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Hello My Name Is…Tim “Ripper” Owens of the Three Tremors
Although the Three Tremors concept was initially conceived in the early 2000s by Iron Maiden wailer Bruce Dickinson, Judas Priest screamer Rob Halford, and QueensrĂżche belter Geoff Tate, it never came to fruition. However, in 2018, Cage vocalist Sean âThe Hell Destroyerâ Peck began tossing the idea around with journeyman vocalist Tim âRipperâ Owens (ex-Judas […]
Cover Story: Green Day
On the most instinctual gut level, Billie Joe Armstrong gets it. No question. A la cinematic director Godfrey Reggioâs 1983 visual masterpiece Koyaanisqatsi, life â nationally and around the world â has tipped completely, horribly, maybe irrevocably out of balance. On one recent day alone, the headlines said it all: Freakish, climate-change-spurred floods are swamping […]
Live Review and Photo Gallery – Dirty Honey at Bottom Lounge
Dirty Honey Tuesday, February 11 Bottom Lounge, Chicago For the past year, some music industry folks have been working themselves into a piranha-like frenzy over L.A. blues-rock quartet Dirty Honey. Formed in 2017, the band features singer Marc Labelle, guitarist John Notto, bassist Justin Smolian, and drummer Corey Coverstone. The buzz surrounding the band is heightened in […]
Live Review: DeadMau5 at Navy Pier
Deadmau5 âCube V3â Saturday, February 1 Navy Pier, Chicago From 2008 to 2015, Joel Zimmerman, aka Deadmau5, was the inescapable force in the world of electronic dance music, one of the most prominent and most easily recognizable names in the genre, putting out albums like Album Title Goes Here and While(1<2). To many people, he […]
Cover Story: Grace Potter [with added Photo Gallery from Riviera Theatre]
In the DC Comics universe, Superman always had his Fortress of Solitude, a secluded palace on the frozen Arctic tundra where he could go to muse on his complex relationships with villains, the Justice League, and indeed his planetary protectorate, humankind itself. Not bad, as exotic getaways go. Vermont-bred folk-rocker Grace Potter, on the other […]
Cover Story – Caroline Polachek
The relationship between art and its attendant inspiration has been analyzed countless times over the years. The French painter Henri Matisse, for instance, said that the main impetus for creativity was simply courage, while author Jack London believed that you had to hunt it down with a club. Renowned acting coach Stella Adler posited that […]
Stage Buzz: Signal The Launch at House of Blues
The members of the Chicago power trio Signal the Launch share a strong musical bond. The Lane Tech College Prep and Rolling Meadows High School graduates â brothers Mariusz (guitars/vocals) and Dan Owczarczak (bass), and Kevin Karpa (drums) â formed the band in 2016 after a life-altering incident that happened to Mariusz while driving […]
Media – January 2020
When Brad Edwards was asked to be the co-anchor of the 5, 6, and 10 pm newscasts on CBS-2 Chicago in March of 2019, he was a little taken aback. Edwards had been a big part of the award-winning CBS investigative team since 2012, and “anchor” was a whole different ballgame. He knew what […]
Holiday Hangover at House of Blues Chicago
House of Blues Chicago is kicking off the 2019 Holiday Season with their first-ever Holiday Hangover – ten days of top national tribute bands along with a roster of Chicago’s best tributes. The format has been a blast at other HOB locations across the country, and the talent buyers at the Windy City location […]
Cover Story: Sam Fender
Ostensibly, this is an article about British rock newcomer Sam Fender and his brilliant, one-in-a-million debut disc, Hypersonic Missiles – easily the best album of the year. Nothing can touch it; itâs so far ahead of the pack. But itâs also a moment where we canât help but break with a few staid journalistic traditions […]
Live Review: Madonna at The Chicago Theatre
Madame X Tour Chicago Theatre October 16, 2019 “Artists are here to disturb the peace.â One has to wonder if Madonna Louise Ciccone has accepted this James Baldwin quote as her lifeâs mantra. Letâs face it; the native Michigander has always had a reputation as a rabble-rouser. So, when it was announced that she would […]
Cover Story: The B-52s
Kate Pierson may not have coined the suddenly-popular new portmanteau “glamping,” a mashup of glamorous and camping. Nor did she come up with its posh concept âexperiencing the great outdoors, but through the comfortable buffer of the most modern of conveniences. No, the bouffant-haired B-52âs founder had nothing to do with any part of this […]
Cover Story: Perry Farrell
It took Brazilian author Paulo Coelho just two weeks to write back in â87, but the compact little novel The Alchemist is one of those metaphysical, feel-good reads that not only deserves to be on every literate bookshelf alongside The Little Prince, but demands to be revisited every couple of years lest its wisdom be […]
Cover Story: John Paul White
Itâs a morsel of time-tested wisdom â initially put forward by Mahatma Gandhi â that just becomes more relevant with each passing day:Â âBe the change that you want to see in the world.â As in, stop kvetching about Donald Trump and all his horrific misdeeds and get involved with the grassroots groundswell of fighting […]










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