[NYCC 2014 Photos] Bob's Burgers Roundtables
During the first day of New York Comic Con 2014, I had the chance to take part in roundtable interviews with the cast and crew of the ever-popular Bob's Burgers. While the videos of those interviews will be incoming, I took some photos of the various roundtables featuring Kristen Schaal, H. Jon Benjamin, Loren Bouchard, John Roberts, Eugene Lirman, Larry Murphy, and Bobby Tisdale, which you can see below. Expect more from the Bob's Burgers roundtables next week, and be sure to keep it tuned to Ruby Hornet for more from New York Comic Con 2014.
You can check out some more of my behind the scenes Bob's Burgers roundtable interview photos on my Flickr.
[RH Photos] AAHH! FEST 2014 Recap
Photos by AngieStar Photo
Anyone who was at Common's AAHH! FEST experienced an amazing show yesterday at Union Park in Chicago, some even described it as epic. As many guessed, Kanye West performed as the Special Guest, highlighting the evening by performing smash hit after hit, and bringing the night to an energetic close. Outside of Kanye's smash performance, famous comedian Dave Chappelle graced the stage as the evenings host, providing a short stand up that was just as hilarious as expected. Of course, Common didn't miss a beat with his performance either, performing many of his old and new tracks. He even brought fellow rapper Vince Staples to stage to perform "Kingdom" from his latest album, Nobody's Smiling. I can't forget to mention he also performed hit track, "Get em High" with Kanye, exploding the energy of the crowd.
Outside of the headlining performers, the fest had a full line up of sets from varied artists including comedian Damon Williams, and musicians Jay Electronica, MC Lyte, Lil Mama, Lil Herb, De La Soul, Jennifer Hudson, Lupe Fiasco, Twista, and Crucial Conflict. Although not all the artists were from Chicago, the night was to definitely highlight the city's heavy musical influence, and included several interludes of local Dj's playing House classics that kept the crowd moving from start to end. On that note, Chicago's famously known Harold's Chicken even had a food truck on hand, which is always a plus to locals.
As the event was curated by Rhymefest, Aahh! Fest's deepest intention was to create a day of peace for Chicago, since the city is very widely known for it's crime and gang violence. With this, the event was put together with help from Donda's House, Inc., Common Ground Foundation, and Lupe Fiasco's Foundation. The vibe was indeed truly fun and peaceful in all aspects, bringing to attendance Chicago Bulls Center Joakim Noah, visual artist Hebru Brantly, members from the Farrakhan family, and many other artists including rappers GLC, Do Or Die. Amongst the crowd were even friends and family like JHud's adorable son and husband, Kim Kardashian, and much more.
Check out the following photos from the very live event, where you'll also find some behind-the-scenes photos from some of the more famously known attendees enjoying the Aahh! Fest 2014.
[RH Photos] Riot Fest Day 2014: Day 3 (9/14/2014)
Photos by Geoff Henao.
After a long year, Riot Fest finally returned to Humboldt Park last Friday, and with it was an unseasonal chill and rain that attempted to damper the good mood that spread across the crowd. The move to the Northern end of the park was necessary for the festival to grow, adding a couple more stages to the festival grounds. Unfortunately, this also meant trampling through muddier grounds that weren't covered by baseball field dirt. Nevertheless, the fatigue and callouses that formed on Riot Fest attendees' feet were more than justified by the amount of talent that performed at the three day event. Here are Geoff and Brynn's recaps of Riot Fest 2014: Day 3. Check out my Flickr for more photos.
