Category Archives: TVD Chicago

On Wednesday, November 8th, actor, comedian, and musician Zack Fox had the crowd laughing and dancing at the same time while he performed at the Metro in Chicago, IL. Storming the stage shortly after finding out that the SAG-AFTRA strike had come to an end, Fox was in rare form, giving the crowd his all and even commenting about how the crowds in Chicago can get a performer very pumped up.

Fox calmly walked on the stage, stopped at his looping machine, and proceeded to tell a joke about how he liked how white women get zen at yoga classes. Continuing with that joke, he started to play meditation music and led the crowd through a breathing exercise, laughing while doing so. He kept with the joke, playing the meditation music between some of his songs throughout the night.

Eloquently delivering a smooth flow over carefully crafted beats, you can’t tell that Fox interpolates comedic lines into his lyrics, such as “This the trap game Abraham Lincoln / Four score and 16 bars ago” from his collaboration with Kenny Beats “Jesus Is The One (I Got Depression).” Ending the night with crowd favorites “dummy” and “fafo,” everybody in attendance left the venue smiling and wanting more.

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One of the best live bands in the world, My Morning Jacket finished off their fall tour with a three-night run at the historic Chicago Theatre.

Together now for 25 years, the band seems to be aging like fine wine. Collectively they are a mesmerizing force, riffing off each other so that each song becomes a joyful journey. One minute you’re headbanging, the next you’re tearing up—especially when Jim James hits those high notes.

To be in the moment with this band and this fanbase is something special.

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What started out as a one time collaboration for an album by two hip-hop juggernauts, Run The Jewels celebrated 10 years as a super duo with four album releases under their belt, by performing in four different cities for four nights, each night consisting of a full play of one of their four albums. Chicago fans were in for a treat as they were one of the four lucky cities chosen for these special performances, and we were present for night three of this epic event.

El-P reminded the crowd at the beginning of the show that they were going to be playing their third album all the way through. Meaning, they weren’t only playing “just the bangers” from each album, but they were going to get through every single track, including the ones that they never put in touring rotation.

Run The Jewels are infectious when they perform live, which is a huge part of why they’ve been together for 10 years and why the fans keep coming back for more. Each night of their four show run in Chicago was completely sold out, and that included special four packs of tickets for super fans that wanted to attend every single night.

You can tell while watching El-P and Killer Mike on stage just how much they love performing together in front of their fans. There is never a moment when a smile isn’t plastered on one of their faces. The energy that they exude onstage feeds the energy of the crowd, and getting to watch this amazing spectacle from the outskirts of the crowd is exhilarating. El-P and Killer Mike run and jump around the stage, while the fans are banging their heads and bouncing around in the crowd.

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3:15PM: Pesky rain pushed the Riot Fest gates today. A bunch of the bands on the front end of the lineup lost their set times. A true bummer, but a festival reality.

4:08PM: Brit rock and shoegaze pioneers, Ride seem to have coaxed the sun out of hiding. Their songs are the perfect musical accompaniment to the much appreciated warm rays.

4:55PM: AFI’s Davey Havok pauses their high energy emo punk set to give some love to this evening’s headliners, The Cure. “Every band playing here…was influenced by The Cure.”

6:12PM: The Dresden Dolls are performers through and through. They look to be having the time of their lives up there—the fans sure are! The reunited duo also busted out some great covers, including Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs” and Beastie Boys’ “Fight for Your Right” with surprise guest, former Hole and Smashing Pumpkins bassist Melissa Auf der Maur.

6:59PM: It’s been a bit of an anticlimactic day because of the rain delay and photography restrictions for certain bands, such as The Mars Volta. I feel like the day has just begun but we’re winding down to a close. While I would’ve loved to photograph The Mars Volta, I’m grateful to have been witness to their commanding, hypnotic set.

8:31PM: There’s no shortage of tears during The Cure’s Riot Fest finale set. It’s an emotional and fitting ending to a weekend packed with memorable moments.

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2:03PM: Punk Rock and Paintbrushes has a pretty sweet little gallery tent to the left of Riot Fest’s Roots Stage. It’s filled with musician originals, including work from Dave Navarro, Chad Smith, Matt Skiba and more.

2:34PM: Jehnny Beth is a force. Her solo work is less punk rock and more industrial than her work with Savages. No one seems to care about the rain; all eyes are on her as she caps off her set with an excellent cover of Nine Inch Nails’ “Closer.”

3:19PM: At least 30 couples are getting married at Riot Fest this weekend and I just got to witness one of them. Congrats to the happy newlyweds, who if I’m not mistaken, were both named Brynn!

3:36PM: You can always expect to see the following at Riot Fest: mohawks, witty t-shirts, black on black on black, Doc Martens, kilts, tattoos for days, lots of eyeliner. And today: juggalos and juggalettes.

