Q101 The Alternative
Q101 (formerly on Chicago radio @ 101.1 FM) The Alternative - Chicago's New Rock Alternative - Everything Alternative - Chicago's Alternative - Gen X - Generation X
Join Q101′s Brooke Hunter for the first Local 101 Show of 2012.
Q101 Presents Lucky Boys Confusion at The Montrose Room. Parking is just $5 and there a limited tickets left.
Buy tickets here:
http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&eventId=4215795
The Montrose Room is inside The Hotel Intercontinental in Rosemont. Next month, Q101 Presents the second Local 101 Show of the year at The Montrose Room with Local H. Tickets for Local H are on sale now here.
Today is Groundhog Day. It (the holiday) never made any sense to me at all. I realize it’s not supposed to…it’s tradition after all. The Greek translation of “tradition” is literally to do shit just cause you’ve always done it…even if it doesn’t make sense. At least that’s what wikipedia said.
So if this rodent SEES his shadow, cast from the SUN we get MORE Winter? That doesn’t compute Will Robinson. But it doesn’t really have to.
Groundhog Day has a new meaning to the folks here at the World Famous Q101. Groundhog Day is more about the movie with Bill Murray and the message of the movie to “us”. Every one else in Chicago media is going to yammer on about how parts of the movie were filmed here in Woodstock…yada yada yada. Their reports are almost identically to the reports they did last year. Their reports ARE Groundhog DAY!
We have some crackpot theories on life…be warned. Matt (one of the new co-owners of Q101) believes Dr. Seuss’s book “Oh, The Places You’ll Go” is one of the greatest success manuals of all time and holds some of life’s secrets.
Both owners (Mike & Matt) have a very strong feeling about the movie Groundhog Day and it’s underlying message. Watch the movie and maybe you’ll see what they see. You probably won’t. Let’s face it, these are the same two dudes that tried to get Chicago to band together to buy WLUP and later actually bought Q101 with their own money. Some think they have a screw loose.
So what’s this mystical insight the Q101 guys have regarding Groundhog Day, the movie you ask?
Here it is…they make us new hires recite it at orientation:
Chew on that. It means, every day is the same day over and over again. We’re in a foggy haze all the time and rarely realize how much opportunity is before us. Every day we have an opportunity to reinvent the day, to change the way we do things, to snap out of it!
If we do nothing, every day will come and go…and we’ll look back and wonder where it went. If we do the same things over and over, we will get the same results. Every morning the alarm goes off, we being the same routine, but in real life it’s a new day each time….
It isn’t until Bill Murray figures out how to make the most out of his day for the people around him that he discovers how THAT makes it HIS best day…and he’s free from Groundhog day in perpetuity from that point on.
Every day is ground hog day pal. As Dr. Suess wrote:
Today is YOUR day…your mountain is waiting…So get on your way!
The Rise Against/A Day To Remember/The Menzingers show at the UIC Pavilion was a party full of surprises. The venue, the UIC Pavilion , is generally used for the basketball season for their team the UIC Flames. Off-days, and off-season, the venue plays host to various conventions, boxing matches, and concerts like these. Like any basketball arena temporarily converted to a concert venue, the court becomes the “general admission area” where a few thousand people easily can pack themselves against each other over the excitement of seeing a performance by a group that they enjoy. This show was certainly no different.
The Menzingers were new to me before this show, and I wondered why. They are definitely on my radar now. The show began with a darken stage and the speech from the movie “Independence Day” that was given by the U.S. President (played by Bill Pullman) to the pilots before their last stand against the aliens. For some reason I thought this was a cool way to open the night. The Menzingers are a solid band, with a live sound that gets the crowd moving. Their set lasted around 30 minutes, and I was surprised when it was over; it felt like their show ended too quickly. I wanted to hear more.
A Day To Remember uses the lights and colors of the stage to influence the mood and emotion of the songs they were performing, along with a smoke machine blowing huge geysers into the air during several of their songs. They really do genuinely seem to appreciate their fans, and audience participation is a big part of their show. This particular show included a bombardment of rolls of toilet paper into the crowd (best usage of tp, I dare say, since “Blue Man Group”), which were mostly thrown about until the rolls were emptied. Their metal/punk musical style is very wide-ranging, going from melodic to screamo at the snap of a finger. Their music combined with their energetic movement on stage got fists pumping, and a couple of circle pits going at once. The highlight of their performance saw their vocalist, Jeremy McKinnon, climbing into one of those giant inflatable balls like a hamster. He took a step out off the stage, running over the top of the crowd in the inflatable clear ball with the hands of the people acting as the “floor” he was walking and running on. ADTR really got the audience going during their 45 minute or so set, and their singer Mckinnon informed the crowd that this was, by far, their biggest indoor show to date, and he let us know how proud he was of that.
