Last night, New Age Narcissism celebrated their Milwaukee Film Festival nominations of two of its talented and emerging artists, rapper WebsterX and singer Lex Allen. WebsterX received recognition over his amazing visuals (directed by Cody LaPlant & Damien Klaven) for his record‘doomsday’, while Lex received a nomination for his music video (directed by Cody LaPlant& Damien Gram), ‘This Is Our Year’ ft. Lorde Fredd33. New Age Narcissism, which consists of WebsterX, Lex Allen, Siren, Lorde Fredd33 and more, showed their fans at Hotel Foster last night why Milwaukee is experiencing a new wave of talented artists in the city right now.
Check out our photos of their Hotel Fosterperformance below.
Last night, Hopsin brought his Funk Volume 2015 Tour to Milwaukee’s Turner Hall Ballroom with Dizzy Wright, DJ Hoppa and Jarren Benton. With some energetic sets from Benton and Wright, and even a short film played between performances, the man of the night and the whole Funk Volume crew definitely delivered. Hopsin performed a number of tracks from latest LP, Pound Syndrome, as well as a collection of his older tracks (including a few from his “Ill Mind of Hopsin” series. Hopsin gave his dedicated Milwaukee fans everything they asked for and more last night.
Check out our photos below and be sure to check out if the tour is coming to a city near you.
Last night, English new wave singer-songwriter Eliot Sumner performed at Chicago’s Lincoln Hall with Minnesota indie rock band, On An On. Performing a number of records from her 2014 Information EP, the Burberry Model turned indie rock singer gave an intimate performance for the Windy City crowd. Perhaps most known for her family tree, as she is the daughter of legendary rocker Sting (of The Police) and actress Trudie Styler, Sumner is currently making a name for herself aside from the shadows from her kin.
Opening her performance, Sumner greeted the crowd with a performance of her track ‘Dead Arms & Dead Legs’, the first taste of new music that her fans received in 2015. Throughout her 9-song setlist, Sumner was stern-faced and focused, but letting a sly smile sneak out at moments for her second to last stop on her current tour. Dressed in an oversized shirt and all black leggings (with all black shorts on top), Sumner keeps her emotion in check during her live performances, while still making sure everyone in the audience has a drink in hand and is enjoying their night.
After closing her set with a performance of ‘After Dark’, her second record from the new year, Sumner thanked On An On for having her, as well as the Chicago crowd. “You’ve been fucking awesome,” Sumner told the crowd before helping tear down her set, and even getting things ready for On An On. For a model/daughter to one of the biggest musicians in the world, Eliot Sumner is remarkably low maintenance and down-to-earth, but her voice and talented work on the bass guitar is what stole the show last night.
Check Eliot Sumner’s music video for ‘Dead Arms & Dead Legs’ and her setlist from last night below, and listen to more of her music on her official Soundcloud page.
Setlist
Dead Arms & Dead Legs
Firewood
I Followed you Home
Let Love Lie on your Life
After Dark
Halway to Hell
Wobbler
Come Friday
After Dark
Joseph Somers-Morales, better known by his fans as SoMo, serenaded the House of Blues in Chicago last night while on his “The Falling Up” tour. The YouTube sensation, turned R&B star on the rise, brought in help from newcomer Jordan Bratton and rapper Kirko Bangz. SoMo’s latest mixtape, My Life II, dropped earlier this month debuting at #2 on the R&B/soul charts and on the list for the Top 10 album charts on iTunes. Hitting chart after chart, SoMo is bringing back R&B to a new audience. Features in My Life II included: Ty Dolla $ign, Trey Songz, Hoodie Allen, and Jeremih.
Lined up and packed in to see their favorite artists, The House of Blues last night could not disappoint. The venue was filled with great music from SoMo’s dynamic voice, Bratton’s soul filled performance, and Bangz’ thrill ride verses.
Opening the show was rapper Kirko Bangz. Bangz, who is best known for his hit ‘Drank In My Cup’, which when released peaked at number 28 on Billboard Hot 100 chart in 2011. Bangz energetic and adrenaline filled performance set the pace on high for the rest of the night as he brought a headlining caliber performance from the start of the show. His non-stop demeanor rubbed off to concert goers as it set that bar high the rest of the night.
New to the scene Bratton, a Long Island native, has worked with artists like Fabulous and Chance The Rapper (to name a few). Dim light set the mood as Bratton brought the concert goers down to his mellow smooth pace level. Bratton performed original songs like ‘Danger’ and ‘Prisoner’ with even covering Ed Sheeran’s ‘Think Out Loud’. Bratton after his set ventured off into the crowd to greet fans and to pose for pictures.
Known by his core fans for his ‘SoMo Sunday’ cover songs on YouTube, SoMo has come a long way since his YouTube days. SoMo’s performance brought concert goers into his own personal intimate world. Making a name for himself, we’re set to see a lot more of SoMo as he reaches news fans for his smooth and infectious lyrics. With all the characteristics of becoming more recognized for his work SoMo’s next few career moves could set him up in a big way.
Check out more photos (by Jesus Montero/The Early Registration) below and see if SoMo is coming to a city near you here.
