Jessica Roti

Tomorrow Kings reunite after 12 years to tackle the fraught issues of today.

Preview of the prolific, Chicago rap collective's upcoming album, "SALT."

Overcast weather and fleeting sprinkles didn’t deter many from coming to Douglass Park for Riot Fest this weekend, including for headliners Weezer on Saturday and Green Day on Sunday — along with the one person nearly everyone wanted to see, actor and musician John Stamos, as well as the rebellious, anti-establishment spirit at the heart of the festival.

Review of Days 2 and 3 of Riot Fest 2025.

Twenty years into its punk-rock-carnival experiment, Riot Fest stands as Chicago’s largest, longest-running independent music festival. From its humble beginnings in the since-shuttered Congress Theater, to brief adventures in both Colorado and Philadelphia, the vision of founders “Riot Mike” Petryshyn and the late Sean McKeough remains steadfast in charting its own lane in the music festival landscape — celebrating musical genres and influential though often unsung artists who draw generations of outsiders, weirdos, goths, freaks and geeks.

And, finally, John Stamos.

Review of Day One.

An authoritarian dystopia, public executions decided by grand jury, a murderous clown — and that was just the first half of My Chemical Romance’s concert on their “Long Live the Black Parade” tour.

Review of My Chemical Romance at Soldier Field, Aug. 29, 2025

Oasis
August 28, 2025
Soldier Field
Chicago, IL
Review by Jessi Roti

For some people, the thought of being confined to a space amongst 70,000 people singing “Wonderwall” is their worst nightmare.

Then there are Oasis fans. Some of whom have waited nearly 20 years to do it.

Audiophilic purists and the avidly curious alike can sit and soak in the sounds at a number of bars built for listening, including the new Charis Listening Bar in Bridgeport, A Listening Space in Washington Park, and CHIRP Radio and Audiotree’s co-presented Both Sides Now monthly listening bar activation at Schubas Tavern in Lakeview.

Exploring the latest trend of listening bars in Chicago.

Follow the sequins, technicolor tutu skirts and bewigged heads lining up outside of Tinley Park’s Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre, and you’ve found the gates welcoming you to firebrand Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun Farewell Tour.”

Review of Cyndi Lauper's farewell tour stop in Tinley Park, IL.

No one is having a better year than Doechii. The Florida rapper, “The Swamp Rula,” released her critically-acclaimed mixtape “Alligator Bites Never Heal” in August 2024 and hasn’t hit the brakes since, taking home the Grammy for best rap album — only the second woman to do so— as well as gracing runways in New York and Paris and putting on some of the most dynamic live performances on and off screen.

Review of Doechii at Lollapalooza 2025.

There’s that great line from the movie “Jennifer’s Body” from Amanda Seyfried’s character: “Hell is a teenage girl.” If the thousands of young girls and women, femmes and thems packed into the south end of Grant Park for Olivia Rodrigo’s headlining set Friday night on the T-Mobile stage at Lollapalooza were any proof, hell is also 20-somethings, 30- and 40-somethings.

Review of Olivia Rodrigo at Lollapalooza 2025.

A student of the Taylor Swift school of songwriting, Gracie Abrams’ T-Mobile stage set was the concert to cry to as the evening of Day 1 fell upon Chicago's Grant Park.

Three years ago, Abel Tesfaye — better known as The Weeknd — first brought his “After Hours Til Dawn Tour” to Soldier Field. This time around, fans showed up in droves Friday night (May 30) for the first of two nights of the “After Hours Til Dawn Tour” (part deux), and to say goodbye (sort of).

For just over two hours, there were no breaks in the concert. Tesfaye delivered wall-to-wall vocals, showcasing a strength, clarity, and control over an instrument you’d never think once escaped him.

Review and fan scener of The Weeknd at Soldier Field for Chicago Tribune.

Some male egos, like beautifully crafted stemware, are fragile. It’d be silly to let such fragility dictate your bar order, right? Apparently not.

We spoke to bartenders across the country and asked how often notions of masculinity and femininity play into beverage orders. And it’s common.

Review of heavy rock band Deftones at United Center March 31, 2025

Currently on the first leg of a North American arena tour, the band ripped through a tight, 75-minute set at the United Center Monday night, following sets by Boston-based Fleshwater and The Mars Volta. (The latter played only new material from an upcoming, unreleased album.)

We spoke to a handful of people across the country to hear their thoughts on drinking alcoholic beverages.

For Bon Appetit.

The annual punk rock music festival actually happened—and these were the best sets.

We thought it almost wouldn’t happen, but Riot Fest 2024 pulled itself together to deliver a weekend of noise, carnival chaos, a crowd-surf wedding during Something Corporate, three consecutive nights of NoFX nobody asked for and some mud for posterity (Chicago’s weather gods had been too kind earlier this festival season, I guess).