for a song by indie band Belle and Sebastian, called Step Into My Office Baby. The result is a bewildered silence that would impress even Poynter, were he able to hear it.

But he isn't: the minute McFly step on stage, the pandemonium erupts again. Through the screams, you can vaguely hear Jones - a Bruce Springsteen fan who spent his early teens playing Oasis covers in pubs around his native Bolton - apologise because the band have not been able to do a soundcheck. It's a nice thought, befitting someone who once did a sound engineering course and seems to have ended up in Britain's biggest pop sensation by accident. (He turned up at an audition for Profile's more traditional dance-routines-and- ballads boy-band V, toting his acoustic guitar, and regaled the judges with the Verve's Bittersweet Symphony).

A nice thought, but he needn't have bothered. With the best will in the world, no one in the audience seems remotely interested in the sound balance. Indeed, some of them don't seem remotely interested in music at all: one girl with a picture of Poynter on her T-shirt spends the duration of their set wandering around the crowd, sobbing. You suspect that McFly could have precisely the same effect upon the audience if they came on stage and read some particularly arcane passages from Proust.

Instead, they run through their repertoire. Some of their songs bear the influence of the Merseybeat-era Beatles, others the reductive rock'n'roll of the Beach Boys circa Surfin' USA. The three-chord twang of forthcoming single Saturday Night is buried beneath layer upon layer of squeals and screams. The cumulative effect disconcertingly recalls the early, riot-inducing Jesus and Mary Chain.

However, in marked contrast to the early, riot-inducing Jesus and Mary Chain, McFly can play their instruments. For the most part, they are surprisingly tight, but the persistent gossip about backing tapes and on-stage miming is undercut by their least competent moment. A cheeringly wobbly cover of the Beatles' She Loves You crackles out of the PA in a flurry of bum notes and fluffed harmonies. It sounds like a bunch of fifth-formers who have been allowed to have a go during school assembly.

The question of McFly's authenticity clearly hangs heavy over the band's members. They have a tendency to bring up the subject of their musical credibility unprompted, or in answer to completely unrelated questions. They admit that some of their former friends have been unimpressed by their pin-up status. Judd claims he was hurt when McFly were slagged off on television by the singer of his favourite band, pop-metallers Lost Prophets. All of them are incandescent with rage about a recent attack on the band by that well-known musical authority Daniel Radcliffe, star of the Harry Potter films. Even Poynter feels moved to comment: "He's got a lot to learn about music, hasn't he? He's about 11." "Great," sighs Judd. "He's about 16. Well done, Doug."

Nevertheless, you can see why people assume that McFly are not an entirely credible musical force. The next time I meet them, they are at a photoshoot for Smash Hits, which requires them to pose with an enormous glittery heart. The resulting cover will take its place on the shelves alongside other teen magazines, every one promising an exclusive McFly story in which, the headlines suggest, earnest discussion about their musical influences comes fairly low on the agenda: "KISS US QUICK! McFly's shocking snogging secrets!"

To the accompaniment of something hoary by Bruce Springsteen - Jones has control of the CD player - the band pose for a photographer who appears incapable of communicating at any volume lower than an ear-splitting bellow. On command, they adopt their trademark facial expression: a sort of perplexed, bug-eyed sneer that implies they have merely popped out for a pint of milk, become involved in an inexplicable chain of misunderstandings and now find themselves being photographed for the cover of a teen magazine with an enormous glittery heart by mistake. "We can't slag it off at all," says Fletcher evenly, when asked if they don't find some of the things they are asked to do slightly demeaning. "The thing you have to think is that people our age are never going to see it. It's just going to be little girls."

They are at pains to point out that they were not put together in the manner of a standard boy-band. Indeed, their story of their formation is slightly tortuous. Fletcher, a former stage school student - he played the title role in a West End production of Oliver! - failed an audition for Busted, but was kept on by Prestige and placed in a songwriting partnership with Busted's James Bourne. The partnership has been remarkably successful, particularly in light of the fact that Fletcher "didn't get into pop music at all until I was 16. I was doing musical theatre, and I've been playing guitar since I was 6, but I never really listened to pop. I never had a CD player or anything until my last year of school." He claims he wrote his first song a little over two years ago, as part of a GCSE project. In the past 12 months, he has co-written four number one singles - two for Busted, two for McFly - which, depending on your level of cynicism, either makes him a wildly precocious music industry phenomenon, or deeply suspect.

Earning spare cash by videotaping V's auditions, he spotted a dejected-looking Jones, who had realised his mistake when talk turned to dance routines (he had attempted to flee, only to be restrained by his mother). "It was really funny," remembers Fletcher. "Everyone else was doing stretches and stuff and he was just sitting there with a guitar." The two hit it off, began collaborating on songs (Obviously seems to have been their first joint effort) and were signed after performing acoustically for various record labels. Poynter and Judd - the latter a pupil at the same public school as Busted's Charlie Simpson - were recruited through open auditions.

