PIQNIQ alumni Bastille have finally released their long-beloved cover of TLC’s “No Scrubs”, featuring Ella Eyre. They’ll be at Northerly Island on September 1 with Duran Duran. You can buy tickets here.
LURK: Natural Causes
LURK is the best Chicago band going right now. Combining the synths of DEVO with the hard-hitting nature of the Ramones, these heavyweights are back with a new EP, Natural Causes. This is your chance to get in on LURK before all of your friends are talking about them. Check them out next weekend at Subterranean for their EP Release Show.
Origami Angel: The Brightest Days
Up-and-coming emo standouts Origami Angel are back with their third record five years. After 2019’s debut banger Somewhere City and 2021’s expansive GAMI GANG, the group returns with an eight-song, no-nonsense album, The Brightest Days. The band will be at Riot Fest 2023 on Sunday, September 17.
Queens of the Stone Age: In Times New Roman…
Queens of the Stone Age are back with their first record in six years and they’re taking over Q101! In Times New Roman…, the band’s eighth studio album, is a return to focus for the band after years of turmoil. Starting at 9:00AM with Brian & Kenzie and going through each hour until the conclusion of Brian Phillips’ show, Q101 will be playing one song from the record at the top of every hour. To go along with each new track, we’ll be giving away three-day passes to Riot Fest. Queens of the Stone Age will headline Riot Fest on Saturday night.
Spiritual Cramp: Nah, That Ain’t It
One week before they crash Logan Square Arts Festival, Spiritual Cramp are back with a new single. The Bay Area all-stars are hot off the heels of opening for Iggy Pop and preparing for the release of their first full-length record. In the meantime, we have the scorcher, Nah, That Ain’t It. The band heads to Sleeping Village next Friday and then Sunday, they play the Logan Square Arts Festival.
The Revivalists at The Forge at Lemont Quarries (Friday)
Join Q101 and The Revivalists for a once-in-a-lifetime free Pop Up Performance with The Revivalists on Friday night at The Forge at Lemont Quarries. Get all of the information you need to improve your chances of getting in the doors here.
Taste of Randolph (Friday-Sunday)
Commemorating the iconic street festival’s 26th Anniversary StarEvents has curated a list of the nation’s hottest up-and-coming bands and musicians, as well as the biggest names in Chicago house music, performing on two stages and a DJ stage, to entertain guests while they embark on the culinary adventure of the Summer. Get all the details here.
Cubs host the Baltimore Orioles (Friday-Sunday)
The struggling Cubs head back home to host a three-game set with the surprisingly good Orioles this weekend.
Rolex United States Sail Grand Prix at Navy Pier (Friday-Saturday)
The fan-focused, two-day spectacle of exhilarating racing will take place on Friday and Saturday immediately adjacent to Navy Pier as rival national teams, including Jimmy Spithill’s United States, battle it out in short, intense races competing on the F50 catamaran, a race boat that “flies” out of the water and can reach speeds in excess of 60 mph. Get your tickets here.
Citizen at House of Blues on Saturday, Metro on Sunday
Emo royalty Citizen heads to Chicago this weekend for a pair of shows to celebrate the 10th anniversary of their landmark release, Youth. The band sold out the anniversary show at the House of Blues immediately, then added a date at the Metro which went just as quickly. Joining Citizen on this bill is one of Case the Producer’s favorite bands, Fiddlehead. He will be at both shows this weekend.
AEW Collision at The United Center (Saturday)
CM Punk returns to All Elite Wrestling for his first match since last September at the company’s All Out pay-per-view. Punk will team alongside Cash Wheeler & Dax Hardwood in FTR as they clash with Jay White, Juice Robinson, and Punk’s longtime rival, Samoa Joe. Tickets are still available for this show. If you can’t make it to the UC, Collision airs Saturday nights at 7:00 on TNT.
3 Doors Down & Candlebox at Credit Union 1 Amphitheater (Saturday)
3 Doors Down and Candlebox storm Tinley Park this weekend as a part of 3 Doors Down’s Away From the Sun anniversary tour. You can still grab a ticket to this barnburner of a show here.
Bronzeville’s 2023 Juneteenth Celebration: Strengthening the roots that tie us all together (Saturday)
This village themed family friendly celebration in the Bronzeville community of Chicago will offer live entertainment for both adults and youth alike inside of the theater space as well as outside in the front garden and rear lot areas. Local historians, visual and performing artists, crafters, as well as others from the Chicago land area will come to together to showcase their creative art depictions, share stories, and entertain attendees for this two-fold event to safely celebrate its significance of keeping the memory of emancipation for African Americans and the price of freedom for all Americans through American history in the forefront of our minds. Learn more here.
