Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Announces Class of 2016

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has finally unveiled their class of 2016. On Thursday (Dec. 17), the iconic museum revealed those artists who will be inducted next spring. Chicago, Deep Purple, NWA, Cheap Trick, and Steve Miller have been chose to receive the honor.

Back in October, it was revealed that acts like Nine Inch Nails, The Smiths, Janet Jackson, The Cars, Chic, and Yes were some of the artists who had made it onto the ballot of nominees. But with the revelations, it appears they will have to wait another year to be put back on the ballot. The official induction ceremony will take place on April 8, 2016 at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. Like previous years, the induction ceremony will be broadcast on HBO later on in the spring.

In a sad twist, it looks like Chic, once again, has been snubbed for induction. this year marks the tenth year that the group has been passed over for a slot at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

In order to be eligible for the Hall of Fame, a nominee’s first recording (or debut album) must have been released at least 25 years ago. This year, fans were offered an opportunity to vote, and a collective “fan ballot” was added to the over 800 ballots from artists, historians, and music industry members.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2016 Nominees Announced

It feels like it was just yesterday that we were announcing the nominees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame class of 2015 and now, the class of 2016 nominees have been unveiled. On Thursday (Oct. 8), the official list of nominees which includes 15 potential inductees was released. Making it onto this year’s list are Nine Inch Nails, The Smiths, The Cars, Cheap Trick, N.W.A., Janet Jackson, and more.

Other potential inductees include Chic, Deep Purple, Chicago, Steve Miller, Yes, Los Lobos, The Spinners, The J.B.’s, and season 21 Dancing with the Stars contestant Chaka Khan.

This year’s list marks the second year both Nine Inch Nails and The Smiths are eligible to be inducted into the Hall of Fame while it’s the first year Janet Jackson, The Cars, and Cheap Trick can rightfully be nominated. In a twist, this year marks the tenth time that Chic has been nominated for this honor. (Can we just give it to them already?)

N.W.A.’s nomination comes on the heels of the success of their biography-based film, Straight Outta Compton, while Jackson released her new album, Unbreakable, earlier this month and is currently in the middle of touring in support of the new record.

In order for an artist to be eligible to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, their first recording must have been released at least 25 years ago. But, being nominated is just half the battle for this honor. From now until Dec. 9, a group of artists, historians, and music industry members will get to decide who gets entry to the museum in April 2016.

Recently, fans have been given the opportunity to vote for their favorite artists by using the “fan’s ballot.” The “fan’s ballot” will count as one of the more than 600 ballots used to determine who gets inducted next spring. Currently, fans can head on over to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s official website to cast their votes. The polls will officially close on Dec. 9 with the top five artists being announced later that month.

Last year,  Green Day, Lou Reed (posthumously), Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Bill Withers, and The Paul Butterfield Blues Band were inducted into the iconic Cleveland museum.

Chevelle Update Fans on Friday Night Tragedy

It’s been several days since tragedy occurred during a Chevelle show in Chicago and now the band have formally released a statement about the incident.

For those not familiar with the horrific incident, this past Friday (May 22), Chevelle were playing at the Aragon Ballroom in their hometown when a 24-year-old man fell from a catwalk and was impaled through the chest upon landing.

At the time, the band had posted a message of Facebook hoping they would have a speedy recovery, even though their set had been cut short, much to the displeasure of a several naysayers in the crowd.

Today, the band posted a second post on Facebook addressing the incident that happened. Read their full post below.

“To our fans, as you may or may not have heard, an extremely unfortunate event occurred at our show in Chicago Friday night.

We were asked by the police to stop our set so that the authorities could tend to an injured fan. Once the severity of the accident was determined, the authorities cleared out the venue to give them time to investigate. We want to thank our Chicago fans for their respect of the authorities and for understanding that these decisions made by the authorities were out of our control. We love our fans in Chicago and while there was no question that the show would be cut short in light of this tragic event, we will be sure to play for you all again as soon as possible.

We are deeply saddened by the passing of Chevelle fan Kyle Kirchoff and at this time we ask that you all keep Kyle and his family in your thoughts and prayers.

S.P.D.”

After the fall, first responders quickly attended to Kirchoff rushing him to Weiss Memorial Hospital where 30 minutes after his arrival he was pronounced dead.

At the time of the original story, officials were still investigating what happened and police had said that foul play was not being suggested.

Man Dies During Chevelle Show

Over the weekend, a 24-year-old man lost his life during a Chevelle concert.

