Miley opens Hollywood Bowl ticket sales today and 1.2 million people are already in line
The Amex presale for her two October shows went live this morning - and the queue instantly hit numbers that make a 17,500-seat amphitheater look like a closet.
In brief
Miley opens Hollywood Bowl ticket sales today and 1.2 million people are already in line
The numbers landed this morning and they are, frankly, absurd. More than 1.2 million people entered the Ticketmaster queue for the American Express pre-sale of Miley's two upcoming Hollywood Bowl shows - a venue that, as InMusic Blog notes, holds roughly 17,500 people. Do that math. That's roughly 69 hopefuls for every single seat in the house.
The presale went live at 10 a.m. PT today, September 8. General ticketing opens Thursday, September 10, with the album itself - Bass Persuades - arriving on streaming platforms September 18.
Why this is her biggest concert moment in years
Miley will perform her first full concerts in the U.S. since 2021 when she headlines two nights at the Hollywood Bowl on October 16 and 18. That five-year gap is not a small thing. She has made one-off awards show appearances in the interim, but a full concert - two of them, on back-to-back nights - is a different level of commitment from an artist who, according to Rolling Stone, routinely makes one-off appearances, mostly at awards shows, and in 2023 explained that her lack of touring shouldn't reflect on how she feels about her fans.
The October 16 and 18 concerts, billed as "Miley: Bass Persuades - Live at the Hollywood Bowl," will mark her first performances at the iconic Los Angeles venue. She's been in the audience plenty. "The Hollywood Bowl is my favorite place to experience music and see my favorite artists," she wrote on Instagram. "I've sat in those seats many times, but I've never taken the stage. LA is my heart and I'm bringing it home." Variety first reported the shows alongside the album announcement on September 1.
According to Variety, she'll perform Bass Persuades in full, with indie rock act Model/Actriz slated to join as a special guest. Model/Actriz will open the dates. Fans who missed the Amex window get another shot: on September 9, a reserved option from Spotify will be available where top fans will have tickets set aside for purchase before they're generally available to the public.
What 'Bass Persuades' actually is
Bass Persuades is the upcoming tenth studio album by Miley, and her first album to be released under the mononym Miley. It is scheduled for release September 18, 2026, through Atlantic Records. The label switch matters: Bass Persuades will be her first full-length release through Atlantic Records after 14 years with Sony Music.
The sound is a clean break from her previous record. She launched the new era on September 3 with the album's title track, a dance-pop record built around a four-on-the-floor beat, prominent bassline, disco influences, and polished 1980s-style synths. ABC News confirmed the single came with an official music video directed by Mert Alas.
The tracklist, published by Rolling Stone, runs ten songs and includes features from indie rock outfit Model/Actriz and Andrew Wyatt of Miike Snow. Miley has described the album as reflective of her relationship with her fiancé, Maxx Morando, while also exploring themes of self-love - "a love story" with multiple layers, including a "romantic thread" running throughout.
On the name change: Stereogum observed that dropping "Cyrus" feels like an implicit rebuke of her father, the troubled country star Billy Ray Cyrus, though she hasn't come out and said anything about that yet. She teased the album announcement by purchasing a wrap-around cover of the Los Angeles Times featuring just her first name and her face - not exactly subtle.
She explained her title to UPI: "Music takes hold of us. We feel it, sing it, sometimes dance to it, let it out and carry on. It is powerful, vulnerable, sweet and strong. Heart full, heartache, every part of life in between. That's what the title means to me."
The move itself is the story
Two Hollywood Bowl nights is, on its face, a modest tour. But consider the context. Miley has attributed her tendency to move quickly between projects to her frustration with lengthy album rollouts. She announced this record September 1, dropped the lead single September 3, opened ticket sales September 8, and puts the album out September 18. That's 17 days from announcement to release. The Hollywood Bowl shows follow five weeks later.
The 1.2 million queue figure suggests the demand has been sitting there, compressed, waiting for exactly this kind of moment. Miley will promote the album with a pair of shows in October. That's it. No stadium run, no arena tour, no 40-city slog. Two nights at an amphitheater in her adopted hometown, performing a record about her fiancé, under just her first name.
General on-sale begins September 10 at 10 a.m. PT. Set your alarms.
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CAN I KICK IT? screens New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument, on Aug. 22. (Courtesy SHAOLIN JAZZ)
The live-cinema series CAN I KICK IT? returns to the National Mall this month with what its producers are calling the "Gangsters on the Mall" chapter of their free outdoor summer run. On Saturday, August 22, the SHAOLIN JAZZ production brings the 1991 crime classic New Jack City to the Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument for a night of film, music, and community under the DC summer sky.
What sets the event apart is the sound. As the film plays, DJ 2-Tone Jones builds an original score in real time, reimagining one of the most iconic crime movies of the ’90s through hip-hop, soul, funk, and more. It is less a movie screening than a live performance built around the film.
The details:
Film: New Jack City (1991), with a live soundtrack by DJ 2-Tone Jones
When: Saturday, August 22 — seating opens at 7:30 p.m. (bring lawn chairs and blankets); film begins at 8:30 p.m.
Where: Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument, Independence Ave SW & 15th St NW
A parking note from the organizers: expect road closures and restricted parking east of 14th Street NW due to a separate race event in the District. Roads west of 14th Street NW will be accessible and available for parking.
New Jack City is the second of three screenings in this year’s free CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series, which opened with Black Panther at Skyland Town Center and concludes with Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial on September 5. Produced by the Washington, DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, the series has presented more than 150 live cinematic experiences at venues across the country, from Lincoln Center to SXSW.
