Megan Rides Again

Houston hero Megan Thee Stallion comes home on Hot Girl Summer tour

Megan Thee Stallion

Photo courtesy of Megan Thee Stallion

Grammy award-winning rap artist Megan Thee Stallion is hitting the road this summer with the “Hot Girl Summer Tour,” a tour across the U.S. and Europe that will cover 31 cities including three in Texas as follows:

Jun 11 – Dallas, American Airlines Center
Jun 13 – Austin, Moody Center
Jun 14 – Houston, Toyota Center

The tour will feature a special Chicas Divertidas VIP section and include domestic stops in the U.S. and international performances across Europe. GloRilla will serve as a special guest on the “Hot Girl Summer Tour,” which will mark Megan’s first headlining arena tour.

The tour will kick off on May 14 in Minneapolis and stop at major cities including New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, and a hometown performance in Houston before wrapping up in Las Vegas on June 22. The international leg will begin in Glasgow, Scotland on July 4 with additional shows in England, France, Germany, and Ireland.

Tickets will be available starting with a Citi presale beginning on Wednesday, March 20. General onsale begins on Friday, March 22 at 10 am on store.megantheestallion.com.

Citi is the official card of the Hot Girl Summer Tour. Citi cardmembers will have access to presale tickets for U.S. dates beginning Wednesday, March 20 at 1pm local time until Thursday, March 21 at 10pm local time through the Citi Entertainment program. For complete presale details visit www.citientertainment.com.

Fans can also purchase VIP Packages, which may include premium tickets, access to a VIP bar ,and cocktail service throughout the night, pre-show VIP Lounge, exclusive VIP merch item, and early entry. VIP package contents vary based on offer selected.

The tour comes after her latest song “HISS” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in February. “HISS” also became the first-ever, solo female rap song to debut No. 1 on the Billboard Global 200 and, as a result, Megan now owns the record for the biggest first week for a solo female rap song in history.

The achievement signified Megan’s third No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, following her other chart-topping hits such as “Savage (Remix)” with Beyoncé and “WAP” with Cardi B. The song was Megan’s second solo release via Hot Girl Productions – her independent music and entertainment entity. Earlier this year, Megan and Warner Music Group announced an agreement enabling the Houston native to release her music independently and still have distribution and resources with Warner Music.

2024 HOT GIRL SUMMER WORLD TOUR DATES:
May 14 – Minneapolis, MN – Target Center^
May 17 – Chicago, IL – United Center^
May 18 – Detroit, MI – Little Caesars Arena^
May 21 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden^
May 22 – Philadelphia, PA – Wells Fargo Center^
May 24 – Napa, CA – BottleRock Napa Valley Festival*
May 26 – Boston, MA – Boston Calling Festival*
May 28 – Baltimore, MD – CFG Bank Arena^
May 30 – Memphis, TN – FedEx Forum^
Jun 1 – Atlanta, GA – State Farm Arena^
Jun 4 – Raleigh, NC – PNC Arena^
June 6 – Hollywood, FL – Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino^
Jun 8 – Tampa, FL – Amalie Arena^
Jun 10 – New Orleans, LA – Smoothie King Center^
Jun 11 – Dallas, TX – American Airlines Center^
Jun 13 – Austin, TX – Moody Center^
Jun 14 – Houston, TX – Toyota Center^
Jun 16 – Manchester, TN – Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival*
Jun 17 – Denver, CO – Ball Arena^
Jun 19 – Phoenix, AZ – Footprint Center^
Jun 21 – Los Angeles, CA – Crypto.com Arena^
Jun 22 – Las Vegas, NV – MGM Grand Garden Arena^
Jul 4 – Glasgow, UK – OVO Hydro
Jul 5 – Manchester, UK – Co-op Live
Jul 7 – Paris, FR – Zenith
Jul 10 – Amsterdam, NL – Ziggo Dome
Jul 11 – Cologne, DE – Lanxess Arena
Jul 14 – Dublin, IE – 3Arena
Jul 16 – Birmingham, UK – Utilita Arena
Jul 17 – London, UK – The O2
Jul 27 – Washington DC – Broccoli City Festival*
^With Support From GloRilla

music concerts

Movie Review

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck square off in Netflix crime thriller The Rip

Photo by Claire Folger/Netflix

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon in The Rip.

For as closely tied together as Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are, it might come as a surprise how few times they’ve led a movie together. They’ve appeared alongside each other in Good Will Hunting, The Last Duel, and Air, but the only time they were on equal footing in a story was Kevin Smith’s Dogma. So the fact that they are the two true stars of the new Netflix movie The Rip makes it a rare opportunity for the longtime friends to square off against each other.

Damon and Affleck play Lt. Dane Dumars and Detective Sgt. J.D Byrne, respectively, the two highest ranking members of a Miami police department squad that specializes in drug and drug money raids. A tragedy to begin the film already has the team — which includes Detectives Mike Ro (Steven Yeun), Numa Baptiste (Teyana Taylor), and Lolo Salazar (Catalina Sandina Moreno) — on edge, with the FBI and DEA breathing down their neck.

Going off a tip, Dumars gathers the team to raid a house in nearby Hialeah that is supposed to have a stash of a relatively small amount of money. But when they get to the house occupied only by Desiree Molina (Sasha Calle), they discover close to $20 million. The team, required by law to count the money on site, must not only fight the urge to skim a little off the top for themselves, but also worry about the Cartel and other agencies that might want a slice of the pie.

Written and directed by Joe Carnahan, the film is a surprisingly effective crime thriller made even better by its high-quality cast, which also includes Kyle Chandler as a DEA agent. The story is designed for the audience to not know who’s trustworthy until the last possible second, and the various twists and turns it takes are well done, with barely a hint of narrative cheating.

Taking place entirely at night, the mood is set right from the start, with the only surprise being that Carnahan didn’t add in rain for extra effect. He keeps things tense with a number of subtle elements, including having the house located in a seemingly deserted cul-de-sac. This allows for the characters to remain on high alert at all times, with anything out of the ordinary — an unexpected noise, a flashing light, etc. — adding to the stress of the situation.

The only element that could have used a bit more of a punch-up is the characterization. The story is set up to cast suspicion on almost everybody, making it tougher to understand exactly what type of person each of them is. As the two leads, more time is spent with Dumars and Byrne, leaving everyone else with slightly underwhelming arcs. It’s to the credit of the actors that everyone else below Damon and Affleck is still compelling.

Damon and Affleck play their sometimes friendly, sometimes adversarial roles well, showing an ease together that’s a result of their friendship and the acting skills they’ve honed over 30+ years. Taylor, an Oscar hopeful for One Battle After Another, and Oscar nominee/Emmy winner Yeun have a pedigree that elevates their supporting roles. Chandler, Moreno, and Calle each get just enough to demonstrate why they were cast in their respective roles.

Damon and Affleck have had their individual ups and downs throughout their careers, but when they choose to work together, the results are usually good-to-great, as they are in The Rip. It’s a different take on a crime thriller that features a story that will keep viewers guessing until the very end.

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The Rip is now streaming on Netflix.

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Movie Review

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck square off in Netflix crime thriller The Rip