Stefan Ponce is more than just the producer behind your favorite records from Childish Gambino, Vic Mensa and Chance The Rapper. Although his name is forever attached to some of your favorite rappers, Ponce is currently making a name for himself. Don’t label him as the Grammy-nominated Stefan Ponce, or the Childish Gambino-affiliated Stefan Ponce, or the guy who produced ‘Down On My Luck’ and ‘3005’, Ponce is an artist of his own, with an album of his own that’s on its way. We sat down with Stefan Ponce to talk about his forthcoming project, and some of his artist friends who have helped him get to this point.
Last night, Energy 106.9 brought two of the hottest artists right now to the Lucid Light Lounge in Milwaukee for the “That ENERGY Party”. After hours of free champagne, fans were treated to a special live performance from Atlanta rapper Silento, as he performed his hit single ‘Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae).’ After hitting that whip, everyone got to see Wisconsin native and ‘Classic Man’ singer, Jidenna, perform his hit record for the Milwaukee crowd.
Check out our photos of Jidenna and Silento’s performances below.
Last night, Ed Sheeran brought his one-man show to Chicago as he, and special guests Passenger and Christina Perri, performed at Tinley Park’s Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre. Greeting fans as the amphitheatre filled up, ‘A Thousand Years’ singer/songwriter and Pennsylvania native, Christina Perri, gave a warming opening performance. Perri split time around the stage and at her piano as she beautifully sang some of her biggest records, including ‘Jar of Hearts’ and ‘Arms’, in her opening set.
Next up was English folk rock singer, Michael Rosenberg, better known by his stage name of Passenger. Humbling himself, Passenger joked about how people often confuse him as being an entire band and reminded fans that his big song is ‘Let Her Go’, not Frozen‘s ‘Let It Go’. And while Passenger continued to make the fans laugh as he sipped his beer “strong apple juice”, his soothing folk music was the highlight of his appearance. Just coming off a performance in Minnesota, for a few hundred people, Passenger took in the moment and thanked the crowd and Mr. Sheeran for allowing him to play some of his records. Great music and making the crowd laugh between songs, Passenger knows exactly what it means to put on a great folk performance.
While the opening performances could not have been better, once 8:30 hit, it was time for the man of the night, Mr. Ed Sheeran. Opening with his records ‘I’m a Mess’ and ‘Lego House’, only two songs into the performance Sheeran had to give his disclaimer to the crowd. After a recent performance, Ed’s manager informed him of the tour’s first complaint, where a couple wanted their money back because they could not see the live band that was performing in the background. The twist however, was that there is no live band, as Ed performs all the background music live and on his own (through the help of his looping station). It’s this unique style of performance that not only showcases Sheeran’s talents, but also makes his show especially entertaining. He may not move around the stage too often, expect for when he is rapping of course, but Sheeran’s set showcases one of music’s great solo performers (which follows to other great solo performances).
Check out our photos and the official set list below and be sure to check out if the tour is coming to a city near you.
Last night, singer Nick Jonas performed for a packed crowd at the legendary House of Blues in Chicago, IL. With his special guest, singer/songwriter Bebe Rexha, the two certainly delivered a performance that their Chicago fans will remember for quite some time.
The night started as Rexha hit the stage, and despite being second billing on the tour, Bebe embraced her role of warming the crowd up for Nick Jonas. However, despite her emerging status, you could still hear a large number of her fans singing along in the crowd. Kicking off her career as a songwriter, and getting her first big check when she wrote Eminem and Rihanna’s hit single ‘The Monster’, Bebe performed a great mix of some of her single records with a number of other artists’ songs that Rexha has contributed to in the past few years. The highlight of her set came as she closed with an energetic performance of her big single, ‘I Can’t Stop Drinking About You’.
Soon after Rexha said goodbye to the Chicago crowd, Nick Jonas was ready to greet his Windy City fans. The lights were dim as Nick’s two lead female guitarists gave a killer introduction as Nick emerged. Opening with his record ‘Chains’, the second half of the night couldn’t have started off better. While Nick’s solo career is still relatively new, and with many still associate him with his brothers, it wasn’t long into his set that you realize his solo career has already well surpassed his work with the Jonas Brothers. Nick performed radio hit-after-hit, with a lot of his B-side tracks throughout and a beautiful acoustic performance of ‘A Little Bit Longer’, until he capped the night with an encore performance of ‘Jealous’.
Check out our photos and the official set list below and be sure to check out if Nick and Bebe are coming to a city near you.
Yesterday capped off another successful year of Lollapalooza’s evil step-brother, Chicago’s Riot Fest. With headlining performances from Modest Mouse and Snoop Dogg and some great sets from New Politics, Kongos, Jazz Cartier and more, fans definitely got their money’s worth. And if all of the above wasn’t enough, Taking Back Sunday even treated fans to a surprise performance mid-day, at one of the festival’s smallest stages.
Check out our photos below, of what Day 3 of Riot Fest (Chicago) had to offer in 2015.
Today marked the first day of Lollapalooza’s evil step-brother, Riot Fest. Today Chicago’s biggest rock fans saw performances across a number of different genres, with some great sets from Heems (formerly of Das Racist), Alex Wiley, Ice Cube, No Doubt, Post Malone, Atreyu and many more. We made sure to catch some of our favorite rap artists and before we left for the night, we even caught a bit of Ice Cube and No Doubt’s huge headlining performances.
Check out our photos below, of what Day 1 of Riot Fest (Chicago) had to offer in 2015, and make sure not to miss tomorrow’s artists.
The Early Registration 