I began my final day at Riot Fest with Laura Stevenson and the Cans. I admit, my knowledge of Laura only comes from her collaborations with Bomb the Music Industry! and Brynn's preview piece on her band. Their soft indie rock was the perfect way to start the final day of a long weekend and set the tone for a very relaxed, yet hectic Sunday. - Geoff Henao
The acts I most look forward to at Riot Fest are the emerging local artists who are over the moon to be a part of Chicago's best (in my opinion) music festival of the year. Chicago's very own original dude bro Clinton Sandifer aka ShowYouSuck has been waiting years for the opportunity to perform at Riot Fest and had no qualms about sharing this information with the gigantic crowd that accumulated around the Radical Stage Sunday afternoon. "Wow... I never thought there would be this many people here! It has been a dream of mine to play Riot Fest... I made it!" I've seen ShowYouSuck perform over a dozen times and it has been both rewarding and impressive to watch this artist top his performance every time. Fans got a taste of a variety of deep cuts, old and new, but ShowYouSuck had the crowd in the palm of his hand for pretty much the entire set. The set kicked off with "Big Gulp," a track off the last installment of the three-fold One Man Pizza Party Series. Sandifer bounced around on stage in front of a giant cut out slice of pizza, hyping up the crowd with his signature call and response, "show is so awesome, show you suck!" At one point, Clinton parted the sea of people telling everybody to just "love each other" and on his command, the crowd charged at each other, creating complete chaos and catching the attention of onlookers in line at street vendors who were missing out on all the fun. ShowYouSuck introduced "80s Boobs, a quirky and oddball tune off his latest EP Dude Bro. "Get your hands up if you've ever loved someone no matter what they look like, that's what this song is about..." and by the end of the song Sandifer had people cracking up as the rapper joked, "I just made you think about your mom's boobs... you're welcome." At the end of the set fans were rewarded with literal slices of pizza that were launched into the crowd by ShowYouSuck and hype man/fellow Chicago rapper, Auggie The 9th. ShowYouSuck will be touring Europe at the end of the month and keep an ear out for his upcoming Bummer EP which Sandifer promises will be out "soon Bro." - Brynn Bixby
[RH Photos] Riot Fest 2014: Day 2 (9/13/2014)
Photos by Geoff Henao.
After a long year, Riot Fest finally returned to Humboldt Park last Friday, and with it was an unseasonal chill and rain that attempted to damper the good mood that spread across the crowd. The move to the Northern end of the park was necessary for the festival to grow, adding a couple more stages to the festival grounds. Unfortunately, this also meant trampling through muddier grounds that weren't covered by baseball field dirt. Nevertheless, the fatigue and callouses that formed on Riot Fest attendees' feet were more than justified by the amount of talent that performed at the three day event. Here is Geoff and Brynn's recap of Riot Fest 2014: Day 2. Check out the rest of Geoff's photos from Riot Fest 2014: Day 2 here.
My day started off with The Pizza Underground, Macaulay Culkin's The Velvet Underground cover band that replaces choice lyrics with ones about pizza. I admit, I was curious to see what they sounded like, as were many in the crowd that showed up just after 11am to catch their set. Unfortunately, our dedication and time commitment wasn't justified with anything good. The band is, obviously, a one-joke gimmick band, which can be find so long as said band has talent (re: Aquabats). The five-piece is aware of this, however, and if you could take yourself out of the pretentious moment for a second and accept that the band really is nothing more than a joke band singing The Velvet Underground songs about pizza, then maybe a small piece of you could appreciate what they're doing. I was not one of those people, and probably may never be one, but at least it was good to see Culkin have a legitimately good time on stage with his friends. - Geoff Henao
Saosin was at the top of my "must sees" for Saturday so I jetted over to the Rock Stage to catch their set, hoping to get a decent spot. Anthony Green hasn't performed with the band much since he quit back in 2004, and although there are rumors he's back for good, I didn't want to risk it. Luckily I got there right when "Translating The Name" started, the title track off of Saosin's first and only studio album with all original members. Green continuously thanked the crowd for sticking around, confessing that "It's nice that people still give a shit about this music... it's overwhelming, really." After a few classics, the band strutted out their new material and seemed to be really enjoying themselves. Meanwhile, I had trouble really focusing on anything but my burning desire to hear "Seven Years," along with pretty much everyone else there. Unfortunately, when Saosin eventually did get around to playing it, it was pretty disappointing. I understand that crowd participation is a big deal at festivals but do not decide to give up the best part of the song and bow out on the screech-tastic high notes we all know and love. It really just seemed like Green was phoning it in while he watched the crowd mosh and rage in front of him.. All though the lack luster presentation of my jam kind of ruined it for me, I suppose their overall show was a success, but I probably should have taken Green's advice to go see Die Antwood a few songs in. - Brynn Bixby