4:02PM: “We’re Sweden’s third worst band,” lead singer of the Viagra Boys, Sebastian Murphy, jokes. Their dance punk set is a party and the crowd surfers are out.

5:00PM: With Head Automatica, Daryl Palumbo explores his indie rock side. It’s a different vibe than the hardcore style of Glassjaw, but compelling nonetheless.

5:16PM: Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls have attracted a massive crowd over at the Rise Stage. With confessional lyrics and an energetic stage presence, I can see why.

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12:45PM: Riot Fest is back in Chicago for its 18th year and the lineup is stacked, as has come to be expected from the three-day (primarily) punk and metal festival. This fest in particular has a knack for convincing bands to reunite, convincing bands to play albums in full, and convincing bands who seldomly tour to dust off their instruments for a romp.

1:02PM: Nashville and Third Man Records’ Olivia Jean gets things going on a perfectly sunny Friday in Douglass Park. The look is rockabilly goth and the sound is garage rock.

1:41PM: When I was younger, my love of Elliott Smith led me to discover a slew of Portland, Oregon bands, one of whom was Quasi. So it’s awesome to see Sam Coomes and Janet Weiss recording music and touring together again.

2:18PM: George Clinton is 82 years young and still funkin’ touring! Parliament Funkadelic are tearing the roof off the sucker, wasting no time playing the hits.

2:44PM: I’m a sucker for political lyrics, especially if you happen to be a British band, so Yard Act is an early highlight. I have a feeling we’ll be seeing a lot more of them in the future.

3:39PM: Kim Gordon saunters around the stage while her young, talented band rips. She’s in no rush; she’s in command.

4:37PM: While I listen to The Interrupters cover Billie Eilish’s “Bad Guy,” I wander around the grounds, checking out the Logan Square Arcade tent and Riot Mall. The arcade has some pretty sweet games, including several Foo Fighters pinball machines, and the mall has a lot of vendors selling hemp edibles to teenagers. I catch some skateboarders on the halfpipe before making my way to the Rise Stage for my most anticipated set of the day.

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Hozier’s rich vocals cascaded across the sold out audience at Huntington Bank Pavilion in Chicago on Tuesday night, providing a transcendent, spiritual, and undeniably unforgettable journey of sound.

Known perhaps best for his hit “Take Me to Church” (which celebrated its 10 year anniversary the following day), Hozier’s storytelling combined with influences of soul, folk, and rock has allowed him to continue creating a steady stream of hits since his debut EP release in 2013.

An expert at making the crowd of 30,000 feel like personally invited guests, Hozier expressed his excitement towards promoting his newest album Unreal Unearth, telling Billboard: “This is the first time that I’ll be singing songs in the Irish language or singing parts of songs that are in Irish Gaelic. So I’m really excited to [play] Madison Square Garden or Hollywood Bowl, and sing in Gaeilge [the Irish language]… and watch as, hopefully, concertgoers and fans learn those lines and maybe even sing it with me.”

Prefacing his new song “To Someone From A Warm Climate (Uiscefhuaraithe),” Hozier explained that this title translates to “the feeling of cold only water brings.” A slow, melodic break in the middle of his set, it was a stunning moment to see Hozier’s wishes come true as the dedicated crowd sang along.

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With nostalgia bleeding into every note, Arctic Monkeys took to the United Center stage on August 27th for the second show of their North American tour.

Whether it’s the porthole screen that projected a ’90s filtered look of the live performance, the band’s effortless style or British charm, the crowd of 20,000 strong were hanging on every word that lead singer Alex Turner had to bestow.

Since the band was formed over 20 years ago, I expected the crowd to be of a more mature age, yet I was met with an eager barricade of mostly those in their teens and early 20s—even seeing young children with their parents, excitedly pressing their bedtimes.

Opening with “Sculptures of Anything Goes” from their 2022 album The Car, the indie band then moved back in time to their 2000’s hit “Brainstorm.” The sheer range of emotions, tempos and genres explored while all still sounding exactly like the Arctic Monkeys is a feat not many bands can execute with such grace. Speaking to The Guardian in 2022, Turner expressed of his songwriting journey, noting that “you have to be comfortable with the idea that things don’t have to be a pop song.”

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2:14PM: We’ve got clouds and some more rain today but Bakar and band are doing their best to lift the soggy spirits of Lollapaloozans. The British singer pulls a crowd early in the day, despite the weather.

3:00PM: Duo Neil Frances—not to be confused with Chicago musician Neal Francis—kick off a shimmery set full of indie electropop at the Bud Light stage.

3:58PM: The only disappointing note about Big Boss Vette’s set was its length. Clocking in at about half of the 45 minute slot, my guess is that she just needs a few more songs to fill out her show. I loved seeing her perform “Pretty Girls Walk” live.

