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Stage Buzz: Pitchfork Music Fest, Model/Actriz, Halestorm, Limp Bizkit
Pitchfork Music Festival returns to Union Park this weekend for three days of great music, lots of dancing, and good vibes. This year’s lineup features headliners Black Pumas, Jamie xx, and Alanis Morissette. Other acts on the bill include 100 gecs Jai Paul, Carly Rae Jepsen, De La Soul, Bratmobile, Brittany Howard, Grandmaster Flash, […]
Media: July 2024 • 45th Anniversary of Disco Demolition: A Loop Insider’s Story
In the heyday of the late ’70s and early ’80s, Loop (WLUP, 97.9 FM) was owned by Congressman Cecil Heftel of Heftel Broadcasting. The president of Heftel Broadcasting was Tom Hoyt. A few photos of Hoyt appear in my book The Loop Files, as do a few stories told by him during his Heftel […]
Stage Buzz: Rolling Stones, Hawthorne Heights, Third Eye Blind
The Rolling Stones are defying the odds. The original bad boys of rock are still touring and making new music 62 years (!) in their career. Their 24th album, Hackney Diamonds, dropped last year. But it’s classics like “Start Me Up,” “Miss You,” “Paint It Black,” “Sympathy for the Devil,” “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” and “(I […]
Stage Buzz: Brigitte Calls Me Baby, Big Suit
Actor, global superstar, dancer, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee. Janet Jackson has done it all. Even this far into her career, Ms. Jackson shows no signs of stopping. One of the most influential women in R&B/Pop, she still knows how to put on a killer show. See it for yourself when she performs […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Studiophile: Remembering Steve Albini
Audio engineer, musician, and studio owner Steve Albini passed away unexpectedly on Tuesday night (May 7). His death is a terrible loss not only to his family, colleagues, and friends but also to so many studio engineers and music fans who loved his production and passion. His extensive recording resume included groundbreaking bands like Nirvana, […]
Stage Buzz: Q&A • Devo at The Riviera Theatre • Chicago
Stage Buzz interviews with Gerald Casale and Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo Q&A by Jeff Elbel Art rockers and New Wave pioneers Devo have chronicled the backward steps of humanity for more than half a century. Songs including “Peek-A-Boo!” and “Beautiful World” are slices of energetic synth-pop with wicked twists below the surface. De facto […]
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, […]
Skating Polly, Craig David, John Oates
For the past six decades, John Oates made up one-half of the soul duo Hall & Oates. The singer/songwriter broke out on his own for his debut solo album Phunk Shui in 2002. Now, he returns with a new solo album, Reunion, and a supporting tour. John Oates will play a sold-out show with […]
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