Chicago – Page 12 – Ruby Hornet

[RH Photos] AAHH! FEST 2014 Recap

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.

by Angela E. Mejia

[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

Known for his multi-instrumental talents, producing, stellar song-writing, and collaboration with musician and songwriter Adam Granducie in the indie rock duo The War on Drugs, Kurt Vile and the Violators were a top pick for this year's Riot Fest. The sun was shining and the weather was fairly fantastic as Kurt Vile & The VIolators took the Riot Stage Sunday afternoon and opened the set with "Wakin' On A Pretty Day," from his latest albumWakin' On A Pretty Daze, which received big ups from critics and fans. Vile's music is spacious evolutionary rock that is technically impressive and genuine, and man-oh-man can he play the guitar. The set was littered with blistering guitar solos and flashbacks to Vile's earlier albums; Childish Prodigy and Vile's fourth studio album Smoke Ring My Halo. Electrifying, noisy, yet melodic, Kurt Vile and The Violators brought rock n' roll to Riot Fest, and I would love to see them again. - Brynn Bixby

Riot Fest 2014 Netherfriends by Geoff Henao (6 of 6)

Netherfriends was the second act I saw on Sunday. As RH readers will know, I've been following his career somewhat closely since last summer, so it was great to see him get some recognition in the form of a Riot Fest slot. He made the most of his time, playing a lot of songs from this year's P3ACE, and also brought local Chicago rapper Monster Mike on stage to collaborate on a song. From what I could tell, the crowd was really feeling his style of indie rock-infused hip hop beats, especially when the closer "Uptown Boys" began to play. - Geoff Henao

Immediately after Netherfriends' set, I made my way out to see one of Chicago's most pivotal post-hardcore bands, Naked Raygun. My first Riot Fest back in 2006 was to see Naked Raygun, so it was kind of like an anniversary of sorts. Their set featured the full rundown of their debut, Throb Throb, but also included a special Riot Fest 10th birthday cake/celebration for festival founder Michael Petryshyn. - Geoff Henao

Riot Fest 2014 ShowYouSuck by Geoff Henao (4 of 6)

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

Riot Fest 2014 Blue Meanies by Geoff Henao (5 of 11)

Following ShowYouSuck's set, I ventured out to the Rock Stage to listen to the Blue Meanies, another band whom I hadn't seen in years. Despite being more or less inactive for years, they sounded amazingly tight. Their style of carnival-esque ska/punk fit the entire Riot Fest ethos to a T. As the last remaining ska band of the festival, they left rude boys and girls with a lasting memory by playing through the bulk of their album, Full Throttle. It's performances like the one they had this past weekend that makes me wish they'd reunite for good and return to playing shows consistently, even if it's only in the Chicagoland area. - Geoff Henao

After some baller Chicago deep dish pizza I made my way over to the Roots Stage to see punk rock masters Social Distortion. The crowd was ravenous and ready for the band who launched into their set with "Through These Eyes," off of White Light White Heat White Trash. Frontman Mike Ness reminisced about punk rock in the 80s and fans ate it up, listening intently and respectfully. "We were in the 1 percent and the 99 percent was telling us we were shit," confessed Ness continuing the underdog story that was going around Riot Fest this weekend. "I don't know about you, but when someone tells me not to do it, I do it 1,000 times." The audience embraced the set, rocking out to tunes off of Mommy's Little Monster and Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes, including a Mike Ness original, "Misery Loves Company." This band has been around the punk scene forever and by the powerful cut-throat show they put on, I can see why. The set ended with an upbeat power-chord charged cover of Johnny Cash's "Ring Of Fire," which was a interesting choice to end the show, but a good one at that. - Brynn Bixby

Riot Fest 2014 Primus by Geoff Henao (7 of 8)

Primus served as my second-to-last band, but they might as well have headlined. I've never seen Primus (or Les Claypool for that matter) perform live, but getting the chance to watch one of the most talented bass players to ever pick up the instrument was a long time coming. They had one of the most interesting stage setups I saw all weekend with two large, inflatable astronauts at the back with an image of a man peering through the visor. Claypool announced that this was a satellite image of Primus drummer Tim Alexander, who was unable to attend due to health issues. Playing in his stead was Danny Carey, the drummer for Tool. The Tool connection didn't end there, as Primus covered "Aenima," which sounds just as amazing as you would hope it would with Claypool's singing. - Geoff Henao

Riot Fest 2014 Weezer by Geoff Henao (20 of 20)