"It wasn't like: 'Hey, let's have a band called McFly,'" says Judd. "It's not like they went out to find four guys who could play instruments to start a band. It's less manufactured. We don't want to compare how manufactured we are with Busted [who were formed by the tried and tested boy-band route of open auditions advertised in The Stage], but we do want to send out a message that we haven't been completely dreamed up by a record company."

Manufactured or not, they still operate under the same strictures as any boy-band. They deny that girlfriends are banned, but relationships are out of the question. When I suggest that it must require enormous self-restraint - they are, after all, surrounded by girls who would clearly let them do what you want with them at an age where getting girls to let you do what you want is of all-consuming importance - they seem genuinely shocked.

"It just doesn't feel right," says Judd. "It's easy to get girls who just want you for tonight," sniffs Jones darkly, with the careworn tone of a man who has recently been the subject of a News of the World kiss-and-tell.

They also underwent the same rigorous grooming as any boy-band, including media training. "They'd try and catch you out," nods Judd. "They'd ask you if you thought Hillary Duff was fit, and if you said yes, they'd go, 'Oh, she's 15, that's illegal'."

And yet it is hard to see how any amount of media training could prepare you for the experience of being interviewed by Smash Hits. Their journalist's technique would strike fear into the most experienced practitioner of spin: give him five minutes with Alastair Campbell, and the erstwhile bruiser of the Downing Street press office would be gasping for breath and begging for mercy. It involves firing completely random questions at the band at terrifying speed. Occasionally, he interrupts their answers with entirely unrelated queries. Some of these have a melancholy philosophical bent: "Where do we go when we die?". Others do not: "Have you ever met the Cheeky Girls?". It is like being ruthlessly interrogated against the clock by someone suffering from attention deficit disorder.

Yet the band seem perfectly equipped to cope. When Poynter is asked to name his favourite kind of cheese, he flatly snaps: "Dickcheese." It's not exactly the Sex Pistols calling Bill Grundy "a fucking rotter", but in the world of the pop interview - PR'ed to within an inch of its life ever since Lee Ryan from Blue went wildly off-message soon after the September 11 attacks by asking "Who gives a fuck about New York when elephants are being killed?" - the remark carries with it the faintest whiff of subversion.

As does McFly's entire career. Regardless of their origins, they and Busted have affected something approaching a revolution in the world of manufactured pop. For the time being at least, the traditional boy-band, with their stools and ballads and 1980s cover versions, is having difficulty getting arrested.

Rival record labels apparently have a host of McFly-a-likes lurking in the wings. Meanwhile, no one is ever likely to get their debut album confused with The Velvet Underground Featuring Nico, but there are moments on it that make you seriously entertain the idea that McFly might, at some point in the future, transcend the world of Smash Hits and shopping-mall gigs. If this came to pass, then Jones, at least, would be delighted.

"I know that I'm in a pop band and stuff, but I'd rather be known as a musician than as a celeb," he says. "I'd rather someone said, 'Let's get Danny Jones to come and do a bit of guitar for us,' rather than, 'Let's get Danny Jones to present our TV show.'" He pauses. "I mean, I know that's never going to happen, is it?"

It is certainly not going to happen yet. The last time I see them is in a dressing room at Camden's tiny Barfly, where they are due to play a secret gig. Covered in the kind of graffiti that makes your average McFly fan's banner seem innocuous, it is precisely the kind of venue that their meteoric rise has thus far enabled them to avoid. To their credit, the quartet look enormously nonplussed. "Look," says Fletcher, a hint of wonder in his voice, "someone's drawn a penis doing something on a pair of boobs over there."

At 2pm, screaming girls are already blocking the pavement outside. Jones warms to his old theme. "I'd like us to be appreciated, like, 'He did a good guitar solo,' rather than people screaming at me, 'Look at his hair!'"

"We got out of the car today, and some girl started screaming, 'Look at his hair! I love your hair Danny!'" explains Judd. Then the media training kicks in again. "I wouldn't like to say we're not respected by our fans as musicians. I think they're into the band, the music, all of it."

Later that night, their eight song set goes without a hitch. The banners are smaller and wittier: "DOUGIE I'M PREGNANT" reads one. The fans scream only between the songs. Up on stage, Danny Jones plays a good guitar solo, legs splayed, head thrown back, eyes closed, as if Springsteen himself is standing stage left rather than the diminutive Poynter. Then the song ends and the screaming starts again.

• Pop and rock

Most viewed

McFly's career through the years '5 Colours in Her Hair' to their 2023 tour

They've come a long way since '5 Colours in Her Hair'

McFly have had quite the career! With six albums, five of which reached the Top 10 in the UK, and seven Number 1 singles, and a new album due out later this year, we thought we'd take a look back at their impressive career.

From their debut hit '5 Colours in Her Hair' to their upcoming tour and album, take a look at how Tom Fletcher, Danny Jones, Dougie Poynter and Harry Judd, became BRIT Award winners McFly!

Take a look through McFly's career timeline:

2003 – mcfly were created.

