Darius Rucker rocked his Windy City Smokeout fans like a wagon wheel on Friday night after his highly anticipated return to stage. Performing a number of his country music hits, a few covers, and even some of his Hootie & The Blowfish singles, the “Hold My Hand” recording artist delivered a show that Chicago will not soon forget.
From start to finish, you would never have guessed that this was one of Rucker’s only performances in the last year and a half. The Hootie & The Blowfish lead turned country star didn’t miss a beat on Friday and proved why he was one of the stand out names on the festival’s stacked lineup, blowing the crowd away with performances of “Alright”, “Hold My Hand” and of course his rendition of Old Crow Medicine Show’s “Wagon Wheel”.
Check out our favorite photos from Rucker’s headlining performance:
Live music has returned to the Second City, as Chicago’s premiere country music festival, the Windy City Smokeout, kicked off on Thursday night with Illinois’ own, Brett Eldredge.
Celebrating the festival’s 9th year and 2nd year taking place at the lots of the United Center, the same site that hosted mass vaccination clinics throughout the spring is now host to Chicago’s first music festival of 2021. Needless to say, fans couldn’t be more excited.
The Windy City Smokeout is expected to host more than 15,000 fans throughout the extended weekend, with headlining performances from A-list country stars like Darius Rucker, Dierks Bentley and Jon Pardi, as well as big performances from Morgan Evans, Ryan Hurd, the Randy Rogers Band and many more. If the music alone wasn’t enough for you, the festival will also feature some of the best BBQ from the local and national pitmasters.
The moment that fans had been waiting for, for over a year, night 1 of the festival was a can’t miss evening as Brett Eldredge blessed Chicago with it’s biggest performance since March of 2020, also marking our return to live music coverage since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Check out our favorite photos from the “Don’t Ya” singers memorable performance:
Chicago’s WGCI brought some of the biggest names in hip-hop and R&B to the United Center this weekend for their annual Big Jam. The lineup included 2019’s biggest hitmakers from hip-hop heavyweights the Migos, the charismatic DaBaby, and “Hot Girl Summer” creator Megan Thee Stallion.
The stacked-up bill also included support from Tink, Yella Beezy, Jacquees, G Herbo, and Wale. It also included a surprise appearance from Chicago’s own Jeremih during Wale’s set. The Chicago fans came to represent the city well with the strong support for G Herbo. The hometown favorite wasted no time in his laidback robust set.
Meg The Stallion turned up the crowd into a frenzy with her Hot Girl Summer anthems. She also led two rounds of an audience volunteered twerk showcase. Da Baby’s hip-hop musical took over the Big Jam stage, which created an energy-filled performance from start to finish that performing in the show out audience. There was a missed opportunity not having Megan Thee Stallion and Da Baby perform “Cash” together, but both performances were equality highlights of the night.
Big Jam paid tribute in the packed United Center to Chicago’s own Juice Wrld. “Lucid Dreams” played as a montage of footage of past performances and studio sessions played to honor the recently passed artist.
WGCI’s Big Jam continues to bring the biggest names in music, creating a lineup of can’t miss performances. This year was no different. The always sold-out Big Jam is the best way to celebrate and enjoy the biggest names in hip-hop and R&B. Big Jam has succeeded in ending the year on a high note with its talent stacked lineup.
103.5 KISS FM brought some of the biggest names in music to Chicago’s annual iHeartRadio Jingle Ball.
With a massive headlining performance from the Jonas Brothers, artists like NF, Niall Horan, AJR, Zara Larsson, Why Don’t We and Lewis Capaldi also blessed the stage at the sold out holiday concert.
Check out our photos from last night’s performance below!
Chicago’s B96 brought some of the biggest names in music for their annual and fan favorite, B96 Pepsi Jingle Bash.
With star studded performances from Katy Perry, Camila Cabello, Marshmello, as well as memorable sets from AJ Mitchell, NCT 127, Monsta X and Normani, last night was a night to remember!
Check out our photos from last night’s performance below!
Maren Morris is on top of the world right now. After taking home the night’s biggest award, for Album of the Year at the Country Music Awards, Maren Morris wrapped up her huge Girl: The World Tour with a couple final dates in the Midwest, including a big performance at The Rave in Milwaukee, WI.
No stranger to Milwaukee’s historic venue, Maren Morris’ weekend performance was her biggest in Milwaukee to date. From her co-headlining show with Jon Pardi to her opening set for Keith Urban at the Bradley Center, Maren Morris has delivered a number of memorable performances in Milwaukee. The “My Church” singer added to that list of great performances on Friday night.
Kicking off her performance with her newest album’s title track, Morris performed the majority of her critically acclaimed album, Girl, as well as many stand outs from her debut album Hero, and even a couple entertaining covers as well. Maren also treated fans to a special solo performance of “Crowded Table”, one of the Grammy winning singer’s collaborations with her new country supergroup, The Highwomen.
From start to finish, the expecting mother and emerging country superstar showed us again how she is one of the best entertainers in music today. While it’s unclear when Maren Morris will make her next visit to Milwaukee, since needless to say she will be very busy in the next couple years, fans can’t wait to welcome her back.
Check out our favorite photos from Maren Morris’ Milwaukee tour stop below.
Lin-Manuel Miranda’s award winning musical “Hamilton” made it’s long awaiting debut at Milwaukee’s Marcus Performing Arts Center on Tuesday night for a diverse sold-out crowd. Kicking off the blockbuster hip-hop infused musical’s 32-show run, as part of it’s national tour, Hamilton will bring joy to thousands of Milwaukee fans throughout the engagement which runs through November 17.