I still can't believe that I witnessed Weezer play the Blue Album Sunday night at Riot Fest. What an amazing way to end a killer weekend of great music. I snuck backstage to try and get a good view of the guys for their set but no one was allowed anywhere close so I braved the massive and somewhat terrifying crowd, and inched toward to the stage. I had a moment if panic when the band started the first song and it was "Back To The Shack," but then my senses kicked in and I realized of course they will play some of their other hits before diving into the Blue Album. After a seven song mini-set that included "Beverly Hills," and some tunes off the Green Album, it was finally time to journey back to 1994 and get weird. As soon as the familiar guitar riff in "My Name Is Jonas," blared over the speakers, the crowd went insane. I was still pretty far out from the stage but literally everyone was singing along and as Weezer burned through each track, the crowd cheered and screamed for more. Rivers Cuomo's performance was fantastic and I still can't get over how spot-on he was vocally, it was just like listening to the record... with thousands of other fans. This performance reinforced the sheer fact that the Blue Album is pure genius and this band is legendary, although there was a bit of disconnect between the band and crowd at times, seemingly because of some technical difficulties. But between the angsty chorus of "Undone - The Sweater Song," and the tight knit harmonies on my favorite song "Holiday," I was in garage punk rock heaven. In my eyes, this set perfectly captures the whole point of Riot Fest -- to rock out with a thousand of your closest strangers and re-live the music that made you who you are. - Brynn Bixby

by Geoff Henao

Aahh! Fest at Union Park (9/21/2014)

Finally, a music festival that tailors very specifically to hip hop heads in Chicago. The inaugural Aahh! Fest in Union Park will take place on September 21st. Curated by Rhymefest himself, Aahh! Fest is a celebration of both established Chicago rappers, but also the local Chicago music and arts community. The festival will be split into two halves: From 10am - 1pm, Union Park will be host to a community showcase where talent from across the city will represent the Chicago music and arts education programs. This early show will feature a performance by Diggy Simmons and was put together with help from Donda's House, Inc.

The late show, which will go from 4pm - 10pm after the park closes for cleaning and maintenance, will be hosted by none other than Dave Chapelle and will feature Common, Lupe Fiasco, De La Soul, MC Lyte, Jennifer Hudson, Twista, Jay Electronica, Lil Herb, and "a very special surprise guest" who may or may not be Kanye West.

Tickets are still on sale for Aahh! Fest, which can be purchased here.

by Geoff Henao

[Riot Fest] 20 Bands to See at Riot Fest Chicago

The 10th Anniversary of Riot Fest is almost upon us. Can't you feel the excitement across the city? Just like last year, if you consider yourself a part of the hardcore, punk, ska, indie, or emo scenes, chances are there'll be at least a handful of bands you'll be interested in seeing. Also considering the commemorative 10th year and 10 bands are playing their most influential/essential albums IN FULL, this weekend is gonna be absolutely amazing for anybody that ever dreamed of picking up a guitar and learning their way through the same three power chords

Read on as we share our list of 20 bands you absolutely MUST SEE at Riot Fest this weekend in Humboldt Park.

by Geoff Henao

Riot Fest Chicago 2014 Set Times Available

A week before Riot Fest's 10th Anniversary, the weekend's full set times have been released. Much like last year's Riot Fest (read our Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3 recaps!), there aren't many scheduling conflicts on my tentative schedule. I'll go into more detail on my "Top Artists to See at Riot Fest 2014" list next week, but I'm feeling really excited about this year's lineup. It may not carry the same "Wow!" factor that last year's did, but this year does feature some amazing Chicago talent, including my good friends ShowYouSuck and Netherfriends, plus rising Chicago artists Lucki Eck$, The Orwells, The Crombies, and more. You can check out the set times by date and stage below, and if you want something a bit more informative/interactive, you can find the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday set times on the Riot Fest website.

