 They grow up so fast. Riot Fest turns 15 this year. To think, they've had teenage angst since they were pre-teens. We all knew it could get wild when they really blossomed into full high school angst but for f**k's sake, look at that lineup! If you're one of those people that really needs to see the line-up before you go to Riot Fest, this should be all you need to put your mind at rest and your money on the table. We're not even saying that because our logo is on the poster, we really mean it! THE HEADLINERSBlink-182 is making good on their promise to play Riot Fest this year after needing to cancel last year due to health reasons. Slayer is closing out their Chicago & Milwaukee performance days at Douglas Park. Jack White will be there with The Raconteurs, Rise Against will return for the first time since playing the inaugural outdoor fest, oh, and BIKINI KILL! Need we say more. (The full line up is below, gawk for yourself!) Full Album PerformancesAs Riot Fest as a reunion, the full album performance is a staple of this festival. Our good friend Wayne Coin and The Flaming Lips will be playing Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robot in its entirety. Against Me! is doing a double wammy with Reinventing Axl Rose and Transgender Dysphoria Blues. Avail will be playing Over The James, Bloc Party, in celebration of it's 15th birthday, will be playing Silent Alarm. Dashboard Confessional playing The Places You Have Come To Fear The Most, Glassjaw with Worship and Tribute, The Selecter shredding Too Much Pressure. Senses Fail will also be doing a double feature including From the Depths of Dreams and Let It Enfold You as well as Taking Back Sunday with Tell All Your Friends and Louder Now. Oh, and Ween is playing The Mollusk in full, so thats something. THE DETAILSWHAT: Riot Fest's 15th Birthday Party WHERE: Douglas Park — Chicago Illinois WHEN: September 13th - 15th WHY: Because it would finally make your parents proud HOW: Buy a ticket by clicking here WHO: All of these fine folks  MORE TO RIOT ABOUTWe've been round the block a few times, if you want to see some of our past Riot experiences, click here. We have some cool interviews, pretty pictures, vulgarity — a good time all around.
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 TOOL Lead singer Maynard James Keenan performing for the second day of Chicago Open Air Music Festival at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview. Words + Photos by Bobby Talamine Even with an early downpour of lightning and thunder, day two of Chicago Open Air had all the bands perform. No cancellations. Alien Weaponry was the first up to perform. Their drummer started the show with a Maori War Dance and chant from behind the drum kit and displayed a tribe's pride--showing the unity and strength within this band. For such young dudes, they have presence times ten.With some of their songs spoken in their Maori language from Waipu New Zealand, it was a short and riveting set. The Black Dahlia Murder were next up, and presented great guitar playing from Brandon Ellis and Brian Eschbach. Although in regards to vocalist Trevor Stmad, things fell flat. Almost like a phoned-in set from these guys. Wicked as wicked comes was Fever 333’s set. Definitely one of the highlights of the day, with all three band members going apeshit at any given moment. Unpredictable to the core, making the most of their 35 minute - ish set, with vocalist Jason Aalon Butler worked his way into the crowd, and on top of the roof of the two story building stage left to belt out the last song. Drummer Aric Improta did lots more than drumming by jumping around and standing on top of his kit to get the crowd riled up (as if it's even necessary). Guitarist Stephen Harrison also worked his way into the crowd playing guitar in the middle of a heavy mosh pit. Fever 333. Crazy. Nutty. Awesome. The next band on the lineup was In this Moment. In This Moment’s set was like a scene from Spinal Tap. It took what seemed like forever for the roadies to adjust and tweak the stage props, fog machines, and whatnot. And for what? To open the set with a David Coverdale / Whitesnake tune, followed by a hallowed occult instrumental to actual band--equals awkward. And for what? Lead singer of In This Moment, Maria Brink, has the vocal chops, but with the stage cluttered with too many distracting props, it was hard for her to maintain the audience’s attention. Even for a brief 40 minutes.  In This Moment lead singer Maria Brink performing a theatrical set. Onto the mighty Gojira, lead by brothers Joe and Mario Duplantier. The Duplantier brothers--who hail from Bayonne, France--brought the fierceness like Meshuggah did on day one. Gojira was relentless from beginning to end with a vertical pyro...I mean jesus! No skimping with these guys. Gojira: caffeinated times ten. Then comes The Cult, lead by Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy with accompaniment by drummer John Tempesta, which was cool. But talk about falling flat...what a bummer. Yeah, the music's still there, sort of. Hard to screw up and sink the ship with Billy Duffy, that's for sure. What was irritating during the show was mid performance, Astbury expressed trepidation with Chicago fans by explaining the lack of community and brotherhood he felt from Chicago to a rather tepid audience. With the lukewarm enthusiasm from said band, which for all intents and purposes- is flat with a capital "F.” News flash to Ian Astbury, don't piss off Chicago. Come to play, and do your damnest to try to sing upper register if at all possible please. Now all things TOOL. Sophisticated with a simple and striking production, aided by vivid vertical LED backdrops, and solid musicianship still intact. Danny Carey came out in his trusty Kansas basketball jersey to the drumkit, followed by Justin Chancellor in a fine vest and long sleeve shirt, looking clean cut, but played as wicked and as heavy as ever. Hermit looking Adam Jones came onto the stage, hoodie up, all eyes down to guitar pedals and ready to go. Maynard James Keenan was the last one to get onstage, costumed up from head to toe in a wicked leather jacket emblazoned on the front with some alien ish cartoon, a red and black checkered tight fitting pants, sporting a shaved head mohawk of mohawks, and wicked joker makeup that gives you the feeling of dark and sinister. Keenan’s get up screamed “don't fuck with me.”  