Saturday, in a way, was a ska revival day for me. The first band up to task? RX Bandits. Granted, they're not really a ska band, and they ultimately didn't play any ska songs. However, with their humble beginnings as a ska-punk band (before going the prog-rock route), a small part of my soul hoped and prayed they would play something with an upstroke. I guess the band technically did as they didn't shy away from playing songs from The Resignation despite the lack of the band's horn section. While the absence of horns was noticeable, the songs still hold up on their own, especially my personal RX Bandits song "Decrescendo." It's funny to see a ska-punk band evolve and develop into a prog-rock band, but if ever a band were to do so with a modicum of success, it would be them. - Geoff Henao
I was feeling a little detached from the spirit of Riot Fest early Saturday afternoon due to the fact that I had missed the first day of the festival, was not happy about the ridiculous muddy disaster that was Humbolt Park, and had an almost dead phone so early in the day. All annoyance was forgotten as soon as Matt Pryor took the stage and announced The Get Up Kids would be playing their fan favorite album, Something To Write Home About in its entirety. The large crowd full of die-hard fans (everybody else was at Wu-Tang) screamed along with Pryor as The Get Up Kids plunged into "Holiday," the first of twelve nostalgic tracks off their sophomore album. This set really just reinforced how much I love this band and this record. Every song is packed with sincerity and heart-breakingly emo lyrics that get your stomach in knots at the memory of how alive you felt as an angsty teenager driving around in your car and listening to these songs. Towards the middle-end of the set, Pryor slipped up and went out of order, playing "I'm A Loner Dottie, A Rebel" a song too early. "What can I say, I really wanted to play Dottie," said Pryor after being called out about his mix-up. Most times when a band plays mellower tracks, they lose the attention of the audience, but even when the keyboardist began the soft melodic piano intro of "I'll Catch You," the crowd was right there, singing-along. "Somebody better have just gotten engaged up on that ferris wheel" joked Pryor, "that was the most emo shit ever." The band was having a blast, passing around whiskey and rocketing through their hits like they just put out the record yesterday, exclaiming that "getting old doesn't have to suck." The Get Up Kids finished their set with one of their best tunes, "Don't Hate Me," which may have received the loudest sing-along of all. - Brynn Bixby
My "ska revival" continued immediately after RX Bandits' set with Streetlight Manifesto, one of the most musically-gifted ska bands ever. The band played with a fierce energy that I haven't seen at a show in years. I'll admit, I even skanked (briefly) for the first time in seven years thanks to hearing one of my favorite bands live for the first time in so long. The horns were so tight and powerful in the way a ska-punk band should be, while singer Tomas Kalnoky's machine gun delivery never skipped a beat. One complaint: They didn't play "Point/Counterpoint," arguably the best and most popular song from the band's debut, Everything Goes Numb. Nevertheless, it was great to experience a band that meant so much to me 10 years ago with my friends, both old and new. - Geoff Henao
This was my first time seeing The Flaming Lips live and their performance went above and beyond any of my expectations. With epic lights, people dressed in mushroom and rainbow costumes, and the non-stop energy and whimsical demeanor of front man Wayne Coyne made for an unforgettable performance. I can't over emphasize the insane light set-up for this set, it was truly spectacular and caused the only complete power outage on the Roots Stage just minutes into The Flaming Lips' set. The crowd stayed put while Riot Fest production got the power up and running and the band took another stab at starting "Yoshmi Battles Pink Robots Part 1." Coyne conducted collosal crescendos of sound and full band hits like a madman, instructing the audience to join in on the fun. After a dynamic cover of The Chemical Brothers' "The Golden Path," the band played some of their best originals including the larger than life single "Do You Realize," a tune that surely everyone at Riot Fest could appreciate. Coyne entranced festival goers with every word, preaching love and understanding, while hypnotic rainbow visuals pulsed in the background. The set ended with an explosive cover of "Lucy In The Sky WIth Diamonds," a preview of what is to be expected from The Flaming Lips' upcoming release of "A LIttle Help From My Fwends, a tribute cover album of The Beatles' Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. Either you cover The Beatles spot on and exactly how they performed it, (to the best of your ability) or you re-create the song, producing a new and interesting version. In this case, The Flaming Lips accomplish both approaches, delivering the tune in their own style while staying true to the greatness of the original. I would definitely describe seeing The Flaming Lips live as a religious experience. - Brynn Bixby
"Ska Revival 2014" continued with the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, one of the pioneers of the ska-punk subgenre/sound. Personally, I never much cared for the band, but given the fact that the band doesn't tour much, I had to at least check them out. Imagine my surprise when I found the band had a hype man - that's not something you see much these days outside of hip hop, let alone for a ska band. It was also nice to see the entire band clad in the red Mighty Mighty Bosstones suits, as well, adding an extra element to their stage presence. Outside of that, I honestly couldn't say much about their set. - Geoff Henao