Friday, September 12

Riot Stage
3:00pm - 3:30pm: Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears
4:00pm - 4:45pm Circa Survive
5:15 - 6:00pm Failure
7:00pm - 7:45pm Gogol Bordello
8:45 - 10:00pm Jane's Addiction

Roots Stage
3:30pm - 4:00pm Title Fight
4:45pm - 5:15pm Stiff Little Fingers
6:00pm - 7:00pm NOFX
7:45pm - 8:45pm The Offspring

Rock Stage
4:00pm - 4:40pm All
5:00pm - 5:45pm Senses Fail
7:30pm - 8:15pm Murder City Devils
9:00pm - 10pm Rise Against

Riot Fest Speaks Stage
5:45pm - 7:00pm Pussy Riot panel

Rebel Stage
4:15pm - 5:00pm Gwar
5:30pm - 6:15pm Clutch
7:00pm - 7:45pm Mastodon
8:45pm - 9:45pm Slayer

Rise Stage
3:45pm - 4:15pm Ur Lineup Sux, Bro
5:00pm - 5:30pm Emarosa
6:15pm - 7:00pm We Came as Romans
7:45pm - 8:45pm Of Mice & Men

Rev Stage
3:00pm - 3:30pm Somos
4:00pm - 4:30pm Plague Vendor
5:00pm - 5:30pm Hotelier
6:00pm - 6:30pm From Indian Lakes
7:00pm - 7:30pm Pianos Become the Teeth
8:00pm - 8:30pm Pity Sex

The Radicals
3:30pm - 4:00pm Vamos!
4:30pm - 5:00pm Baby Baby
5:30pm - 6:00pm Wounds
6:30pm - 7:00pm Radkey
7:30pm - 8:00pm Red City Radio

Saturday, September 13

Riot Stage
12:05pm - 12:35pm Pizza Underground
1:05pm - 1:50pm Orwells
2:30pm - 3:15pm Dandy Warhols
4:00pm - 4:45pm Die Antwoord
5:30pm - 6:15pm Paul Weller
7:15pm - 8:00pm Metric
9:00pm - 10:00pm The National

Roots Stage
12:35pm - 1:05pm Wavves
1:55pm - 2:40pm Tokyo Police Club
3:15pm - 4:00pm City & Colour
4:45pm - 5:30pm Afghan Whigs
6:15pm - 7:15pm Wu-Tang Clan
8:00pm - 9:00pm Flaming Lips

Rock Stage
12:00pm - 12:30pm Frank Iero
1:00pm - 1:45pm RX Bandits
2:15pm - 3:00pm Streetlight Manifesto
3:30pm - 4:15pm Saosin with Anthony Green
4:45pm - 5:30pm Say Anything
6:00pm - 6:45pm Dashboard Confessional
7:15pm - 8:15pm The Used
8:45pm - 9:45pm Taking Back Sunday

Rebel Stage
1:10pm - 1:40pm Samiam
2:20pm - 2:50pm Buzzcocks
3:45pm - 4:25pm Face to Face
5:10pm - 5:55pm Me First & the Gimme Gimmes
6:55pm - 7:55pm Cock Sparrer
8:55pm - 9:55pm Samhain

Rise Stage
7:55pm - 8:55pm Descendents
5:55pm - 6:55pm Get Up Kids
4:25pm - 5:10pm Mighty Mighty Bosstones
2:50pm - 3:55pm Television
1:40pm - 2:20pm 7 Seconds
12:25pm - 1:10pm Anti-Flag

Rev Stage
12:00pm - 12:30pm Picturebooks
1:00pm - 1:30pm Rose's Pawn Shop
2:00pm - 2:30pm The Bots
3:00pm - 3:30pm The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die
4:00pm - 4:30pm Jessica Hernandez & the Deltas
5:00pm - 5:30pm Lemuria
6:00pm - 6:30pm Nostalgia
7:00pm - 7:30pm Skaters
8:00pm - 8:30pm Citizen

The Radicals
11:45am - 12:15pm Buffalo Rodeo
12:45pm - 1:15pm Dan Wade
1:45pm - 2:15pm Ex Friends
2:45pm - 3:15pm Broncho
3:45pm - 4:15pm American Scene
4:45pm - 5:15pm Restorations
5:45pm - 6:15pm Crombies
6:45pm - 7:15pm Unlikely Candidates

Sunday, September 14

Riot Stage
1:45pm - 2:15pm Kurt Vile & the Violators
2:55pm - 3:35pm Superchunk
4:30pm - 5:15pm Tegan and Sara
6:00pm - 6:45pm Patti Smith
7:45pm -10:00pm The Cure

Roots Stage
11:45am - 12:30pm Menzingers
1:00pm - 1:45pm Bouncing Souls
2:15pm - 2:55pm Billy Bragg
3:35pm - 4:30pm Naked Raygun
5:15pm - 6:00pm Dropkick Murphys
6:45pm - 7:45pm Social Distortion

Rock Stage
1:15pm - 1:45pm Only Crime
2:15pm - 3:00pm Silverstein
3:30pm - 4:15pm La Dispute
4:45pm - 5:30pm: Mineral
6:00pm - 6:45pm Blue Meanies
7:15pm - 8:15pm New Found Glory
8:45pm - 9:45pm Bring Me the Horizon