Whether you consider yourself a Varsity Broadway type or if you’ve yet to attend the city’s beautiful Marcus Center and instead rode the wave of Hamilton’s cultural impact of the last half decade, the Tony Award winning musical has something for everyone.
If you’ve been in a coma since 2016, Hamilton has brought broadway to a larger audience and at the forefront of pop culture thanks to the imagination of actor, composer and writer Lin-Manuel Miranda, who has since became a household name with the success of the musical. Hamilton tells the story of America’s founding father, Alexander Hamilton, a West Indies immigrant who became the Robin to George Washington’s Batman during the Revolutionary War. And while the musical, which was based on Ron Chernow’s biography “Alexander Hamilton”, certainly delivers a rich history lesson to its audience, Miranda’s use of rap dialogue and a score that blends jazz, R&B, blues, rap and Broadway makes for an unlikely combination that totally works.
Lin-Manuel Miranda, like Hamilton, was an unsung hero whose story is now being told on a national scale thanks to the success of the musical, and although you won’t enjoy Miranda’s skills as an actor during the musical’s run in Milwaukee, Hamilton is a fine-tuned product now made on a large scale with little variation to ensure that the hundreds of audiences that enjoy the musical every year all witness the same quality of performance.
Hamilton’s national tour is led by a carefully crafted cast of some of the best actors in the country, including Joseph Morales and Nik Walker, who portray Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, the musical’s protagonist and antagonist. Not to mention the talented musicians and technicians that work tirelessly behind the scenes to allow the actors to shine at their full potential for every city and every performance.
Morales makes Miranda proud with his amazing portrayal of Alexander Hamilton, and while he can’t fill Lin-Manuel’s shoes in all aspects of the visionary’s life, as a Broadway actor he is second to none. But while Morales’ acting is near perfect, the musical’s central character is far from it. Hamilton tells the rags to riches story of one of America’s most famous immigrants and our nation’s first Treasury Secretary, but the character still has his share of flaws including his off-putting relentlessness and public sex scandal.
In many ways, Alexander Hamilton’s friend turned foe, Aaron Burr (played by Nik Walker), is the more relatable character of the musical. Audience members may find themselves sympathetic for Burr as his jealously boils throughout Alexander Hamilton’s rise in America with Walker’s impressive portrayal. Although Burr is undoubtedly the “bad guy” of Hamilton, it’s not that easy as the musical blurs the lines in a realistic and historical way.
The list of what makes Hamilton so great is massive, but there is no better way to experience the performance than live and in person. You can bump the musical’s Grammy winning soundtrack while you’re reading Alexander Hamilton’s biography, but nothing compares to the real thing.
Hamilton tells a compelling story in a unique fashion that only Lin-Manuel Miranda knew would work. So whether you bought your Marcus Center season pass just to get your tickets as soon as possible or whether you’re one of the 40 lucky “Hamilton Lottery” winners selected during each performance of the Milwaukee run, Hamilton is a must see for any person that enjoys entertainment. Hamilton is bringing together fans of rap, American history and Broadway types thanks to the talents of Lin-Manuel Miranda and the amazing cast and crew of the musical’s U.S. tour.
Limited tickets remain for various performances through Milwaukee’s 4-week run, so get yours now while they’re still available. Hamilton’s Milwaukee run lasts through November 17, 2019.
Tickets for the iHeartRadio and 103.5 KISS FM Chicago Jingle Ball are on sale now and while some tickets still remain, with names like the Jonas Brothers, Niall Horan and NF on the bill, this year will surely be a sell out.
So whether you already have your tickets to the highly anticipated show or you’re one of the ones who will claim your sets before they’re all gone, we have compiled a list of some of the songs that we need to hear at this year’s Chicago stop of the Jingle Ball Tour on Wednesday, December 18th at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, IL.
Hit the jump and check out our list of the five songs that we absolutely need to hear at this year’s 103.5 KISS FM Jingle Ball, and if you haven’t yet, get your tickets now while you still can!
Chicago heavy metal band, Disturbed, invaded the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee on Sunday evening for a rocking night with In This Moment. Currently on their headlining Evolution Tour, Disturbed is traveling to some of the biggest arenas in the world to bring their fiery tour across the glove. Do yourself a favor and a visit to our friends at OnMilwaukee.com for more photos and a full review.
Check out our favorite photos from Disturbed’s Milwaukee tour stop below.
The Jingle Ball Tour and the Minneapolis stop on the fan favorite tour are just a couple months away and fans in the Twin Cities can’t wait! With impressive lineups across the tour, fans at the 101.3 KDWB Jingle Ball at the Xcel Energy Center will enjoy performances from Katy Perry, Camila Cabello, Monsta X, Why Don’t We, 5 Seconds of Summer and Lauv!
So with such a great lineup in St. Paul, we can’t help but think about some of the great performances we will enjoy on Monday, December 9th. From Katy Perry’s big 2019 single to one of Why Don’t We’s early hits, there are many songs that we absolutely need to hear performed at the Twin Cities Jingle Ball this holiday season.
Hit the jump and check out our list of the five songs that we absolutely need to hear at this year’s 101.3 KDWB Jingle Ball, and if you haven’t yet, get your tickets now before they’re all gone!
The Early Registration 