Stage Buzz: Cold Waves, Iron Maiden, Randy Stonehill, Sweet, Chelsea Wolfe

Brassneck | September 21, 2026

Stabbing Westward

English heavy metal titans Iron Maiden are celebrating over 50 years of searing guitar riffs, Eddie the Monster, and Bruce Dickinson’s insane vocals. The band behind metal staples “Run to the Hills,” “The Trooper,” “Aces High,” and “2 Minutes to Midnight” continues to influence a new generation of fans. The band brings their “Run for Your Lives Tour” with special guest Megadeth to Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre in Tinley Park on Tuesday, September 22nd. You can still get tickets here.

British glam-rockers Sweet rose to worldwide fame in the 1970s as one of the era’s top three acts. Aka The Sweet’s music and its influence upon countless popular mega acts of the ’80s and ’90s. After the original group disbanded in 1981, original founder Steve Priest came out of retirement in 2007. His goal was to put together a band that would represent The Sweet and his legacy into the 21st century. He met up with legendary drummer Richie Onori and master musician showman Stevie Stewart. The band arrives September 24 at Des Plaines Theatre. Grab tickets here.

Festival season isn’t over yet! Chicago’s seminal industrial/post punk celebration, Cold Waves Fest, happens this weekend. Highlighting some of the genre’s greatest acts while spotlighting newcomers, this year’s lineup includes The Tear Garden, Stabbing Westward, PIG, TR/ST, King Woman, Youth Code, Die Sexual, Purest Form, Flesh_Bot, Moon 17, Bragolin, NUXX, and more. The four-day festival takes place across two venues, kicking off at Bottom Lounge on Thursday, September 24, and finishing off at the Metro on Sunday, September 27th. Get your tickets here.

Singer/songwriter Chelsea Wolfe is a musical shapeshifter. Refusing to be boxed in, she incorporates a wide range of genres into her music, including lo-fi, electronic, goth, black metal, doom, and folk, to name a few. The result is ethereal, haunting, and beautiful. In support of her new album, The Dark, Wolfe performs at The Riviera Theatre on Monday, September 28th. Tickets are available here.

Randy Stonehill emerged as a folk-style and pop-rock artist in the early ‘70s, bringing songcraft, wit, and heart to songs that put him in the musical company of singer-songwriters like James Taylor, Cat Stevens, Paul McCartney, and Sixto Rodriguez. As one of the pioneering voices of the Jesus Music movement, Stonehill’s story-songs often reflected his faith in an approachable way. Alongside artists including Larry Norman, progressive pop group Daniel Amos, guitar maestro Phil Keaggy, and Chicago-based hard rockers Resurrection Band, Stonehill helped lay the groundwork for what eventually became known as Contemporary Christian Music (CCM). Stonehill’s landmark album Welcome to Paradise, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, features the restless blues-rocker “Keep Me Runnin’” and satirical “Lung Cancer.” 1983’s Equator included the comical critique of “American Fast Food” and the reflective “Turning Thirty” (the singer turned 74 this year). The following year’s Celebrate This Heartbeat turned toward the soft-rock of “Still Small Voice” and a stirring duet with Keaggy called “Who Will Save the Children,” used by Compassion International’s charitable campaign against third-world poverty. Stonehill would later collaborate with Keaggy on the latter’s Beatles-influenced pop-rock album Sunday’s Child. In 1991, Stonehill’s Wonderama album featured work with Daniel Amos’ mastermind Terry Scott Taylor. The album’s touching “Rachel Delevoryas” echoed the Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby.” Wonderama’s “Great Big Stupid World” served satire with a spoonful of sugar, while “Sing in Portuguese” offered a heartrending portrait of watching a loved one succumb to dementia. Stonehill’s most recent studio album is 2020’s Lost Art of Listening. The Grammy- and Dove-nominated artist is an engaging raconteur who indulges in humorous and heartfelt storytelling, dazzles as a colorful rhythm guitarist, and remains a gifted melodist with a beautiful tenor and supple top range. Stonehill plies these skills while capitalizing on the freedom to follow any whim during solo acoustic performances. He performs this Sunday at 6 PM at Glen Arbor Community Church, 204 Church Street, West Chicago, IL. The concert is free to attend, with pass-the-hat donations accepted. (glenarbor.org) – Jeff Elbel