5:13PM: Lil Yachty has one of the best albums of 2023, in my opinion, Let’s Start Here. In a surprising departure from his trap rap, the album is a funky, psychedelic journey. It sounds even better in person, but I wonder why he didn’t take this opportunity to have a full band backing him?

5:22PM: Shout out to the badass dude who just crowd surfed in his wheelchair.

5:33PM: After four days of observation, I’ve made a list of Lolla ’23 fashion trends: bubble braids, cowboy hats with fringe, long skirts, jerseys, of course, Barbie-themed apparel, heart-shaped sunglasses, facial art/bedazzlement, bucket hats, animal ears, plant sprouts on hats.

6:04PM: The Joey Bada$$ crowd continues to expand, sporadically chanting “JOEY!” and for good reason—he’s commanding the stage with finesse and ease, all while preaching love and positivity. And it doesn’t hurt that Chance the Rapper joins him for a couple songs.

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1:03PM: The early Saturday story? Rain. It’s been a few years since we’ve seen anything but sunshine at Lolla, so we’re due. Fortunately the rain isn’t accompanied by thunder or lightning, so no evacuations are necessary. Waterproof gear temporarily covers Saturday’s fits. “Do my shoes go with this poncho?” I overhear someone asking.

2:09PM: The Linda Lindas rule. A couple Lindas are rocking braces. This tracks, as the oldest member is a mere 18 years old. Still, the quartet seem seasoned for their age. They are punk, after all.

3:05PM: Charlotte, NC’s Mavi is on the rise, especially since his 2022 critically acclaimed album, Laughing So Hard, It Hurts. He is all smiles at the Bacardi stage and so are his fans.

4:22PM: Model, actress, photographer, musician?! Suki Waterhouse can do it all. She commands the stage, all of her abilities combining to give a polished performance.

5:05PM: Sylvan Esso has a new fan base and it’s K Poppers. The minute the first beat drops, the crowd, who’ve already been waiting for headliners Tomorrow x Together in the rain for hours, release a big, satisfied cheer and commence dancing.

5:42PM: I’m back on the south end in time to see The Revivalists cover Radiohead’s “High and Dry.” “This is that Tom Green song,” I hear a teen say to another. Wrong Thom, kiddo.

7:05PM: One of my most anticipated sets of the weekend, J.I.D., turned into one of the best sets of the weekend. The Atlanta rapper is hugely talented and dropped one of the best albums of 2022 (The Forever Story). His set reinforced his lyrical skills and was capped off with a double rainbow. Maybe that was a gift from Mac Miller, who J.I.D. represented on his shirt.

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3:17PM: There are times during a festival weekend when an artist impresses me so much that I don’t want to leave the set to head to the next one. Such is the case with Sudan Archives, who’s proving to be a performer with a capital “P.” A love of Irish music prompted her to pick up the violin, which lead to the development of her own style incorporating R&B, hip hop, and electronic sounds. Check out her critically acclaimed 2022 album, Natural Brown Prom Queen, if you haven’t already.

3:44PM: “You’ll definitely see me. I’m wearing a black jersey,” a guy on his phone claims, as he stands in a sea of humans at Buckingham Fountain. It makes me giggle, as there are literally thousands of men in jerseys wandering around.

4:21PM: Beebadobee fans have shown up in full force, many with handwritten signs and strong vocal chords for screaming. Filipino-English singer/songwriter Bea Kristi’s bedroom indie songs hit home with her listeners, as their chorus of voices sing along to every word.

5:15PM: I haven’t checked out the BMI Stage yet, and Nashville’s Charlotte Sands seems like a perfect opportunity to do so. She serves up some serious emo headbangers.

6:20PM: It’s time for a Foals dance party and I’m soaking it all up because they’ve acknowledged, as they wrap up their tour, that they won’t be back in the States for “quite some time.” I use this knowledge as an excuse to watch their whole spectacular set.

7:21PM: This is my first time witnessing the extravaganza of 30 Second to Mars in person and I’m taking it all in. Jared Leto has just leapt from the top of the Bud Light stage down to the crowd, where band flags wave and fans look on in amazement. It dawns on me that I’m at the church of the Leto brothers (Shannon is on drums) and, from what I can gather, they have quite a few members.

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1:34PM: Let the festivities commence! The crowds are descending upon Grant Park in downtown Chicago for one of the largest and longest-running music festivals in the world. It’s a hot one today in both temperature and schedule: later tonight, Karol G and Billie Eilish will close out night one of Lollapalooza 2023. Both will be making history this evening: Karol, as the first Latina Lolla headliner ever; and Billie, as the majority of her show will be solar powered.

2:19PM: Sydney, Australia’s Angus Stone, better known as Dope Lemon, kicks off my Lollapalooza with some bluesy, psychedelic rock. The band is looking good—maybe a little hot?—in their maroon suits.

