Concert Reviews
Matt Stone and Trey Parker Celebrate 25 Years of South Park with RUSH, Primus, and Ween
A small girl sarcastically sang “JOE BIDEN TOOK OUR JOBS!” into a microphone while South Park co-creator Matt Stone laughed uproariously, Dean and Gene Ween provided backup vocals, Primus’ Les Claypool played bass and Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson of Rush sat silently smiling. The plumes of smoke emanating from the 9,545 fans jammed into Red Rocks Amphitheatre were especially thick at this moment on Wednesday night (August 10th). It was the second of two sold-out South Park 25th-anniversary shows, starring Stone and his partner, Trey Parker, as ringleaders of a circus in which Ween performed on stage left, Primus manned stage right and “Blame Canada,” “Uncle Fucka,” “What Would Brian Boitano Do?” and other profane “South Park” classics wafted from the middle. If the satire didn’t always come ...
Rage Against the Machine Kick Off Five-Night Stand at Madison Square Garden: Recap + Photos
Rage Against the Machine have embarked on their “Public Service Announcement Tour,” which the quartet launched last month at the Alpine Valley Music Theater in East Troy, Wisconsin. Marking the band’s first live shows in 11 years, the ongoing trek was originally scheduled to ignite in 2020, but was postponed twice due to the global pandemic. The first leg is winding down with a five-night stand at New York City’s famed Madison Square Garden, which began with a show on Monday night (August 8th). A UK/European run begins later this month, plus a second leg of US and Canadian shows is set for early 2023, with tickets available here. Monday night’s show at MSG saw Rage Against the Machine playing to a completely sold-out crowd. Still healing from a leg injury sustained during the band’s Chicag...
Lady Gaga Finally Kicks Off North American Tour After Years of Delays: “This Bitch Has Been to the Grave and Back!”
Seated at a piano made of thorns in the middle of a rapt sold-out audience at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Lady Gaga confessed that there was a point in her life when she wasn’t sure if she’d ever make it back to a stage like this again. Indeed, a lot has happened to both Gaga and the world since she was last able to tour. “Severe physical pain” due to fibromyalgia forced her to postpone and eventually cancel the final leg of her Joanne World Tour in 2018. The “Chromatica Ball” stadium tour (grab tickets here), originally slated for 2020, was postponed twice for COVID concerns. The release date for the album she was planning to tour in support of, Chromatica, was briefly pushed back due to the pandemic, too. Or as the singer/actress/performance artist herself put it with a mix of humor, r...
5 Reasons to See CHVRCHES Live This Year
CHVRCHES are just a few weeks away from the one year anniversary of their excellent fourth album Screen Violence, but it seems they’ve been keen on celebrating it ever since it came out; since the fall of 2021, CHVRCHES have been on tour very consistently, jumping back and forth between North America and Europe multiple times for extensive runs, festival dates, and more. Many musicians are jumping at the chance to bring their pandemic-crafted albums on tour, and CHVRCHES have done so defiantly. So, witnessing their performance at the Brooklyn Mirage in New York City on Wednesday (August 3rd) was not just an opportunity to see several Screen Violence cuts live, it was a chance to see CHVRCHES completely in their element, their show fine-tuned and riveting. More so than any of the band’s pre...
Lollapalooza 2022 Day Four Recap and Photos: Green Day, j-hope, Blackstarkids, and More
Day four of Lollapalooza 2022 went down on July 31st, wrapping up the legendary Chicago festival. The day featured towering sets from headliners Green Day and j-hope, the latter of which making history as the first South Korean to headline a main stage at a major American music festival. Other notable sets came by way of Maneskin, Blackstarkids, Porno for Pyros, and Beach Bunny, as well as DJO, BANKS, and Buffalo Nichols. Check out action shots of such artists in our Lollapalooza day four photo gallery below, courtesy of photographer Josh Druding, who was on the ground for Consequence all weekend long. You can also revisit day one, day two, and day three, as well as a full review and gallery from j-hope‘s set. Related Video Advertisement [flexi-common-toolbar] [flexi-form class=”flex...
Lollapalooza 2022: j-hope Kicks Off a New Era for BTS: Recap, Photos + Setlist
“I’m j-hope from BTS,” he told the Lollapalooza crowd, doing nothing more than introducing himself and nothing less than making history. BTS are perhaps the most overwhelming musical force the world has ever known, having conquered the globe with an ARMY bigger than Beatlemania. The septet became such an institution that when they announced a “hiatus,” to pursue solo projects, the resulting panic cost their management label HYBE $1.7 billion in market cap in just two days. “We are not disbanding,” the group clarified. j-hope said it in a different way under the banner of Chicago’s skyline in Grant Park Sunday night: “I’m j-hope from BTS.” Advertisement Related Video He’s a lot more than that. With this appearance at Lollapalooza 2022, j-hope became not just the first of...
