Tag: featured
Anniversary Albums: Tears for Fears • The Hurting
Tears for Fears The Hurting (40th anniversary Abbey Road remaster LP) (Mercury/UMC) For a band with its staying power and following, Tears for Fears’ catalog is brief. By all reports, it isn’t a lack of work ethic that suppressed productivity – it’s the internal quality control exercised by principals Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith. The […]
Media: July 2023 • Catching up with Mr. Wert
After more than four decades in the media business as a sales manager/general manager/vice president for places like WLS-TV, The Loop AM & FM radio stations, NBC-5 Chicago, and the Tribune Company, Larry Wert considers himself semi-retired. “But I’m working way more than I should be, considering I’m semi-retired,” he admits. “I’m working on […]
Stage Buzz: Between the Buried and Me, Anita Baker, NASCAR Music
Between the Buried and Me are known for their high-concept albums that create thematic sagas within their discography. Their rich storytelling will be on full display when they perform their acclaimed 2012 album The Parallax II: Future Sequence in its entirety this Friday, June 30 at House of Blues. Thank You Scientist and Rivers of […]
Spins: Flaming Lips: The EPs
The Flaming Lips Hypnotist vinyl EP Fight Test vinyl EP Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell vinyl EP (Warner Records) Released in conjunction with the Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots 20th-anniversary campaign, these three EPs add to the picture of The Flaming Lips’ surging power during a period of peak creativity while simultaneously edging […]
Live Review and Photo Gallery: The Cure at United Center • Chicago
The Cure United Center Chicago, IL June 10, 2023 Live Review by Ashley Perez Holingsworth; Photos by Curt Baran Seven years to the date of their 2016 Chicago appearance, The Cure returned for another stunning show in the Windy City. The post-punk elder statesmen delivered a phenomenal 31-song set at United Center filled with classic hits, […]
Photo Gallery: Dead & Company – Night One • Wrigley Field • Chicago
Dead and Company Wrigley Field Chicago, IL June 9, 2023 Recap and photos by Curt Baran To paraphrase one of their songs: Is this the moment when the music finally stops?!? Dead and Company, the collective hexad comprised of former Grateful Dead members, has hit the road on what is being billed as “The Final […]
Live Review and Photo Gallery: Love and Rockets at Riviera Theatre • Chicago
Love and Rockets The Riviera Theatre Chicago, IL Tuesday, June 6, 2023 Review by Jeff Elbel. Photos by Curt Baran. Few would have begrudged the reason, but many festival ticketholders were crestfallen when singer Peter Murphy stepped away for rehabilitation treatment and pulled the plug on Bauhaus’ summer tour soon before last year’s scheduled date […]
Live Review and Photo Gallery: Taylor Swift • Night 3 • Soldier Field • Chicago
Taylor Swift Soldier Field Chicago, IL June 4, 2023 Review by Riley Vernon. Photos: Aubrey and Riley Vernon Just when you think she’s peaked, Taylor Swift keeps climbing. The global powerhouse dazzled Soldier Field by wrapping up the final night of three sold-out Chicago shows on her highly anticipated “Eras Tour.” It’s been a long […]
Stage Buzz Q&A: Ultra Q at Metro • Chicago
When Jakob Armstrong decided to end Mt. Eddy, the band he formed in high school with brothers Enzo and Chris Malaspina, later joined by Kevin Judd, and regroup as Ultra Q, he wasn’t sure if it was the right thing to do. Weeks away from the release of Ultra Q’s debut album, he still […]
Cover Story: Moby • Liberating Me
If you had the luxury of compiling a wish list of gab-gifted guests for the Perfect Dinner Party, you could do a lot worse than inviting techno-jazz-pop-ambient-symphonic Renaissance man Moby. Personally — without even touching on his four-decade, genre-jumping musical career— he has a true wealth of achievements to discuss, including his photography […]
Live Review and Photo Gallery: Poster Children at Bottom Lounge • Chicago
Poster Children Saturday, May 27, 2023 Bottom Lounge, Chicago, IL Review and photos by Jeff Elbel “We are Poster Children from Champaign, Illinois” has been bassist Rose Marshack’s salutation to audiences for decades. After extending a welcome to Saturday’s audience at Bottom Lounge, Marshack took questions while brothers Jim and Rick Valentin tuned […]
Stage Buzz: Helloween, Seal, NKOTP Blockfest, Adelitas Way
German metal legends Helloween, recently inducted into the Heavy Metal Hall of Fame in New York, come to the Riviera Theatre on Friday, 5/26. Their debut album Walls of Jericho, has stood the test of time as one the greatest speed metal debuts ever.  Helloween is touring with metal stalwarts Hammerfall – making this tour one of […]
Live Review: Hozier at Metro • Chicago
Hozier Metro Chicago, IL May 16, 2023 By Aubrey Vernon Irish singer/songwriter Hozier’s “pop-up show” at Metro was, as expected, a uniquely intimate moment for lucky fans who were able to score tickets at the iconic 1100-seat venue. 2023 promises to be a good year for Andrew Hozier-Byrne, who just announced his third album (with […]
Live Review: Glenn Kotche at Senior Hall • Homewood
Glenn Kotche Senior Hall Cabin Homewood, IL May 6, 2023 By Craig Frank Bang a gong, play it with wooden spoons, or rattle it with paint scrapers, Wilco’s Glenn Kotche recently treated listeners with his insights, tricks, and inspirational sources to both his methods and musicality. On a recent Homewood evening in a Depression-era forest […]
Live Review: Hoodoo Gurus at City Winery • Chicago
Hoodoo Gurus City Winery Chicago Sunday, May 14, 2023 Review and photos by Jeff Elbel Australian garage rock legends Hoodoo Gurus made their first visit to Chicago since 2007 on Sunday, bringing potent new songs from the 2022 album Chariot of the Gods to a sold-out audience at City Winery. The band’s 40th-anniversary tour date was two years […]
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