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Recap and Photo Gallery Day Two (Part One): Riot Fest 2025 at Douglass Park • Chicago
Riot Fest 2025 Douglass Park Chicago, IL September 20, 2025 Recap by Jeff Elbel, Gallery by Curt Baran (Buzzcocks and The Damned by Jeff Elbel) Saturday at Riot Fest was another day filled with highlights and memorable performances, although many were a bit soggier than Friday’s fare. Agent Orange offered the first full-album performance of […]
Recap and Photo Gallery Day Two (Part Two): Riot Fest 2025 at Douglass Park • Chicago
Riot Fest 2025 Douglass Park Chicago, IL September 20, 2025 Recap by Jeff Elbel, Gallery by Curt Baran Saturday at Riot Fest was another day filled with highlights and memorable performances, although many were a bit soggier than Friday’s fare. Agent Orange offered the first full-album performance of the day, playing all of 1981’s Living […]
Recap and Photo Gallery Day Three (Part One): Riot Fest 2025 at Douglass Park • Chicago
Riot Fest 2025 Douglass Park Chicago, IL September 21, 2025 Recap by Jeff Elbel, Gallery by Curt Baran Riot Fest 2025 careened to an explosive and communal finish on Sunday with its third day in Douglass Park. The schedule offered more full-album sets (eight in total) than the prior two days, beginning with The Effigies’ […]
Recap and Photo Gallery Day Three (Part Two): Riot Fest 2025 at Douglass Park • Chicago
Riot Fest 2025 Douglass Park Chicago, IL September 21, 2025 Recap by Jeff Elbel, Gallery by Curt Baran Riot Fest 2025 careened to an explosive and communal finish on Sunday with its third day in Douglass Park. The schedule offered more full-album sets (eight in total) than the prior two days, beginning with The […]
Stage Buzz: Cold Waves Festival, Deltron 3030, Sam Fender, Turnstile, Deacon Blues
Fans have been patiently waiting for Deltron 3030’s follow-up to 2013’s Event 2. While fans keep waiting for the album, the hip-hop trio is back to celebrate the 25th anniversary of their self-titled debut album. Dan the Automater, DJ Kid Koala, and Del the Funky Homosapien will perform the entire album during their two-night stint […]
Stage Buzz: Viagra Boys with Die Spitz • September 18, 2025
Viagra Boys with Die Spitz Salt Shed Chicago September 18, 2025 Recap and Photo Gallery by Curt Baran Stockholm, Sweden’s Viagra Boys, seemingly picked the right day to return to Chicago, as our First Amendment was under attack. This left-leaning six-piece truly resides in life’s darker spaces, and sadly, is one of the few bands […]
Photo Gallery: The Pixies and Spoon at Salt Shed • Chicago
The Pixies and Spoon Salt Shed Chicago, IL September 15, 2025 Recap and Gallery by Curt Baran Even by ’90s alt-rock standards, Pixies were weird. They sang songs about Surrealism, existential dread, drug dealers, art films, and fringe artists. For their trouble, they were met with critical acclaim and some minor commercial success. By 1993, […]
Photo Galley: Rilo Kelly at Frederik Meijer Gardens • Grand Rapids, MI
Rilo Kelly Frederik Meijer Gardens Grand Rapids, MI September 14, 2025 Recap and photo by Curt Baran “I think it’s going to be a special night. We’re playing in the Garden of Eden!” It turns out that Jenny Lewis is a pretty good prognosticator. The Frederik Meijer Garden Amphitheater is a 2000-capacity music shell dropped […]
Stage Buzz: Riot Fest, Tacos and Tequila Festival, Tomorrow X Together, Rhapsody of Fire with Witherfall
Cancel your dinner plans for Thursday night, the Forge in Joliet will be serving a smorgasbord of Heavy Metal. Headliners are Italian symphonic power metal stalwarts Rhapsody of Fire, who are touring in support of 2024’s Challenge the Wind, as well as celebrating the 25th anniversary of their classic Dawn of Victory album. LA’s Witherfall also […]
Live Review: Supergrass at The Riviera Theatre • Chicago
Supergrass The Riviera Theatre Chicago, IL September 9, 2025 Review and photos by Jeff Elbel. Supergrass may not have scaled the same heights in North America as Britpop frontrunners, including the Verve, Blur, or touring hosts Radiohead during the ’90s and early ’00s, but the band from Oxford, England, made an indelible mark and […]
Live Review: The Who at United Center • Chicago
The Who United Center Chicago, IL September 7, 2025 Review by Jeff Elbel When the Who undertook their first farewell “Schlitz” tour in 1982, fans took them at their word and packed arenas. The British rockers even released a successful live album called Who’s Last in 1984. The following year, the band was strong-armed by […]
Stage Buzz: Mudvayne, Lady Gaga, YUNGBLUD
Dominic Richard Harrison, better known as YUNGBLUD, fuses his love of hip-hop, post punk, punk rock, and pop punk for a sound that can only be defined as “YUNGBLUD.” He continues to evolve on his newest album, Idols, which may be his most ambitious record yet. Hear cuts from the new album along with fan […]
Photo Gallery: System of a Down at Soldier Field • Chicago
System of a Down with Avenged Sevenfold August 31, 2025 Soldier Field Chicago, IL Recap and photos by Edward Spinelli; additional photo by Clemente Ruiz After three sold-out shows at the historic lakefront venue (Oasis, My Chemical Romance, The Lumineers), System of a Down arrived at Soldier Field (with Avenged Sevenfold) for their penultimate debut […]
Stage Buzz: Finn Wolfhard, PUP, Clipse
Finn Wolfhard is best known for playing Mike Wheeler on Netflix’s hit Stranger Things, but in recent years, he’s set his sights on his other passion: music. After spending time in bands Calpurnia and The Aubreys, Wolfhard released his debut solo album, Happy Birthday, this past June. Hear Wolfhard’s jangly, indie pop sound when he […]
Cover Story: The Barbarians of California • From L.A. to Riot Fest
At first glance, the Barbarians of California seemingly appeared out of nowhere. For Aaron Bruno and Eric Stenman, this has been decades in the making. The hardcore scene is one of Bruno’s first loves. He discovered the music during a pivotal time in his life as a 14-year-old punk skater. He was not only […]
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