After months of speculation, Justin Bieber has announced Australian headline tour dates for March 2017. The artist released Purpose late last year, signifying a massive shift in style, personality and treatment by the media.
The performer has been on an extensive world tour ever since. Now, finally, he has announced Australian tour dates for Perth, Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney, as well as Auckland in New Zealand.
Bieber will also be bringing along Dutch producer Martin Garrix as his main support. Garrix is no stranger to our shores, having played festivals like Future and Stereosonic in recent years.
Say what you will about the Biebs; if nothing else, his transformation across the past two years has been an unbelievably impressive and entertaining display of phenomenal publicity and marketing skills. And let’s be honest, some of those tracks are pretty damn catchy.
Frontier touring will be holding a Frontier Members pre-sale from Monday October 10, while general public tickets will be available from Wednesday October 12. All details can be found here.
Justin Bieber
Purpose World Tour – Australia & NZ Tour Dates
Monday March 6: NIB Stadium, Perth
Tickets
Friday March 10: Etihad Stadium, Melbourne
Tickets
Monday march 13: Suncorp Stadium: Brisbane
Tickets
Monday March 15: ANZ Stadium, Sydney
Tickets
Sat March 18: Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland
Tickets
Read more: This town loves a comeback and Justin Bieber’s is a surprisingly good one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2l1cK22EJBs
Image: Supplied
The 2016 iHeartRadio awards once again brought the goods this year, honouring some of music’s biggest names and delivering a plethora of outstanding performances. Taking time out from his huge world tour, Justin Bieber was one of the night’s performers and typically blew away the hundreds of screaming girls rushing the stage with a mini medley of two of his tracks, Love Yourself and Company.
Although the performance was solid, Bieber’s voice sounding great and his backup dancers giving an extra element to the 5 minute long gig, Bieber’s overall lack of enthusiasm is pretty hard to miss. Being swarmed by fans can’t be fun, but I found myself left quite disappointed with his very clear wish to be anywhere but there. His body was doing one thing, but his face was saying another. Looking positively bored, Justin Bieber got through the performance with a lacklustre attitude that is in line with his recent antics of not showing up to meet and greets at some shows, and cancelling others all together.
Don’t get me wrong, the tracks are jams and I have been bumping Purpose regularly since its release last year. But, being a new victim of Bieber fever, I found this all quite disappointing, and I can only imagine what fans who were actually there would be feeling. Apart from the girl that got to dance with him, she’s probably feeling amazing. Check it out for yourself below.
Image: The Fader
Beliebers across the globe are in mourning as Canadian pop sensation Justin Bieber declares he will no longer be doing meet and greets after the shows on his Purpose world tour. He is set to play 114 shows this year and fans were able to purchase packages that offer either 1 on 1, or group time. If you’re one who recognises a good bargain you will appreciate the prices which ranged between $900 and $2,000.
Bieber announced on Instagram and Twitter that he would be cancelling all future meet and greets because he ends up “filled with so much of other people’s spiritual energy” that he is “drained and unhappy.” He says wanting to make people smile and be happy leaves him “mentally and emotionally exhausted to the point of depression.”
Bieber’s management team told a different story, citing a security incident as the reason for the cancellations.
https://twitter.com/JBCrewdotcom/status/712433936199192578
The supposedly obsessed and dangerous fan who is on Bieber’s security watch list got within 10 feet of him during one of the meet and greet sessions. They are now offering refunds to fans who purchased the packages or a ‘VIP group hangout’ as an alternative – but only if they are willing to give up the concert component of the ticket as well.
Bieber has made a bit of a comeback recent years after getting roasted on Comedy Central and releasing some music which was actually pretty good, including the Jack U collab, Where Are U Now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nntGTK2Fhb0
Not sure why he didn’t just say it was a security threat rather than pumping out some drivel about the thousands of people who love him leaving him drained and depressed. Either way, stay safe Biebz.
Image: NME
Justin Bieber may be the prince of pop, but it seems his words are now gospel. In one of the best ideas to ever leap out of the mixed bag that is the media, Vanity Fair have turned Bieber’s Love Yourself into a dramatic reading. Spoken by the voice of God himself, Morgan Freeman, the actor graces Bieber’s words with his own interpretation.
Lending his mellifluous tones to the verses, Freeman’s reading doesn’t even miss the musical backing it dispenses with. Having much the same effect as when David Attenborough wants to tell me all about the fascinating habits of tree frogs or humpback whales, I could happily drift away to Freeman’s adjuration to go “love yourself”.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRKZh-2j4PY]
Spoken out loud with the addition of Freeman’s years of experience and wisdom, Bieber’s youthful angst takes on the character of an ageless problem. No matter if you’re 22 or 78, judging by the wry understanding in Freeman’s grandfatherly eyes – love is never simple. And bitches still be crazy.
