Yesterday marked the fourth night ofSummerfest‘s 49th Anniversary celebration. Unlike many other premiere music festivals, Milwaukee’s lakeside festival, Summerfest, brings an especially diverse list of performers to Wisconsin every year. Tonight the World’s Largest Music Festival had some huge names including The Roots, Kasey Musgraves, Kane Brown, New Age Narcissism and more.
Check out our Summerfest Day 5 photos below and peep our Day 4 Summerfest photos here!
Yesterday marked the fourth night ofSummerfest‘s 49th Anniversary celebration. Unlike many other premiere music festivals, Milwaukee’s lakeside festival, Summerfest, brings an especially diverse list of performers to Wisconsin every year. Tonight the World’s Largest Music Festival had some huge names including Nelly, Rachel Platten, Moon Taxi, Billy Idol, Hippo Campus, Blue Oyster Cult and many more.
Check out our Summerfest Day 4 photos below and peep our Day 3 Summerfest photos here!
Tonight marked the third night ofSummerfest‘s 49th Anniversary celebration. Unlike many other premiere music festivals, Milwaukee’s lakeside festival, Summerfest, brings an especially diverse list of performers to Wisconsin every year. Tonight the World’s Largest Music Festival had some huge names including Timeflies, O.A.R., the Commodores and more.
Check out our Summerfest Day 3 photos below and peep our Day 2 Summerfest photos here!
Tonight marked night 2 ofSummerfest‘s 49th Anniversary celebration. Unlike many other premiere music festivals, Milwaukee’s lakeside festival, Summerfest, brings an especially diverse list of performers to Wisconsin every year. Tonight the World’s Largest Music Festival had some huge names and a lot of rain, with Mr. Worldwide himself, Pitbull, headlining the Marcus Amphitheatre with Farruko, Passion Pit, legendary rockers Styx, GGOOLLDD and more.
Check out our Summerfest Day 2 photos below and peep our Day 1 Summerfest photos here!
A few hours ago, the first headlining performances came to a close for the opening night ofSummerfest‘s big 49th Anniversary. Unlike many other premiere music festivals, Milwaukee’s Summerfest brings an especially diverse list of performers to Milwaukee’s lakefront every year. Tonight the World’s Largest Music Festival had some huge names, with pop superstar Selena Gomez headlining the Marcus Amphitheatre Stage, joined by the Joe Jonas-led DNCE, while the ground stages saw performances from EDM’s Martin Garrix, Willie Nelson, Kiings, Finish Ticket and more.
This month we wrapped up our second straight year at Bonnaroo, teaming up with our friends at Pigeons And Planes to cover The Farm’s 15th Anniversary. And while we already shared some of our favorite moments live from the premiere Tennessee festival, we wanted to share more photos of some of our favorite performances this year. With memorable sets from Pearl Jam, LCD Soundsystem, Dead & Company, Ellie Goulding, J. Cole, Haim, Anderson East, Post Malone and St. Lucia, just to name a few, this was certainly a Bonnaroo to remember.
Check out our eighth Bonnaroo Photo Series of 2016, of Ellie Goulding’s memorable performance.
Everyone and their mother has an opinion about Kanye West and his new music video for his The Life of Pablo record, ‘Famous’. The video, which debuted last Friday night to a sold-out crowd at The Forum, depicts a number of nude celebrities that have played some sort of huge role in West’s life. Whether it’s Taylor Swift to his right, Kim Kardashian-West to his left, or even George Bush, a number of life-like wax figures were created for Kanye’s newest piece of art. While there is a lot of speculation whether some of these celebrities will sue Kanye, Mr. West is gladly inviting everyone to try him with a lawsuit, however he may be safe due to an unlikely source.
Decades ago, the U.S. Supreme Court made a unanimous decision in the case of Hustler Magazine, Inc. v. Falwell. The 1988 case was a result of a parody advertisement that Hustler placed in its November 1983 issue, that depicted the famous minister and political leader (Falwell) as a drunk who had a sexual relationship with his mother in an outhouse. As a result, Falwell sued for libel, invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress, and at the lower court level, he won $150,000 in damages for the offensive advertisement.
Lucky for Hustler and a future Kanye West however, the magazine’s attorneys decided to appeal and the Supreme Court took on the question of whether the First Amendment (freedom of speech) protects offensive statements about public figures, especially when it results in the suffering of emotional distress. And in an unanimous decision, the Supreme Court answered yes. Since Falwell was a public figure, he was not able to recover for intentional infliction of emotional distress because a person would not reasonably believe that the offensive speech in this case was an actual fact. Therefore, because no one would actually think that this ad in Hustler was real and accurate, their speech was protected by the First Amendment.
