Jersey music star Halsey has special 'Hometown' moment at PNC Bank Arts Center
Halsey delivered a hometown special June 6 at the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel.
The Jersey native played 'Hometown' for only the second time on her For My Last Trick Tour at the venue and fans loved it.
'(Halsey) singing 'Hometown' in Holmdel,' commented a fan on X. 'I'm too emotional for this.'
'(Halsey) I'm so glad you came back to your hometown,' commented another on X.
The country coaxed midtempo ballad is from Halsey's latest album, 'The Great Impersonator.'
Halsey was born Ashley Nicolette Frangipane in Edison. The 30-year old grew up in the Washington borough of Warren County. Her hits include 'Bad at Love,' 'Eastside,' 'Without Me' and 'Closer.'
'Tonight we've got a special one in Jersey, I can't believe that I am home,' sang Halsey in a change of lyrics for 'Only Living Girl in LA,' according to a social media video. 'I got to go away and do a little magic, then come back and play a very, very special show.'
Halsey had canceled her June 4 performance at the Maine Savings Amphitheater in Bangor, Maine, hours before the show citing vocal issues.
Upcoming for Halsey is Saturday, June 7, at the Freedom Mortgage Pavilion in Camden.
Ticket prices begin at $42 via Ticketmaster.
The scheduled 32-city For My Last Trick Tour kicked off May 10 at the Toyota Pavilion in Concord, California, and wraps up Sunday, July 6, at the Yaamava Theater in Highland, California.
Halsey announced the tour with a fatally fun video where she's apparently prepping for her funeral. Her last tour was five years ago as she's has battled multiple illnesses in recent years.
She's spoken publicly about battles with endometriosis, Ehlers-Danlos syndromes, Sjogren's syndrome and mast cell activation syndrome.
In a social media post, Halsey suggested that she's being treated for lupus and leukemia when she linked to the Lupus Research Alliance, and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
Halsey's last Jersey shows were in 2023 at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, part of that year's North to Shore festival.
Below is the setlist for the Holmdel show:
Darwinism
Bad at Love
Alone
Lucky
Dog Years
I am Not a Woman, I'm a God
Control
Lilith
Angel on Fire
Ashley
Panic Attack
Graveyard
Only Living Girl in LA
Lonely is the Muse
Gasoline
Colors
You Should Be Sad
The Lighthouse
Closer
Nightmare
Ghost
Hometown
Without Me
The Great Impersonator
Subscribe to app.com for the latest on the New Jersey music scene.
Chris Jordan, a Jersey Shore native, covers entertainment and features for the USA Today Network New Jersey. Contact him at cjordan@app.com.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: NJ music star Halsey has Hometown moment at PNC Bank Arts Center
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Around the same time, there had been a rumour in NME Magazine that Blur and Oasis were set to collaborate on the official England song for Euro 96. 'Over my f***ing dead body,' Gallagher said in an interview with Hot Press magazine, before referencing the FA chairman of the time. 'Sir Bert Millichip probably asked the office junior at the FA who the 'happening bands' were at the moment and thought, 'Right, that's another few quid in the coffers''. He also turned down the chance to sing the national anthem before England's semi-final with Germany at Euro 96. Oasis were clearly unlikely to take up the offer to sing God Save The Queen at Wembley, perhaps unless it was the Sex Pistols track. In terms of international football, Noel has generally expressed more affection for Ireland than England, because of his Irish heritage. When asked to choose between the two in an Irish Times interview in 2015, he replied instantly. 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Their supporters cause no trouble because the idols they look up to are artists. Not f***ing 'Get stuck in lads, they don't like it up 'em, foreigners.' F*** off. They're playing a different sport.' Advertisement Noel has always had a particular appreciation for foreign playmakers with flair and craft. He backed Argentina to win World Cup 1998 because he was once mesmerised by Ariel Ortega. He became friends with Alessandro Del Piero, sitting next to the Italian's wife in Dortmund when he rounded off a glorious semi-final goal against Germany at World Cup 2006. He generally names his favourite City player as David Silva. 'For me, he personified the word 'sublime',' he said in 2024. 'He was just brilliant, he made us tick, he changed the game… Kevin De Bruyne is more breathtaking because his passes are just incredible. But Dave was a beautiful, beautiful footballer — we'd never seen the likes of him.' Clearly, City have had plenty of 'his' type of footballer in recent years, a far cry from the 1990s when he said the only City player he rated was right-back Ian Brightwell. Notably, both paid tribute to Diego Maradona when he died in 2020. 'A proper rock-and-roll footballer, no f***er will ever come near,' Liam wrote on Twitter along with a photo of them together. 'Met Maradona not once but twice and he was the real f***ing deal, scary but beautiful.' Noel's tweet was more straightforward. 'Buenos Aires '97. What a life. What a legend. He was under house arrest at the time.' Maradona shakes the hand of God ! — Liam Gallagher (@liamgallagher) April 30, 2012 Oasis' second album, (What's the Story) Morning Glory, was released only a year after the debut, in October 1995. The recording sessions, in a house-cum-studio in Wales, can be accurately dated to May of that year, by the fact Oasis were heavily distracted by that season's title race. 