For all the times that you rain on my parade
And all the clubs you get in using my name
You think you broke my heart, oh, girl for goodness’ sake
You think I’m crying on my own. Well, I ain’t
And I didn’t wanna write a song
‘Cause I didn’t want anyone thinking I still care. I don’t,
But you still hit my phone up
And, baby, I be movin’ on
And I think you should be somethin’ I don’t wanna hold back,
Maybe you should know that
My mama don’t like you and she likes everyone
And I never like to admit that I was wrong
And I’ve been so caught up in my job,
Didn’t see what’s going on
But now I know,
I’m better sleeping on my own
‘Cause if you like the way you look that much
Oh, baby, you should go and love yourself
And if you think that I’m still holdin’ on to somethin’
You should go and love yourself
Watch other videos in the series of dramatic readings from Vanity Fair on Youtube.
Image: YouTube.
Justin Bieber has enjoyed an immense and wonderful comeback over the past few months, and if you’ve been reading Howl & Echoes in that time you’ll be fully aware of our support of the Bieber Renaissance. Following the release of his new album Purpose, along with what was undoubtedly some of the best pop tracks in recent years with singles Sorry and What Do You Mean? as well as the Grammy-winning Jack U collab Where Are U Now, a previously unheard track Oh Girl has now surfaced. Now, we’re not sure whether this is totally new, or perhaps a cut that never made it to Purpose, but we do know that it is actually pretty damn great.
More electro-R&B than his usual style, it’s slinky and seductive, with flirtatious lyrics and a seriously steamy melody.
Anchored by a muffled bass, the underlying rhythm glides way under the radar. Opening with a deep beat beneath a lightly auto-tuned melody, with additional percussive layers, piano and more filling up the soundscape. As it moves along, the music continues to build, with synths playfully manipulating the rhythms and overall vibe. Just before the three-minute mark comes a string and piano breakdown, before the entire soundscape drops into a sweeping, progressive instrumental.
One for that bedroom playlist? Absolutely.
Read more: Accepting yourself as a Belieber: a how-to guide.
Image: BreatheHeavy
Dramatic readings aren’t the ideal means of attracting the attention of millennials, although for some reason the art of the spoken word in a satirical comedic form has undergone a renaissance in the past few years. We’ve seen fresh faced NBA rookies deliver their own interpretation of Drake‘s discography, and we have also watched in awe as Christopher Walken provided his best Lady Gaga impression with a heartfelt rendition of Poker Face.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xy5JwYOlgvY
Justin Bieber has now been given the dramatic reading treatment courtesy of Vanity Fair, with a slew of celebrity faces joining forces to recite the lyrics to the 2015 smash, Sorry. Nick Jonas, Judd Apatow, John Legend, Ellen Page, and Don Cheadle (just to name a few) don their best poker faces to turn a pop song with little lyrical foundation into a poetic verse of the highest order. Mad Men hotshot Jon Hamm shows his age, flaunting his ignorance at the mere existence of the track:
“Is it too late to say that I’m sorry that I don’t know the song ‘I’m Sorry’ by Justin Bieber?”
Yes Jon Hamm, it is too late to say sorry, because for many, this is the song that converted us to the holy religion of Belieberist, a following where fans from all walks of life gather to voice their surprise and appreciation for this well dressed and unfairly good looking specimen; “Hey, this kid can really sing! Maybe he’s not such a douche after all!”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1q1Be8wH6c
This isn’t the first time that Justin Bieber has been treated to a dramatic reading reinterpretation however, with none other than Liam Neeson delivering a gritty reimagining of the early Biebz classic, Boyfriend.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cc32Ed3kLA0
All that’s missing now is a dramatic reading of Where Are U Now. One can only hope.
Image courtesy of Rolling Stone.
Bieber fever is still running rampant across the world, but it has been noticeably absent from Australia’s premier radio station that doesn’t play P!nk songs all day long, triple J. However, Biebs has now finally had his break on the J’s thanks to Halsey and her unreal cover of his track, Love Yourself.
Halsey actually features on Justin Bieber’s banger-filled 2015 record, Purpose – the same album that thrust him into the hearts of many unassuming and unprepared yet-to-be-Beliebers (us included). She herself wowed audiences at Falls Festival and a couple of sideshows, and it seems she’s been gearing up for her own crack at Like A Version since then.
