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Stage Buzz: Riot Fest 2018 – Sept 14-16 Douglas Park, Chicago: First Wave
Riot Fest continues its tradition of solid, left of center bookings for the 2018 version of the hometown festival that returns to Douglas Park September 14-16. This year’s fest brings a bevy of artists across dozens of genres on five stages including “First Wave” headliners including Blink-182 and Beck (with a third to be revealed […]
Photo Gallery: Ace Frehley at Northern Lights Theater
Kiss’s guitar master and Hall Of Famer performed a surprisingly bluesy set in southern Wisconsin, mixing Kiss hits with original classics. Set list is below. Ed Spinelli caught Ace in action in the Cream City. Parasite (KISS song) Play Video Rip It Out Play Video Hard Times (KISS song) Play Video Snowblind Play Video […]
Photo Gallery: Ghost at Riverside Theatre
Swedish psych-metal stalwarts Ghost at the Riverside Theatre in Milwaukee went beyond fan expectations until tragedy struck shortly before intermission. Jeffrey Fortune from Dane County, WI passed away at set’s end due to natural; causes, despite efforts by paramedics. Ghost posted the following message on their Facebook page: Tonight, in Milwaukee there was a medical […]
Photo Gallery: Yeah Yeah Yeah’s at Aragon Ballroom
It’s been more than five years since New York’s Yeah Yeah Yeahs have released a studio record. Their breakthrough debut, Fever To Tell, turned 15 this year, so instead of any new material, the trio has hit the road supporting a deluxe reissue of that record. The tour is playing a limited number of cities, […]
Photo Gallery: The Head and the Heart and Nathaniel Rateliff & the Nightsweats at Huntington Bank Pavilion
Summer is here and the time is right for music being played outdoors. Which is precisely what happened when The Head and the Heart and Nathaniel Rateliff & the Nightsweats kicked off their co-headlining tour at Huntington Bank Pavilion on the shores of Lake Michigan. For The Head and the Heart, this trek is more […]
Photo Galley: Taylor Swift at Soldier Field
Taylor Swift is dead. Long live Taylor Swift. At least that’s what her most recent album would have you believe. Taking the stage accompanied by Joan Jett’s “Bad Reputation,” Swift sent a pretty clear message that even if the haters gonna hate, Taylor 2.0 is completely nonplussed. “The Swifties,” possibly pop music’s most dedicated fan […]
Eddy “The Chief” Clearwater: 1935-2018
Blues legend Eddy “The Chief” Clearwater, who passed away on June 1 of heart failure, towered over the Chicago music scene both literally and figuratively. At six feet four, he cut a striking figure, slashing his left-handed guitar with his signature blues, rock and funk riffs. Born in a Mississippi cotton field and nurtured by […]
Live Review and Photo Gallery: David Byrne at Auditorium Theatre
In press statements, David Byrne promised that his current tour supporting new album American Utopia would present his most ambitious show since staging the 1983 concerts that became the Jonathan Demme-directed film Stop Making Sense with Talking Heads. On the first of three nights at Chicago’s elegant Auditorium Theatre, Byrne and his cohort of 11 […]
Photo Gallery: Slayer with Lamb of God, Anthrax, Behemoth, and Testament at Hollywood Casino Ampthiteatre
With the Open Air Chicago festival on sabbatical in 2018, Slayer brought a mini who’s who of metal to the HCA in Tinley Park last Friday. It also was Slayer’s final appearance in Chicagoland to make the event even more momentous. Ed Spinelli caught the historic night on ‘film.’
Cover Story: Lissie
There is a word – and indeed a whole attendant concept – that singer-songwriter Lissie (born Elisabeth Corrin Morris in Rock Island, Illinois; she long ago dropped her surname for performing) had gradually let slip from her memory, over her recent years spent living in sunny Ojai, California. And it’s not something too easy to […]
Media: June 2018
WSCR (The Score) Morning host Mike Mulligan has the background that Chicago sports fans seem to require. He is one of us. “I grew up on the South Side, and went to school at Quigley, and college at Loyola.” He also grew up listening to the radio, and he understands our unique market history. “I […]
Photo Gallery: Courtney Barnett at Preston Bradley Hall at the Chicago Cultural Center
“Put me on a pedestal and I’ll only disappoint you.” Nothing could have been further from the truth when Courtney Barnett sang that line from her song “Pedestrian at Best.” The native Australian just released her second long player Tell Me How You Really Feel and is celebrating the occasion with a brief tour in […]
Live Review and Photo Gallery: U2 at United Center
U2 United Center, Chicago Tuesday, May 22, 2018 A mere three years ago, U2 set up shop at the United Center for five nights to unveil its ambitious “iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE” concept, accompanied by a boundary-breaking, technologically-innovative visual assault. Bono and the boys then pressed “pause” on the project to celebrate the 30thanniversary of *The […]
Photo Gallery: Sons of Apollo at Arcada Theatre
Bassist Billy Sheehan and drummer Mike Portnoy are arguably the greatest hard rock rhythm section of all time, and their newest supergroup Sons of Apollo delivered a dynamic and sometimes awe-inspring show at the Arcada last week. Their bandmates Derik Sherinian, Jeff Scott Soto and Ron “Bumblefoot Thal more than held their own and are […]
Photo Gallery: The Kills at House of Vans
Chicago’s House of Vans has become a viable nightspot in Chicago’s music landscape over the past 15 months since their grand opening in 2017. As part of their Get On Board:A Celebration of Women’s Skateboarding, the shoemaker invited The Kills to their Elizabeth Street HQ. Accustomed to playing larger clubs and theaters, the American-British duo […]
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