During the next intermission, there was a drastic change in the stage. The drum kit was pushed back, and what looked like four large black rectangular blocks were put on stage. A grey carpet was rolled out. These 4 large rectangles turned out to be TV screens turned vertically, displaying various images of war before the headliners of the evening, Rise Against, took the stage. Their set did not disappoint. Their performances always have an energy that pulsates through the crowd. They are masters at bringing the audience along on a roller-coaster ride of emotions. It’s nothing for RA to have 10,000 people quiet in rapt attention one minute, and then they’ll rip through an anthem that will have thousands singing along in unison the very next minute.
The screens behind them featured scenes of protestors, wars, and teenagers talking to the camera provided the perfect backdrop for their song “Make It Stop (September’s Children)”. The tune is a hard-hitting and loud stand against homophobia, and it played well to the very retro color schemes illuminating the stage. As a group with intense political and economic views, they convey their beliefs without coming off as overly-preachy, and pull off the feat of doing it while still keeping their catalog well-versed, their sales high, and asses filling seats. Their decade together has produced a total synergy together onstage: Vocalist Tim McIlrath swung his corded microphone like a helicopter rotor with reckless abandon, and guitarist Zach Blair would duck effortlessly, almost mindlessly, when the microphone would come perilously swinging his way.
Acoustic renditions of “Audience of One”, and “Swing Life Away” were heartfelt and personal, with McIlrath the only one onstage. Lighters filled the air (people still smoke in large numbers?) and mobile phones glowed throughout the auditorium (that makes much more sense). Sadly, the night was marred to a degree at night’s end, though, fittingly, it provided RA the chance to demonstrate their principals: The band put a halt to the show in the middle of their three song encore after someone went down hard in the pit. The show was stopped to allow the victim to be taken out in a stretcher, with McIlrath saying “We need to see if everyone is OK before going on.”
As if anyone doubts that they are a band of the people. As usual, Rise Against puts fans first.
Comicbookjockey is a guy with too many opinions, and too little time. He’s crass and articulate, always has on headphones, talks about nerdy stuff, and likes cleaning up after himself. Too see and hear more:
The Twitters
The Facebook
The Website
The Blog
The Email
The You Tube Channel
Joe and Tim talk backstage at The Aragon for Twisted 13 with James Van Osdol about things like the Blue Meanies, Naked Ray Gun, Riotfest, not selling out…PUNK, touring in a rock band as a father of a 2 year old and more.
JVO geeks out <a little> over Rise Against, in the casual cool way only JVO can.
The guys talk about Vegan food, Chicago Diner, Alison Friends in uptown, Karen’s Cooked, Karen’s Raw, and Soul Vegetarian on the South Side.
Guess who says, “I’ll travel anywhere for a buffet.”
Sign up here: http://q101.com/2012/01/help-film-a-special-rise-against-video/
Tim talks Chicago music, radio and more. Kevin gets busted picking his nose…but hey it’s radio. This was before he became a TV star on MTV. We kid Kevin, because he’s handsome AND successful….and gets to hang out with “Sway” at the MTV studios.
Tim opens up about radio politics, let downs, build ups…and Rancid opening up for Rise Against!
If you want to see Rise Against Jan. 27th you can meet the band and film their next video!
It’s true.
We have video proof. A 4 year old boy in Suburban Chicago has cracked the code. See for yourself in the video where this child displays (step by step) how any mortal can configure their television to play Q101 in their home.
It’s a festivous miracle frankly. We’re just just he’s on our side and not working for the Russians or the Chinese. God Bless America.
Watch the video taking the Alternative music scene by storm and learn how to play Q101 in YOUR home, on YOUR TV. WE have the Technology.
