music blog
Lil Durk Hospitalized After Being Struck in the Face by Pyrotechnic at Lollapalooza
A major accident befell Lil Durk during his Lollapalooza set on Saturday, July 30th when an onstage pyrotechnic blew up in his face. In fan-captured video of the performance, the “What Happened to Virgil” rapper can be seen covering his face with his T-shirt after walking through the blast, but ended up finishing his full set after taking a moment to reorient himself. (During the performance, Lil Durk also had what appears to be milk inexplicably thrown at him from the crowd.) However, he revealed on Instagram later in the day that he actually went to the hospital upon leaving the festival, posting a selfie with a mask on and his eye covered in a giant bandage. “Due to the incident that happened at Lollapalooza in Chicago on stage, I’ma take a break & focus on my health. I finished my ...
Stray Kids Drop Surprise Song ‘Mixtape : Time Out’ to End Fan Week: Listen
Stray Kids have been showing thanks to their dedicated fans all week with a new song to cap off the celebrations. On Aug. 1, 2018, the K-pop boy band revealed the official name of their fandom — affectionately called Stay — and takes time every year to honor the moment. Stay’s fourth anniversary in 2022, Stray Kids announced ‘STAYweeK’ for daily drops of behind-the-scenes videos, unseen photos, vlogs, live streams and more “special gifts.” Now, for the final day, SKZ revealed their new song “Mixtape : Time Out” as the last gift for fans. Opening with the sound of beach waves, “Time Out” quickly jumps into an energetic punk-rock vibe to pair nicely with the fun message of the track: “Let the stress fly away/ Don’t worry ’bout tomorrow,” the Kids sing. “We’ll just have some fun right now.” A...
Sting Warns During Warsaw Concert of Threats to Democracy
Sting interrupted a concert in Warsaw on Saturday evening (July 30) to warn his audience that democracy is under attack worldwide and to denounce the war in Ukraine as “an absurdity based upon a lie.” The British musician asked a popular Polish actor, Maciej Stuhr, to come onstage to translate his warning that democracy is “in grave danger of being lost unless we defend it.” Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “The alternative to democracy is a prison, a prison of the mind. The alternative to democracy is violence, oppression, imprisonment and silence,” Sting said and then ran his hand across his neck in a throat-cutting gesture. The 70-year-old delivered his message in a country that borders Ukraine, where Russia launched its invasion on F...
Metallica and ‘Stranger Things’ Actor Joseph Quinn Jam Out to ‘Master of Puppets’ Backstage at Lollapalooza: Watch
Metallica and Stranger Things‘ Joseph Quinn held an epic backstage jam session at this year’s Lollapalooza in Chicago. Hours before Metallica’s headlining performance at Lolla on Thursday (July 28), the legendary rockers met up with the British actor, whose metalhead character Eddie Munson brought renewed interest to the band’s 1986 classic “Master of Puppets” during season four of the Netflix sci-fi series. “I’m a big fan of [Stranger Things]. Have been since season one,” Metallica frontman James Hetfield tells Quinn while seated backstage at the festival. “My kids and I, it’s a bonding experience for us.” Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Quinn spent months perfecting the intricate metal guitar solo, and his hard work didn’t go unnotice...
Activists Protest Lollapalooza 2022 Over Youth Curfew
On Thursday (July 28), the opening day of Lollapalooza 2022, a group of activists protested the festival over Chicago’s ongoing youth curfew, as CBS News reports. The group included members of GoodKids MadCity and the Brighton Park Neighborhood Council. A letter to the city calling for the order to be rescinded claimed the measure was unconstitutional and disproportionately affected Black and brown teens. The weekend curfew was recently rolled back from 11 p.m. to 10 p.m. by the Chicago City Council after a 16-year-old named Seandell Holliday was shot and killed during a large gathering in Millennium Park in May. While the ordinance applies to anyone under 18, but attendees of ticketed events—such as Lollapalooza—are exempt, a loophole that activists say unfairly benefits wealthy tourists ...
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...