Keenan belting out lyrics to a mesmerized audience. I'm exhausted in writing that, without even getting to the music of TOOL, opening with "Aenema" and "Learn to Swim" in refrain over and over and over. I'm in full bore, with Tool heading directly into "The Pot," followed by "Parabola" and "Descending"--a new song Tool has added to their setlist--along with one other new song "Invincible," which is appropriately titled. Again - utter exhaustion from this lengthy edit for JBTV Music Television, but nevertheless...TOOL rules. Enough said. A splendid day of assorted metal, with a few hiccups, but still - oh- so- cool.  Beartooth's lead singer Caleb Shomo performing at SeatGeek Stadium on May 18th for Chicago Open Air Music Festival. Words + Photos by Bobby Talamine Thunderstorms, high winds, and lightning win the first couple hours of Chicago Open Air Day One, delaying the opening time from 2:30pm until approximately 4:30 pm, and delaying fans from entering Seatgeek Stadium to start the show. The first three opening acts got knocked off the bill: Code Orange, Knocked Loose, and Vein. Leaving four remaining once the storms cleared: System of a Down, Ghost, Meshuggah, and Beartooth. System of a Down were the usual volatile and relentless self. A long set with plenty of piss and vinegar, and the crowd eating it up and wanting more. Unfortunately there were no photos for this performance, just the quick review, and the fact that System of a Down, even though playing just a few festival dates, still brandish a mighty wallop.  One of the "Nameless Ghouls" who make up some of the band members of Ghost. Before System of a Down: Cardinal Copia and the Ghouls of Ghost. This version of Ghost front and center- showmanship. Lots and lots of showmanship, a stage dressed up with steps like a mantel to a cathedral. Heavy on backlit murals that looked like stained glass windows of sophisticated dark imagery. Musically, these guys are spot on with Cardinal Copia who lashed out vigorously from the first song "Rats" by hanging on to the last vowels with the "T" to no end, sending chills down your spine. Cardinal Copia worked the stage left and right, preaching to the masses all things dark and sinister. And so it goes with the said showmanship, with all the Ghouls making their mark with heavy guitars and drums and bass and keyboards. Nasty and oh so polished - that's Ghost.  Lead singer of Ghost, Cardinal Copia, performing in front of a Cathedral backdrop. How about Meshuggah and their version of extreme and mathematical metal? Still as fiendish and unrelenting as ever. No one comes close in the onslaught of all things Meshuggah, with Tomas Haake heavy on the backbeat and percussion, one song blasting into the next, with Jens Kidman front and center with the howl of deep throated vocals, and never losing his range or his might in song after song. The mindbending guitars of Marten Hagstrom and Fredrik Thordendal, still wildly inventive and tight as ever. Vicious- these two, both in improvisation, and physical might of said song, with Dick Lovgren holding down the fort in all things low end and complicated bass.  Meshuggah guitarist, Marten Hagstrom, shredding onstage. Openers Beartooth provide wicked party time, with the rain soaked crowd in attendance bursting forth with mosh pits after mosh pits. As for the four bands on Day One of Chicago Open Air: It is what it is. That said- you can never go wrong with Meshuggah and Ghost. Might mighty fine players, these dudes.  The 1975 frontman Matt Healy performing at the United Center in Chicago on May 8th. Words + Photos by Bobby Talamine The 1975 have come a long way since appearing at JBTV Music Television in the summer of 2014, and that was made clear during their headlining performance at the United Center in Chicago on Wednesday, May 8th with openers No Rome and fellow JBTV alum Pale Waves. London-based musician No Rome started the show with a performance that radiated chill and laid back vibes; while Pale Waves gave a live performance that bursted with confidence that matched their Goth/Rock/Pop vibe. With Heather Baron-Gracie fronting the band, Hugo Silvani on guitar, Charlie Wood on bass, and Ciara Doran on drums, it was great to see Pale Waves have a stage and audience size that matched their talent.
Shortly after Pale Waves’ set, The 1975 graced the stage and gave the audience a multi-sensory, visual experience. Bold and vivid colors washed across the massive backdrop of LED screens behind the band as the first notes of "Give Yourself a Try" from their most recent release, A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships, started to take shape. Theatrics and sophisticated visuals can fall flat if the musicianship is not there, and that is far from the case with The 1975. Each band member plays multiple instruments with Adam Hann on lead guitar, keyboards and synths, Ross MacDonald on bass, keyboards and synths, and George Daniel rounding it off with drums and percussion.  The 1975 performing with their visually amazing stage configuration. Bathed in mostly magenta and light purple hues, The 1975 frontman Matt Healy worked the front of the stage with awkward delight, donning a fine two piece suit with black sneakers. Healy contorted his body with his tongue hanging out throughout the set, as if in on the joke of the definition of what "rock n' roll star" means in this day and age. The young teenage girls packed at the front gate ate it up, knowing the lyrics to every song, and dancing in wide eyed delight. Matt Healy worked the crowd like a true frontman, even taking moments to say how the band and him loved Chicago. Healy professed his love for Chicago by sharing a story on how he experienced the worst hangover on record right here in Chicago, with all the pain that ensues in trying to recover from an epic night out. Hangover-riddled anecdotes aside, Healy’s already commanding stage presence was supplemented by the stage configuration and the crafty, back up dancers Taitlyn and Kaylee Jaiy--known professionally as the Jaiy twins. The front lip of the stage had a slow, moving walkway that added showmanship and emotion to every song that was aided by the dance moves of the Jaiy twins. With the multi-talented band members, the cheeky antics of Matt Healy, the dynamic nature of the stage, and the Jaiy twins’ skilled choreography; The 1975 gave the United Center a show that demanded the audience’s full, undivided attention. See The 1975 perform live on their current North American Tour and buy their latest album A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships! |
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