Immediately after the Bosstones' set, I made my way to the Radical stage to see one of my new favorite local bands, The Crombies. I absolutely fell in love with the band during last month's Midwest Ska Festival thanks to their stage presence, covers of ska/2-tone standards, and all around amazing sound. Or it could just be because their guitarist resembles Tim Armstrong, both physically and musically. Nevertheless, The Crombies is made up of veterans of the Chicago ska community, and their ability to focus in on what makes ska so fun to listen to is what separates them from other ska bands. - Geoff Henao
It was a long day of mud and rock 'n roll, so when I was notified that The National was running ten minutes late due to traffic, I was not thrilled. However, it was worth enduring the cold and the wait to witness The National conquer Riot Fest with a striking performance Saturday night. Though they were not necessarily everyone's favorite choice for the headlining spot, they brought something different to the lineup, surprising first time listeners with their old hits and new tracks off their latest album, Trouble Will Find Me. Trouble has gotten a ton of buzz and has pushed The National even deeper into the spotlight. After lead singer Matt Berninger was done apologizing for their tardiness, (apparently they got stranded in Canada... blame Canada) the band charged into "Don't Swallow The Cap," which honestly isn't my favorite track off of Trouble due to it's lack of melody in the verses, but the longer they played, the happier I became. "Blood Buzz Ohio," a tune off of The National's fifth studio record, High Violet was played early on and the lovely but bloody visuals on the screen behind the band were the perfect compliment to the tragically beautiful song about debt, loss, and devastation. The band pulled out a few more tricks that night with a fantastic performance of "Fake Empire" with a horn section, and a heated performance of "Mr. November" which lead to Berninger jumping off stage. I intended to leave before the set was over because I couldn't feel my toes, but as soon as a song started, I found myself singing along and never wanting to leave the sound of Berninger's chilling and seductive baritone voice, until it was over and I didn't have a choice. - Brynn Bixby
To end my night, I waited more than an hour after The Crombies' set to catch the Descendents' headlining set. The wait was more than worth it. Frontman Milo Aukerman came out and played up the whole school/teacher thing, introducing the rest of the band (including original bassist Tony Lombardo!) to play their pivotal punk rock debut album, Milo Goes to College. Right off the bat, listening to "Myage" live for the first time was mesmerizing. Honestly, the hour-long wait for the photo pit was worth just hearing Milo screech "She don't need no one" only a few feet away. What I lacked in terms of photos from the band (there was little to no lighting illuminating the band), I made up for with memories. - Geoff Henao
[RH Photos] Riot Fest 2014: Day 1 (9/12/2014)
Photos by Geoff Henao.
After a long year, Riot Fest finally returned to Humboldt Park last Friday, and with it was an unseasonal chill and rain that attempted to damper the good mood that spread across the crowd. The move to the Northern end of the park was necessary for the festival to grow, adding a couple more stages to the festival grounds. Unfortunately, this also meant trampling through muddier grounds that weren't covered by baseball field dirt. Nevertheless, the fatigue and callouses that formed on Riot Fest attendees' feet were more than justified by the amount of talent that performed at the three day event. Here is my recap of Riot Fest 2014: Day 1.
I started Day 1 off by checking out one of my favorite surprise performances from Riot Fest 2013, GWAR. As I mentioned in our "Bands to See" list, GWAR added a new vocalist following Dave Brockie/Oderus Urungus' death earlier this year. In his place was a platoon of vocalists, including ex-GWAR bassist Mike Bishop. GWAR has quickly become one of my favorite bands to photograph thanks to their elaborate costumes and stage theatrics that include beheading politicians and pop culture icons (Barack Obama was this weekend's victim) and spraying endless amounts of "blood" on the audience.
Following GWAR's set, I headed out to the Root Stage to catch Stiff Little Fingers' set. With my luck, they opened their set with their most popular song, "Suspect Device," following that up immediately with "Wasted Life." The crowd mostly consisted of older people, which made sense given the band's longevity. However, that's not to say their set was lacking energy; far from it. On a cold September afternoon, Stiff Little Fingers delivered a performance worth braving the mild drizzle for.
Afterwards, I soon made my way out to see NOFX. I'm not the biggest NOFX fan (or of pop-punk, for that matter), but my curiosity and cursory knowledge of the band led me to check them out. The band's singer and bassist (as well as Fat Wreck Chords founder/owner) Fat Mike is known for his sense of humor and open-mindedness. Sure enough, just as the band was preparing to take the stage, he began to berate and insult Failure, the band playing just before them on the stage directly across the field from them. If you're a fan of NOFX, especially Punk in Drublic, their Riot Fest set must have been magical for you. For myself, they were just a band to take photos of. Meh.
