Drill, Baby, Drill
Douglas Park Chicago
The DRILL: Chicago Festival is a 3 day fest (June 11-13) assembled by the members of English punk
pioneers Wire, residing at at The Hideout, Thalia Hall and Metro. The Metro portion of DRILL closes out
the festival on June 13 with performances by Wire, Tim Hecker, Disappears, and the pinkflag guitar
orchestra. According to press reports it features "an all-star grand finale performance of sorts as festival
performers come together on one stage to perform Wire's seminal album, Pink Flag." More details are available at http://drillfestival.com/Chicago. IE is also giving away a pair of tickets to the Metro 6/13 portion
of the festival. Enter at illinoisentertainer.com/contests.
Southside Riot
Wire
06•2015
William & Marilyn
Last month, two legendary '90s alt-rock icons, Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins
and Marilyn Manson held a joint live (and live- streamed) press conference from the 25th
floor of the Virgin Hotel in downtown Chicago. The intimate event, open to a select number of early attendees and contest winners, and hipster journalists like IE's Jaime Black
(we're kidding Jaime!) came in advance of both artists' forthcoming The End Times summer
tour. Over the course of 60 minutes, the two frontmen fielded questions from an audience
of fans and press, with topics ranging from plans to cover Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want
to Have Fun" (no, really) together on tour, to Manson's apparent penchant for listening to
Justin Timberlake before performing. Most apparent, though, was the mutual respect both
artists hold for each other. "We're almost like brothers. We kind of understand each other in
a way that I think very few people understand us in the world,” Corgan revealed early on
in the conference. "I'm like the eleventh grader, (Corgan's) like the twelfth grader I look up
to,” Manson later affirmed. The End Times tour hits Chicago on August 7th at FirstMerit
Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island.
– Jaime Black & IE Staff
It's been kinda hard to miss the press and political war between hometown
punk-rock organizers Riot Fest and their (soon-to-be-former?) West Side
Alderman Roberto Maldonado, over the future of the 3-day festival that's been
based out of the friendly confines of Humboldt Park the past several years.
Last year's festival was held in what we'll call "a rainy period" during midSeptember and with all that rain and mud came damaged grass and, as it
turned out - bruised egos of a few vocal, local residents.
Like Lolapalooza (held in Grant Park), the folks at Riot Fest agreed to repair
damages to the tune of roughly $190,000 to the park turf, but the organizers
and residents were unable to come to an agreement for this year's festival being
held September 11,12 and 13.
To the rescue came 12th ward Alderman George Cardenas and another
indie- friendly Alderman Joe Moreno, who offered Douglas Park as an alternate site to the Fest. The Southside park (at Roosevelt and Kedzie) has the
advantage of being closer to public transportation, easier access to the expressways (I-290), and that famous southside hospitality.
Of course a festival is as only as good as it's music lineup, and Riot Fest
reloads in a big way this year with headlining acts No Doubt, Faith No More,
Wu-Tang Clan, Iggy Pop, Snoop Dog and more. Visit www.riotfest.org for info
Hello, My Name Is Gene
The Rascals, 1967, with Gene Cornish (far right)
As the original guitarist for '60s icons, The Rascals, Gene Cornish has been prepping
his solo band while patiently waiting for his Rock N' Roll Hall Of Fame comrades to
launch a 50th anniversary tour. At press time, that tour was in limbo, so Cornish will
bring his new band to the Arcada Theater on June 12th, with singer Phil Naro handling
vocal duties and legendary New Yorker Carmine Appice (Vanilla Fudge, Jeff Beck) on
drums. Expect to hear Rascals anthems "Good Lovin'" and "People Got To Be Free," as
well as some Cornish's harder rocking solo material from his forthcoming album.
Albums We Won't Be Reviewing
VARIOUS ARTISTS
The Rise & Fall of Paramount Records, Volume Two (1928-1932) (Third Man)
We love the fact that Jack White's Third Man Records is preserving the most
important aspects of 20th Century music on The Rise & Fall of Paramount Records,
Volume Two (1928-1932). Paramount was a crucial early blues and jazz label when
music was issued only on 78RPM records. But this second volume is priced at a whopping $400.00. Gulp.
IE: I know you've been in rehearsals for your new tour, but you were able to sit
in with Paul Schafer and David Letterman's band during one of his final shows
last month. How did that come together?
GC: Yes, it was great. We played during the commercial breaks. So you get to
hear the beginning of a song and the end of a song on TV. Paul and the band
are fantastic. I got this wonderful standing ovation from the whole (Ed
Sullivan) Theater. Paul has been a very close friend of the Rascals. We had done
a few little shows ݡ