Elton John gets the absurd bio-pic he deserves in ‘Rocketman’
In many ways, Elton John's '70s were a twisted Vegas show, a Broadway play gone bonkers. He was a "rock star" only in the most unconventional sense. In the lineage...
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Riot Fest 2019 lineup: Slayer bids farewell, Bikini Kill reunites, Blink-182 makes good on last year’s cancellation
Riot Fest will mark its 15th anniversary when it returns Sept. 13-15 to Douglas Park with a farewell and a welcome back: Slayer's final Chicago show and the reunion of...
Jamila Woods at Thalia Hall review: Dancing amid the turbulence
As one of her songs says, Jamila Woods is "not your typical girl." The line bookended her concert Sunday at Thalia Hall, first with quiet firmness, then with a smile...
Mavis Staples is history. Jamila Woods is making history. How new music from two Chicago artists remind us that ‘progress is a process’
"Bullets flying, mothers crying ... What good is freedom if we haven't learned to be free," Mavis Staples sings at the outset of her new album, "We Get By" (Anti)....
¿Se ha sobrecargado el mercado de festivales de verano en Chicago?
Los festivales de verano están luchando por mantenerse relevantes y sin embargo, hay más que nunca. Esa aparente contradicción se manifiesta en Norteamérica cada año, más en Chicago, que en...
Slow ticket sales. Thin lineups. Has the Chicago summer festival market hit overload?
Summer festivals are struggling to stay relevant, yet there are more of them than ever. That apparent contradiction plays out across North America every year, never more so than in...
Chance the Rapper giving a taste of an upcoming project with the new single ‘Groceries’
Chance the Rapper rolled out a new single, "GRoCERIES," on Friday, apparently the first taste of an album, "Owbum," that he has promised will be out in July. The bouncy,...
The National shakes up the formula on ‘I Am Easy to Find’
There is one radiant voice that keeps the National's more-subdued-than-usual new album buoyant, and it doesn't belong to any of the band members. It's the voice of Gail Ann Dorsey,...
Lollapalooza 2019: The tough decisions you’ll have to make now that the daily schedule is out
It's decision time for Lollapalooza ticket holders with the release of the festival's daily schedule. The grid shows when and where each of more than 180 bands and artists will...
Jamila Woods channels the greats to build her legacy
On the opening track of Jamila Woods' "Legacy! Legacy!" (Jagjaguwar), the poet-educator-activist picks up where she left off on her extraordinary 2016 debut album. "Great greats come down," she sings,...