Illinois Entertainer March 2020 | Page 4

March 2020 • Volume 46, Number 04 • www.illinoisentertainer.com COVER STORY: GREEN DAY The always-outspoken Green Day frontman Billy Joe Armstrong, isn’t sitting quietly as the threats to our health and freedom grow more omi- nous. He and his Rock & Roll Hall of Fame-induct- ed trio have responded with a new Butch-Walker- coproduced outing Father of All Motherfuckers, which can be heard as a celebration of classic Phil Spector-immense rock and roll influences or — upon serious study of Armstrong’s visceral lyrics — as a scathing political diatribe that draws a line in the sand on the future of humanity. The record’s title is a phrase Armstrong, 47, came up with years ago, something he’s been sav- ing until now. “I’ll just do a play on words a lot, whether it’s a song or not,” he says. To whom is he referring? He chuckles. “I think on the positive side of it, it could be me feeling like I’m the best,” he replies. “Or, on the negative side of it, [Donald] Trump being the worst." Tom Lanham talked to the fiery Green Day frontman and bassist Mike Dirnt. 6 20 Page 22 - Green Day HELLO MY NAME IS MIKE CAMPBELL After harmonizing alongside the late Tom Petty for over four decades, Mike Campbell, 70, recently realized that he now eerily echoed his style. He couldn’t help it. As he tracked scrappy new originals like “Wreckless Abandon” (sic), “Aw Honey,” “”Southern Boy,” and the “Here Comes My Girl”-ish “Fuck That Guy” (co-written with Chris Stapleton, who also cameos on the stomping roadhouse rocker “Pistol Packin’ Mama”) with his band The Dirty Knobs. “I knew that there are certain inflections that I have in common with Tom, and when I started singing by myself in the studio, I thought, ‘Well, this just sounds a lot like Tom — I’ve got to filter that out somehow try to find my own voice,’” says the musician, who just for fun teamed with guitarist Jason Sinay, bassist Lance Morrison, and drummer Matt Lang during Heartbreakers down time. “And that’s what I did. I can’t get rid of ALL of it. But I got rid of enough of it that I can be myself.” Tom Lanham talked to the Hall of Fame guitaristst. Sweet Home Melody Angel is amazing. 6 12 14 Media 16 Spins The Outfit, The Boomtown Rats and more. 24 Calendar 28 File Bob's turning in his grave, Remembering Lindsey. Cinemascopes March is in like a lamb. A Chicago rmorning news legend talks to IE. THE CLAUDETTES Symphonic cartoon-music maestro Raymond Scott meets titanic blues pianist Otis Spann meets punk iconoclasts the Minutemen. The Stooges meet Burt Bacharach, without the horns. French yé-yé pop at the old west saloon. These off-kilter combinations aren’t deliberately ironic; they’re legitimate attempts to make an elevator pitch for Chicago’s baf- fling, delightful, and utterly unique band The Claudettes. Despite all odds, the band’s haywire musical compass has pointed the way toward a sophisticated, satisfying, and quixotically cohesive sound. The Claudettes are grand champions leading a genre of precisely one band. “Recently, I decided on ‘garage cabaret’ for our sound, says Claudettes pianist/songwriter Johnny Iguana. “I like how it captures the punk spir- it mixed with silky, jazzy sounds we employ. But it’s still not perfect. It’s admittedly hard to define. IE's Jeff Elbel spoke the band on the eve of their new album release, High Times in the Dark. Over 1300 shows to see, the best bands, at the best venues. Caught In A Mosh Cianide is back. Classifieds Studiophile returns in April. Gear Advertising Sales Contributors: Scott Assmann Mike Engel Andy Argyrakis, Guy Arnston, Penelope Biver, Patrick Conlan, Deena Dasein, Jaime de'Medici, Jeff Elbel Terrence Flamm, Steve Forstneger Michael Gallucci, Michael C. Harris, Max Herman, Tom Lanham, Carter Moss, Michael Obrecki, Greg Olma Arsenio Orteza, Rodney Pawlak, Bruce Pilato, Matthew Pollock, Jason Scales, Kelley Simms, Ed Spinelli, James Turano, Aubrey Vernon Advertising Director Design Team Website Direction Notion Pool Dragon Design Vision Design Teknigram Graphics Notion Pool Classified Advertising Rosalind Cummings-Yeates - Sweet Home Rick Kaempfer - Media David Gedge Founder John Vernon Senior Columnists Kenneth L. Voss Kelley Simms - Caught In A Mosh Publisher Emeritis David C. Eldredge - East Coast David Roberts 4 illinoisentertainer.com march 2020 45 46 Winter NAMM's hottest amp. John Vernon Lori Vernon Tom Lanham Curt Baran 42 You dumped your ex- wife's drummer, now you're looking for another. Publisher Contributing Editors 34 SUBSCRIPTIONS: $35 per year (first class). Material for insertion must reach our office by the First Of The Month preceding publication. We cannot assume responsibility for unsolicit- ed manuscripts or photographs. Follow us online at: facebook.com/ieentertainer instagram: illinoisentertainermagazine twitter.com/ie_entertainer Address All Correspondence to: Illinois Entertainer 4223 W. Lake St., Suite 201 Chicago, IL 60624 [phone] - Chicago/North Sub [phone] - West/South Suburbs [phone] - Fax email us at: Editorial: [email protected] Advertising: [email protected] The ILLINOIS ENTERTAINER is published monthly by Roberts Publishing, Inc, All materials copyright 2020 by Roberts Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced without written permission from Roberts Publishing, Inc. Current and back issues of the IE are $10.00 postpaid.