Festival Season In The Bag

Riot Fest 2015 is over* and thus closes another music festival season, or zips up the bag as it were. I always pack up my music fest wares, credentials, schedules and whatever else into a ziploc bag, and at the end of the summer I throw it into a box in my crawlspace.

I've never been much of a scrapbooker, as much as I wanted to be. I still have a half-finished scrapbook from high school, with all the other crap intended to go in it in a box with the book. I'll get to it one day... riiiight... It's usually when I'm looking for something specific in the box that I come across all those old memories (what day/time did so-and-so play at Lolla 2005???). Or when I move, but I've been living in the same place for almost six years now.

Who knows, maybe one day I'll have kids that will enjoy going through the boxes, trying on my wristbands and checking out the bands on the schedules noting who made it big and who they've never heard of.


*here's our Chicagoist coverage:
Day One
Day Two 
Day Three

Interviewing Me

Riot Fest returns to Chicago today, which reminded me about an interview I did at the fest last year with indie leather crafting co. In Blue Handmade. This time it was me being interviewed, which was weird since I'm normally on the other side asking the questions, but I think I did ok! They asked me about writing and journalism as part of their Between The Lines series where they talk to all types of writers--journalists, poets, songwriters, etc.

Thanks again to Katie and the In Blue Handmade crew for reaching out and being so cool to work with!

Cultural Diversity

From a punk rock music festival to the ballet to a museum exhibit about a starman, it's been quite a week.

First: RIOT FEST:
Kind of sucks. Would recommend. Appearing in Denver this weekend. Pictures to come.

Next: STORIES IN MOTION:
The Joffrey Ballet's current program. Hurry and go though because this one only lasts through the weekend. Stick around for the last piece, it's a doozy. I wrote about it for Chicagoist.

And Finally: DAVID BOWIE IS...
I got to attend the press preview at the Museum of Contemporary Art this morning. There were Aladdin Sane cookies. The exhibit opens next Tuesday aka David Bowie Day. Also recommend.

Riot Fest Tops The Rest

The lineup for this year's Riot Fest was announced this week and it's a doozy. Just when you thought the music festival bubble had burst, that every fest had morphed into the same cookie cutter lineup, this happens. And get this...instead of Perry Farrell playing his own festival's tenth year in Chicago, Jane's Addiction will play Riot Fest's 10th Anniversary. Jaw. Drop. Mind. Blown.

It was a big week for Tankboy and Chicagoist with the initial lineup announcement (yes, that's yours truly posing as "an excited Riot Fest fan"), an interview with the fest's founder, Riot Mike, and this latest announcement that ten of the bands will be playing full album sets in honor of the tenth anniversary.

I don't want to wish summer away, but I'm excited for September to get here!

Riot Fest Is Upon Us

Riot Fest begins tomorrow, and like Labor Day is the official end of summer, lets call this one the official end of music festival season. It's been real, it's been fun, see you next summer and all that.

This is where we kick back with our friends, take in the crisp fall weather, reminisce of another great summer gone by, and of course headbang along with some punk bands. Maybe we'll even ride some rides or play some games at the carnival. And obviously we'll take our pictures with the John Stamos butter sculpture for posterity's sake.

We at Chicagoist put together a listing of our choice picks to see at the fest that aren't headliners, because you don't need a reminder to see the biggest bills. My picks were Kitten, New Beat Fund, Pet Symmetry and Peelander-Z, most of which I discovered from having my Riot Fest Spotify playlist on shuffle for the last several weeks. Obviously there are a lot of other acts I'm excited to see, but these are my lesser known recommendations. And there are still more intriguing songs coming through on my playlist!