McFly were created way back in 2003 with the current (and only line-up) of Tom Fletcher, Danny Jones, Dougie Poynter and Harry Judd. The band formed after Tom met Danny at some record label auditions for another band (V), which he was filming. Tom and Danny then worked together on their own music, before advertising for a bassist and drummer in NME, with Dougie and Harry completing the line-up. The band is named after the Back to the Future character Marty McFly.

2004 – McFly joined Busted on tour

Tom initially auditioned for Busted, but was unsuccessful, however he continued to work with the band, writing for their second album. Once McFly had formed, they joined Busted on tour and also enjoyed huge success with their debut album and single. Their debut album 'Room on the 3rd Floor' was a Number 1 hit for the band which earned them the Guinness World Record for being the youngest band to have a debut album enter the charts in the top position, a record previously held by The Beatles! Their debut single, '5 Colours In Her Hair' and its follow-up, 'Obviously' were also both Number 1 hits for the band.

2005 - McFly win a BRIT Award

McFly got the year off to a great start by winning a BRIT Award for Best British Pop Act. In March of that year, the band also got their third Number 1 single with the double A side, 'All About You' / 'You've Got a Friend'. 'All About You' was a song written by Tom about his then girlfriend (now wife), I'm a Celeb winner Giovanna Fletcher. McFly the released 'I'll Be OK' in August which became their fourth UK Number 1, closely followed by their second album 'Wonderland' which also reached Number 1. 2005 was also the year that the band went on 'The Wonderland Tour 2005' and performed at Live 8 Japan.

2006 - McFly released ‘Motion in the Ocean’ and went on tour

McFly continued their success with the release of their third album 'Motion In The Ocean' which reached Number 6 in the UK. The album spawned Number 1 hits such as their double A sides 'Don't Stop Me Now' / 'Please Please', and 'Baby's Coming Back' / 'Transylvania', and their single 'Star Girls'. The band also took their album on 'Motion in the Ocean' on tour which included a gig at Wembley which was recorded for a DVD released the following year.

2007 - McFly release their ‘All The Greatest Hits’ album and go on tour twice

Although it didn't reach the top spot, the band's greatest hits album did reach Number 4 in the UK – pretty impressive! McFly also went on tour twice in 2007, for their 'Up Close and Personal' tour and their 'Greatest Hits' tour which saw them perform at venues across England.

2008 – McFly release their fourth album ‘Radio:Active’

In 2008, McFly released 'Radio:Active' which spawned two Top 5 hits, 'One For The Radio' and 'Lies', with the album itself going to Number 8 in the UK. The band also took their album on tour, starting in Brazil, before going touring the UK and Europe.

2010 – McFly release their fifth album ‘Above The Noise’

'Above The Noise' was the band's lowest performing album, however it still reached Number 20 in the UK. The album also featured their hits 'Party Girl' and 'Shine a Light' featuring Tiao Cruz.

2011 – Dougie wins I’m a Celeb

As well as going on tour in 2011, Dougie took part and won the 11th series of I'm a Celeb! Mark Wright and Fatima Whitbread were in second and third place that year. As a band they did their 'Above the Noise Tour' which saw the band perform 30 shows across five legs including 14 across the UK.

2012 - Harry Judd was chosen to carry the Olympic torch

Ahead of the 2012 London Olympics, Harry Judd was chosen to carry the Olympic torch with his professional dance partner Aliona Vilani from Strictly Come Dancing, with whom he won the competition.

2013 – McBusted were created

Formed from Busted (minus Charlie Simpson) and all members of McFly, the supergroup McBusted were formed. McFly also went on their 'Memory Lane' tour in 2013 which supported the band's second greatest hits album including hits 'I Wanna Hold You', 'Please, Please' and many more.

2014 – McBusted went on tour

McBusted went on tour in 2014 and supported One Direction on their European tour, continuing into 2015. In October of that year they released their first song as a supergroup, 'Air Guitar', followed by their album 'McBusted'.

2016 – McFly start an indefinite hiatus

McFly decided to go their separate ways with an indefinite hiatus, later revealing the reason was jealously. Three members of the band had just finished their time as part of McBusted, and they were beginning to start their own solo projects. Tom became an author selling several kids books, Harry won Strictly Come Dancing and Danny released solo music.

2019 – McFly reformed with new album and tour

The band reunited for a one-off show at London's O2 Arena which was booked as a surprise by their manager in an effort to get the band back together, and it worked! The band booked a couple of months in the studio following their 'One Night Only' gig and began recording their sixth album.

2020 – McFly release their sixth album ‘Young Dumb Thrills’

Despite it being a massive 10 years since releasing their last album, McFly's comeback album was very popular reaching Number 2 in the charts.

2021 - ‘Young Dumb Thrills’ tour

In 2021 the band took their sixth album on tour, after it was rescheduled from their 2020 dates. They also did another gig at the O2 Arena called 'One Night Only... Again'.

2023 – McFly announced new music

In April 2023, the band revealed their new album would be called 'Power To Play' and they would be releasing a new song called 'Where Did All The Guitars Go?'.

