Euphoria star Dominic Fike is back with his second studio album, Sunburn. This 15-track record, which features a song with Weezer, is full of heartbreak, regret, and addiction. Fike feels on the cusp of stardom after this performance.
Taylor Swift & Fall Out Boy: Electric Touch
Of course we’re getting in on the Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) frenzy. Fall Out Boy, one of Q101’s finest exports, hopped on a brand new track with Swift during the rerecording of her Speak Now.
GROUPLOVE: I Want It All Right Now
I Want It All Right Now, GROUPLOVE’s sixth studio album, which features the standout single “Hello”, is out now. This album features the infectious chants and lively instrumentation that you’ve come to expect from this band over the years.
KennyHoopla: BLINK AND YOU’LL MISS IT //
A thriving member of Travis Barker’s camp, KennyHoopla is back with his latest release, BLINK AND YOU’LL MISS IT //. Rising to fame during the pandemic, Hoopla’s last few years must have felt like a whirlwind. He’s become one of rock’s most intriguing artists, and this release is yet another strong entry into his discography.
What are you listening to this weekend? Let us know on Q101’s Facebook page!
Permission To Land…Again will arrive on October 6th.
⚡️ PERMISSION TO LAND…AGAIN! ⚡️ Guess what?! We are re-issuing a special 20th anniversary collection of Permission to Land which includes the incredible album expanded with unreleased demos, b-sides and live performances!
As if this story couldn’t get any weirder, iconic prop comic Carrot Top was on the plane that featured the ranting woman who was escorted off the plane.
On social media, Top walked us through his perspective of the situation.
In chronological order of the time he posted on Instagram, Carrottop shared updates about the eyewitness.
Legendary hair metal band Motley Crue played an intimate show in London over the weekend under the name Dogs of War. In the midst of their set, the band busted into a cover of the iconic Beastie Boys song, “Fight For Your Right”.
Smash or pass this cover? The conversation lives on Facebook!
A woman made people’s holiday weekend travel plans much worse after freaking out on an American Airlines flight. She yelled, “I’m telling you, I’m getting the f*ck off and there’s a reason why I’m getting the f*ck off and everyone can either believe it or they can not believe it,” as she raced towards the front of the plane.
She continued, “I don’t give two fu*ks, but I am telling you right now – that motherfu*ker back there is NOT real…You can sit on this plane and you can die with them or not. I’m not going to,” the woman adds, before apparently leaving.”
Very rarely are people excited to get into a fender bender, but when Nascar is in Chicago… it’s a different story! On Friday the crews were moving cars on Lakeshore Drive and noticed an accident behind them. The teams quickly leapt to action in aiding the cars involved in the crash, both drivers were okay and more than happy to watch the pros help fix their rides. It’s not every day you can say you had a professional pit crew work on you car in record time!
For decades Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk have dominated the tech world, but after some internet beef these two former partners will try to dominate the octagon! After Zuckerberg mentioned that “Meta” would be creating a competitor to “Twitter” Elon Musk said he’d fight him in a cage match to which Zuckerberg responded “Send location”. This may have just been some playful banter between the two, but “UFC” President Dana White contacted both billionaires and has come out saying that they are both completely serious. Could this be the biggest fight the world has ever seen?
Let us know what you think about this spectacle on Facebook!
Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan stopped by Q101 to hang out with Brian & Kenzie. In this full, intimate interview with Corgan, the three discuss everything from Corgan’s marriage to whether or not he’d wrestle Dave Grohl.
You can learn more about the NWA’s HP Cares for Cooper Roberts Benefit Showhere.
The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is proud to announce ‘HP Cares for Cooper’, a benefit show that will take place Saturday, July 8th, 2023, at the Recreation Center of Highland Park, located at 1207 Park Ave W, Highland Park, IL 60035. All ticketing proceeds and sponsorship from this event will go directly to the Roberts family charitable fund for Cooper Roberts at Help Hope Live (Cooper Roberts, the youngest victim of the July 4th shooting in Highland Park who suffered life-altering injuries, and his family which includes his brother Luke who was also injured by shrapnel during the tragedy. Join us along with the Highland Park Community as we come together to show support and raise funds to make a significant difference in the lives of this family.
Fans who wish to sit in VIP (first or second rows) of the charity show can pre-order tickets here (All ticketing proceeds from this event will go directly to the Roberts family charitable fund)
For all general admission seats, fans can contribute any amount of money as a donation to gain entry to this exceptional event. People in attendance can donate in advance on eventbrite or with cash/card at the door. Not only will they witness thrilling wrestling matches, but they will also be making a significant difference in the lives of this family. The NWA is committed to giving back to communities and believes in the power of wrestling to bring people together for a common cause.
