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Remedying Heartbreak with Damn Good Pop: Jarryd James & Broods at the Metro

I walk into the Metro, one of the musical Meccas of Chicago, for the first time. In the four or five years that I’ve been living in and around the city, I feel like Chicago is finally welcoming me into her center, but I’m too rushed to appreciate it. Spurred on into the venue by the sounds of an already-beginning show and dragging what feels like my consciousness and clarity of mind behind me, I am ushered into a space that feels like it balances on the precipice of being something sacred. Too big to be intimate, too small to become an overwhelming throng of bodies, the Metro greets me with the pounding drum pads and crooning voice of Jarryd James.

It’s been a tough day; engaging in an intense argument with a person who once occupied a large amount of anxiety-ridden space in my life will do that. And pushing myself into the crowd of people chatting amongst themselves, drinking, or already enthralled in the show, in preparation for a three-hour pop concert seems like the worst thing I could be doing for my state of mind.

Tuning in to the Australian’s intense pop songs, the drum and bass mixing together to provide a heart-rending, ear-splitting backdrop to James’ soaring falsetto, I find a heaviness in the music that mirrors the one I’ve been carrying inside of myself. But instead of feeling weighed down, or burdened, I feel anchored to the floor in a way I wasn’t expecting. I feel grounded. I hear whispered comparisons to Sam Smith from the concertgoers around me.”

Story by Jess Mayhew

Read the rest of this piece and more reviews by Hooligan: HERE

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The Symposium and L.A. Van Gogh At Sofar Sounds

“While sipping my drink and pondering the sequence of events that had led me to a Freemason meeting, I heard applause from what seemed like the depths of the bar. A hidden show behind the bar? Unlikely, but worth a shot.

After a bartender kindly directed me out of the tequila closet, I finally discovered what I’d been haphazardly searching for in a backroom – a stage, a crowd, and the promise of music. Charlie from the Symposium had just taken the stage, and warmed the crowd out of their awkwardness with self-depreciating though endearing lines like “I hate most things I do, but this song’s a keeper.”

Review by Lauren Ball

Photos by Carlos James

J.K. Rowling just came out with Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and Hooligan writer Charlene Haparimwi came up with a question that few have thought about. What would happen if Hermione was black?

"Some people can embrace fictional worlds with dragons, magical spells, Dementors and flying cars but a person of color being a hero is just too much for them to even think about, it’s just implausible."

Art by Marianne Khalil

Under reviews: staff writer Eileen Marshall covers Mothers opening for Frightened Rabbit at Chicago's Thalia Hall.

“This was a Lollapalooza aftershow, and so it didn't start until 11pm at night; I work nine to five, which my body resists; by Thursday night, I'm tired, so Mothers was my main focus that night.

I did look up Frightened Rabbit’s recent set lists. While I haven't kept up with them, I thought I would have liked to hear "The Modern Leper", a song that wrecked me on the regular back in college. They do still play it, sometimes early in the show, sometimes late; so it was kind of a toss-up.

Frightened Rabbit's songs, including the one I most wanted to hear, are about that tension between understanding and enabling when two troubled people become intimate. From "The Modern Leper":

Well is that you in front of me Coming back for even more of exactly the same? You must be a masochist to love a modern leper on his last leg Well I am ill, but I’m not dead And I don’t know which of those I prefer.”

By Eileen Marshall

Photo by Kristin Karch

Today in reviews, Jaclyn Jermyn writes about Mitski's sold-out Lincoln Hall + Schubas show on Wednesday.

"Her volume creeps up as her set list grows. By song eight—a biting rendition of My Body’s Made of Crushed Little Stars, lyrics like "I want to see the whole world. I don’t know how I’m going to pay rent," have us all hooked. It’s like she really gets us. And she’s loud in her understanding—her voice is elegantly grating at top volume. She’s shouting to be heard. We’re always shouting to be heard.

Naturally, seeing her live was bound to be different than listening to her songs off of my computer, but in some instances, it's the first time I'm really comprehending some of the lyrics. In "I don't smoke" I finally hear "I am stronger than you give me credit for." Her voice arcs over the words and my heart gives a little pang like I forgot to turn the stove off or my crush finally texted me back."

In light of recent media drama and the controversy involving Taylor Swift's outrage over being called "that bitch" in Kanye West's song "Famous," #TBT to Meg Zulch's piece on Swift's problematic “pseudo-feminism."

"Additionally, the issue of racism completely goes over her head as she calls out Kanye West and, most recently, Nicki Minaj when they try to take a stand against the under and misrepresentation of black people in the media. And her "girl squad" seems to be limited to thin, white, and cisgender bodies (see: her IRL "girl squad" via Instagram, and the Bad Blood video, again). Even after all of this clearly problematic behavior, the most troubling aspect of it all to me is this: my hatred for her. Why do I, a self described feminist on their high horse of superior morals, put so much energy into hating Taylor Swift, a fellow feminine person and feminist?"

By Meg Zulch

Picture via Mirror UK

Read more: HERE

Schoolboy Q grows up on Blank Face LP

“During his recent Groovy Tony Pit Stop set in Chicago on July 11, Schoolboy Q set the emotional tone straight away.

"I'm tired as a motherf****r, but I'mma still turn up,” Quincy Hanley informed the audience.

Q fully lived up to the ying/yang emotional residence through the unprecedented--yet understandably short---hour-long set. As each song began, he quickly found inner-strength to showcase his signature aggressive energy. Full commitment.

If that’s Hyde, the gangster rapper’s Jekyll struggled to stay standing between songs. Clutching a white rally towel, he rested against the DJ booth seemingly reeling from the previous song. All while moments later jumping fully into the next tune.

Where Quincy struggled for energy, the boisterous audience quickly adapted to the unplanned audience-requested format. BetweenOxymoron staples “Man of the Year” and “Yay Yay,” the audience demanded new tracks from his sophomore album Blank Face LPreleased just days prior. A surprise to Quincy, he pondered if the audience had yet memorized the lyrics to newer songs like “Dope Dealer.” Indeed, they had.

Q’s comments of fatigue preluded a potentially disappointing show. Instead, an communal energy manifested. The audience request driven show fostered an intimate set often lacking in the usual rap concert.”

Review by Joe Longo

Hooligan got to cover Pitchfork Music Festival this past weekend and some of our writers got to see their favorite artists. Katie Burke exudes her love for Carly Rae Jepsen in this heart-felt review.

"During each, albeit small, break between songs I saw friends grabbing each others arms, as a small symbol of 'HEY. WE'RE ALIVE AND WE ARE HERE. THIS IS AMAZING. I LOVE YOU.'"

Story by Katie Burke

Photos by Morgan Martinez.