Concert Reviews

Dillinger Escape Plan Reunite Just To Dismantle Chicago's Salt Shed

I'm not even that old and there are absolutely concerts I barely remember attending. Sure, everything from two drink minimums to late start times can contribute to the loss of those memories (or if the band is bad enough, prevented them from being formed in the first place)

Riot Fest

Riot Fest Reverses Course, Comes BACK To Douglass Park

So about 5 weeks before Riot Fest was set to kick off for the first time at SeatGeek Stadium, we get the surprise word that Riot Fest will be back where it all began. No, not multiple venues...after that. No, not Humbolt Park. Douglass Park! Home of outside food

Concert Reviews

Killer Mike Shows His 'Michael' Side At Intimate Promontory Lollapalooza Aftershow

Would it be stating the obvious to say that Killer Mike has some serious momentum right now? Last summer he dropped Michael, his first solo album since 2012's legendary R.A.P. Music, to universal acclaim. He followed that up with a late-summer tour barnstorming across the country

Concert Reviews

idobi Radio Summer School Holds Class At Concord Music Hall

We're all best friends here, right? I can bare my soul to you all without judgement? I'm a bit of a late bloomer when it comes to festivals. For all the raving I do about Riot Fest (all of it deserved), I've only been

Riot Fest

Six Down Card Acts You Cannot Miss at Riot Fest 2024

Pitchfork Music Festival just ended. Lollapalooza kicks off next week. It's not hard to forget Riot Fest lurking in the background like your weird burnout cousin at family gatherings growing up. But we are under 2 months from getting our first look at Riot Land and daily lineups

Concert Reviews

Third Eye Blind Live Up To Their 'Summer Gods' Title at Darien Lake

This was a pretty cool first for me. I've reviewed bands more than once before. Sometimes I catch them at a festival and then a dedicated show of their own. Other times a band comes through as an opening act only to come back through town later as

News

Riot Fest is Dead. Long Live Riot...Land? Your Pressing Questions (Maybe) Answered

When the release of the Riot Fest lineup was nowhere to be found by Memorial Day weekend, there was speculation that the delay was due to some big news. But holy shit, I don't think anyone expected this. Riot Fest isn't in Douglass Park anymore. Riot

Concert Reviews

Frank Turner's Live Chops Remain 'Undefeated' at Chicago's Aragon Ballroom

At this point, you might as well inject all Riot Fest-related things directly into my veins. When I'm not covering one of the awesome shows that they put on in Chicago, I'm constantly seeing acts who I was first exposed to through attending over the last

Riot Fest

Official 312 Noise FINAL RIOT FEST 2024 PREDICTIONS

The bummer about Riot Fest is that it's so late in the year, it's one of the very last big US festivals to announce a lineup. The silver lining there is it lets us all whip out our magnifying glasses and pipes (not that kind) (well

Concert Reviews

Friday Pilots Club Set the Bar for 2024 at 'Nowhere' Bottom Lounge Album Release Show

I never claimed to be unbiased. Hell, I'm not getting paid anything for this, so I'm actually quite open to being biased. Sadly, no offers (monetary or otherwise) have rolled in just yet. So for the time being, if someone wants to get a glowing review

Interviews

Friday Pilots Club: The 312 Noise Interview

As the weather in Chicago warms up, so is the overall trajectory of Friday Pilots Club, one of the Windy City's finest up and coming bands. The quintet (vocalist Caleb Hiltunen, bassist Drew Polivick, guitarists Sean Burke and James Kourafas, and drummer Eric Doar) are on the verge

Concert Reviews

Bayside After 20 Years: Fresh As Ever With the New Record to Prove It at Chicago's House of Blues

After taking over a year off from touring because of COVID-19, band re-emerged in mid-to-late 2021 like the cicadas we get here in the midwest, teeming with energy and vaccines. Awaiting them was an audience almost begging to fork over their disposable income to see not only their favorite bands,

