Features
Cover Story: Green Day
On the most instinctual gut level, Billie Joe Armstrong gets it. No question. A la cinematic director Godfrey Reggio’s 1983 visual masterpiece Koyaanisqatsi, life — nationally and around the world — 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 […]
![Hello My Name Is…Steve Harris from Iron Maiden and British Lion [with Photo Gallery from The Forge of Joliet]](http://illinoisentertainer.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/BL11-e1581299331927-150x150.jpg "Hello My Name Is…Steve Harris from Iron Maiden and British Lion [with Photo Gallery from The Forge of Joliet]")
Hello My Name Is…Steve Harris from Iron Maiden and British Lion [with Photo Gallery from The Forge of Joliet]
Liam Gallagher always said that there are only two ways for an English lad to break free from his grey, oppressive, working-class environment — become a professional footballer or start a rock and roll band. Growing up in the London suburb of Leytonstone, Iron Maiden bassist Steve Harris clearly remembers doing both. Quite well, […]
![Cover Story: Grace Potter [with added Photo Gallery from Riviera Theatre]](http://illinoisentertainer.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/gp9-e1581298059207-150x150.jpeg "Cover Story: Grace Potter [with added Photo Gallery from Riviera Theatre]")
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 […]
Hello My Name Is…Michael Des Barres
Michael Des Barres doesn’t want to sound jaded like he’s seen it all before. But at a sage-like 71, he has, in many ways. So don’t fault the Renaissance man for his cynical view of most pop stars’ careers: “They pretty much have a formula now,” he chuckles. “Young kid writes some songs, has some […]
Cover Story – Liam Gallagher
What becomes a legend most? It’s an old question when it comes to pop stars and celebrities in general. Not rhetorical at all, but a real procedural, albeit aesthetic conundrum whose answer — either flamboyant or conversely simplified — can often have disastrous long-term results on the career of the said performer. You’ll […]
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; it’s so far ahead of the pack. But it’s also a moment where we can’t help but break with a few staid journalistic traditions […]
Cover Story: Perry Farrell
It took Brazilian author Paulo Coelho just two weeks to write back in ’87, 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 […]
Media: July 2019
On July 12th the Chicago White Sox will be celebrating the 40th anniversary of one of the most famous stunts in radio history. On that day in 1979, WLUP radio morning personalities Steve Dahl & Garry Meier went onto the field of Comiskey Park between games of a White Sox doubleheader with the Detroit Tigers […]
Cover Story: John Paul White
It’s a morsel of time-tested wisdom — initially put forward by Mahatma Gandhi — that just becomes more relevant with each passing day: “Be the change that you want to see in the world.” As in, stop kvetching about Donald Trump and all his horrific misdeeds and get involved with the grassroots groundswell of fighting […]
Cover Story: Gary Clark Jr.
The Chosen One. The Future of the Blues Guitar. The Next Stevie Ray Vaughan. Savior of the Blues. At only 35-years of age, Gary Clark Jr. has carried a lot of pressure on his slim shoulders. But from the time he was a teen, blasting away his elders at Austin nightclubs, a grand destiny […]
Cover Story: The Way Down Wanderers
Peoria natives The Way Down Wanderers may be new to many, but since dropping a self-titled debut in 2016, as well as a pair of EPs and a live recording, the quintet has steadily swelled their grassroots fan base with an alluring, frequently unexpected hybrid of heartland sounds. Comprised of guitarist/vocalist Austin Krause-Thompson, mandolin player/violinist/guitarist/vocalist […]
Cover Story: Hozier
When Andrew Hozier-Byrne looks back on his past four successful years — ever since his eponymous debut disc went #1 in his native Ireland and Top 10 around the world, fueled by the irresistible, Gospel-fervent smash single “Take Me to Church” — he has a tough time remembering all his subsequent major career coups. […]
Cover Story: nothing, nowhere.
Cries for help don’t come much more urgently. Last month, brash young Saturday Night Live comedian Pete Davidson — who had joked for months in sketches about being diagnosed with borderline personality disorder — lost any remaining shreds of humor about his often-debilitating condition when he posted an alarming message on Instagram, right before he […]
Feature Story: Jay O’Rourke
If the Chicago music scene had a spine, Jay O’Rourke would one of its vertebrae. He’s been around a while, worked with some great artists as producer and engineer, and tasted some brief major-label success. But it wasn’t until now, 40 years into his story, that he says he’s found his voice. Last month […]
Recent Comments