A party hire business owner who primarily deals Bouncy Castles is now under fire, almost literally, for encouraging his employees to burn down his competition. He’s now going to be behind bars for a decade.
James Balcombe was motivated by an obsessive desire to outdo his competitors when he paid his co-offenders to firebomb their businesses across industrial Melbourne in late 2016 and early 2017. Many of the fires, lit with fuel or Molotov cocktails, failed to take hold or incurred only minor damage.
Balcombe received an 11-year prison sentence after earlier pleading guilty to 11 charges of conspiracy to commit arson.
For the first time since March 20, 2022, the Foo Fighters are back as a full band, this time with Josh Freese behind the kit. They took the stage in New Hampshire last night to play in front of a raucous crowd, busting out a career-spanning, 21-song setlist.
Per Hannah Hope at The Sun, Oasis is laying the groundwork for four shows at Knebworth, Herts in 2025. This would mark the first Oasis shows since 2009 and a return to the grounds that Oasis played in 1996 in front of 125,000 people each night.
In recent months, there has been a growing trend to get Oasis to reunite, notably from The 1975 frontman, Matty Healy. It can’t be ignored that the band’s greatest rival, Blur, reunited earlier this year.
Both Liam and Noel are currently gearing up for summer tours with their respective solo projects.
A man was shot in Kentucky over the weekend over eating the last Hot Pocket.
Louisville Police arrested 64-year-old Clifton Williams on Sunday after they said he shot his roommate following an argument over what food was eaten. The shooter began throwing tiles at his roommate, before eventually pulling out a gun and shooting the other man in the butt.
Williams is being charged with assault and has been ordered not to have contact with the victim. His bond was set at $7,500.
Officials in Congress are looking to improve food date labels to reduce food waste, after a new study revealed that Americans are wasting $218B on food each year. The changes that could come would be to push for changes in this expiration date system, as the U.S. has no federal standard for “sell-by,” “use-by” or “best by” dates.
“Food manufacturers can pick a random date and game the system … some of them probably want you to buy their food more often, so they put a date that may not be the actual date it goes bad,” according to New Jersey Rep. Josh Gottheimer.
The congressman is leading a bipartisan effort to standardize expiration date terminology across the country.
In California last week, a man died after being hit by a car moments after helping some ducks cross the road. “He got out of the car and was shooing the ducks and everyone was clapping because he was being really nice,” said a nearby witness.
The ducks were all safe, but unfortunately, the man did not survive his injuries.
The streaming service formerly known as HBO Max is now Max, rendering the HBO branding dead and gone. This now combines everything under the HBO banner with Discovery+ content.
Users should still be able to access the service using their existing passwords and logins on their devices. You won’t pay any more for Max than you did for HBO Max, at least for the time being.
To summarize, nothing has changed, except a meaningless name change that has made everything more confusing.
A man in Northwest Indiana is dead after a grenade blew up his house.
According to the Lake County Sheriff’s Department, police responded sometime before 6:30 PM to a reported explosion in a home in the 3400 block of West Lake Shore Drive. According to the police, the family in the home had been going through a grandfather’s belongings when they found a hand grenade, and someone reportedly pulled the pin on the device and it detonated.
A Fender Stratocaster smashed onstage by Kurt Cobain has sold for $595,900 at auction. The guitar — a reassembled-yet-unplayable left-handed black Strat — went for around 10 times its original estimate of $60-80k at a Julien’s Auction. It was signed (in one way or another) by all three members of Nirvana (Cobain, Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl.)
— Julien's Auctions (@JuliensAuctions) May 22, 2023
The guitar was gifted by Cobain to his friend and fellow Seattle musician, the late Screaming Trees singer Mark Lanegan. Kurt even inscribed the body of the guitar: “Hell-o mark! Love, Your Pal, Kurdt Kobain/ Washed up rockstar.”
A Popeyes in Oakland is currently inactive after various reports surfaced that teens were asked to work during the school day and late shifts on the weekend.
BREAKING: Workers at @Popeyes in Oakland, CA are ON STRIKE
At this Popeye’s, we’ve experienced child labor violations with children as young as 13 working 6 days a week, sometimes until midnight.