The Chicago Bears sweepstakes just got a little more interesting. After Arlington Heights, Naperville, and Waukegan, the city of Aurora has thrown their name into the hat. Richard Irvin, the mayor of Aurora, Illinois, sent a letter to the Bears that opened with this statement.
“AURORA, THE CITY OF LIGHTS, THE SECOND LARGEST CITY IN ILLINOIS, IS BUILT ON THE UNSHAKABLE FOUNDATION OF ITS STORIED PAST. THE OPPORTUNITY TO PARTNER WITH THE HISTORIC CHICAGO BEARS AS YOU SEARCH FOR THE PERFECT NEW HOME IS ONE WE ARE EAGER TO TAKE ON …TURNING A VISION INTO REALITY IS NOT ALWAYS EASY. IT REQUIRES THE RIGHT RESOURCES TO MAKE DREAMS COME TRUE. AURORA OFFERS UNPARALLELED KEY RESOURCES TO TAKE A VISION AND MAKE DREAMS COME TRUE. OUR PROFESSIONAL TEAM OF GOVERNMENT AND DEVELOPMENT PROFESSIONALS HAS A PROVEN TRACK RECORD OF GETTING BIG THINGS DONE.”
The City of Aurora said in a statement that after the letter was sent, “representatives of the Chicago Bears organization responded quickly and positively.”
Whether 17-year-old phenom Connor Bedard lives up to the astronomical hype placed on him, or he flames out in epic fashion, this is a definitive demarcation point for the franchise. There’s pre-CB and post-CB.
Bedard was selected first overall in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft. After three consecutive seasons below .500, the Hawks have been given a chance to return to glory.
The moment fans at the Salt Shed found out Connor Bedard was officially a member of the Chicago Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/0TbAriSmWB
Last night, The Salt Shed hosted a Blackhawks draft party. Fans packed the venue and erupted in cheers when the Blackhawks did the thing that everyone wanted them to do.
The last Blackhawks pick was in 2007 and that pick turned out to be Patrick Kane. These are the standards that Bedard has to live up to.
R.E.M.’s “Strange Currencies” features prominently in the second season of The Bear. This new video places footage from the Chicago based FX show along with video from R.E.M.’s 1996 concert film “Road Movie”
“Strange Currencies” originally appeared on R.E.M.’s 1994 album Monster, but the updated remix from The Bear was released on the Strange Currencies EP last week. It appeared alongside a remastered recording of the single and a live version of the recording created in 1995 and on 1996’s Road Movie. The original mix from 1994 appears in The Bear as well as a never-before-heard demo of the record.
The band & @TheBearFX have partnered to release a full-length music video for “Strange Currencies (Remix)" w/ footage from Road Movie (documenting R.E.M's '95 tour), plus exclusive clips & behind-the-scenes footage from season 2, which premiered June 22 exclusively on Hulu. pic.twitter.com/m6LbYobX4R
The two worst people on Earth were supposed to fight. There are people far more evil and destructive than these two, but something about Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerburg…it’s terrible. They’re just twerps. They’re dorks. Their substantial wealth is just so uncool.
Anyways, the two dorks were going to fight, but Musk’s mom stepped in and said no.
Every year, Riot Fest not only brings some of the best bands on Earth to Douglass Park, but they get some of those bands to play some of their most legendary albums in their entirety. Upon viewing the list of Album Plays for 2023, I was overcome with excitement because each and every one of these albums, I would describe as “lit”.
The Riot Fest 2023 Album Plays are here! Death Cab for Cutie, The Postal Service, The Breeders, Quicksand and more.
Originally a side project for Kim Deal, bassist and vocalist for the highly-influential Pixies, Last Splash was recorded shortly after the dissolution of the Pixies (a breakup that Deal allegedly found out about via fax), causing Deal to give this record her undivided attention. Enlisting her twin sister, Kelley, and a highly-skilled rhythm section, the shining star of the Pixies produced magic with this record. Last Splash sounds like a simpler time. Each song is challenging intellectually, yet soothing sonically. The off-kilter instrumentation that made the Pixies stand out is present throughout this record, especially on smash-hit “Cannonball”, which remains a standout of alternative rock’s golden era.
The album that was ranked the 35th Best Album of the 1990’s by Pitchfork and 39th by SPIN comes to Douglass Park on Friday, September 15.