The band was in the middle of their set Friday night (May 22) at Chicago’s Aragon Ballroom when Kyle Kirchoff, from Hanover Park, fell from a restricted catwalk and was impaled in his chest upon landing.

The band’s set was cut short as first responders made their way to the injured. He was taken Weiss Memorial Hospital where he was later pronounced dead.

Chevelle quickly took to their Facebook page to explain what led to them having to shorten the set and wished the injured a speedy recovering. We’re assuming it was posted before Kirchoff was officially pronounced dead at the hospital.

The show was not only the band’s final co-headlining tour date with The Used and Marmozets, but it was also their hometown show; Chevelle are from Grayslake, a suburb of Chicago.

While there has been no official cause of death, police are currently investigating the incident though it appears foul play is not being suggested.

Riot Fest Fire Back at Alderman Opposed to Humboldt Park Return

Drama is a-brewin’ in Riot Fest’s hometown of Chicago.

Earlier this week, and alderman spoke to the Chicago Tribune and told the publication that he opposed the return of Riot Fest to Humboldt Park due to “the mess they left at the park last year.”

“I am exceptionally disappointed at the Riot Fest organizers for the mess they left at the park last year and their shallow and hollow promises to restore the park,” Ald. Roberto Maldonado said.

“I don’t support them coming back.”

He followed that up by claiming that three-day festival had cut off public access to baseball diamonds and the Humboldt Park field house both before and after the event.

But for anyone who is familiar with Riot Fest and their Twitter account, it should not come as a surprise that founder Michael Petryshyn has come to defense of his festival by releasing a statement of his own about Maldonado’s opposition considering the alderman was supportive of the festival in the past.

“Due to the economic benefits Riot Fest brings to many 26th Ward businesses, the hundreds of thousands of dollars Riot Fest has donated to ward charities, our support in his reelection, and more importantly, job creation in a ward that has sorely lacked new job development, the Alderman and Riot Fest have been on the same page in shining a positive light on our culturally rich and magnetic neighborhood,” Petryshyn said.

Petryshyn also points out that some of the blame for the damage to the park rests on Maldonado’s shoulders since it was he who decided to add the low-lying parts of the park to the festival’s footprints.

“We must all be reminded that it was Ald. Maldonado’s direction and his final decision to change the footprint in 2014 to encompass low-lying parts of the park that we neither wanted, planned or needed during a July, 2014 meeting” Petryshyn added.

Following a torrential downpour that occurred on opening night last year, Humboldt Park became a mushy mess resulting in a lot of damage. At the end, the damage was originally estimated to be about $182,000, though recent reports claim it came in at $150,000; about triple what the festival paid in 2013.

The repairs that needed to be done to the ground included: grading, reseeding, adding topsoil, and soil aeration.

But unlike Maldonado and his opposition, Chicago Park District spokesperson Jessica Maxey-Faulkner said that the follow-up repairs to Humboldt Park are no different from what happens every year after Lollapalooza in Grant Park. To no one’s surprise, no one is trying to kick Lollapalooza out of their home.

Even thought the Park District has reportedly not issued a permit for this year’s Riot Fest, the festival’s official website has Humboldt Park.

Pre-sale tickets for the Chicago edition of the festival, which is scheduled to take place during the weekend of Sept. 11-13, are currently available.

Lollapalooza 2015 Complete Line-Up Revealed

While most of the music festivals that will be coming our way this Summer have already announced their line-up, Lollapalooza was waiting until the time was right to unveil their own line-up.

This morning, the Chicago-based event revealed their complete line-up. The 2015 incarnation of the annual festival will include Florence + The Machine and Paul McCartney as headliners. Funny enough, Florence and McCartney have both become music festival staples this year.

Metallica, Sam Smith, Of Monsters and Men, Twenty One Pilots, Brand New, Walk The Moon, and many more will also be joining the newly announced list.

Check out the complete list of performers below which instead of being a boring poster, Lollapalooza decided to turn it into a gif. Welcome to the 21st century.

Single Day Passes for #Lolla go on sale in 15 minutes! Check out the lineup by day here: http://t.co/PVHeMTZ9BO pic.twitter.com/6kBVoaBt5c

— Lollapalooza (@lollapalooza) March 25, 2015

Lollapalooza will return to Chicago’s Grant Park during the weekend of July 31-August 2.

Three-day general admission passes are long gone, but the festival organizers did advise that single day passes will go on sale beginning on today at 10 a.m. CT, so get on it quickly if you plan on attending this year’s event.

