There are plenty of great people who write dreadful songs, and there are plenty of groundbreaking musicians who aren’t the greatest of people. By many accounts, 67-year-old rock icon Lou Reed isn’t the most cordial of fellows. Reed has a long history of cantankerous relations with the press, with his bandmates, with other bands, and […]
If you have to start a riot, it might as well be one full of cheerleaders. However, a cheerleader’s rah-rah has nothing to do with New York chamber poppers Ra Ra Riot. The pun was just too good not to stretch. On the heels of their stellar Barsuk debut, The Rhumb Line, these former Syracuse […]
It’s been a while since Karen O, Nick Zinner and Brian Chase were an afterthought. Yet that’s exactly what Yeah Yeah Yeahs were to this year’s Lollapalooza. It’s not that the New York trio was simply a late edition to Saturday’s headlining slot. They weren’t on the roster at all until fellow NYC trio The […]
Lollapalooza has never been shy about inking the biggest names in rock ‘n’ roll. After all, this is a festival that got its start in the previous decade’s heyday of macho guitar riffs. From The Rollins Band in the early days to Nine Inch Nails last year, it’s a summer concert series built on tougher […]
Still feeding off the moderate-to-warm praise of last year’s Appeal to Reason, Chicago punk rockers Rise Against have their meat hooks buried deep in the flesh of a summer tour. Well, as much as strict vegetarians and PETA supporters can have their meat hooks stuck in something, anyway. And with a split release with Face […]
Nothing says “fun summer concert in a park by the beach” like epic stories of prog-rock posturing, right? What could be more appropriate music for the casual passersby culture of an outdoor festival than intricate storylines based on character-driven tales of the apocalypse? And who is better equipped for Chicago’s sweltering August heat than four […]
There are few things more nerve-racking than the literal translation of this Portland duo. A blind pilot flying a plane? Terrifying. Blind Pilot the band? Quirky and engaging. The band’s balancing act between Americana folk music and pure West Coast pop is the stuff of regional expectations. Israel Nebeker and Ryan Dobrowski draw from a […]
If anything is alive today, it certainly is glam rock…which makes Living Things so apropos. With the St. Louis ensemble’s third LP Habeas Corpus only a few months old, brothers Lillian, Eve and Bosh Berlin are certainly no strangers to the glam scene. And neither is their full-on throwback sound recalling the era of big […]
Depeche Mode is at its best when Dave Gahan is at his worst. Not that the mesmerizing frontman is ever bad on stage; audiences have hung on the 47-year-old raven-haired vocalist’s every word throughout his roughest patches. But it’s times when he’s not performing — like during his battles with heroin addiction, his much publicized […]
Lollapalooza is a big place and getting separated from your group is likely, but that’s what cell phones are for. In the case of a dead phone battery, however, I recommend coming up with a special whistle to help signal your friends. For this, Andrew Bird could certainly help. The 36-year-old singer/violinist/whistling extraordinaire sure knows […]