You might not know the name Walter Schreifels, but your favorite band probably does. An effervescent force in alternative’s various subcultures, Schreifels is an under appreciated genius. The 54-year-old is also pulling triple-duty at Riot Fest 2023, doing Album Plays for Quicksand and Rival Schools, two bands he fronted, and Gorilla Biscuits, the revolutionary punk band that he played guitar for.
The New York-born musician will kick off his weekend celebrating 30 years of Slip, Quicksand’s debut full-length and an iconic entry into the post-hardcore catalogue. After playing unrelenting and in-your-face tracks with Gorilla Biscuits, he pivoted to a band that was just as intense, but approached things in a different, more melodic manner. Quicksand, and this record in particular, paved the way for bands like Deftones and Thursday to thrive.
In an interview celebrating the 30th anniversary of Slip, Rise Against frontman Tim McIlrath described his experience with the album, “When I heard Slip for the first time, it sounded to me like a series of perfect decisions. At every crossroads, the songs take turns that were so satisfying to my high school freshman ears. I was starting to dabble in songwriting, but this album was so good that I remember thinking to myself, “Why bother?”
Celebrate 30 years of Slip on the first day of Riot Fest 2023.
There’s a lot of debate online about what emo is, and more importantly, isn’t. I won’t bore you with that conversation. All you need to know is that if you are ever confronted by a gang of vigilante music journalists who question your knowledge on emo, you should be able to thwart them by merely saying that Braid’s 1998 output, Frame & Canvas, is a perfect example of midwest emo.
Braid are from Champaign, Illinois, a hot bed for anthemic, emotional records like this. Over the course of three decades, the band has released four albums, none of which were better than Frame & Canvas. At 12 songs, the record is dripping with a certain amount of yearning that could only be conjured up in an Illinois basement. It’s middle America, but it’s also universal. It’s emotional, but it’s also tough. It’s aggressive, but in the sweetest way possible.
Despite coming up along the likes of bands like Jawbreaker, The Promise Ring, and The Get Up Kids, Braid never got the pop that those bands did. Despite having all of the jangly riffs and big choruses that you would want from a 2000’s emo record, it was ahead of the curve, and thus Braid missed out on sweet, commercial bliss. As a result, Frame & Canvas remains an under-the-radar gem.
When Vulture ranked the 100 Best Emo Songs of All Time in 2020, it crowed Braid’s “A Dozen Roses” at #36. I could argue it deserves to be bumped up a few spots. You’ll have your chance to hear that song, as well as the other 11 glorious tracks on Frame & Canvas, at Riot Fest 2023 on September 15.
Give Up was never supposed to be what it turned into. Now a platinum release, The Postal Service started out as a side-project for Death Cab for Cutie frontman Ben Gibbard and musician Jimmy Tamborello (fka Dntel). It has since become an album known for iconic breakup anthems and an appearance in a UPS commercial. Gibbard, unexpectedly, reached truly great heights with this 2003 release.
20 years after the fact, nothing sounds like Give Up. Seattle record label Sup Pop were firmly removed from “the Seattle sound” that they helped cultivate with Nirvana and fully in their indie era, having found success with The Shins and their 2001 release, Oh, Inverted World. Sonically, Give Up is far closer to a Shins record, but Give Up ultimately has come to have the same seismic level of influence that Nirvana’s Bleach had when Sub Pop released in in 1989.
Now as a part of the Death Cab for Cutie / Postal Service 20th Anniversary Tour, Gibbard, Jenny Lewis, and the rest of the band are bringing their unmistakable electro-rock record to Douglass Park as a part of Saturday night’s headlining festivities.
Ben Gibbard, certified crazy man, will also be performing the iconic Transatlanticism on Saturday night. Released in October 2003, eight months after The Postal Service dropped Give Up, Gibbard staked his claim as having one of music’s most enriching years of all-time. Most bands never make one classic album; he dropped two in the same year.
To this point in history, Death Cab had slowly been inching their way to sounding like a “rock” band. Early records felt sparse and sounded lo-fi. They captured something with “A Movie Script Ending“, the standout from 2001’s The Photo Album, then turned everything up a level on Transatlanticism. There are a lot of bands that sound like Death Cab – whether it be Bright Eyes, The Shins, or The Decembrists, but none of them have shot life into the arm of alternative music the way that Death Cab have and continue to do. Those are not arena bands. This album cultivated a sound that has the intimacy of a dorm room, yet could fill a stadium.
