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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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Media: September 2025 • John Owens’ Passion Project
You may not realize it, but you have either read or watched the work of John Owens if you lived in Chicago any time over the past 35 years. He wrote for The Chicago Reader (including a front page piece at the young age of 21) and the Chicago Tribune (for 28 years). But […]
Stage Buzz: Billy Bob Thornton & The Boxmasters at Joe’s Live September 16 • Rosemont
The Boxmasters — featuring musician/actor Billy Bob Thornton and guitarist J.D. Andrew – plays an amalgam of twangy country music, jangling rockabilly, and infectious pop, with large doses of Americana and British Invasion influences. Although most people are primarily familiar with Thornton as an actor, music was his first love. Thornton initially started out as […]
Photo Gallery: The Lumineers at Soldier Field • Chicago
The Lumineers August 30, 2025 Soldier Field Chicago, IL Recap and photos by Curt Baran The Lumineers perform music that wouldn’t feel out of place being performed on a dilapidated front porch adjacent to a gravel road. Yet there they were on a perfect Chicago summer evening, taking the stage inside a massive football stadium. […]
Photo Gallery: My Chemical Romance at Soldier Field • Chicago
My Chemical Romance Soldier Field Chicago, IL August 28, 2025 Recap and photos by Curt Baran Is Classic Rock getting younger? Over the past week or so, the city has welcomed visits from rock radio staples such as Oasis and Nine Inch Nails. But unlike those Gen X-leaning acts, My Chemical Romance has not so […]
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