Arcade Fire Kick Off Tour with Heart and Soul at Montreal’s Osheaga Festival: Review
Arcade Fire pick and choose their moments very carefully. It’s fitting that the Montreal band decided to release their first album in five years, the ambitious and heartfelt WE, in a pandemic-affected universe, urging us to relish in the fact that we are still, in fact, alive. It’s even more fitting that Arcade Fire began their extensive WE tour in Montreal, the band’s birthplace, at Osheaga Festival, which is celebrating its first year back since 2019. However, Arcade Fire’s appearance at Osheaga on Friday night (July 29th) was a stroke of good and bad luck: originally scheduled to headline were Foo Fighters, who cancelled all their tour dates after the untimely death of drummer Taylor Hawkins. But nabbing Arcade Fire as a replacement headliner is an excellent booking, and their pres...
Red Hot Chili Peppers Make It Look Easy at US Tour Kickoff in Denver: Review
Not many high school bands last 39 years. Even fewer make the transition from punk underground to venerated rock establishment, while continuing to jump around like teenagers with functional and highly lubricated knee joints just a few months shy of 60 years old. But Red Hot Chili Peppers are still doing it, and they’re making it look easy. They are the Rolling Stones of Generation X. And they are very much here to stay. Gather ‘round, children; way back in the ‘80s and early ‘90s, there was a burgeoning new genre of popular music called “Alternative.” Red Hot Chili Peppers, which formed in 1983 in Los Angeles with Anthony Kiedis on vocals, Flea (Michael Bazary) on bass, Hillel Slovak on guitar, and Jack Irons on drums, was one of the first American bands to really dominate the genre, pavi...
Kendrick Lamar Big Steps Into “King of Rap” Role In Dallas: Review and Setlist
“Is Dallas in this shit tonight?” Kendrick Lamar asked a roaring crowd before performing “Purple Hearts” from his new album Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers. “You know it’s been five years since I seen ya’ll, right? So I maybe a little bit rusty on this stage. I may need a little help. I think I need ya’ll to help me sing this … Let’s get it.” The last time Kendrick Lamar performed in Dallas was July 14th, 2017, when he brought the “DAMN. Tour” to the American Airlines Center. Then, he was one of hip hop’s biggest attractions with the highest-selling album of the year, on the verge of becoming the first-ever rapper to be awarded the prestigious Pulitizer Prize the following year, and arguably the new King of Rap. Exactly five years later, Lamar brought “The Big Steppers Tour” (get tickets...
5 Reasons to See Rage Against The Machine Live This Summer
Back in 2020, the timing for a Rage Against The Machine reunion couldn’t have been more appropriate: after nine years away and ahead of a symbolic and high-stakes election, the Los Angeles quartet decided it was time to be back in front of the people once again to serve politically-charged catharsis en masse. But of course, the pandemic offset Rage’s tour plans by not one, but two years, and even compared to 2020, the world is quite different than it once was. Luckily, attendees at Rage Against The Machine’s tour stop at Festival d’été de Québec in Québec City didn’t let the 11-year absence hinder an amazing time on Saturday evening (July 16th). The festival itself is a true experience — rather than erect a typical three or four-day festival on one large plot of land within the city, Festi...
Alanis Morissette (Finally) Celebrates 25 Years of Jagged Little Pill in Montreal: Review, Video, and Setlist
Like so many other highly anticipated world tours, Canadian singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette had to wait an extra two years to finally mark 25 Years of Jagged Little Pill — or if we’re being pedantic, 27 years. After kicking things off in Europe, the Ottawa native began the North American leg of the tour in her hometown on July 10th before performing at Montreal’s Bell Centre two days later. (Get tickets to the rest of her upcoming dates here!) Although the night started with harmonica blazing to album opener “All I Really Want,” the rest of the evening in Montreal didn’t flow exactly as the Jagged Little Pill recording. The 48-year-old, with the same athletic stage-hopping zeal from her youth, played the entire album mostly out of order, with a few other hits such as “Uninvited” and “T...
Circle Jerks Celebrate Group Sex and Wild in the Streets in New York City: Recap, Photos + Video
The legendary Circle Jerks finally made their way to New York City on Thursday night (July 7th) for a two-night stand at Irving Plaza following a number of pandemic-related postponements. The pioneering hardcore-punk band more than made up for the delay, delivering a 33-song set while headlining a bill that featured fellow veteran acts 7Seconds and Negative Approach. Originally, Circle Jerks had planned to hit the road in 2020 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of their iconic debut album, Group Sex. After playing a smattering of shows in 2021, the band kicked off a proper North American run in February, only to have it curtailed when frontman Keith Morris contracted COVID, forcing the postponement of the remainder of the tour, including the NYC dates. In addition to founding Circle Jerks, ...
