Macklemore will be performing at Emens Auditorium on Feb. 3 at 7:30 PM. To purchase tickets visit the Emens Box office or buy them online with Ticketmaster.
Top Macklemore songs, sorted by the amount of time on Billboard's Top 100 chart:
1. Thrift Shop- 49 weeks
2. Can't Hold Us- 39 weeks
3. Same Love- 30 weeks
4. White Walls- 22 weeks
5. Downtown- 20 weeks
(via Billboard.com)
An Evening with Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, the first tour in two years for the hip hop duo, will make a stop in Emens Auditorium February 3. The tour kicked off January 9 in Phoenix and comes on the cusp of their highly-anticipated album, This Unruly Mess I’ve Made, which is expected to drop on February 26.
Robert Myers, Emens Auditorium Director, has noticed the excitement building around the concert.
“The first day of sales was pretty exciting and there were a lot of students,” he said.
Emens sold more than 3,000 tickets for the show, and as of 5:30 P.M. on Tuesday, Feb. 2, there were only 151 tickets left.
Myers also commented on the potential impact hosting a household name like Macklemore could have for Emens and the possibility of similar, bigger names performing on campus.
“When you have bigger shows, it raises the persona of our venue- not so much locally but in the industry. It might lead to other opportunities.”
The tour specifically focused on playing smaller venues, making Emens a perfect candidate. After tonight there are only two more US stops scheduled before the show moves the overseas portion of its run on Mar. 8.
Ben Haggerty, better known as Macklemore, and Ryan Lewis broke into the music industry in a big way in 2012 with their single Thrift Shop off of their first full-length album together, The Heist. That album went on to yield two number one hits, four Grammy awards and a spot as the most streamed artist on Spotify in 2013.
However, the rise to fame was quick and sudden for the duo, and ultimately unsustainable. Due to many factors, including Haggerty’s brief relapse with substance abuse and the birth of his daughter, the duo largely disappeared from the musical map until the release of their single Downtown in August 2015.
Since then, another single has been released and anticipation for the new album has skyrocketed. Some consider this tour a comeback for the duo, and Ball State students are excited to be a part of it.
“I’ve never been to a concert, and the tickets were only ten dollars, so I thought ‘Heck yeah!’” said freshman Micha Germann.
Matt Buckner, a sophomore music media production student, is a huge fan of the duo’s music and is especially anticipating this show.
He became interested in Macklemore after coming to Ball State as a freshman because of the depth and honesty present in their lyrics.
“I thought Thrift Shop was cool, but I heard a lot of artistry in that so I looked back at some of [Macklemore’s] older music and that’s what I’m a huge fan of, the raw storytelling style of his music. His lyrics are clever and well thought out, and he gives such beautiful stories and examples [in his songs],” said Buckner.
Buckner said he waited outside with his friends in the early hours of the morning for the tickets—the night before they went on sale the group took shifts, and after closing up at his Rec Center job at 1:30, Buckner joined them outside for the 2-4 AM shift.
“They were totally worth it, we’re [in] like the third row, center," he said.
Besides thoughtful lyrics, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis are also known for tackling social issues not normally explored in hip hop.
Their 2012 single, Same Love focused on LGBTQ rights and was performed at the 2014 Grammy Awards while 33 same-sex couples were married on air. Their newest single, White Privilege II, explores issues of race.
Above all, however, it is Macklemore’s distinct and truthful style when singing about both personal and larger social issues that appeals to fans.
“He truly enjoys his music and his ability to express himself and be creative through his music,” Buckner explained. “He’s somebody who approaches everything with this kind of wholehearted devotion to being able to learn, and that’s just been something that’s been huge for me,” he said.
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