3:05PM: Joy Oladokun is making the crowd laugh in between serenading them with her voice. “I get stoned in my attic and write songs,” she admits. This is a winning system. Later, when a fan belts “I love you!” she reciprocates. “I love you too. That’s why I left my dog to be here.”

3:24PM: Junior Mesa is writing great music and he’s only 19. Vulnerable lyrics with a glam rock-y sound. I’m glad I caught a glimpse of the budding indie talent at the Toyota Music Den.

5:29PM: NYC duo Sofi Tukker has brought stage props, as in a literal playground. They’re climbing jungle gyms, spinning on a merry-go-round, and dropping beats that make you want to move your body.

6:51PM: The Bacardi stage is a favorite of mine, nestled in the trees in the northwest part of the park. It’s a perfect stage for Montreal dream poppers, Men I Trust. Couples sway to the breezy tunes.

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Dreamy tunes with a high chance of joy. German band Milky Chance delivered an unforgettable performance at Northerly Island in Chicago on Friday night.

Opening for Young the Giant, the four-piece band has hit the road promoting their newest album, Living in a Haze. Led by guitarist and vocalist Clemens Rehbein, the group of friends have played every festival from Coachella to Lollapalooza, captivating fans around the world with their addictive sound. As I waited for the band to take the stage, I saw them embracing from the sidelines, seemingly pep-talking to each other as only longtime friends can.

Kicking off their set with euphoric dance track “Synchronize” it was clear from the first beat that even the die-hard Young the Giant fans had discovered a new musical world to adore. From their original hit “Flashed Junk Mind” to Gloria Jones cover “Tainted Love” to Culture Club’s “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me,” it was physically impossible not to partake in some form of head bopping/ instinctive swaying/ foot tapping.

Addressing the sea of fans between songs, Rehbein complimented the audience’s moves while pushing them to let loose and enjoy the night. As the sun set over the city skyline, their feel-good hit ‘Stolen Dance’ rang out across the amphitheater—a core memory in the making for both myself and the sold-out crowd.

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Fall Out Boy kicked off their So Much For (Tour) Dust summer tour in Chicago, IL on Wednesday, June 21st at Wrigley Field. This marks the third time that the Illinois natives have played at Wrigley Field, a feat that lead singer Patrick Stump admitted they never could have imagined would ever happen. To mark the momentous night, they brought along their friends The Academy Is… and Alkaline Trio who also hail from Illinois, to make the show even more special.

When The Academy Is… played “Snakes On A Plane (Bring It),” a song that was unfortunately cut for time when they last played a show at Riot Fest in 2022, the crowd was being set for a show that will likely be talked about by fans for many years to come. Fall Out Boy treated the crowd to so many deep cuts—every time a song started, the crowd would scream even louder to show their shock at hearing their favorite songs live.

Patrick Stump even exclaimed that he “bet you never thought you’d hear this song being played at Wrigley,” before launching right into “Calm Before The Storm,” a track from their debut album Take This To Your Grave, which turned 20 years old this year. Stump also talked about how he was jogging around the neighborhood where the venue is located while they were writing that album, writing the song “Where Is Your Boy?” in his head. Bassist Pete Wentz quipped back “imagine us jogging,” to which the crowd laughed and cheered.

This show also saw the return of guitarist and co-founder Joe Trohman who announced in January of this year, following the announcement of the band’s eighth studio album So Much (for) Stardust, that he would be taking a hiatus to focus on his mental health. The entire band were well in sync with their guitarist back and better than ever, grooving all night with smiles plastered on their faces. They even played “G.I.N.A.S.F.S.,” a bonus from their third studio album Infinity On High, live for the first time ever.

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From a world-famous boy band to a successful solo career, singer and songwriter Louis Tomlinson took to the stage at Northerly Island on Thursday night promoting his newest album, Faith in the Future. Rising to fame in 2010 as a member of One Direction, the British artist proved he hasn’t lost his touch for performing to a crowd of adoring fans.

In typical Chicago fashion, the “June” weather was a balmy 50F, and with the outdoor venue being right on Lake Michigan called for some gnarly winds—so much so that crews had to delay the show to dismantle hanging lights prior to the performance.

Met with deafening screams, Tomlinson opened with hit “The Greatest,” raising his eyebrows at the crowd as he sang the lyrics “we’ll never be left cold again.” “It is fucking freezing, freezing! Let me start off by saying a massive, massive thank you to all of you incredible people here. This is by far my favorite part of the job, I would not be able to do these shows without all of you…”

Zipping up his jacket as he powered on through the show, Tomlinson got hearts racing with the throwback One Direction hit “Night Changes.” Swinging back and forth in an effortless unison, the crowd instantly warmed up as the nostalgic melody rang out across the amphitheater.

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