Concert Reviews

Spanish Love Songs and Oso Oso Mine the Sad for the Happy at Chicago's Metro

Yeah, but I still come through when you want/It's like if I serve no use, where will I get my purpose from?/And then it always changes the second we see the sun Lyrics like that bring to mind a shoegaze-y downtempo number perfect to slot in

How I Started As A Concert Photographer

One of the most underrated things about being a concert photographer is meeting fans right in front of the stage when you're behind the photo barricade waiting for a set to start. Since the only fans you meet in that position are the ones passionate enough to be

Concert Reviews

All Of Chance the Rapper's Gifts On Display At Ramova Theatre Birthday Show

Dear Chance, At the risk of things going...well, something like this, I thought I would write this piece directly to you as a combo thank you letter/birthday wish. Why take such a huge risk doing something potentially lame with little to no upside? Variety, I guess. Telling other

Concert Reviews

Mom Jeans' Epic Emo Throwback at Night 1 in Chicago

Emo music and nostalgia are so intertwined that they might as well go on a co-headlining tour. Remember the gross creature that Jeff Goldblum turned into at the end of The Fly? That's nostalgia and emo music. And it makes sense. Emo music has long touched on all

Album Reviews

Sum 41 Say Goodbye on a High, Sometimes Overly-Ambitious Note with Heaven :x: Hell

Sum 41's breakthrough full-length debut All Killer, No Filler came out during my first month of college. As an American male on the more immature end of the 18-24 demographic, I should have been right in that album's wheelhouse. Add to that the fact that included

Concert Reviews

Mclusky Bring A Two-Decade Party to Chicago's Vic Theatre

As someone in his early 40's, I've had an absolute blast over the last few years musically celebrating the 20 year anniversary of some of the most awkward and uncomfortable years of my life. With so many bands cashing in on the "20 year anniversary

Album Reviews

Good Hangs Confirm That It Is Indeed Friday with the Release of Cover Up Tattoo EP

It's getting to the point where you're going to be able to start putting Good Hangs into many prominent old-timey sayings. "There are three certainties in life: death, taxes, and new Good Hangs music on Fridays." "Good Hangs new music on Fridays -

Concert Reviews

Jason Isbell Serves Up A Dose of Real America at Chicago's Salt Shed

There's a line in the Manchester Orchestra song 'The Silence' that's been on my mind a lot lately. You can go anywhere but you are where you came from Now I'm not normally the type to be walking around with lyrics from

Riot Fest

As Summer Moves Forward, The Riot Fest Picture Becomes...Like 2 Bands Clearer

The last couple weeks have been an absolute flood of tour and festival announcements. It's not surprising. There are just so many dollars to go around each summer for the average concertgoer (I lie to myself again), and you can't risk another big tour upstaging your

Concert Reviews

Porno for Pyros Say Farewell to Chicago at the Salt Shed

Porno for Pyros has always been a pretty big deal for a side project. If you mention Perry Farrell to someone that remembers the early to mid 90's pretty well, they're going to know him as the enigmatic lead singer of Jane's Addiction. Ask

Concert Reviews

Militarie Gun Brings Hardcore To The Masses at Chicago's Bottom Lounge

I'll be the first to admit I wasn't the biggest Militarie Gun fan when they first popped up on my radar. But both the universe and my awful eating habits seemed to have other plans. The first time I heard Militarie Gun was last year at

Single Reviews

Oh Hey That Band You Like Put Out A Song This Week

As usual, there was an absolute deluge of new songs this week as bands stake their claims to various dates across the calendar for upcoming tours and album announcements. I've put the best of them in one place for you because I am a kind and considerate member

Show Announcements

Friday Pilots Club Want You To Be A 'Spectator' At Upcoming Bottom Lounge Album Release Show

"Hell yeah, dude more Friday Pilots Club." Seven simple words, but they hold so much weight. And it works in two different and equally exciting ways! The first way is that we have more Friday Pilots Club music than we had yesterday. The band has dropped the new