'Football, man. United are f***ing losing the league, mad for it,' Liam is shown shouting into the microphone before a take for Champagne Supernova on the Supersonic documentary. He was more interested in watching Manchester United failing to defeat West Ham on the final day, therefore losing out to Kenny Dalglish's Blackburn. At full time, Liam stands in front of the television chanting Dalglish's name, before the other band members throw United fan Bonehead out of the house. The next clip is Liam having a kickabout in the garden. The peak of Oasis' touring days is often considered to be the legendary Knebworth shows in 1996. But a more personal highlight came earlier in the year, when Oasis played two dates at City's then-home, Maine Road. 'I loved standing on the terraces; it was like a gig when all the swaying started up,' Liam had previously said of his early visits. Noel had also seen the likes of Pink Floyd and Guns N' Roses at the ground. Advertisement The strange aspect about these gigs is that they happened on the penultimate weekend of the football season, in late April. Outdoor concerts in Britain at that time of year are extremely rare, because of the risk of adverse weather conditions, and the band were warned the gigs could be ruined by rain, although Noel pointed out that in Manchester, it rains all summer anyway. Committed United fan Bonehead refused to pose for the picture used on tickets for the event, while Liam wore a City player's sweatshirt on stage. 'I went backstage and there was some player's Umbro gear just sitting there and I thought, 'I'm having a bit of that', tried it on, f***ing freebie innit and, and I f***ing pinched it and f***ing wore it'. As simple as that. But this created a trend. Umbro launched an updated version earlier this year, to much acclaim from the football fashionistas. 'There are few moments and items in history that lay claim to being pivotal in the evolution of modern football culture,' read the Soccerbible website. 'But the Umbro drill top worn by Liam Gallagher on that April night at Maine Road would be one of them.' Oasis were always unashamed in their ambition and bold about conquering the world, but they were staggered by the experience of playing at their club's home stadium. 'To play at the ground of the football club you've supported all your life is, without doubt, the icing on the cake,' said Liam in 2017. 'It's downhill after that. Even Knebworth doesn't come close.' Noel said something similar a couple of years later. 'I remember sitting behind the stage at the Platt Lane end in a box and watching them dismantling the whole thing, ending up with just an empty stadium,' he said. 'I was taking the moment in, do you know what I mean? They were amazing gigs and it will never be repeated.' The following weekend at the ground, City hosted Liverpool on the final day of the season and drew 2-2, a result which confirmed their relegation. City had actually wasted time in the closing stages of the contest, wrongly believing a draw was enough to keep them up, which summed up their haplessness in this period. But, away from City, Oasis understood the importance of football to their fans. In September 1997, when they played in Newcastle, the gig clashed with Newcastle's famous 3-2 Champions League win over Barcelona. Liam wore a Newcastle shirt on stage — it probably helped that they were Manchester United's regular title challengers at this stage — and relayed the score to the crowd between songs. Oasis in the 21st century were a shadow of their 1990s peak — only a small handful of songs will feature on this summer's setlists. A rare highlight came with 2002's Stop Crying Your Heart Out, which soundtracked the BBC's montage of England's World Cup quarter-final defeat to Brazil. The single had only been released four days earlier; the Heathen Chemistry album the song was taken from was a fortnight away. In a game played on a weekday morning UK time, and watched in schools and offices around the country, England's tearful exit was the best possible promotion for the track. The montage ended with a shot of England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson; his death was announced the day before Oasis announced their reformation in late August last year. 22 years after this video, Oasis and Eriksson were on the front pages together. That World Cup montage stuck in people's minds and probably contributed to the song's surprise emergence in 2019 as a terrace chant, initially by Leeds fans repurposing the song as 'Stop crying Frank Lampard' before being sarcastically adopted by Lampard and his Derby side after they defeated Leeds in the playoffs. Advertisement Oasis' breakup in Paris in 2009 was both a long time coming, and also very sudden. Liam has repeatedly referenced a former City manager when ridiculing Noel's decision to walk away. 'He'd had enough of this 'lad' thing, and he wants to try something new — and it's not having a dig at him, but I just think he's sort of turned himself into a f***ing fake,' he said. 'I think he's done a Keegan.' In another interview, for the Supersonic documentary, Liam repeats the joke. 