This decision was huge for free speech in relation to public figures and celebrities, and fast forward over two decades later, this very case applies to the protection of Kanye West’s newest music video. While we still live in America, and people can sue for almost any reason, that does not mean they will be successful. And because of the decision in Hustler v. Falwell, anyone that takes on Kanye West in court over his ‘Famous’ video will have a tough time. Not only is the video arguable not offensive or defamatory, since nudity is artistic and beautiful (one could easily argue) and not by itself offensive, but no reasonable person, especially given all the press this video has received, would actually think that the video showcased the actual nude body of Taylor Swift, George Bush and more. While the wax figures were remarkably life-like, they were obviously not the real celebrities that the figures portrayed.
I can easily understand why a celebrity would be upset, but they can blame the attorneys from Hustler. If the Supreme Court unanimously decided to protect a porn magazine from suggesting that someone is a drunk who has sex with their mother, then the majority of courts could certainly decide to protect an artist (inspired by well-known painting) from simply using nude wax figures of famous celebrities in his piece.
Kanye may not have to wait too long before someone calls his bluff and sues him, but I have a feeling he will be just fine.
Calvin Harris – Photo by Dan Garcia/The Early Registration
Hours ago, pop superstar Ariana Grande stepped off stage at Chicago’s Allstate Arena for another great year of the B96 Pepsi Summer Bash. With some awesome performances from the biggest names in music, the packed crowd in Rosement, IL also saw sets from Meghan Trainor, EDM superstar Calvin Harris, Mike Posner, Charlie Puth, Daya and Bebe Rexha. Whether it was it was one of earlier sets from an emerging name in pop, or one of the night’s headlining sets, everyone from top to bottom delivered for the Windy City.
Kicking things off for the night in her Chicago Cubs jersey was 17-year-old singer, Daya. Although she is new to the game, she already has three big singles in constant rotation. Whether it’s her debut single ‘Hide Away’, her empowering anthem ‘Sit Still, Look Pretty’, or her Chainsmokers collaboration, ‘Don’t Let Me Down’, Daya is killing it, even before her high school graduation. Following Daya’s opening performance was the talented Bebe Rexha. Although she is still making a name for herself as a performer, you know more about the New York native than you think. She has written for a number of big artists in the past, including Eminem and Rihanna’s hit single ‘Monster’, but now if you ask her, the G-Eazy collaborator would tell you she’s focused on “me, myself and I.” Rexha isn’t far removed from her last performance at the Allstate, where she opened for singer Ellie Goulding, and as always she put on a memorable performance.
Next up was Mike Posner, who has been getting spins on B96 years ago, ever since his breakout single, ‘Cooler Than Me’. Now, many years removed from his debut album and college days, the Duke graduate is currently promoting his new album, At Night, Alone. Opening with a couple records off his new sophomore LP, Mike Posner brought some folk-influenced pop to the Chicago crowd. Although Mike kept it intimate with his album version of his newest hit single, ‘I Took a Pill in Ibiza’, he still found time to get the crowd hype when he took it back for ‘Cooler Than Me’. Fans left wanting more will be able to catch Posner back in the Windy City this August, as he supports Nick Jonas and Demi Lovato on their forthcoming tour.
Following Mike and his guitar was Charlie and his piano, Charlie of course, being singer/songwriter Charlie Puth. Opening with his Meghan Trainor collaboration, ‘Marvin Gaye’, Charlie killed it on the keys. And while his skills on the piano are more than impressive, the night was not about boasting, as Puth had the crowd light up the arena as he dedicated his performance of his #1 record, ‘See You Again’, to all the lives lost in Orlando. Moments later, after Puth said his goodbyes to the Chicago crowd, it was time to rage as Calvin Harris performed his only radio show of 2016. Getting the crowd moving to hit after hit, the highlight of Harris’ performance came as his new Rihanna collaboration, ‘This Is What You Came For’, was blasted throughout the Allstate.
After Calvin Harris and Charlie Puth’s performances, the other half of Puth’s ‘Marvin Gaye’ collaboration, that being Meghan Trainor, stepped on stage. Trainor opened with her most recent single, ‘Me Too’ and closed with her big 2016 record, ‘No’, but the crowd began to erupt as Meghan teased fans by performing a “brand new song that (she) wrote for Chicago”, which was really her smash hit, ‘All About That Bass’.
