Welcome to Fan Chant, a weekly column for K-pop fans, stans, and newbies alike. Each week, I’ll be rolling out interviews, lists, and all kinds of content to keep you in the loop on the latest and greatest from our friends in Seoul and beyond. Also, make sure to subscribe to my companion newsletter! It feels strange to say that there’s ever a “light week” as someone on the K-pop beat, but this past week was maybe as close as we are going to get for a while. A week without any huge new releases meant I had some space to dig into some recent albums that I hadn’t spent dedicated time with just yet — it’s absurd how good this NewJeans debut EP is! I finally had a moment to venture beyond “Attention” and learned that every track on the mini-album is, in fact, a gem. Similarly, this week gave me...
Surprise! As part of the Disney+ Day celebration, BTS’s PERMISSION TO DANCE ON STAGE – LA is now streaming on the platform as of today (September 8th). PERMISSION TO DANCE ON STAGE – LA is described as a “stage-focused” concert film, showcasing the enormous event held at So-Fi Stadium at the end of 2021. The four concerts, November 27th-28th and December 1st-2nd, saw the 70,000-seat arena entirely sold out for all four nights. (Read our recap of the spectacular show here.) While the timing is a surprise, this concert film was announced without a release date in July as one of multiple projects created for Disney+, alongside a spin-off of BTS’s In the Soop (In the Soop: Friendcation, which was released on Disney+ in South Korea) and a still-to-come docuseries called BTS Monuments: Beyond th...
Imagine I’m Madonna Imagine I’m Thee Madonna Dressed in blue No—dressed in pink! Gabbana, Feather boa, Marie Antoinette, You wanna know her “Greatest Hits” is a sublime model of Jockstrap’s future-retroism. It feels opulent but easy to slip into, like a beaded Halston unearthed at a roadside thrift store. It may be draped in cinema strings, but the song is far from stuffy. Ellery and Skye are playing dress-up, nodding to Old Hollywood glamour and discotheque pomp. Their manner of digesting these references makes “Greatest Hits” feel fresh; it winks at the ’70s by way of the ’90s, and it mashes up biblical imagery with 20th-century pop stars and a certain queen of Versailles. The song title scans as wry self-commentary, while Jockstrap’s detailed productio...
The Cult have unveiled their latest single, “A Cut Inside,” and the full tracklist from their upcoming 11th album, Under the Midnight Sun. Sharp distortion slashes open “A Cut Inside” to reveal the song’s scorned underbelly, in which frontman Ian Astbury rebukes a deceitful higher power by singing, “We will never be/ Caught in your belief/ Get up off your knees.” The track then bursts like a revelation as the chorus testifies to a harsh, but more honest, reality: “No heathens in Heaven/ No sweet surrender/ Outsiders forever/ The ghost of our lives.” “A Cut Inside” is paired with a fiery visualizer directed by frequent collaborator Juan Azulay, in which a swirling collage of cool blues and purples obscure the band until seething lava flows erupt and cover the palette with violent reds, fire...
Cineworld, the parent company of the world’s second-largest theater chain Regal Cinemas, has filed for bankruptcy. As Deadline reports, Cineworld commenced Chapter 11 through the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. The action includes $1.94 billion in debtor-in-possession financing, which allows the chain to continue operating through restructuring by taking on even more debt. Cineworld hopes to emerge from Chapter 11 early in 2023. Until then, the company will pursue a “a real estate optimization strategy in the US,” — a nice way of saying they’re closing a bunch of theaters — while also “engaging in collaborative discussions with US landlords to improve US cinema lease terms.” Advertisement Related Video Cineworld operates 9,139 screens across 747 the...