'I thought it was our kid just having his Kevin Keegan moment,' he says. It is particularly good analogy as it could conceivably refer to Keegan's departure from Newcastle, England, or indeed City. The Gallaghers' fandom of City has probably become more pronounced during the band's hiatus. Noel conducted the draw for the 2010-11 alongside Kasabian's Serge Pizzorno, a Leicester City supporter. Having joked beforehand that they'd like to draw out their own clubs against one another, they promptly did: Pizzorno drew Leicester as the home side, Gallagher drew City as the away side. There was a less than one per cent chance of them pulling that off. And while celebrity fans thankfully have a minor role to play in British television coverage of football, Noel has been the clearest exception. He played the role of Football Focus interviewer with Mario Balotelli in 2011 (at a time when no one in the media got an interview with the Italian) appeared on Match of the Day 2 as a pundit in 2015, then on Sky Sports as a pundit for a Manchester derby in 2017. Perhaps the highlight of that arrangement actually came, when, by way of promoting Gallagher's appearance, Paul Merson was given a charity challenge to slip in as many Oasis song titles into his Soccer Saturday punditry as possible, which he carried out remarkably smoothly. Noel was also given the honour of conducting Pep Guardiola's first interview as City manager. His prominence reached new heights last year when he was used as a co-commentator for TNT Sports' coverage of City's defeat in Lisbon to Sporting — which did feel a bit much — and he also had the ultimate honour of being interviewed in The Athletic. Meanwhile, there was a surprise starring role from Eric Cantona in Liam's video for his single Once, released in 2019. The video consists of little more than Cantona sitting around in a countryside mansion, drinking wine and lip-syncing to Liam's vocals. Cantona, according to Liam, refused any offer of payment, or assistance in travel or accommodation. Given the United-City connection, it took some time to get your head around; but then, just like George Best on the Definitely Maybe album cover, Cantona transcended both United and football. Throughout the period where they never spoke, the nearest thing to bringing Liam and Noel together was football. In 2016, both were insisting they hadn't been in touch since the breakup in 2009, with one near-miss. 'I think it was a football match in 2013 or 2014,' Liam said in a Radio X interview, when asked the last time they'd been together. 'It was a a City match. He was in one box and I was in another box, and I went into see him and I pinched his nipple and kissed him on the ear. I don't think we spoke.' Advertisement Whereas Liam used to watch City in a box rented by former midfielder Stephen Ireland, his fandom has waned slightly in recent years. 'I don't go and watch them anymore. I don't really like the Etihad,' he said to the NME in 2020. 'I don't dig it, it's like going and watching the f***ing opera.' But you can't escape Noel. He popped up in the City dressing room to sing Wonderwall with the players after the Premier League title victory in 2019. Four years later, City's players sang the same song in the dressing room after their European Cup final win over Inter (sadly without the lines about Kinkladze or Ball). City's next game against Inter also featured Oasis — their specially-designed Puma kit was a curious cream-blue number that was inspired by the cover art for Definitely Maybe. You'd probably have struggled to spot the resemblance had you not been told. But it completed a neat cycle: the album cover featured a player in a City shirt, and now a City shirt was inspired by the album cover. Noel also apparently had a role in designing the font for the back of City's shirts last season. He's still on good terms with Guardiola, and his refusal to join in the 'Poznan' a couple of years ago away at Fulham proved very popular and led to, it must be acknowledged, some excellent puns. 'He sees things they'll never see' worked particularly well. Oasis' initial demise coincided almost perfectly with City's rise. The band's last gig was on August 22nd 2009, the same day as City's first home match that season — the first full season of the current ownership, when they ultimately ended in fifth, at the time their best finish in the Premier League era. On that final tour, Oasis played three dates at Wembley Stadium. The previous time City had played at Wembley was a decade earlier, for the memorable win over Gillingham. That was in the third tier, and at the old stadium. (Even accounting for the seven-year rebuilding period, City wouldn't have been at Wembley in that time — they never played at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.) Noel Gallagher speaking ahead of Manchester City's play-off final against Gillingham. — Sky Sports Retro (@SkySportsRetro) May 21, 2022 And now, between Oasis gigs — summer 2009 to summer 2025 — City have played at Wembley 31 times: 10 FA Cup semi-finals, six FA Cup finals, six League Cup finals, seven Community Shield finals and two Premier League matches (when Tottenham were between grounds). It's a far cry from 1995, when Gallagher said of City, 'Hopefully they'll win something while I'm alive. But I wouldn't put money on it.' This summer, Oasis will play seven dates at Wembley. They'll also play the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, where City will hope to win the Club World Cup final this summer, and where the World Cup final will be played next year. The one disappointment is they won't be playing the Etihad, where they played in 2005, and where Liam played a solo gig in 2022, because it is undergoing renovations. But the tour will finish in South America, where Oasis will play at the legendary home grounds of River Plate and Sao Paulo. Advertisement Rock music is sometimes an awkward fit in a football ground, and Oasis haven't always excelled at these big stadium gigs. But over the last three decades, Oasis and football, perhaps more than any other band and any other sport, has always felt like a natural combination. (Illustration: Eamonn Dalton / The Athletic; James Gill – Danehouse; Avalon; Neil Mockford; Getty Images)
New York Times
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