Cover Story
Cover Story: The Effigies • The Spirit of the Scene
At its outset, 2023 looked to be an unexpected banner year for Chicago punk-scene legends The Effigies. COVID had finally waned, national concert attendance had rebounded, and the once-moribund music business itself was on a creative upswing — a perfect backdrop for Burned, the band’s latest (fifth) album, a surprise power-chorded treat for longtime fans […]
Cover Story: Steel Panther • Can’t Stop The Rock
When it comes to Steel Panther, no subject matter is off-limits. The Los Angeles “hair metal” revivalists don’t hold back — or sugarcoat anything — when creating the band’s humorous, tongue-in-cheek lyrics. Tracks such as “Asian Hooker,” “Fat Girl (Thar She Blows),” “Big Boobs,” “Weenie Ride,” “Glory Hole,” and many more prove that the band […]
Cover Story: Myles Kennedy • The Golden Voice
Since stepping up on stage from the audience to join the fictitious metal band Steel Dragon from the 2001 motion picture Rockstar, starring Mark Wahlberg, Myles “Thor” Kennedy has shuffled from one extraordinary musical opportunity to the next. In 2002, Kennedy was offered an audition for the vocalist spot in the newly formed supergroup Velvet […]
Cover Story: Fig Dish • Renewal and Rejuvenation
There’s an electricity in the air of late, bristling arm hairs here in Chicago. There’s the injection of HGH into the DNC going into their convention. The recent acknowledgment that the music industry spotlight is once again illuminating Chicago’s rock music scene in a seemingly cyclical fashion. Then there’s the excitement brewing about Fig Dish, […]
Cover Story: Slash • Raised on the Blues
Over four decades, Slash has established himself as one of the greatest guitarists in the world. It seems he’s done it all. Aside from laying down iconic riffs for Guns N’ Roses, he’s worked with just about anyone you can think of: Lenny Kravitz, Alice Cooper, Bob Dylan, Michael Jackson, Miles Kennedy, Carole King, Iggy […]
Cover Story: Plain White T’s: The Timing is Right
It’s 2024, and somehow, “Hey There Delilah” is making headlines. Again. The iconic Plain White T’s song went viral when Drake and parody rapper Snowd4y shared their version entitled “Wah Gawn Deliah.” So, what did Plain White T’s singer/songwriter Tom Higgenson think? He’s flattered but still questions if it’s real. Yet, he’s in awe […]
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 […]
IE REWIND: The Sisters of Mercy • The Proud Villains • Appearing at Aragon Ballroom October 23 • Chicago
Like many of us over the past three COVID-constricted years, I — as both a journalist and a human being, in general — spent a great deal of time looking back, reflecting on past decisions, discoveries, and early drug-related derailments, and not always comfortably. I’ve made a few mistakes over my crazy, always-colorful 46-year career, […]
Cover Story: Jamey Jasta on Milwaukee Metal Fest, Solo Music and The Future
By Kelley Simms One of the country’s most nostalgic metal festivals was resurrected in 2023 and will, thankfully, return for a second straight year. Initially founded in 1987 by Jack Koshick (also the founder of March Metal Meltdown), the Milwaukee Metal Fest has a storied history and was once an annual global metal music tradition […]
Cover Story: Elbow • Love & Friendship
In Almost Famous, Cameron Crowe’s semi-autobiographical film covering his early mid-‘70s music-scribe years, Philip Seymour Hoffman — channeling legendary rock critic Lester Bangs — has some sage advice for Patrick Fugit’s earnest teen hopeful William Miller. In the cold, cutthroat new world he’s entering of publicists, exotic junkets, free booze, and possibly drugs, it’s all […]
Cover Story: Ministry • Age of Disinformation + March 14 Aragon Ballroom Photo Gallery
My apologies, Dear Readers. And I’m not joking here. I really believed that — after an adventurous, always enlightening, occasionally drug-blurred four-decade career in rock journalism that kicked off in the Midwest fresh out of high school back in halcyon 1977 — I had nothing left to offer, no moving words left to conjure, no […]
Cover Story: Alkaline Trio • Urgent Energy
Alkaline Trio is no stranger to the macabre. The Chicago punk outfit doesn’t shy away from talking about heavy topics like loss, addiction, and depression. But even when they’re talking about how everything sucks, they do it with a wink and nod. Their wry lyrical wit paired with punchy high energy music makes their […]
Cover Story: John 5 • Immersed In Music
When it comes to musical diversity and performing genre-hopping styles, guitarist John William Lowery (aka John 5) is one of the most prolific. Whether he’s creating rock, industrial metal, funk, EDM, progressive, or bluegrass compositions, the lethal six-string slinger is guaranteed to shred all over it. With a musical resume that includes such diverse artists […]
Cover Story: Trans-Siberian Orchestra • A Quarter Century of Christmas
If you still haven’t experienced the Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s annual winter holiday show, you should seriously consider adding it to your bucket list. The TSO traveling holiday rock opera is a multimillion-dollar act that has grown exponentially since the band’s inception, making it one of the biggest-grossing concert bands in the US. In true holiday-giving […]
Cover Story: The Hives – The Best Part of the Day
When a band makes a grand return after a decades-long absence, it’s a mix of emotions. There’s equal parts dread and excitement, happy to return to adoring fans, yet anxious to see if anyone still cares, especially in the short attention span of the streaming age. But those pesky thoughts never seemed to bother The […]
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