Juneteenth Celebration at North Center (Saturday)
The event, open to the entire community, will feature entertainment, food, and a marketplace with vendors selling products and services. There will also be interactive activities including hair braiding, dance lessons, double dutch, horseback riding, sword play, yo-yo, and more! Highlighting Black-owned businesses and providing activities for all ages, this event is sure to be a fun afternoon for the whole family.
A comprehensive list of Juneteenth events can be found here.
Gold Coast Art Fair (Saturday, Sunday)
The Gold Coast Art Fair returns to Chicago’s Grant Park this weekend! This award-winning, family-friendly art fair welcomes more than 200 respected artists from around the country and draws thousands of art enthusiasts from Chicago and beyond, creating an exceptional, shoppable art experience.
Chicago Pride Fest (Saturday, Sunday)
The 2-day street festival in the Northalsted neighborhood features live music on 3 stages, a Youth Pride Space for teens, best of Chicago drag performance, Proud Pet Parade, dance exhibitions, Chicago Gay Men’s Chorus, high heel race for prizes, guest speakers and over 150 food and merchandise vendors. Upwards of 60,000 attendees are expected at the 22nd annual Chicago Pride Fest, a celebration of LGBTQ+ life, culture and community.
Father’s Day at Elgin Public House (Sunday)
Take your Dad to Elgin Public House this Father’s Day for some smokin’ good food and drinks like slow-smoked brisket, smoked jalapeno poppers, smoked mac n cheese bites and a bourbon Manhattan served with bacon. Relax on the patio, play a game and take advantage of their drink specials like $3 domestic beer. If you can’t make it Sunday for Father’s Day, check em’ out any day of the week.
Back in February, Rivers Cuomo virtually duetted on TikTok with musician Evan Marsalli. Evan played the “Buddy Holly” riff every day for three years in the hopes of one night getting to perform with the band. Last night In Madison, WI was that night.
After a small amount pushback from Douglass Park residents, Riot Fest is officially confirmed for Douglass Park this year. The festival that is bringing Foo Fighters, Death Cab for Cutie, The Cure, and others to the South Side this year had been dealing with vocal neighbors who don’t want the festival in their backyard.
The Park District voted unanimously to approve the Riot Fest permits.
After the shocking news that Pat Sajak will be stepping down as the host of Wheel of Fortune after multiple decades at the helm, a new contender has emerged as his replacement. The early frontrunner to replace the iconic host appears to be Ryan Seacrest, according to a TMZ report.
Seacrest recently left LIVE with Kelly & Ryan, which seemingly would clear his schedule to work for the Wheel going forward.
Urge Overkill is saddened to report that Blackie has passed away. Please respect our privacy at this time. We are sending much love to his family and all his fans. We know he will be missed.
John Rowan, the drummer for Urge Overkill who performed under the name Blackie Onassis, has died. A South Side native, Rowan joined Urge Overkill in 1991. No cause of death was given.
A new study has ranked Naperville as one of the best places for single dad’s to raise children in America. A new report from Lawnstarter says that Naperville leads in affordability, child care and home and outdoors. Male residents also have the second-best purchasing power index and housing affordability. The Top 10 looked like this:
Bellevue, Washington
Irvine, California
Naperville, Illinois
Fremont, California
Sunnyvale, California
Roseville, California
San Francisco, California
Seattle, Washington
Portland, Oregon
Boston, Massachusetts
Single dads…how do you do it? Leave us advice for other single dads on our Facebook page!
If one thing is clear, it’s that the Chicago Bears moving situation is becoming very unclear. After getting cold feet with Arlington Heights, the city of Naperville reached out to the Bears about moving there. Now Lake County’s Waukegan, who have thrown their name in the hat.
Mayor Ann B. Taylor sent a letter to the team saying, “Our working class and diverse community is as tough as the 1985 Super Bowl-winning Bears, and our leadership team at Waukegan City Hall is as aggressive as Justin Fields running the ball downfield when it comes to creating economic opportunities for our City, our residents, and the region at large,” said Taylor in her letter. “Our City’s staff and I invite you and your leadership to come to Waukegan to learn about the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity our City can offer the Bears.
At press time, the Bears have not responded to the invitation, but the Chicago Bears of Waukegan has a nice ring to it.
Fledgling White Sox shortstop finally sat down to talk about the personal struggles that he’s been going through off the field, which were first discussed by Brian & Kenzie on Q101. Anderson sat down with the Pivot Podcast to share his recent experiences, which gave us excerpts like this.