McFly continue to tease something MASSIVE with cryptic posts 👀

Busted add even MORE dates to their '20th Anniversary & Greatest Hits' tour

Busted through the years from their debut hit to their 20th anniversary tour

How to listen to Hits Radio:

Turn it up with Hits Radio! Home of Fleur East, Sam Thompson and Gemma Atkinson playing the biggest hits and the biggest throwbacks, alongside the biggest laughs and life-changing competitions. Tune in on FM, DAB, online or ask your Smart Speaker to 'Play Hits Radio'.

• LISTEN TO 'HONEY I’M HOME'
• 329182 2024-06-08 Jun '24 08 Riverside Stadium Riverside Stadium Middlesbrough, UK Tickets
• 329182 2024-06-23 Jun '24 23 Isle of Wight Festival 2024 Isle of Wight Festival 2024 Newport, UK Tickets
• 329182 2024-07-19 Jul '24 19 Warwick Castle Warwick Castle Warwick, UK Tickets
• 329182 2024-07-25 Jul '24 25 Camp Bestival Dorset 2024 Camp Bestival Dorset 2024 East Lulworth, UK Tickets
• 329182 2024-07-26 Jul '24 26 Camp Bestival Dorset 2024 Camp Bestival Dorset 2024 East Lulworth, UK Tickets
• 329182 2024-08-08 Aug '24 08 Sandown Park Racecourse Sandown Park Racecourse Esher, UK Tickets
• 329182 2024-08-10 Aug '24 10 The Piece Hall The Piece Hall Halifax, UK Tickets
• 329182 2024-08-15 Aug '24 15 Camp Bestival Shropshire 2024 Camp Bestival Shropshire 2024 Weston-under-Lizard, UK Tickets
• 329182 2024-08-18 Aug '24 18 The Piece Hall The Piece Hall Halifax, UK Tickets
• 329182 2024-08-21 Aug '24 21 Alexandra Head, Cardiff Bay Alexandra Head, Cardiff Bay Cardiff, UK Tickets
• 329182 2024-08-23 Aug '24 23 Port Eliot Estate Port Eliot Estate Saltash, UK Tickets
• 329182 2024-09-12 Sep '24 12 City Airport City Airport Manchester, UK Tickets
• 329182 2024-10-09 Oct '24 09 The O2 The O2 London, UK Tickets
• 329182 2024-10-10 Oct '24 10 The O2 The O2 London, UK Tickets

Limited Edition Member Cassettes Bundle

Yellow Vinyl + Bundles

Standard cd.

• Most popular artists worldwide
• Trending artists worldwide

• Tourbox for artists

Search for events or artists

• Sign up Log in

• Get the app
• Moscow concerts
• Change location
• Popular Artists
• Live streams
• Popular artists

McFly tour dates 2024

McFly is currently touring across 1 country and has 14 upcoming concerts.

Their next tour date is at Riverside Stadium in Middlesbrough, after that they'll be at Isle of Wight Festival in Newport.

Currently touring across

Upcoming concerts (14) See nearest concert

Riverside Stadium

Isle of Wight Festival

Warwick Castle

Camp Bestival Dorset

Sandown Park Racecourse

The Piece Hall

Camp Bestival Shropshire

Alexandra Head, Cardiff Bay

Port Eliot Estate

City Airport

Past concerts

Yate Town Football Club

Perranporth Beach

View all past concerts

Support across tour dates

Recent tour reviews

McFly have been one of the most successful bands of this age, and it's easy to understand why. Watching them live is one of the most interesting performances you will see in your life. My experience at one of their concerts consisted of mainly food talk, including them creating a theme tune for one of the burger vans at the stadium. Expect the unexpected! Even though they have released many albums, they are still amazingly talented, recently impressing everyone with one of their newer songs 'Love Is Easy.' Following the theme of love, check out the YouTube video of the wedding speech made by one of the boys, it is truly inspired and heart warming. It is set to one of their own songs 'All About You'. Some may say they have past their best, I think the exact opposite. Not only are the constantly improving their shows to make them even bigger and even better, they are still surprising fans. One the most recent excitements was the McBusted tour (a collaboration of McFly and Busted). Looking for a good McFly song to get you started? Try my original favourite 'Star Girl' or for something slightly less well known go for 'Broccoli.' Either way, you'll regret not listening to them. The only thing you'll regret more than that is not having tickets for their concert.

Report as inappropriate

• Most popular charts
• Campaigns for promoters
• API information
• Brand guidelines
• Community guidelines
• Terms of use
• Privacy policy
• Cookies settings
• Cookies policy

Get your tour dates seen everywhere.

• But we really hope you love us.

• AI Generator

Mcfly Start Their Headline Tour, September 22, 2004

• Standard editorial rights
• Custom rights
• Arts Culture and Entertainment ,
• Performance ,
• Popular Music Tour ,
• Wolverhampton ,

Plus special guests

• Date 9 Oct - 10 Oct 2024
• Venue The O2 arena
• Availability On sale now

• Wednesday 9 Oct 2024 Doors: 6:30 PM Buy tickets + Add to calendar
• Thursday 10 Oct 2024 Doors: 6:30 PM Buy tickets + Add to calendar

Event Details

McFly have announced that they will celebrate the band's 21 st birthday by playing two very special shows at The O2 on Wednesday 9 and Thursday 10 October 2024.