Green Day Play a Whole Bunch of Rarities at Surprise Chicago Club Show
Ahead of their headlining performance at Lollapalooza on Sunday, Green Day played an imitate warmup show at Chicago’s Metro on Friday night. For fans who managed to score a ticket to the 1,100-persons capacity venue, they witnessed a career-spanning 28-song set that included a number of live rarities. Green Day seemingly treated the night as akin to a club show from their early days, playing most material from early albums like Kerplunk, Dookie, Insomniac, and Warning. Notably, the band performed “Warning” and “Church on Sunday” for the first time since 2001. They also delivered the first full band performance of “Watsername” since 2005. Advertisement Related Video The setlist also included “Letterbomb,” “Private Ale,” “Christie Road,” “One of My Lies,” “Geek Stink Breath,” and “J.A.R.” — ...
ODESZA Returns in Dazzling Form for First Live Show in Three Years
Five years after their last album and almost exactly three years after their last live set, ODESZA returned to their hometown of Seattle Friday night (July 29) and showed the roughly 17,000 people in attendance at the city’s Climate Pledge Arena that — despite the name of their latest album — there is truly no last goodbye. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The duo, Harrison Mills and Clayton Knight, released their new LP, The Last Goodbye, on July 22, kicking off their tour a week later with a sold-out, three-night run at Climate Pledge that continues Saturday (July 30) and Sunday (July 31.) The tour will then extend across North America this summer with an amphitheater run. But with Friday night marking ODESZA’s return to live music, anticipati...
Drake Sings ‘I’m Like a Bird’ With Nelly Furtado in Toronto: Watch
Drake brought one of his musical idols to his stage at October World Weekend in Toronto: fellow Canadian Nelly Furtado. “Thank goodness I’m a nice, humble, well-spoken — I like to deal with people the right way — because that’s the only way that you can get this next person out of the house to come do what they’re gonna do right now,” Drake told the crowd at his hometown club History on Thursday night (July 28). “I don’t care how loud you sang tonight. Right now I need you to sing as loud as you possibly can because this right here took a lot,” he said. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “This next person’s music changed my life so much,” added Drake. “I love her with all my heart, so when she comes out here you better show her some f—in’ love too...
TLC, Boyz II Men Take Over the Hollywood Bowl: 5 Memorable Moments
Amid coast-to-coast frenzy about the $1.3 billion Mega Millions jackpot this week, there was only one magic number for Hollywood Bowl music fans Friday night (July 29): 30. That’s the number of hit-filled years that TLC and Boyz II Men each brought to the stage during their respective 70-minute sets that kept the audience screaming, dancing and singing along from start to finish. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Here are five memorable moments from the Grammy-winning groups’ performances at the Bowl, now celebrating its 100th anniversary: Hey Mr. DJ: Plugging into the ’90s nostalgia vibe that was already percolating throughout the full house, DJ Bubz jump-started his pre-intro set with DMX’s “Party Up (Up in Here).” From there, the party shifted...
Must-Hear Indie Artist of the Month: Lava La Rue
The Project Lava La Rue’s new EP, High Fidelity, is out now via Marathon. The Origin Growing up, Lava La Rue was always playing in bands. “When I was 13, I wanted to be in an all-girl version of The Clash. Very West London, ska-punk inspired. The intersection of Caribbean culture and British punk.” But as they grew older, the costliness of rehearsal space drew the young creative to freestyling “because you just need a microphone.” At college in London, La Rue met the group of artists who would soon change their life. “I think people assume we met at some really established music school but it wasn’t like that at all, it was a bit rundown. The music equipment was falling apart,” La Rue explains, but the lack of proper equipment didn’t stop the group of friends, who would soon call themselve...
Raymond Raposa, Who Recorded as Castanets, Dies at 41
Raymond Raposa—the singer-songwriter who recorded under the name Castanets—has died at the age of 41. Raposa’s longtime label Asthmatic Kitty confirmed the news earlier today (July 30) via a post on Twitter. The statement was provided to the label by Raposa’s family. “It is with great sorrow that the family of Raymond Raposa announce his passing today,” they wrote. “Raymond was a wonderful son, brother, uncle, friend, and musician. He will be greatly missed.” A cause of death was not revealed. Find the full post below. Born Raymond Byron Magic Raposa on January 22, 1981, Raposa released six studio albums under his Castanets moniker. All of his LPs were issued by Asthmatic Kitty—the label founded in 1999 by Sufjan Stevens and his stepfather Lowell Brams. Raposa’s debut Castanets LP, 20...
