Recent Articles
Live Review: Robert Plant & Alison Krauss • Ravinia Festival • Highland Park
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss Ravinia Festival Highland Park, IL Wednesday, June 12, 2024 Review by Jeff Elbel. Photos by Kyle Dunleavy/Ravinia Festival. Wednesday’s concert at Ravinia Festival celebrated the seemingly serendipitous pairing of rock legend Robert Plant and bluegrass torchbearer Alison Krauss. While emphasizing roots music and Americana, the bandleaders’ partnership testified to the […]
Photo Gallery: Sarah McLachlan • Huntington Bank Pavilion • Chicago
Sarah McLachlan Huntington Bank Pavilion Chicago, IL June 11, 2024 Recap and photos by Curt Baran If you closed your eyes, it was as if you’d been transported back to 1994. Sarah McLachlan began singing “Possession” from her Fumbling Toward Ecstasy album from that year and it sounded as if her voice had been cryogenically […]
Stage Buzz: The Dead Daisies with Enuff Z’Nuff, Lyrical Lemonade Summer Smash, PVRIS
Heavy rock supergroup The Dead Daisies, led by ex-Motley Crue vocalist John Corabi, arrive at Arcada Theatre on Wednesday, June 12. Touring in support of their new single “Light Em Up” (and new album in September), expect an evening of classic tracks (“Rise Up,” “Long Way to Go”) from their decade together. Local glam rockers […]
Photo Gallery: Khruangbin • June 7 • Chicago
Khruangbin The Salt Shed Chicago, IL June 7, 2024 Recap and photos by Curt Baran Few celebrate summer like Chicago. It seemingly takes forever to arrive and vanishes in an eye blink. So, when an evening presents itself as the perfect combination of weather and soundtrack, it feels like an absolute victory. Such was the […]
Feature: Kula Shaker • Spiritual Relationships
    “Not dead YET.”     For better or worse, that has become my patented gallows-humored, post-pandemic response to anyone who casually inquires how I’m doing. Based on the hilarious Monty Python Death Cart scene in The Holy Grail, I’ve found it to be a good way of underscoring the […]
Stage Buzz Q & A: Jon Anderson at Copernicus Center • Chicago
Jon Anderson is in love with life. At 79 years old, he’s still doing what makes him happy: making and playing music. Not only is he prepping a summer tour with The Band Geeks, but he’s also getting ready to release his 16th solo album, True. With a career spanning several decades, it would be […]
Stage Buzz: Alien Ant Farm, Allie X, Rick Springfield, Kim Gordon
Alien Ant Farm, the band known for giving Michael Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal” a hard rock makeover, returns with Mantras, their first new album in nine years. Though a lot has changed in that time, the band is still unapologetically their brash, high-energy, abrasive selves. Hear fan favorites along with new songs at their Bottom […]
Photo Gallery: The Damned at Concord Hall • Chicago + Bonus Live Review from The Gothic Theatre • Denver
The Damned Concord Music Hall Chicago, IL June 2, 2024 Recap and photos by Curt Baran Although they’ve maintained a core of usual suspects, The Damned have certainly endured a revolving door of both personnel changes and musical directions. This is not entirely surprising, considering the UK band is now entering its FIFTH decade as […]
Media: June 2024 • 100 Years Of The Big ’89
This year, WLS-AM 890 is celebrating its 100th anniversary as a radio station. It’s really been three radio stations during that time. From 1924 to 1960, WLS served the farmers of the Midwest. Since 1989, it’s been a conservative talk radio station. But for 29 glorious years (1960-1989), it was the biggest Top-40 station in […]
Cover Story: Kerry King • Solo Time
Five years since Slayer played what was to be the band’s final gig on November 30, 2019, on their Farewell Tour during a hometown show at the Forum in Los Angeles, guitarist Kerry King has resurfaced with the release of his first solo album, From Hell I Rise (via Reigning Phoenix Music). Recruiting former Slayer […]
Stage Buzz: Allman Betts Band, Melt-Banana, The Damned, , George Clinton
The term “nepo baby” gets thrown around in show business a lot these days. Two sons of southern rock greats (Greg Allman and Dickie Betts) are doing it right, honoring and expanding the legacy of southern roots rock (Devon Allman and Duane Betts with Berry Duane Oakley). The Allman Betts Band arrives at the Arcada […]
Photo Gallery: Angel at Arcada Theatre • St. Charles
Angel with Sabbath Nights Arcada Theatre Saturday, May 18 St. Charles Ed Spinelli captured the ’70s hard rock stalwarts Angel with Sabbath Nights at the historic Arcada Theatre in St. Charles.
Photo Gallery: The Decemberists with Ratboys at Salt Shed • Chicago
The Decembrists with Ratboys The Salt Shed Chicago, IL May 21, 2024 Recap and photos by Curt Baran Portland, Oregon’s The Decemberists haven’t released an album in eight years, a veritable lifetime in the record industry hourglass. Well, all that’s about to change. The band is set to release As It Ever Was, So It […]
Photo Gallery: Social Distortion & Bad Religion at The Riviera Theatre • Chicago, IL
Social Distortion/Bad Religion Riviera Theatre Chicago, IL May 20, 2024 Recap and photos by Curt Baran There was a time when just simply being a punk was dangerous. I mean, you could get your ass kicked just walking down the street!” Social Distortion singer Mike Ness shared this walk down memory lane during his band’s […]
Knocked Loose, LCD Soundsystem, Echo and the Bunnymen
Knocked Loose is one of the most acclaimed metalcore groups of the late 2010s. Their blending of metalcore noise with hardcore punk made their sound brash, rough, and exciting. The band returned this year with their third album, You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To, which they’ll be touring behind. Hear cuts from the latest […]
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