Soon after Trainor stepped off stage, it was time for the birthday girl, singer Ariana Grande, to bless fans with her headlining performance. Grande, who turned 23 today, gave an extra special performance for Chicago tonight, and it is hard to imagine a better way for her to celebrate her big day. The entire crowd sang Happy Birthday for the ‘Dangerous Woman’ singer as she emerged, and in return she sang a collection of her biggest hits to date, giving the B96 Pepsi Summer Bash an ending to remember.
Check out our photos from the B96 Pepsi Summer Bash below.
This month we wrapped up our second straight year at Bonnaroo, teaming up with our friends at Pigeons And Planes to cover The Farm’s 15th Anniversary. And while we already shared some of our favorite moments live from the premiere Tennessee festival, we wanted to share more photos of some of our favorite performances this year. With memorable sets from Pearl Jam, LCD Soundsystem, Dead & Company, Ellie Goulding, J. Cole, Haim, Anderson East, Post Malone and St. Lucia, just to name a few, this was certainly a Bonnaroo to remember.
Check out our seventh Bonnaroo Photo Series of 2016, of CHVRCHES’ Tennessee performance.
Bob Dylan is a self-proclaimed “worried man with a worried mind”, and last night one of the most influential artists from the last few decades in American culture brought his band and a nearly two hour set to the Ravinia Festival in Highland Park, IL, and opened with those very lyrics from his 2000 Oscar winning record, ‘Things Have Changed’. And Dylan’s visit couldn’t have come at a better time. At a time where our country, and the world in general, is constantly divided, whether it’s on gun control, the European Union, or your preference for the next president of the United States, Chicagoland fans saw one of the most politically conscious individual in music perform a collection of his favorite records throughout the years.
As the last of the sold-out crowd began to fill in and set up their lawn chairs and blankets at the Ravinia, 76-year-old and Chicago-native Mavis Staples warmed up her hometown crowd. An immensely talented R&B and gospel singer, and a vocal civil rights activist, it is hard to imagine a better opening act for Dylan and his band. And don’t sell Staples short. Despite her age, Staples put a lot of energy into her opening performance, which included some of her biggest records, including ‘I’ll Take You There’, ‘You Are Not Alone’, ‘Take Us Back’ and more.
After a brief intermission as crew began to set things up for the night, it was finally showtime. As anticipation was at its peak, Bob Dylan emerged in a checked shirt, blazer and his signature “Rolling Thunder” hat, made famous decades ago during his legendary concert tour of the same name.
After Dylan and his band opened with his award winning track, they following things with ‘She Belongs to Me’, ‘Beyond Here Lies Nothin” and an Irving Berlin cover with ‘What’ll I Do’. While Dylan’s set was more than memorable, it may not be what you expect. Rather than the 75-year-old Minnesota-born singer performing a collection of his biggest hits that date back to the ’50s, Dylan performed a wide array of songs. With nearly 40 full-length LPs with records to choose from, Dylan choose a number of his favorite songs from his more recent albums, while still finding time to sprinkle in some classics from his early years. Highlights included his performances of ‘Spirit on the Water’, ‘Scarlet Town’ and ‘Tangles Up in Blue’.
And although Dylan had hundreds of his own songs to choose from, he still found time to perform a number of covers from a range of different artists. Whether it was his Cy Coleman cover ‘Why Try to Change Me Now’, Yves Montand’s ‘Autumn Leaves’, or one of his many Frank Sinatra covers from the night (‘All or Nothing at All’, ‘I Could Have Told You’, ‘I’m a Fool to Want You’ and more), Dylan sang a number of unique covers to some classic records.
Nearly two-hours later, and after two Sets of music, the night wouldn’t have been complete without an encore. First Dylan re-emerged performing his 1963 record ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’ from his album The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan. One of Rolling Stone’s “500 Greatest Songs of All Time” and a protest record about peace and war, Dylan’s record from half-a-decade ago still is very much relevant today. Then, fast forwarding a few decades, Dylan took things to 1998 with his song ‘Love Sick’, from his 30th studio album, Time Out of Mind. ‘Love Sick’, among many reasons is known for the memorable performance of the track at the 1998 Grammys, and while last night’s performance of ‘Love Sick’ may not go down as one of Dylan’s biggest performances, for the people of Chicago and Highland Park last night, it will me a memory that will live on as long as Dylan’s career.
Visit Ravinia.org for upcoming concerts and check out Bob Dylan’s remaining tour dates at his official website.
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