"I wanted to be able to tell good stories with substance and remove the ‘ego’ out of the art," said Andrew Huang during a recent interview. Now, he’s building his career at the intersection of discipline, creativity and innovation.
Andrew Huang, founder of New Place Studios. (Courtesy photo)
As a Chinese American, Huang was reared with a deep respect for hard work, consistency and excellence. He describes his childhood as "not so affluent" and later attended college to hone his passion for videography. "In college I tried to do something I loved, which was video, but along the way I knew that I had to find a job. And so I thought, ‘what was the low hanging fruit to get to that stable 9 to 5 job?,’" he stated.
Later in life, Huang found himself working for corporations where his creativity was often limited, eventually leading to burnout. "I worked in a corporation for a long time and there were a lot of missing pieces. I wanted to fill in gaps missing in corporate video production," said Huang.
He later described how his upbringing and a mindset of "survival" led him toward a corporate career. However, his desire for balance and authentic storytelling ultimately pushed him to take the entrepreneurial leap.
"I founded a new place where you can create video and film with ‘substance and style,’" said Huang. His desire for work-life balance and passion for storytelling naturally evolved into a small business based in Virginia. With the launch of New Place Studios, the entrepreneur quickly found himself reconnecting with the values that would become the foundation of everything he creates behind the camera.
Huang said being a business owner has allowed him to first embrace himself. While others may see video as simply capturing moments, he sees it as a way to preserve stories that inspire, connect and leave a lasting imprint.
By combining cinematic visuals with cutting-edge production techniques and a keen understanding of branding, Huang helps organizations and individuals communicate their vision with purpose. He said understanding a client’s "why" serves as the compass for delivering the services they need.
One benefit of working with a small business, he said, is that clients get to see the production process unfold through a micro lens while working with the same faces throughout the entire project. "The work feels personal," said Huang.
Huang does not regret leaving behind the flash-over-substance mentality and corporate hustle culture. That does not mean the Asian American entrepreneur has been without challenges in the industry. "It’s relatively hard to find other Asian American creatives or people who would want to work with me in the DMV," said Huang.
He identifies the industry culture in which everyone is trying to blend in, creatives may fear displaying their Asian identity and some feel pressure to adopt an American corporate persona. He also points to what he describes as a level of gatekeeping within the industry. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2024 statistics, Asian American and Pacific Islander entrepreneurs own more than 3 million businesses and employ 5.2 million people in the United States.
After tapping into organizations such as SCORE, which offers free small business mentorship, New Place Studios has become a trusted creative partner throughout the DMV (Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia). The company produces a range of creative services, including commercials, corporate branding, documentaries, film, 2D animation, motion graphics and photography.
For Huang, entrepreneurship has become more than a departure from corporate life. It has given him the freedom to create with intention, build meaningful connections and tell stories that go beyond the surface.
The 2026 CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
For three Saturdays this summer, some of Washington’s most familiar public spaces will do something they rarely do after dark: fill up with blankets, lawn chairs, and the sound of a movie being scored live, in real time. CAN I KICK IT?, the traveling “live cinema” series produced by the DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, is bringing a free outdoor run to the city — pairing three era-defining films with an original soundtrack performed on the spot by DJ 2-Tone Jones.
The premise is what sets it apart from a normal screening in the park. Rather than simply pressing play, 2-Tone Jones builds a score as the film unfolds, pulling from hip-hop, soul, funk, jazz, rock, electronic music, and sounds from around the world. The result, the organizers say, is less a movie night than a one-time performance — the same film you know, wired to a soundtrack you have never heard and will not hear again. Guest DJs warm up the crowd starting at 7:30 PM before each 8:30 PM screening.
The 2026 outdoor schedule
All three events are free and open to the public.
Saturday, August 8 — Black Panther at Skyland Town Center. A pop-up marketplace and community activities kick off the evening; guest DJs at 7:30 PM, film at 8:30 PM. Marvel’s superhero epic gets a one-night-only live score in Southeast DC.
Saturday, August 22 — New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument. Seating begins at 7:30 PM; the film starts at 8:30 PM. The 1991 crime drama plays out at the foot of one of the country’s most recognizable landmarks.
Saturday, September 5 — Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial. Seating at 7:30 PM; film at 8:30 PM. The series closes with Brian De Palma’s crime saga against the backdrop of the Memorial, scored live from start to finish.
First up: Black Panther at Skyland Town Center on August 8. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
A DC company with a national footprint
SHAOLIN JAZZ describes itself as a Washington-based arts company working at the intersection of music, film, art, and culture, and CAN I KICK IT? is its signature production. According to the organizers, the series has staged more than 150 live cinematic experiences around the country — at performing arts centers, museums, festivals, and cultural institutions including Lincoln Center in New York, SXSW, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Republic Square in Austin, the Tacoma Armory, and The Cary Theater.
“CAN I KICK IT? has always been about creating a shared experience,” said Gerald Watson, co-founder of SHAOLIN JAZZ. “When you combine iconic films with live music in public spaces, something special happens. People aren’t just watching a movie — they’re experiencing it together. That’s what makes these nights so memorable.”
Cinema as a community event
The DC run lands as cities across the country look for new ways to activate public space through arts and culture — and this series is a straightforward pitch for how to do it: take a landmark everyone already knows, add a film everyone has an opinion about, and let a live soundtrack turn the evening into something neighbors experience shoulder to shoulder. Families, film buffs, and music fans are all invited, and admission won’t cost a thing.
The CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series runs August 8, August 22, and September 5. All events are free; check SHAOLIN JAZZ (shaolinjazz.com) for the latest details and any weather updates before heading out.
