Post Malone played perhaps the biggest concert in North America this summer last Friday, July 12th. At the Festival d'été de Québec (FEQ) in Quebec City, he performed for over 100,000 people on the historic Plains of Abraham. That's par for the course for the FEQ, which gets big stars in a variety of genres for 10 days every year, yet, outside of Quebec, remains somewhat under the radar.
Malone played after opening sets by Canadian band Valley and rising pop/country artist Jessie Murph. His set was filled with a crowd singing along to “Sweet Caroline,” before a string section heralded Post's entrance to the stage. It kicked off with 2018 hit 'Better Now', with massive fireworks erupting on every chorus. Over the next two hours, he played songs from Ozzy Osbourne's sampler “Take What You Want” to “Sunflower,” “Congratulations” and the recent No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 hit “I Had Some Help.”
He busted out some adorable silly dance moves and enjoyed the applause after each song, which seemed to take him by surprise. At one point, he even brought up a Quebecer in the audience named Felix, who joined him on stage to pull a red solo cup and then strum an acoustic guitar while Post Malone sang “Stay.”
This year's FEQ ran from July 4-14 and featured headliners from 50 Cent to the Jonas Brothers. Nickelback in the Zac Brown Band.
While FEQ gets major artists for these main stage shows, artistic director Louis Bellavance he says it's not just about getting the biggest deals. “Everything has a function, a role to play in what we're building,” he says.
It's about finding the right types of genres and acts that resonate with Quebec audiences, which can sometimes differ from the rest of Canada and the United States, he says. R&B doesn't play as well as in other markets, nor do many English rock bands from Canada. That's not to say the rock isn't doing well, though — Mötley Crue packed the stage last night, Sunday, July 14, with a much more multi-generational crowd than you'd imagine for a band whose sound and antics peaked . 80s.
A new addition this year was the all-Spanish Saturday night with J Balvin, Ivan Cornejo and GALE. FEQ has booked Latin artists in the past, but never as big as this year's showcase. It was clear that people traveled for the event, with Colombian superstar Balvin lighting all the flags in the front row and fans from Spanish-speaking countries around the world. Mexico, Spain, Peru, Puerto Rico, Nicaragua, Honduras and Colombia were all “in la casa,” he said.
Read more from FEQ here. -Richard Trapunsky
Canadian Country Music Association Awards 2024 Nominations: Jade Eagleson, MacKenzie Porter Lead The Pack
The Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) has announced the official nominees for the 2024 CCMA Awards. Topping the list with six nominations each are Jade Eagleson and MacKenzie Porter, the latter of whom will co-host the awards show with American country star Thomas Rhett.
The Reklaws and Josh Ross, with five nominations each, while High Valley, Owen Riegling and Dallas Smith are listed in four categories. Other notable Canadian artists making the list include Dean Brody, Steven Lee Olsen, James Barker Band, Brett Kissel, Tenille Townes and Lindsay Ell.
The awards ceremony takes place in Edmonton at Rogers Place in the heart of downtown on Saturday, September 14th at 8pm. ET, and airs on CTV.
Performers include Dasha, Jade Eagleson, Brett Kissel, The Reklaws, MacKenzie Porter, Thomas Rhett and Dallas Smith, with others to be named.
Two major CCMA award categories are open for public voting by country music fans across Canada. This year's Breakthrough Artist or Group of the Year nominees are Hailey Benedict, Dax, Teigen Gayse, Matt Lang and Owen Riegling, and fans can vote for their favorite at ccmafanvote.com.
The 2024 Fans' Choice nominees are Dean Brody, Jade Eagleson, High Valley, James Barker Band, Tyler Joe Miller, Steven Lee Olsen, MacKenzie Porter, The Reklaws, Josh Ross and Dallas Smith.
Find the full list of nominees here. –Kerry Dull
ScHoolboy Q Toronto Concert Canceled, Blames Drake's Beef With Kendrick Lamar
A canceled show appears to be tied to the biggest story of the year in rap music: the heated beef between Drake and Kendrick Lamar.
ScHoolboy Q was set to play a sold-out show at Toronto's History venue on Thursday (July 18). But Q took to X Wednesday to announce that the show had been canceled, allegedly because of the feud: “CANADIAN POLICE DON'T WANT ANYBODY FROM TDE [Lamar’s label] PERFORMANCE..” he wrote.
ScHoolboy Q was in the band Black Hippy with Kendrick Lamar and is a former partner at Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE). Lamar left the label last year. The History venue is a collaboration between Live Nation and Drake.
Q went on to post several times about the show, referencing PartyNextDoor's recent show at the Hollywood Palladium in Lamar and ScHoolboy's hometown of Los Angeles: “If we wanted to take it we would. don't cry…”
Q later clarified that he found the cancellation funny and that he didn't mean his post as a threat, but as advice: “I said 'Ima kill somebody' and I was saying if we wanted to break it, we could get smH,” he said. he wrote, “ima soccer baba.”
ScHoolboy Q, who performed at Lamar's June 14 Pop Out concert, also makes a brief appearance in Lamar's video for Drake diss track “Not Like Us,” which has added some fire to a feud that was on the verge of to turn off. Q and Lamar go way back, as former partners in Black Hippy along with Jay Rock and Ab-Soul.
Drake posted an Instagram story following Q's posts on X, leading some to speculate that he was trolling the rapper. In the shared story, Drake seemingly features blue slides, possibly referring to his ScHoolboy single of the same name.
He's also wearing a shirt that says “Free Yayo,” a reference to hip hop artist Tony Yayo, who in a recent interview talked about not wanting to get caught up in the Drake/Kendrick beef.
“You don't want to say something about Drake and he f–ckin't go to Canada,” he said. VladTV.
While no official explanation has been released for the cancellation, the event page for the concert on Ticketmaster says it was canceled by the event promoter.
“The decision to cancel this event was made by the venue, not the Toronto Police Service,” says a spokesperson for the Toronto Police Service.
Billboard Canada Live Nation has been contacted for comment.
The cancellation comes after a recent attack on Rick Ross — who previously released Drake's diss track “Champagne Moments” — in Vancouver while “Not Like Us” was playing at the concert. Drake liked a post about the incident at the time. – Rosie Long Decter
