The story behind Laura Jane Grace’s ‘I Hate Chicago’ song
Laura Jane Grace’s forthcoming solo album, “Bought to Rot,” includes a song called “I Hate Chicago.” Which might not be a big deal, except that Grace, who grew up in...
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Elton John review: A farewell with a ’70s soundtrack at the United Center
It was an 8-track-tape kind of evening Friday as Elton John brought his long goodbye tour to the sold-out United Center. Most of the 24 songs performed in the 2...
Robyn explores loss and sensuality on the dancefloor on ‘Honey’
Robyn’s last album was actually a trilogy of “Body Talk” EPs in 2010, which included an era-defining single, “Dancing on My Own.” It was a club hit spackled with hurt,...
Where have all the protest songs gone? Here’s 10 to listen to today
Where have all the protest songs gone? Some of them may not be commercial hits in the way Childish Gambino’s “This is America” was earlier this year, but they’re out...
Can the power of a song make you vote? Chance the Rapper, Taylor Swift and other pop stars think so
It has been a tumultuous couple of years in music, with a flood of recordings and statements pouring out from artists across a range of genres, from hip-hop to country,...
Chicago duo Grapetooth turns a barroom whim into a band
It began as many would-be dreams do, with a boozy late-night conversation in a Chicago bar. It was December, 2015. Clay Frankel, guitarist in rock upstarts Twin Peaks, and Chris...
Florence and the Machine review: Rage and hope while dancing barefoot
A rarity occurred at the outset of the Florence and the Machine concert Friday at the United Center. Florence Welch stood still. The singer drifted down a flight of stairs...
Greta Van Fleet can’t get the Led out of its sound on ‘Anthem of the Peaceful Army’ debut
Robert Plant knows would-be golden gods when he hears them. “They are ‘Led Zeppelin I,’ ” he said earlier this year of Greta Van Fleet, a quartet that started as...
Wayne Kramer and the hard lessons of the MC5
For decades, the MC5 has been consigned to a footnote in rock history, rebel outcasts who were more heard about by connoisseurs of proto-punk and metal than actually heard. The...
Gorillaz review: A dance party for end times at United Center
It was the most introspective of dance parties. In front of a boisterous United Center crowd Tuesday and leading a 13-member incarnation of his part-virtual, part-real band Gorillaz, Damon Albarn...