No Ups, No Extras
Fear appear at Riot Fest
Got CDs?
When Riot Fest’ s first 2018 Festival shows were announced in late May, the timing couldn’ t have been worse for their online ticket service( Ticketfly) to go down via a hacking incident. While tickets became available later on Eventbrite. com, thousands of users were prevented from buying passes in the early hours of the festival announcement. When the time came for a settlement from Ticketfly for lost sales, founder Mike Petryshyn didn’ t do the corporate thing and stick the money in the bank. He’ s giving it back to the fans.
" For me, there was only one proper thing to do: find a way to give it all back to you. Riot has been and will continue to be the festival that’ s simply … different. Just like you, we take pride in living leftof-the-dial. For those who’ ve yet to purchase Riot Fest 2018 tickets, we’ re going old school by releasing a limited number of three-day passes at $ 99.98. For our fans who’ ve already purchased tickets for this year’ s Riot Fest, we’ re offering you an additional single-day GA pass that you can use to bring a friend, family member and so forth for any day of your choosing … additionally, for Riot Fest 2019, you’ ll have the option to purchase a three-day pass for $ 99.98.”
This is a limited time offer, check out Riotfest. org for details. At press time Riot Fest also announced that Fear, Cypress Hill, Bad Religion and other bands would be performing classic albums live at the festival. See their website for details.
08 • 2018
Remembering Val
Val Camilletti with XRT ' s Terry Hemmert
If a tree falls in the forest, will anyone hear it? If CDs aren ' t sold at Best Buy, will anyone notice? Following a Spring 2018 news alert from Billboard magazine which reported the giant appliance, TV and music equipment retailer discontinued was planning to discontinue sales of CDs on July 1st, the retailer has done just that. No more CDs.
At one point, " Best Buy was the most powerful music merchandiser in the U. S., but now it ' s a shadow of its former self," according to the report. According to the magazine " the company ' s CD business is currently only generating about $ 40 million annually. While it ' s discontinued selling CDs, Best Buy will continue to carry vinyl for the next two years, keeping a commitment it made to vendors. The vinyl will now be merchandised with the turntables."
With Chicagoland ' s abundance of independent physical music retailers, it seems the slack from Best Buy pulling CD sales will be absorbed by the likes of Rolling Stones, Laurie ' s Planet Of Sound, Blue Village Vinyl, Reckless Records and Purple Dog Records among dozens of others outlets.
Martyrs '
A Barn Raising
The legendary owner of Val ' s Halla record store in Oak Park, Val Camilletti, passed away last month after a two year battle with breast cancer. It ' s hard to measure what a mark Val made on the Chicago area music scene and record buyers, but her store thrived and survived in the modern music era thanks to Val ' s never-ending charm and knowledge of music and her die-hard customers.
As we learned of her passing, hundreds of tributes poured in online and in print from famous patrons and ex-employees of the store, including WXRT ' s Terry Hemmert: " She was a friend and mentor to countless people. Especially young people. She supported musicians, venues and kids who were crazy enough to want to work at a record store. I was one of those kids.". BRYHNH music podcast curator Perry Bax: " Val and my years spent working in her store can absolutely be traced to every Best Radio You Have Never Heard episode ever produced. Just ask her." And Oak Park Village Trustee Deno Andrews: " Oak Park has lost a legend. Val was one of the most authentic people I’ ve ever met. Val was a staple of our community."
Store manager Shayne Blakeley told the Oak Leaves the store would continue on as Val hoped it would. A fundraising event online( gofundme. com / val-camilletti-memorial-fund) will help keep Val ' s musical dream alive.
Owning and operating a nightclub is a labor of love for venue owners, and sometimes circumstances dictate that your friends and patrons give a bit extra in a time of need. Such is the case for Chicago rock club Martyrs '. When a commercial tenant left an adjacent space owing club owners nearly $ 45,000 in rent- friends and patrons stepped forward to help replenish needed lost rent.
GoFundMe fundraiser / organizer Susan Sullivan wrote on the donation page:“ If you need a location to host your benefit, they are there. If your kids need a safe place to play music and listen to their friends’ bands, they are there. They have contributed to the artistic community in every way possible. They’ ve hosted our weddings, our birthday parties, our special events … Martyrs ' is more than a place to hear great music in our own neighborhood; it’ s been a place to celebrate with our friends and neighbors.”
“ Now our good friends need our help … It’ s our turn to give back, to symbolically ' raise a barn ' for them. Please consider a donation to our neighbors in need at this critical time( and time is of the essence)." If you’ ve enjoyed a show at Martyrs ' or you believe in their mission of giving upand-coming bands a place to perform. Give what you can at gofundme. com / a-community-barn-raising.
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illinoisentertainer. com august 2018