It’s been 21 years since McFly first formed, a journey which has taken them from their breakthrough hit ‘Five Colours In Her Hair’ to last year’s full-force rock album ‘Power To Play’. Along the way Tom Fletcher, Danny Jones, Dougie Poynter and Harry Judd have scored seven #1 singles, seven Top 10 albums, 10 million sales, a BRIT Award, sold-out countless arena shows and still remain the youngest band to ever have a debut album go straight to number 1, beating The Beatles.

Harry Judd says, “ It’s crazy to think that it has been 21 years since McFly was formed and we all moved into a house together! We don’t take it for granted that after all this time people still want to hear new music from us and come to see us play live. As a band we’re always looking forward at what’s next, but this show will be a fun opportunity to reflect on our career so far. And what better place to throw a 21st birthday party than at The O2!”

Now, they prepare to play all their hits and fan favourites from the past twenty-one years for a gig not to be missed by any McFly fans. News of The O2 show adds to McFly’s 2024 tour schedule which also includes big outdoor shows and select festival dates.

Important Information - How to download your tickets on The O2 app

For this show, if you’ve purchased your tickets from theo2.co.uk or AXS.com you’ll need to display your ticket on your phone via The O2 app. Ticket purchasers will receive an email with news and information on  AXS Mobile ID tickets  and how you can download your tickets to your phone. 

If you’ve bought your tickets for this show via AXS then you can re-sell your tickets with AXS Official Resale   which gives you a safe, simple, and fair way to buy and sell tickets.

For more information on re-selling tickets from AXS and other ticket agents  click here .  

Please note:  If you purchase  resale   tickets for this show through any website other than via theo2.co.uk or axs.com, your tickets may not be valid and access to the venue could be refused.

Sign up for updates and pre-sales

A timeline of Jennifer Lopez’s ‘This Is Me… Now’ tour: Rumors of marital tension, low ticket sales reported before cancellation

Jennifer Lopez canceled her “This Is Me… Now” tour less than a month before it was scheduled to begin.

The singer wrote in her newsletter that it was “absolutely necessary” for her to call off the shows. Concert promoter Live Nation said Lopez needs time off to be with her “children, family and close friends.”

The tour was in support of her 2024 This Is Me … Now album — her first in a decade — and the self-funded movie that accompanied it. Some of her new songs addressed her rekindled relationship with her husband Ben Affleck 20 years after they called off their first engagement.

Since the album came out, there have been reports that the tour was struggling to sell tickets and reports that Lopez and Affleck were living apart amid marital strife. It’s unclear if Lopez’s tour cancellation has anything to do with her marriage, but there’s no denying that the project itself is inextricably linked to their romance. Affleck said he’s not always comfortable being portrayed as her muse.

We’ll look back on their relationship, Lopez’s latest release and how her tour ultimately fell apart.

2002-2004: Bennifer 1.0

The Gigli costars began dating in 2002, and got engaged the same year. They postponed their engagement three days before the wedding in September 2003 and officially split in early 2004.

They’ve both spoken about how their relationship was deeply impacted by their presence on the covers of tabloids. Even 20 years later, it seemingly still is.

2021: Bennifer 2.0 begins

Lopez confirmed that she rekindled her relationship with Affleck in July 2021, and they got married in Las Vegas in July 2022.

"The catalyst for [our first breakup] was this massive scrutiny for our private life," Affleck explained in the documentary The Greatest Love Story Never Told. "I had a very firm sense of boundaries initially around the press. While Jen I don't think objected to it in the way I did, I very much did object to it. Getting back together, I said, 'Listen, one of the things I don't want is a relationship on social media.' Then I sort of realized it's not a fair thing to ask."

Feb. 15, 2024: Lopez announces ‘This is Me… Now: The Tour’

While promoting her This is Me… Now album and film, Lopez announced on Today that she’d be going on tour the following summer.

“We’re hitting all the cities all across the United States,” Lopez said. Orlando was set to be her first stop on

Feb. 16, 2024: Lopez releases This is Me… Now

Two decades after her album titled This Is Me… Then , Lopez decided to “tell the truth” about her past relationships. A movie titled This is Me… Now: A Love Story accompanied the album, and she spent $20 million of her own money to bring it to life.

"It's meta," she told Yahoo Entertainment ahead of the project’s release. "It's not autobiographical, but it's definitely inspired by events of my life and of other people's kind of journeys that I've watched. But it's definitely the story of a hopeless romantic's journey through life and their search for love. That really kind of sums it up in a way, and there's definitely things from my life that are infused and inspired in the story."

Some of the songs are about Affleck, such as “Dear Ben, Part II,” but she also revisited failed relationships and past abuse .

The film is “certified fresh” on Rotten Tomatoes with a score of 75% , but received a few scathingly harsh reviews from Vanity Fair and IndieWire.

