Reviews
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...
Lollapalooza 2022 Day Three Recap and Photos: J. Cole, Turnstile, Dashboard Confessional & More
Day three of Lollapalooza 2022 took place on Saturday, July 30th, with more incredible acts taking the stages at Grant Park. Headlined by J. Cole, the day saw acts like Big Sean, Turnstile, Wallows, and Dashboard Confessional rock the crowd. Also performing on Saturday were the likes of Fletcher, Alexander 23, and Meet Me @ The Altar. Advertisement If you missed all the action, you can relive it vicariously through our extensive Lollapalooza day three photo gallery below. Revisit our recaps from day one and day two, and stay tuned for our full coverage of the remainder of the festival. Advertisement [flexi-common-toolbar] [flexi-form class=”flexi_form_style” title=”Submit to Flexi” name=”my_form” ajax=”true”][flexi-form-tag type=”post_t...
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...
Paper Girls Is Prime Video’s Paper-Thin Attempt to Make Their Own Stranger Things: Review
The Pitch: It’s Hell Day 1988 — the waning hours of Halloween Night, and four girls are out on their paper route in a sleepy Cleveland suburb. There’s Mac (Sofia Rosinsky), the chain-smoking rebel whose haircut and leather jacket are giving 1991 Edward Furlong; KJ (Fina Strazza), the young Jewish girl from a well-off family; Tiffany (Camryn Jones), an adopted Black girl and certifiable tech nerd; and Erin (Riley Lai Nelet), the shy daughter of Chinese immigrants who just moved to town. They don’t know each other very well, but they’ll have to band together after the sky turns purple and they’re suddenly shot into the far-flung future of… 2019. Turns out they’re caught in the middle of a war between feuding factions of time travelers — the orthodox “Old Watch” and the rebellious STF, o...
B.J. Novak Deals Out Some Intriguing But Muddled Vengeance: Review
The Pitch: Ben (B.J. Novak) is a guy who doesn’t necessarily have something to say, but he wants to be the type of guy who says stuff worth hearing. That’s why, despite being a working writer in New York, with publication credits including The New Yorker, what he really wants is to make a podcast. “Not every white guy needs a podcast,” producer Eloise (Issa Rae) tells him when he tries to hard-sell her on his ideas at a party, but things change when a former hookup of Ben’s ends up leading him to podcasting gold. Awakened in the middle of the night by a phone call from a stranger, Ben finds out that a girl named Abilene Shaw, who he’d slept with a few times and texted casually, has died, and her family back home in small-town Texas thinks he was the love of Abby’s life. So, after a guilt t...
Maggie Rogers Embraces Rock Star Abandon on Thrilling Surrender
If there’s been one deserving criticism of Maggie Rogers since Pharrell Williams famously likened the then-NYU student to the Wu-Tang Clan in 2016, it’s that the singer-songwriter entered the pop zeitgeist too fully formed. Sure, songs from the Maryland-born artist’s anticipated debut LP, 2019’s Heard It in a Past Life, were deftly penned — a sharp cross-section of her folk and soul-heavy upbringing and later French club obsessions. But they also were rightly dinged for being overproduced. As with so many buzzy debuts, a major label’s efforts to prove a young star’s maturity breeds contrivance. Flash forward three years, much of which Rogers spent self-sequestering on the coast of Maine, and the singer, now 28, returns Friday with Surrender, an emphatic and generally more unbuttoned sophom...
In Better Call Saul’s “Nippy,” The Future Is Now: Review
[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for Better Call Saul, Season 6 Episode 10, “Nippy.”] In its fourth-to-last episode, “Nippy,” Better Call Saul executed its most abrupt pivot yet. From just the title, we knew something different was in store, as a totally different naming scheme was in play (Saul does switch up its approach to episode titles from season to season, but within each season they typically remain consistent). But after seeing Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk) in all his sleazy glory at the end of the previous episode, “Fun and Games,” it was clear that whatever was going to come next would be a departure from the past. However, this episode, written by Alison Tatlock and directed by Michelle MacLaren, catapulted us viewers a lot further forward than we might have e...
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...
Jordan Peele’s Nope Is Dazzling, Self-Reflective Horror Blockbuster Spectacle: Review
The Pitch: In the rolling hilly countryside outside Los Angeles city limits, the Haywoods — descended from the first Black horserider/stuntman/movie star to ever be captured in motion — try to make ends meet as Hollywood horse wranglers. But when the family patriarch (Keith David, radiant as always) dies from a freak accident, the task is left to introverted Otis Jr., or OJ (Daniel Kaluuya) to keep the family ranch afloat, with the reluctant help of his fast-talking, hustle-happy sister Emerald (Keke Palmer). At first, they resort to selling off the family horses to nearby Jupiter’s Claim, a hokey Wild West-themed amusement park run by former child star Ricky (Steven Yeun). But fortunes start to change when they realize there’s something above them, in the clouds, scaring the horses and sh...
Interpol Are Surprisingly Vulnerable on The Other Side of Make-Believe
Interpol’s debut album, 2002’s Turn On the Bright Lights, thrust them into the blistering limelight of New York indie rock and solidified their signature sound: addictively melancholy rhythms (“NYC”), gargantuan anthems (“PDA”), and despondent ballads (“Leif Erikson”). The band also embraced the mystery that enveloped them: They quickly became known for their earnest demeanor, monochromatic wardrobe, and lyrics that quested after ambiguity so badly they were borderline obtuse. (Was the subway ever really a porno?) Though Turn On the Bright Lights is routinely lauded as their best, subsequent Interpol albums have noticeably demonstrated their evolution. Antics showcased leaner and tighter songwriting, and much of their later work experimented with new textures (keyboards, strings, beats) an...