Unfortunately, I called it a night just after I shot NOFX due to the impending rain and not wanting to risk being sick for the rest of the festival. You can check out my photos of GWAR, Stiff Little Fingers, and NOFX below. We'll have more from Days 2 and 3 throughout the week!
You can find more of my photos from Riot Fest 2014: Day 1 here.
[RH Photos] North Coast Music Festival 2014 Recap
This post was originally published by our affiliates at Chicago Music. Photos by Alex Lapenia and Jesse Pizano of Three Card Photography. Recap by Kevin Baker.
North Coast Music Festival 2014 took over Chicago Union Park last weekend as thousands of people came to see some of the world’s best EDM and hip hop acts perform their greatest hits. Labor Day weekend set the perfect stage for festival goers as the 5th Annual North Coast was looking to be a big success. Friday was a beautiful day as the sun came out from the cloudy skies to drench the stages waiting for the likes of Keys N Krates, ProbCause, Showtek, Alesso, Bassnectar, and many more to perform. Saturday and Sunday continued the party with performances from Adventure Club, Nicky Romero, STS9, Talib Kweli, Little Dragon and Kid Cudi on Saturday, and Porn and Chicken, Riff Raff, Ookay, Zeds Dead, and Snoop Dogg closing on Sunday.
North Coast Music Festival 2014 was a huge success, and we look forward to seeing what 2015 has in store. If you missed out this year, make sure you get your tickets early for next year’s festival, as North Coast Music Festival will only get bigger and bigger. Read on as we share our recap from North Coast Music Festival 2014.
[RH Photos] AFI and Linkin Park at the WKQX Piqniq (8/29/2014)
Photos and recap by Vanessa Bly.
Hearing about the all-star lineup of WKQX's Piqniq of AFI, 30 Seconds to Mars, and Linkin Park was enough to get me out of work early and into gridlock for an hour. I used to take the train/bus to high school, and I remember the most dominant CDs in my book were AFI's Black Snails in the Sunset and Linkin Park's Hybrid Theory.
I had always wanted to see AFI live, they have been there for me for so long! It wasn't until last year at Riot Fest that I was able to see AFI live-- I told myself that the next time I would see them, it would be in VIP. To be able to get up close and personal with my favorite band of all time was a dream come true! It was still light out, which didn't really fit with the emotion of the music. However, by the third song, singer Davey Havok was already standing in the crowd to great fan response. They played a lot of newer songs during their short set, but made sure to include some old favorites.
Linkin Park hit the stage hard! Taking advantage of every inch of the stage, the band was super high energy and for the three songs that I was able to be front and center, they interacted with the media and the audience non-stop. The crowd was going crazy for their entire set. Like AFI, their set was the perfect mix of newer and older songs.
You can view my photos of both AFI and Linkin Park from this year's WKQX Piqniq below!
[RH Photos] Midwest Ska Festival 2014 at Double Door (8/23/2014)
Photos by Geoff Henao. This post was originally published by our affiliates at Chicago Music.
Chicago music isn't just hip hop. For years, ska used to play a huge role in the city's independent scene, especially during the early '00s, coinciding with my high school tenure. Every month, my friends and I would either throw shows at our friend's Mom's gallery in Pilsen (props to Miss Tirabassi and the Humility Gallery) or attend a show somewhere in the city. National bands like Big D and the Kids Table, Mustard Plug, and Streetlight Manifesto would be big draws, but we were also very active in the local scene, thanks to Chicago ska bands like Random Outburst, Not Too Good, Deal's Gone Bad, and more. As I grew older, ska didn't captivate me the way it used to, but it stuck with a handful of my friends in Random Outburst.
Since that band's breakup, two pivotal ska bands arose from its ashes: The Judgementals and Run and Punch. For the past three years, Run and Punch has been making a name for itself across the Midwest ska scene, culminating in the biggest step for the band's relatively short existence to date: curating and running a day-long festival dedicated to ska: Midwest Ska Festival 2014. While the majority of the bands come from the Chicagoland area, other bands from the Midwest also played the festival, including Omaha's The Bishops, Milwaukee's Something To Do, and Indiana's Green Room Rockers.
From the Latin reggae of Los Vicios de Papa to The Crombies' 2-tone influenced jams, there was something for everybody in attendance Saturday night, with attendees skanking, moshing, dancing, and even crowdsurfing to the music. Check out some of my photos from the night below; for more photos, take a trip to my personal Flickr page.