In 2004, the band celebrated the critical and commercial success of this tour by playing around the country, including Q101’s 2004 Block Party. This time, they bring the fun to Douglass Park.
Think about where you were in 2001. Now think about what Q101 was playing in 2001. The first Rival Schools album, United By Fate, which features the aforementioned Walter Schreifels once again behind the mic, feels like something that should’ve been a huge hit in 2001. Alas, the powers that be had other ideas in mind. Rival Schools never popped. They went away for a decade, then put out another two, lesser records in 2011 and 2013. It took another decade for Schreifels to dust off the Rival Schools branding, but they’ve done so for Saturday night at Riot Fest.
A recent retrospective on the album described its “Nirvana vibe of High Acetate” and “the gentler romance and longing of Undercover’s On, Schreifels’ astonishing, gritty but warm vocals a familiar old friend.”
It’s true. Even if you’ve never heard this album before, it feels familiar, like worn denim, upon first-listen. It’s shockingly accessible. The hookier sounds present choruses that feel like a simple equation that even the most math-illiterate student could solve. This band makes sense. It’s their lack of recognition that is baffling.
With The Ben Gibbard Show taking over Saturday night, it was very nice of Riot Fest to present this Album Play in the early afternoon on Saturday.
To me, there’s three camps that you can stand in when it comes to Evil Elvis. You can be in Group 1, a largely unself-aware group of people who think Danzig is cool. I do not think Danzig is cool. I think he rocks. It’s different. These people will be on the barricade when Danzig takes over the Aragon as a part of the Riot Fest Late Night series. Group 2 is full of people who take themselves too seriously. They think they are cool, thus they do not see that Danzig rocks. Then there’s Group 3. I call this place home. They acknowledge that Danzig is sort of a goofball, but he’s a goofball that’s fun to have around. I do not aspire to act like or look like Danzig, but I have the utmost appreciation for what he’s done. You’ll be able to find me at the back of the Aragon, stoically enjoying his performance.
Riot Mike is the Danzig Whisperer. He’s played every incarnation of this festival. In 2011, Danzig played a career-spanning set at the Congress Theater. In 2013, he was in Humboldt Park belting out tracks from Danzig 25th Anniversary Tour. In 2016, Riot Fest accomplished the impossible by reuniting The Original Misfits for the first time in 33 years. A year later, Danzig stormed Douglass Park with a thrilling set celebrating Danzig III. Then last year, The Original Misfits returned to headline Saturday night with a set celebrating 40 years of Walk Among Us.
Look, there’s been a lot of Danzig at Riot Fest, and we’re happy about it.
This year at the Aragon, he’s bringing Danzig, his demonic, bluesy debut, produced by Rick Rubin, with tracks like “Twist of Cain” and the eternal “Mother”.
You simply cannot tell the story of punk rock without Start Today. A canonical entry into the hardcore scene, the mythical Walter Schreifels closes out his weekend on guitar (outspoken frontman Anthony “Civ” Civarelli does vocals for GB) for one of punk’s greatest records. From DJ Steve Aoki to Travis Barker (who can be spotted in the background of this live performance), this record has touched a who’s who in the alternative industry.
I can’t even remember the first time I heard Start Today. Once it entered my life, it never left. It’s everything that makes hardcore special. It’s wild, unpredictable, and poignant. There’s an urgency to this record that is unique to this genre, specifically. Even if the issues they are singing about (politics with the Washington DC scene, ethics of stage diving, etc.) are 30 years old, this album sounds like something real is happening and it’s happening now.
Far from the glossiest record, Start Today is still a studio masterpiece. In front of a rabid crowd, however, is where Gorilla Biscuits thrive. Very few punk bands age gracefully. It’s a young man’s game, and very few have what it takes to hang with the kids once they lose “it”. Gorilla Biscuits have never lost “it”. They still pack big rooms, get people rowdy, and crush it with every tour date that comes their way.
You have a chance to witness punk rock history with the Start Today set on Sunday, September 17.
The Breeders will play Last Splash in its entirety at Riot Fest September 15th. Watch the video for the previously unreleased “Go Man Go” here. The 30th anniversary edition of Last Splash will be released on September 22nd.
Last Splash (30th Anniversary Original Analog Edition) Tracklist: 01. New Year 02. Cannonball 03. Invisible Man 04. No Aloha 01. Roi 02. Do You Love Me Now? 03. Flipside 04. I Just Wanna Get Along 05. Mad Lucas 06. Divine Hammer 07. S.O.S 08. Hag 09. Saints 10. Drivin’ on 9 11. Roi (Reprise)