Feb. 27, 2024: The Greatest Love Story Never Told documentary comes out

Less than two weeks after her self-produced album and film came a documentary about their production: The Greatest Love Story Never Told. The documentary got its name from a book that Affleck made for Lopez containing “every letter and every email” they wrote to each other between 2001 and 2021 “and counting.”

“I did really find the beauty and the poetry and the irony in the fact that it’s the greatest love story never told ,” Affleck told the cameras. “And if you’re making a record about it, that seems kind of like telling it.”

Though Affleck has said he doesn’t want to stop Lopez from creating the art she wants to, Lopez said that “doesn't mean he's kind of comfortable being the muse." He was surprised to hear that Lopez let songwriters read the personal letters between them as inspiration for her new album.

"Jen was really inspired by this experience, which is how artists do their work," Affleck shared. "As a writer-director I certainly do the same things. But things that are private I had always felt are sacred and special because, in part, they're private. So this was something of an adjustment for me."

Lopez’s Monster-in-Law co-star Jane Fonda questioned if the singer was “trying to prove something” by making the vanity project about her relationship with Affleck instead of just living their lives.

March to April 2024: Lopez cancels tour dates and rebrands tour as ‘This Is Me... Live: The Greatest Hits’

The singer removed tour stops in Nashville, Atlanta, New Orleans and several other cities between Aug. 22-30.

Some reports suggested that the tour stops were removed due to low ticket sales, but Lopez’s team stated it was a “logistical error,” according to People.

Around the same time, the tour rebranded from “This is Me… Now: The Tour” to “This Is Me... Live: The Greatest Hits.” There were no changes made to the setlist, and the tour was always intended to be a celebration of her career rather than her last album, Entertainment Weekly reported.

May 2024: Lopez and Affleck face split rumors

Rumors of marital strife began to swirl in early May, when Affleck attended Tom Brady’s Netflix roast alone on May 5. The next day, Lopez arrived at the Met Gala by herself.

On May 15, the tabloid In Touch reported that the couple was “headed for a divorce” and living apart. The next day, People magazine confirmed that 47 days had passed since they had been photographed together. Hours later, they attended a school event for one of Affleck’s children together — both wearing wedding rings. Us Weekly reported that they are “having issues” within their marriage, but have not yet split.

People reported on May 22 that their marriage is “not in the best place” and they’re still living apart, citing differing personalities and what they share about their lives together as a major issue. The same day, Lopez shut down a question about her relationship at a press conference for her new movie, Atlas.

A source close to Lopez told People on May 28 that they’re still living separately. “She’s back in L.A. for tour rehearsals. She seems OK. She’s very focused on work,” they said.

May 31, 2024: Lopez’s tour officially gets canceled

Lopez shared news from concert promoter Live Nation on May 31 that her summer tour, set to begin in Orlando on June 26, “is canceled.” In her newsletter, she said she was “completely heartsick and devastated.”

“Jennifer is taking time off to be with her children, family and close friends,” the announcement stated. There was no mention of Affleck or their relationship.

The First Look: the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday

The First Look

Change Text Size

The PGA TOUR returns to Jack Nicklaus' Muirfield Village Golf Club for the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday, the seventh Signature Event on the PGA TOUR schedule this season, where Viktor Hovland defends.

The field is chock-full of the TOUR’s best, with all of the FedExCup’s top 10 in the field including Xander Schauffele, fresh off his first major championship title.

With just a single-digit under-par winning score in 2023, Muirfield Village is up to the task again as a challenging host venue – with 700 FedExCup points on the line for the winner.

Here’s everything else you need to know from Ohio.

Viktor Hovland wins in a playoff at the Memorial

SPONSOR EXEMPTIONS: Auburn’s Jackson Koivun added one final award to his collection this season, capturing the 2024 Division I Jack Nicklaus Award presented by Workday and in the process became the first player in golf to ever sweep the three national player of the year awards – the Haskins, the Hogan, and the Nicklaus – and the Phil Mickelson Outstanding Freshman award in the same season. He finished runner-up at the NCAA Championship and will make his first PGA TOUR start at the Memorial… Billy Horschel , who returned to the PGA TOUR winner circle earlier this year at the Corales Puntacana Championship, returns to the Memorial – an event he won in 2022… Matt Kuchar , the event’s winner in 2013, also received a sponsor invite… past FedExCup champ Brandt Snedeker and Alex Noren – who has two top-10s this season – round out the sponsor invites.

Billy Horschel returns to form

SIGNATURE EVENT STORYLINES: This marks the seventh Signature Event on the PGA TOUR schedule in 2024. Next up is the Travelers Championship… There was plenty of movement in the Aon Swing 5 to qualify for the Memorial. Robert MacIntyre moved into the top spot while Ben Griffin, who finished runner-up, scooted up 29 spots in the standings to earn his way into the Memorial. MacIntyre withdrew on Monday from the Memorial and Davis Thompson , who finished sixth in the Aon Swing 5, will fill MacIntyre's spot in the Aon Swing 5. Victor Perez made the biggest jump, however, with his third-place finish in Canada moving him all the way up 54 spots in the standings to grab the fifth and final spot in the Aon Swing 5… Taylor Pendrith , after finishing T21 in his home country, jumped to the 10th and final spot in the Aon Next 10, bumping Jake Knapp from No. 10 to No. 12.

