Fans put the “riot” into Riot Fest this festival season
cover photo: Vic Mensa by Timoty Hiatt Without a doubt, Riot Fest is the biggest rock festival to take place in Chicago every fall. It was great seeing a slew of fantastic bands make a …
show reviews
“It’s so good to be here” – Highlights from the Pitchfork return to Union Park
photos by Kristie Kahns Pitchfork Music Festival returned for its 15th year on September 10th for a weekend of incredible music, food, and art. The show’s artist’s graced the three stages …
This is major: FME returns with performances by Cadence Weapon, Lido Pimienta, Emma Beko, and many more
Some events are all about following the program, others are a “make your own adventure”. FME is the latter, mostly because you cannot possibly see every performance, but also because you can …
ÉSSO Bring Latino rhythm to Millennium Park
It was a beautiful evening at the Millennium Park in downtown Chicago when Afro-Latino funk band ÉSSO (or ÉSSO Afrojam Funkbeat) took center stage. Members of ÉSSO have been playing together …
A fuchsia turquoise place: Valerie June at Summerstage in Central Park
I think the thing that surprised me the most about Valerie June was her on-stage persona – she was silly – which was a pleasant surprise. I first became aware of Valerie June in 2013 by …
Dancing up a storm at North Coast Music Festival, Chicago
photos by Manny Diaz If you love dancing to electronic music then you likely were at the North Coast Music Festival participating in this epic weekend. If however, you missed it, don’t …
Elsie fest: The unexpected but shining gem of BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn!
Elsie fest returned to NYC on August 29th, 2021 for its 6th run since the 2015 debut. The festival is touted as the first outdoor music festival in New York City that centers around show …
The chaotic beauty of Lyrical Lemonade’s Summer Smash
Photos by Manny Diaz Lyrical Lemonade’s Summer Smash music festival returned to Chicago for its third anniversary. The festival showcase brought together some of the best rappers to come out …
Journey of Lollapalooza 2021 from established artists to TikTok stars
Photos by Jack Pontarelli Whew we did it! Against all odds, the 30th anniversary of Lollapalooza actually happened. Over 350,000 people gathered in Grant Park for the 4-day festival. Those …
Sudan Archives on her first tour ever, reproducing “Athena” from scratch one song at a time
Sudan Archives is a woman of many talents: a violinist, singer, songwriter, and producer she performs as a one-woman-show but not a second of it makes you miss other potential band …