Not far from Chicago in Elk Grove Village is the Eleventh Hour Haunted House, voted the No. 1 Halloween Event and Haunted House in Illinois by http://hauntedilliniois.com. Eleventh Hour offers four different haunted house experiences both indoors and outside. Once in the house, visitors can go from one to the other without having to stand in line all over again, so there is no break in the terror. Scary encounters with Creatures of the Corn, exploration of the Catacombs and a terrifying walk through a pitch-black labyrinth are highlights of Eleventh Hour. While waiting to enter the house, visitors can enjoy refreshments like hot chocolate and cider, or check out the pumpkin patch for a potential jack-o-lantern. With so many haunted houses within reach, Chicago is a great place to spend the Halloween season. If you find yourself in the area, and you’re feeling brave enough, take advantage of the many opportunities for fright and terror the city offers, if you dare.
Get your haunted house tickets here with Q101′s special link!
In the Fall of 1992 Chicago radio station “WKQX-Q101″ moved from playing middle of the road adult music to Alternative Rock. Q101 embraced the grunge sound and all it’s off shoots, and it would make Q101 the KROQ of the midwest. I joined the ranks at Q101 in January of 1993 and stayed until December 2001; those nine years were filled with events, some were personal, some were personal that would become public, nearly all of them recall great memories. Q101 will flip formats beginning July 15th, 2011, it’s believed to a talk radio format, although what type has yet to be disclosed. I’ve been asked by the station to share some stories from my time at Q101, stories that I’ll be sharing on air in Chicago on July 14th. For example:
In 1993 Green Day was just breaking into the mainstream with their album “Dookie”, and the band was playing The Vic theater in Chicago, a venue which holds about 1500 people. At that time Q101 was a station many loved to hate, some teens and twentysomethings didn’t want “their music” brought to the mainstream, and never was that more evident than when I stepped on stage that night to introduce Green Day. Before I went on stage I’d spent a good half hour hanging with the band backstage and at some point had said to them that I anticipated a reaction of some sort when I went out to introduce them, to which Billie Joe Armstrong said “just tell ‘em to “F*@K OFF” (we laughed), because the band was very happy to be breaking into the mainstream. So with Billie Joe’s advice fresh in my mind it was time for me to go onstage to do my job. Immediately after saying “Q101″ I was pelted with anything the crowd could find to hurl at me. I could have left the stage, and I’m pretty sure just about anyone else would have, but not me. I grabbed the mic and told the crowd that they weren’t as loud as I was, which prompted a roar of frightening proportions. Again, I’m pretty sure anyone else would have vacated the stage, but I stayed and repeatedly told the crowd “F*@K You”, and the crowd replied in kind. Knowing full well my time was up I began to leave when out came Billie Joe Armstrong on microphone to reprimand me. My final words on stage were “I guess I’m F*@KED”. Once off stage I ran around to find Billie Joe and remind him of his own advice, and that I was just havin’ a little fun, but he was already in the dressing room and security escorted me out. Once the adrenalin of the moment wore off I was pretty sure that was my last day working for Q101, after all I’d just told a sold out crowd to shove it. I didn’t sleep that night, I kicked myself for being so foolish, but also chuckled at how it had been so much fun. I decided it would be my goal to be the first person to tell my boss of what had happened in hopes of explaining it away, and also promise to never act that way again when representing the station. The next morning I got through to the station receptionist right at 8 a.m. and she put me through to my boss who answered, “F*@K YOU”. To my sleepy astonishment he had already heard the news, and furthermore he found my actions of the night before to be of great virtue. And so began a long run for me at Chicago’s New Rock Alternative.
Full Blog Post Here
Q101 moved from 101.1 WKQX to http:www.Q101.com
Billy Corgan tweeted his thoughts….
A recent press release from a Chicago venue in the heart of Wrigleyville, The Cubby Bear, announced a show with the band Redlight King, and also indicated that The Cubby Bear will also be celebrating their “long-standing relationship with Chicago’s Alternative, Q101.”
Those familiar with the changes afoot in the Chicago radioscape this summer may be scratching their heads, thinking: “Didn’t Q101 stop playing alternative rock in mid-July and switch to an all news talk format?”
Yes, and no.
WKQX-FM is no longer broadcasting as Q101, but, according to the release: “Chicagoland-area radio entrepreneurs Matt Dubiel and Mike Noonan stepped in and purchased the Q101 brand. They intend to continue its legacy as a rock music and media powerhouse online, via mobile apps, social media and at area events,” including this concert.
Read the Full Article here
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