COMCAST BUSINESS TOUR TOP 10 UPDATES: Rory McIlroy moved up one spot in the standings from No. 4 to No. 3 after his T4 at the RBC Canadian Open… The rest of the TOUR TOP 10 remained the same… After his win in Canada, Robert MacIntyre moved all the way from No. 75 to No. 32 in the standings… Byeong Hun An remains the only golfer to be ranked inside the TOUR TOP 10 all season long.

FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 700 FedExCup points

COURSE : Muirfield Village Golf Club, par 72, 7,569 yards. The Jack Nicklaus/Desmond Muirhead design has held a spot on the PGA TOUR calendar since 1976, two years after the course opened in 1974. Nicklaus re-designed the tricky par-3 16th for 2024 after only 21 birdies were made all week on the hole in 2023. Now Nicklaus moved the tee box 30 yards to the players’ right – taking the pond more out of play. The bunker from the front right of the green has been removed and has been replaced with a slope.

The venue’s name is inspired by Muirfield, Scotland, where Nicklaus won his first of three Open Championship titles in 1966. This marks the event’s fourth playing since its second renovation.

72-HOLE RECORD: 268, Tom Lehman (1994)

18-HOLE RECORD : 61, John Huston (Round 2, 1996)

LAST TIME: Viktor Hovland won the Memorial in a playoff over Denny McCarthy on a tough, baked-out Muirfield Village. He closed with a 2-under 70, forcing a playoff with a 30-foot birdie on the penultimate hole – the only birdie all day on No. 17 in the final round – and getting up and down on No. 18. Hovland two-putted for par on the first playoff hole for the win – his fourth career title on the PGA TOUR. McCarthy bogeyed 18 in regulation and again in the playoff to fall just short, again, on TOUR. Hovland was the only player to break par in all four rounds and would, of course, go on to win the FedExCup. Scottie Scheffler finished one shot back of the playoff, at 6 under, while Si Woo Kim finished fourth at 5 under.

HOW TO FOLLOW (all times ET):

Television:

• Thursday-Friday: 2-6 p.m. (Golf Channel)
• Saturday-Sunday: 12:30-2:30 p.m. (Golf Channel), 2:30-6 p.m. (CBS)

PGA TOUR LIVE:

PGA TOUR LIVE is available exclusively on ESPN+

• Main feed: Primary tournament-coverage featuring the best action from across the course
• Marquee group: New “marquee group” showcasing every shot from each player in the group
• Featured groups: Traditional PGA TOUR LIVE coverage of two concurrent featured groups
• Featured holes: A combination of par 3s and iconic or pivotal holes

PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and free on PGATOUR.COM/liveaudio :

• Thursday-Friday: noon-6 p.m.
• Saturday-Sunday: 1-6 p.m.

Green Day to play full 'American Idiot' on tour: 'What was going on in 2004 still resonates'

Billie Joe Armstrong awakened to a slew of confusing texts on New Year’s Day.

The night before, the Green Day frontman played a benefit for Project Chimps , a sanctuary for former research chimpanzees he helped found, with The Coverups , his side project with Green Day bassist Mike Dirnt.

Armstrong wasn’t thinking about Green Day’s taped performance of “American Idiot” that aired on “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve,” during which he changed the lyric “"I'm not a part of a redneck agenda" to "I'm not a part of the MAGA agenda,” a substitute he had been making in the song in concert for several years.

But the tweak apparently resounded on the larger platform, sparking ire or cheers depending on political leanings.

“I was so surprised,” Armstrong says. “When I woke up to texts from people like my brother saying, ‘That was so (expletive) cool what you said onstage,’ and I was like, what? Chimpanzees? Then all of a sudden it’s Fox News and Elon Musk and Tom Morello . I was like, ‘Ohhhhh, I said that.’ It just shows you how easily triggered people are and the power of music and how it can get people talking. It’s not like I put out a tweet. I changed one word and it was all over the place. Job well done, I guess.”

Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.

More: Rage Against the Machine breaks up a third time, cancels postponed reunion tour

Green Day will play 'Dookie' and 'American Idiot' albums in full every night on tour

While Green Day has never been as aggressively political as Rage Against the Machine or Black Flag, the trio of Armstrong, Dirnt and drummer Tré Cool has also never flinched in their lyrical depiction of an unsettled and divisive America.

On Friday, the band releases its 14 th studio album, “Saviors,” a collection of 15 brisk, pointed songs unfurled over 45 minutes. They’ll also hit the road May 30 in Europe before landing in the U.S. July 29 for a two-month stadium tour with the Smashing Pumpkins , Rancid and The Linda Lindas.