Rebel Stage
1:10pm - 1:40pm Front Bottoms
2:10pm - 3:00pm The Hold Steady
3:45pm - 4:25pm Motion City Soundtrack
5:05pm - 5:55pm Hot Snakes
6:40pm - 7:40pm Cheap Trick
8:40pm - 9:55pm Weezer

Rise Stage
12:40pm - 1:10pm Laura Stevenson
1:40pm - 2:10pm Whigs
3:00pm - 3:45pmAndrew W.K.
4:20pm - 5:05pm Lucero
5:55pm - 6:40pm Mudhoney
7:40pm - 8:40pm Primus

Rev Stage
12:00pm - 12:30pm Chumped
1:00pm - 1:30pm Survay Says!
2:00pm - 2:30pm Pup
3:00pm - 3:30pm Tiny Moving Parts
4:00pm - 4:30pm Cerebral Ballzy
5:00pm - 5:30pm Dads
6:00pm - 6:30pm Modern Baseball
7:00pm - 7:30pm I Am the Avalanche

The Radicals
11:30am - 12:00pm Grizzled Mighty
12:30pm -1:00pm Mutts
1:30pm - 2:00pm Team Spirit
2:30pm - 3:00pm Netherfriends
3:30pm - 4:00pm Lucki Ecks
4:30pm - 5:00pm ShowYouSuck
5:30pm - 6:00pm My Gold Mask
6:30pm - 7:00pm In the Valley Below
7:30pm - 8:00pm Archie Powell & the Exports

by Geoff Henao

[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 5^th 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.

by RH Staff

[NCMF Interview] Keys n Krates

This post was originally published by our affiliates at Chicago Music.

With North Coast Music Festival 2014 beginning tomorrow, we'll be providing all types of coverage from the Chicago festival's fifth anniversary. This interview with EDM group Keys n Krates comes from our partner Three Card Photography's very own Jesse Pizano. Read on to familiarize yourselves with Keys n Krates, the amazing year they've been having, what to expect from their live set this weekend, and what's on the group's plate following North Coast Music Festival 2014!

You guys are about to hit the stage at North Coast Music Festival. How are you guys feeling?

Matisse: Great! Chicago is one of our favourite places to play and North Coast is such a great festival.

How has the year been treating you guys so far?

Flo: Pretty incredible. We've really seen our fan base grow exponentially over the last six months and it's been pretty surreal to be honest.

For those that have never heard of Keys N Krates, can you describe your sound?

Tune: Weird rap beats that evoke emotion but still make ya wanna have a dance party. Lots of emotional chord progressions, pitched up vocal samples, synths, weird chopped up samples and bangin rap drums.

What track off of your new EP, Every Nite, took the longest to make?

Tune: "Understand Why" took a long time. We did three to four different actual versions of the tune with at least five mix downs per version. It was a nightmare, but we are stoked on the final version we came up with.

by RH Staff

Top Artists to See at North Coast Music Festival 2014

Preview written by Alex Lapenia and Jesse Pizano of Three Card Photography. Post was originally published by our affiliates at Chicago Music.

Summer is coming to an end on Labor Day weekend, and with that comes the end of summer’s official music festival season. I’d like to share a few reasons why you should join the thousands of people who will descend upon Union Park located in Chicago for the fifth anniversary celebration of North Coast Music Festival, summer’s official last stand. Whether you are into hip hop, dance music, or electronica, North Coast has music for everyone to enjoy. With Bassnectar as heavy bass hitters, Snoop Dogg and Kid Cudi bringing hip hop vibes, and STS9 as one of the headliners, the lineup of artist features an impressive spread of acts, with a wide variety of DJs and producers including Zeds Dead, electro soul GRiZ, dub-step sensation Adventure Club, and house’s finest talent Dada Life, Wolfgang Gartner, Showtek, and W&W. There will be some amazing indie bands Little Dragon, Future Island, Wild Belle, and Dr. Dog, as well as more hip hop sounds from Riff Raff, Action Bronson and Chicago locals Probcause and Sabu. Some acts I am most excited for are EDM headliners Alesso and Nikky Romero who are sure to be hot. With 50 more acts over the three-day festival, this without a doubt is going to be the most fun weekend of the summer. See you at North Coast! Read on as we go into more detail about who we're excited to see at NCMF this weekend.

by RH Staff