Foo Fighters’ Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert was a heavy affair, and not even seasoned professional Stewart Copeland was immune to getting emotional. The Police drummer, who performed at the event, reflected on the evening in an interview with CBS This Morning, where he particularly gushed about watching Hawkins’ son, Shane, sit in behind the kit with his father’s band. “I started crying,” Copeland said. “He’s got it. He’s got such power, enthusiasm. He’s got his father’s stance, musical language. That was really emotional to see young Shane up there.” Watch the full clip below. 16-year-old Shane Hawkins joined Foo Fighters for the penultimate song of the six-hour evening, playing drums for the classic “My Hero.” The circumstances alone made it an incredible — if not difficult to watc...
Update – September 7th: Harry Styles joked about the “incident” during his first night back at Madison Square Garden: “It’s wonderful, wonderful, wonderful to be back in New York. I just popped very quickly to Venice to spit on Chris Pine.” Harry Styles: “It’s wonderful, wonderful, wonderful to be back in New York. I just popped very quickly to Venice to spit on Chris Pine.” pic.twitter.com/TUGOSoQPxw — CONSEQUENCE (@consequence) September 8, 2022 – Original Story – The alleged beef between Florence Pugh and Olivia Wilde wasn’t the only drama surrounding the premiere of Don’t Worry Darling at the Venice Film Festival over the weekend. However, we’re here to set one thing straight: No, Harry Styles did not spit on Chris Pine. Related Video A clip from the premiere went vir...
As long as there’s war, there’ll be protest songs. Flogging Molly is the latest example of that theory, as the Celtic punks have returned today with the new single “A Song of Liberty.” Not only is the song raising funds for refugee aid in Ukraine, but it also spotlights the work of Ukrainian animators/filmmakers The Mad Twins in its accompanying music video. “A Song of Liberty” isn’t just about the occupation of Ukraine, however. Its inspiration traces all the way back to the 1916 Easter Rising in Ireland and through both World Wars. Ultimately, it represents humanity’s constant fight against oppression: “It’s a song of freedom, which I wrote as a recounting of a dark period in Irish history,” the band’s Dave King says in a press release. “But suddenly the injustice, and the fight against ...
As long as there’s war, there’ll be protest songs. Flogging Molly is the latest example of that theory, as the Celtic punks have returned today with the new single “A Song of Liberty.” Not only is the song raising funds for refugee aid in Ukraine, but it also spotlights the work of Ukrainian animators/filmmakers The Mad Twins in its accompanying music video. “A Song of Liberty” isn’t just about the occupation of Ukraine, however. Its inspiration traces all the way back to the 1916 Easter Rising in Ireland and through both World Wars. Ultimately, it represents humanity’s constant fight against oppression: “It’s a song of freedom, which I wrote as a recounting of a dark period in Irish history,” the band’s Dave King says in a press release. “But suddenly the injustice, and the fight against ...
Nine Inch Nails played a two-night stand September 2nd and 3rd at the famous Red Rocks Amphitheatre outside of Denver, Colorado. Heavy Consequence was there to take in and capture the second of the two shows. Red Rocks is truly a unique venue, with the amphitheater built into an existing rock structure, adding a dramatic atmosphere for any band that plays there. The natural setting was even more evident when our photographer witnessed a deer randomly walking around as fans lined up to enter the concert. While the first of the two Red Rocks gigs spotlighted NIN’s 1999 album The Fragile, the second show put the focus on The Downward Spiral, with six tunes from the 1994 masterpiece making their way into the 23-song setlist. Advertisement Related Video Along with Downward Spiral standouts like...
Nine Inch Nails played a two-night stand September 2nd and 3rd at the famous Red Rocks Amphitheatre outside of Denver, Colorado. Heavy Consequence was there to take in and capture the second of the two shows. Red Rocks is truly a unique venue, with the amphitheater built into an existing rock structure, adding a dramatic atmosphere for any band that plays there. The natural setting was even more evident when our photographer witnessed a deer randomly walking around as fans lined up to enter the concert. While the first of the two Red Rocks gigs spotlighted NIN’s 1999 album The Fragile, the second show put the focus on The Downward Spiral, with six tunes from the 1994 masterpiece making their way into the 23-song setlist. Advertisement Related Video Along with Downward Spiral standouts like...