Rock the Bells Update: Hip Hop Alive and Kicking
The loss of Michael Jackson was a recurring theme at the Rock the Bells 2009 kickoff in Chicago on Saturday. “People said a lot of things about him while he was alive, but you should all know a musical era is leaving you,” master of ceremonies and hip hop legend KRS-One told the audience between sets on the main stage. The event’s star power was so potent that the second stage, featuring underground acts, rivaled the pull of the better known artists in the amphitheatre. Hip hop was also pronounced dead several times, yet her heartbeat pulsed from the cement into my ankles then knees for nine straight hours. Read more...
A Sneak Peak: Rothbury 2009
Still debating what to do this 4th of July weekend? Tired of the same old lame park district fireworks? Fed-up with the hoards of tourists at the Taste of Chicago? Maybe you should consider packing up your tent and cooler and head up to Michigan for the 2nd Annual Rothbury Music Festival. Read more...
Counting Crows While Eating
Somewhere in the jumble of grunge bands of the mid-nineties was a band that lyrically kept to the period’s gloominess, yet instrumentally broke free from the traditional guitars, bass and drums. Counting Crows was that band, their hit “Mr. Jones” off their debut album became a 90s rock anthem. But besides a few successes since then, the Crows haven’t managed to re-kindle that flame and the currents of music history are slowly washing them away. Read more...
Isla Fisher's Shopaholic Comes to Blu-ray
Isla Fischer proved she had the comedic chops when she played Gloria Cleary the crazy sister opposite Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn in The Wedding Crashers back in 2005. Now with her own star vehicle she can cut loose as the adorable yet addicted to fashion buying Becky Bloomwood, in the 2009 film adapation of the popular Shopaholic novels. Confessions of a Shopaholic is now out on Blu-ray with a bonus digital copy to boot. Read more...