The original is a stripped back, stark track that features a gentle Bieber telling someone to basically leave him alone, and whilst Halsey’s take is still in the “stripped back” area with a simple piano melody and some subtle beats, it’s her vocals that really make the cover what it is. Swapping “love” for “fuck” in the chorus, the track gets a thousand times tougher, but also a thousand times better. Considering that Love Yourself has just reached the top of the charts this week, you’ve probably not heard it like this before – but you probably won’t stop listening to it either. Check it out for yourself below!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1pUqmaPsFA
Image: Triple J
Justin Bieber won 2015 for a lot of us here at Howl & Echoes. We were converted thanks to the string of hits he pumped out in the end half of the year, with total jams like What Do You Mean? and Sorry landing themselves pretty permanent spots on our regular listening playlists. Then he dropped Purpose, and whilst there were some dull moments (we’re not kidding ourselves that much), we were – and still are – very much and very happily infected with Bieber Fever.
So, it was a very good day indeed today when a new Bieber track appeared online. Titled I’ll Be There, the track is a mysterious one. Next to nothing about it has been revealed, which was not featured on Purpose. Bieber has also not referred to it on social media, which is a stark contrast from the same guy who announced his tracklisting on Instagram (with a post for each track). Clearly, there is something in the works, and the fact that Bieber is trying his hand at rapping here (with questionable success) shows he is almost definitely up to something.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUq2AxG142E
Over a mellow trap beat, he confesses his loyalty to one lucky gal, crooning over an industrial synth groove in the hook. The man can sing, no one can deny that, and his pipes are sounding as good as ever here. It’s a track you feel. It’s not overly special but it gets you where it matters. That could be my Bieber Fever talking, but even the half-attempt at rapping is endearing here.
So his “verse” might be just a few lines, but it shows further progression in his new found sounds away from the sugary sweet pop that brought him his initial fame, and further into ~cool~ territory. He’s already taken over the world and smashed countless chart records with Purpose – could 2016 be the year we see Bieber cross the divide from pop superstar to hip-hop hero? Undoubtedly, everything will be revealed in time.
Continuing his transformation into a ~cool guy~, Craig David has worked hard to make sure that he’s once again “down with the kids”. However, whatever doubt you had left about his surprise comeback can now firmly be quashed once and for all thanks to the absolutely brilliant Justin Bieber cover he delivered in BBC‘s Live Lounge this week.
Choosing to go for one of Bieber’s new tracks that aren’t exactly in the same banger territory as Sorry or What Do You Mean?, David showed he isn’t #predictable and opted for Love Yourself -a slow jam featuring some intricate guitar work and subtle vocals courtesy of Biebs. However, David took the track and turned it on its head with this take.
Smooth, groovy and fast, Love Yourself has never quite sounded like this. Add to that David’s surprise freestyle verse in the middle of the track, and we may have found ourselves yet another Bieber banger with this.
Whilst he actually went into the Live Lounge to perform an acoustic cover of his track, When The Bassline Drops, it’s his Bieber cover that actually has everyone talking. Given Craig David’s sudden reappearance in the mainstream spotlight, we can’t help but feel he’s cooking up something good for his fans, and now we’re just hoping it sounds a lot like this!
Justin Bieber has seen his fair share of legal controversies in 2015, but it seems that the pop star has will be making one last addition to the list before the year is out along with iconic label Def Jam, after landing themselves in some hot water with the city of San Francisco over the guerrilla marketing for the pop star’s latest album.
The November campaign for fourth album Purpose saw promotional messages spray painted across the sidewalks of major American cities. While using graffiti to market music is nothing new, it seems that the decision to use permanent spray paint as opposed to chalk has angered San Franciscan authorities.
City Attorney Dennis Herrera has penned a fiery public letter (which you can read here) to Def Jam C.E.O. Steve Bartels and Universal Music’s legal counsel Jeffrey Harleston, pointing the finger at Justin Bieber’s label and its parent company. Harleston was not pleased. “I take the illegal graffiti marketed for Mr. Bieber’s album seriously, and I will aggressively pursue all available penalties and costs from those responsible for lawless marketing tactics that intend to financially benefit your respective companies,” Wrote the attorney.
“This prohibited marketing practice illegally exploits our City’s walkable neighborhoods and robust tourism; intentionally creates visual distractions that pose risks to pedestrians on busy rights of way; and irresponsibly tells our youth that likeminded lawlessness and contempt for public property are condoned and encouraged by its beneficiaries,” Rattled Herrera.
According to the document the city can impose fines of up to $2,500 for each instance of graffiti and also claim restitution for the removal of the paint.
There has been no immediate response from Bieber, Def Jam or Universal, but the threat of hefty fines will no doubt have the labels thinking twice when launching future campaigns. We’re now wondering if it’s too late now to say sorry, Biebs?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=webUeq_Qzeg
Read more: Bieber, Drake and Triple J: What Makes Some Pop Music Okay – But Not All?