Along with the new music, the guys – all 51 – are also celebrating a couple of milestones: 30 years since the release of their major-label debut, “Dookie,” and 20 for “American Idiot,” their most socially incisive album , inspired by the George W. Bush presidency.

Green Day will perform both albums in their entirety during the The Saviors Tour, as well as a smattering of new material and plenty of vintage hits.

“I think (those albums) have aged great,” Armstrong says, seated between Dirnt and Cool during a video call. “When we first recorded ‘Dookie,’ we wanted to accomplish something we could play 20 years later. With ‘Idiot,’ it has a way, especially around election time, of always coming up. So I think of that record as topical when what was going on in 2004 still resonates today.”

For “Saviors,” named for a song on the album that is about “feeling desperate for answers and leadership and getting out of the mess we’re in,” says Armstrong, Green Day reunited with longtime producer Rob Cavallo.

The architect behind some of the band’s most consequential albums – “Insomniac” and “Nimrod” as well as “Dookie” and “American Idiot” – hadn’t worked with Green Day since their moderately received 2012 trilogy, “Uno!,” “Dos!” “Tres!”

As expected, their 30 years of shared history benefited the band in the studio.

“Rob has that energy that translates to us,” Cool says. “If we get confident, maybe we’ll try stuff and he’ll help us walk away from it when it’s right.”

Adds Dirnt: “He’s fiercely energetic and competitive. We’ve made some amazing rock records together, and it’s a hell of a drug when you get it right.”

Interested in going? Check out tickets at Vivid Seats , StubHub , SeatGeek , and Ticketmaster .

Purchases you make through our links may earn us and our publishing partners a commission.

Green Day holds up a mirror to America: 'This is our society'

Many of the songs on “Saviors” touch on the malaise infecting the country.

“The American Dream is Killing Me” talks about “my country under siege” and “Living in the ‘20s” opens with “another shooting in a supermarket,” both indicative of the “observing and reporting” approach the band took with the album.

“With ‘another shooting in a supermarket,’ people keep saying we can’t make this normal. And guess what? It is normal. This is our society, and unless there is some change, it’s going to be here forever,” Armstrong says.

He also points to the lyric “ ever since Bowie died, it hasn’t been the same” in the typically pungent rocker “Strange Days Are Here to Stay” as both prescient and a reminiscence.

“Me and my friends have said that when (David) Bowie died in 2016, it was the beginning of the weirdness,” Armstrong says. “We’re dealing and living in our own hypocrisy, whether it’s personal or political.”

Green Day pays tribute to their sons

Amid the punchy guitars and taut, metronomic drums, Green Day pauses – as they have in the past with “Wake Me Up When September Ends ” and “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life”) – for lyrical reflection couched in acoustic guitars and strings with “Father to a Son.”

All three members have sons, but the genesis of the ballad emanates from Armstrong, who dedicates the song to sons Joey, 28, and Jakob, 25.

“Becoming a father, I was so young and it was on-the-job training for sure. As all parents do, you make mistakes and try to be honest with yourself – 'Is this right, and am I doing a good job?'” Armstrong says. “Sometimes you’re not. And sometimes you say the right piece of wisdom that actually works.”

More: Songwriters Hall of Fame to induct Steely Dan, R.E.M., Timbaland, Hillary Lindsey

• Statistics Stats
• You are here:
• Tour Statistics
• Song Statistics Stats
• Tour Statistics Stats
• Other Statistics

All Setlists

• All setlist songs  ( 520 )

Years on tour

• 2024  ( 5 )
• 2023  ( 48 )
• 2022  ( 19 )
• 2021  ( 31 )
• 2020  ( 6 )
• 2019  ( 1 )
• 2017  ( 1 )
• 2016  ( 13 )
• 2015  ( 1 )
• 2013  ( 42 )
• 2012  ( 49 )
• 2011  ( 43 )
• 2010  ( 17 )
• 2009  ( 47 )
• 2008  ( 37 )
• 2007  ( 55 )
• 2006  ( 21 )
• 2005  ( 27 )
• 2004  ( 57 )

Show all tours

• Above The Noise Tour  ( 38 )
• An Evening with McFly  ( 4 )
• Anthology Tour  ( 12 )
• Before the Noise  ( 14 )
• Keep Calm and Play Louder  ( 30 )
• Motion In The Ocean Tour  ( 21 )
• Power To Play Tour  ( 28 )
• Radio:ACTIVE  ( 21 )
• The Best of McFly  ( 22 )
• The Greatest Hits Tour  ( 17 )
• The Tour  ( 27 )
• Up Close and Personal  ( 32 )
• Up Close... But This Time It's Personal  ( 42 )
• Wonderland Tour  ( 19 )
• Young Dumb Thrills  ( 12 )
• Avg Setlist

Concert Map

• Jun 2, 2024
• Jun 1, 2024
• May 31, 2024
• May 30, 2024
• May 29, 2024
• May 28, 2024
• FAQ | Help | About
• Terms of Service
• Ad Choices | Privacy Policy
• Feature requests
• Songtexte.com