The @whitesox’ all star shortstop Tim Anderson and his wife Bria have dealt with a painful private situation extremely public. They’ve both been confronted with many couples worst nightmare. The outside world has now become a part of their relationship, offering opinion,… pic.twitter.com/kPyiLRoQ8l
Ready to turn your house into a weekend-long music festival? All Hulu subscribers can watch the Bonnaroo livestream this Thursday-Sunday! #HuluHasLiveMusic#Bonnaroo
NewsNation recently sat down with David Grusch, a UFO whistleblower who has recently put their US government on their toes with claims about extraterrestrial life, is now being scrubbed from the Internet. If you attempt to watch his headline-making sit-down interview with News Nation, you will not find it on YouTube. Seriously, click that link. Click it. You won’t see anything, because NewsNation has pulled it from their YouTube.
Luckily, Internet sleuths have recovered it and uploaded it to Twitter.
Grusch, a veteran of the US Air Force, told NewsNation that the US may have an intact or partially intact craft of “non-human origin” in its possession and possibly evidence of deceased people through the alleged “broad crash retrieval program”, among other things.
After forty years of service, Pat Sajak is retiring from Wheel of Fortune. Sajak, 76, tweeted that while “it’s been a wonderful ride,” his 41st season would be his last with the show. Sajak has hosted the show since 1981, six years after the now-iconic game show began.
Well, the time has come. I’ve decided that our 41st season, which begins in September, will be my last. It’s been a wonderful ride, and I’ll have more to say in the coming months. Many thanks to you all. (If nothing else, it’ll keep the clickbait sites busy!)
Loud-mouth White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski recently made his way back into the headlines by giving the shocking revelation that White Sox pitchers from the 2005 World Series team liked to drink. Specifically, Mark Buehrle, who the catcher claims pitched in a World Series game and recorded a save while drunk.
According to the Q101 Research Team, this story tracks. Buehrle recorded a save in Game 3 of the 2005 World Series, a 14-inning affair that ended with the Sox winning 7-5.
On Friday, Brian & Kenzie discussed a shocking video of possible extraterrestrial life landing in someone’s backyard in Las Vegas. After the police checked out the scene and determined it wasn’t a hoax, people got scared. Now the person who initially called 911 is on YouTube to share his story.
The Ring Doorbell audio of a possible-UFO hitting the ground is truly shocking.
Brian & Kenzie will continue to update you on this situation as we get more info.
Alyssa Konkel in Streamwood is making headlines all over the world after she exposed herself to the world in a now-viral video. Konkel was jogging on a treadmill when she slipped, causing the treadmill to yank her pants off in the process. Konkel then laid there, face down, and pants-less.
Konkel requested the video from the gym and then blasted it all over her social media, which has caused her to go viral.
UFC superstar Conor Mcgregor was doing a skit at the NBA Finals game 4 to promote a product of his and the Miami Heat’s mascot came out onto the court to get into a fake fight. Comically large boxing gloves and all, the mascot began circling Conor and must have had some good foot work because Conor took it way too far and knocked the mascot to the ground with a massive hit and then went in to finish the fight with a SECOND punch while already on the ground.
What is going to or should happen to Conor after this? The conversation lives on Facebook!
Las Vegas authorities are currently scratching their head over an extraterrestrial situation that might not just be a “bad trip”. Watch this video below, which highlights not only something falling out of the sky, but the 911 call that followed.
We’d love to chalk this up to another crazy guy yelling about aliens so we could make fun of his 911 call, but if this isn’t aliens, what the hell is it?
Ahead of their new album, It’s the End of the World But It’s a Beautiful Day, 30 Seconds to Mars are back with a new single called “Life is Beautiful”. You can see the band this year at Lollapalooza.
ALEXSUCKS: The Gutter
Heavily inspired by The Strokes, the California-based band ALEXSUCKS have dropped their debut album. Throughout 9 songs, the band brings the intensity. We want to highlight “Can We Forget”, a song Q101 has been obsessed with recently.
Fiddlehead: Sullenboy
Boston’s Fiddlehead, a beloved DIY band who just announced a headlining set at the Metro in September, are back with the debut single for their new record, “Death is Nothing to Us”. This is Brian & Kenzie’s pick of the week.
Jenny Lewis: Joy’All
Jenny Lewis of Postal Service and Rilo Kiley fame is back with a new studio album, the infectious Joy’All. Lewis will be at The Salt Shed next month.
Milky Chance: Living in the Haze
PIQNIQ alumni Milky Chance are back with a new record, “Living in the Haze”, which should be at thrilling follow up “Trip Tape”.
The Front Bottoms: Punching Bag
Just days after announcing a show at the Aragon Ballroom, the boys from New Jersey are back with a new single ahead of their upcoming album, You Are Who You Hang Out With.