The Grateful Dead Say “Fare Thee Well” with Final Shows

There are only a handful of bands that have been able to make it to the 50th anniversary of the creation of the group and the Grateful Dead are making sure to celebrate it with the people who helped get them there; the fans.

2015 will mark the 50th anniversary since the inception of the Grateful Dead, and the surviving members will be giving fans three days to come out and celebrate with them at Chicago ‘s Soldier Field.

The three shows will take place July 3-5, almost 20 years after the band’s last performance with their late singer, Jerry Garcia, which also took place at Soldier Field. In place of Garcia, the remaining members of the band have enlisted Phish frontman, Trey Anastasio, to take the role of singer during those three days.

For those hoping that this will lead to the Grateful Dead heading out on the road for a trip down memory lane, the band have already said that it’s unlikely the band will embark on a tour.

“These will be the last shows with the four of us together,” said guitarist Bob Weir.

Reportedly, Bonnaroo had offered the surviving members of the band almost $3 million to headline this year’s festival, but they decided that they wanted to celebrate the “gold” anniversary by doing their own thing for fans.

Fan club pre-sale tickets will take place on Feb. 12 and 13 with public ticket sales beginning on Feb. 14.

Riot Fest and Lollapalooza Charged with Chicago Parks’ Damage

We all love going to music festivals and u get upset when the price of tickets are so much that we’re literally “working for the weekend.”

Turns out, things aren’t that great either for those who actually throw the concert, especially when the rainy season decides to hit during a show.

According to the Chicago Tribune, Riot Fest now owes an estimated $182,000 for repairs needed to be done to Humboldt Park  after Riot Fest Chicago and the torrential downpour that occurred on opening night. In a shock that the festival probably did not expect, the price of the repairs for 2014 are nearly triple what they paid for 2013; $54,300.

Check out an excerpt from the Tribune’s story.

Rain also moved in just in time for Riot Fest in September, leaving Humboldt Park a mushy mess. Repairs there are in progress, park district spokeswoman Jessica Maxey-Faulkner said.

As a result, some stretches where grass seed was put down remain fenced off but should be ready for the public in the spring, according to the park district.

Park officials estimated landscape repairs to Humboldt Park would cost Riot Fest organizers $182,000, more than triple the estimated $54,300 spent on grounds repairs last year.

But Riot Fest aren’t the only ones getting this treatment from those who run Humboldt Park. The Tribune are also claiming that $260,544 worth of damage was done to Grant Park during 2014′s Lollapalooza. In total, the amount of money owed for both parks ended up at a whopping $442,544.

Guess Lollapalooza and Riot Fest are going to hope that the weather gods are little more friendly for 2015.

Chicago Parks to Become Smoke Free

In news that came out of nowhere (unless you live there), Chicago has officially announced that they will be banning smoking, including e-cigarette or vaporizers, at all 580 city parks including those places that festivals like this upcoming weekend’s Riot Fest call home.

The surprise decision was made yesterday by the Chicago Park District’s Board of Commissioners. However, if you had plans to smoke at Riot Fest this weekend, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting that officers will not be ticketing attendees at the weekend-long event due to take place at Chicago’s Humboldt Park.

Chicago Park District Superintendent Mike Kelly reassured attendees the new law will not go into effect so quickly.

“People at Riot Fest this weekend, they don’t need to worry about…a man tapping on their shoulder and saying, ‘You’re under arrest.’ That’s not the point of this. It’s about awareness. It’s about people taking the dangers of smoking seriously and making their own choices.”

“I don’t see in the foreseeable future police with a ticketbook at Lollapalooza walking around, writing tickets. That’s not what this is about.” Kelly added.

Riot Fest Chicago is slated to take place this weekend, Sept. 13-14 with a long list of artists set to take the place.

Earlier this week, festival organizers revealed that Cheap Trick will be the tenth and final artist to perform one of their albums, in full, in honor of the festival’s tenth anniversary.

For a full list of set times, click here.

Riot Fest Chicago Annouce Day By Day Line-up

We’ve been keeping an eye out for Riot Fest since it was announced that the festival will have three weekends in three different cities with most of the same artists in honor of its tenth anniversary. 

Last week, we revealed how the Denver edition of the festival had been relocated to do some permit issues and now, we have the full day-by-day line-up for the Chicago edition of the festival. 

Check out the full line-up for Chicago below and start making a list of who you won’t get to see because someone else even better will be performing at the same time. 

Maybe it’s time to get tickets to Denver and Toronto to see those that you might miss in Chicago. It’s just a thought. 

Riot Fest Chicago will take place September 12-14 at Humboldt Park.