The FBI is conducting a DNA test to determine whether a woman in Texas is Diamond Bradley, who disappeared from her Chicago home along with her sister more than 20 years ago and hasn’t been seen since. A recent TikTok surfaced with a woman claiming to be Diamond Bradley, who disappeared alongside her sister, Tionda, from their family’s 2001 Bronzeville home.
The woman purporting to be Diamond visited an FBI office where she underwent fingerprinting along with a DNA test. At press time, it’s unclear if the FBI received the results, though the agency did agree to expedite the test.
Tinley Park police canceled the final day of The Armed Forces Weekend Carnival due to safety concerns stemming from a flash mob incident on Saturday involving over 400 teens who stormed the area. According to police, teens were running through the parking lot at the 80th Avenue train station and getting into fights in an attempt to disrupt the event.
Tinley Park police said the decision was made to cancel Sunday’s event after they learned another flash mob was planned.
Billie Joe Armstrong made everyone’s day with this unexpected performance!
Hopping up on stage just to surprise everyone while a cover band was singing the Green Day song “Basket Case” Billie Joe Armstrong sang one line and tried to give the lead singer of the group her microphone back, but she wanted to perform a duet instead. Let’s just say everybody on stage was thrilled and so was every person drinking that night in the bar. Can you blame ’em?!?
Moments like this are what make music great! The conversation lives on Facebook!
Andy Rourke first met Johnny Marr at the age of 11 while living in Manchester. In 1982, after Marr and Morrissey formed their own band, they invited Rourke to come aboard as a bassist and along with drummer Mike Joyce, the 4 musicians were known collectively as The Smiths.
It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of Andy Rourke after a lengthy illness with pancreatic cancer. Andy will be remembered as a kind and beautiful soul by those who knew him and as a supremely gifted musician by music fans. We request privacy at this sad time pic.twitter.com/KNehQxXoFz
Rourke played on The Smiths’ four-albums (1984’s self-titled debut, 1985’s Meat Is Murder, 1986’s The Queen Is Dead and 1987’s Strangeways, Here We Come), Johnny Marr once said that Rourke “reinvented what it is to be a bass guitar player.”
Morrissey issued a statement on the passing of Andy Rourke: “I just hope…wherever Andy has gone…that he’s OK. He will never die as long as his music is heard." https://t.co/uSuAxcYYd8
Joe Grier, 98, is something of a living legend in Chicago. At 98 year’s old, he still heads to work every day, although he’s insistent that he’s not actually working, merely just doing something he loves to do. Fox 32 has more information.
We thank Grier for sharing his story and continuously inspiring us.
UK legends Blur are back with their first song in eight years, and it’s terrific. Although no US dates have been announced for Blur’s reunion tour (that is set to start in the UK next week), we’re all waiting impatiently for a series of shows in Chicago.
Dave Matthews Band – Walk Around the Moon
For a certain sect of people, this is a big day. I am not one of those people, but congratulations to our Dave Matthews fans who can celebrate the release of their new album, “Walk Around the Moon”.
Hozier – Francesca
Days removed from his intimate Metro show, Hozier is back with a new single for his upcoming album, “Unreal Unearth”.
The Used – Toxic Positivity
The Used, a featured act at Riot Fest 2023, are back with their 11th studio album, “Toxic Positivity”. We can’t wait to see them in September!
The Walkmen, reuniting at the Metro (Wednesday-Saturday)
Acclaimed New York City rock band The Walkmen have reunited to play their first shows in Chicago in a decade. A band that rose up the ranks alongside bands like Interpol and The Strokes, they’re best known for their song “The Rat”, which was a hit, but should’ve been The Biggest Hit. They’re currently in the midst of a four-show run at the Metro, all of which have sold out.
The National at The Auditorium Theatre (Thursday-Sunday)
The National, a band that shares a lot of qualities with the aforementioned Walkmen, are on a four-show run themselves at the hidden gem of Chicago venues, the Auditorium Theatre. Indie rock legends at this point, they’re kicking off their nationwide tour for their new record, First Two Pages of Frankenstein, with this set of shows. A microscopic amount of tickets have been released for Friday’s show. The weekend gigs are sold out.
Anime Central at Donald E. Stephens Convention Center (Friday-Sunday): For fans of Japanese pop-culture (including anime, video games, musicians and strange snack foods), there’s no larger Midwest celebration of the Land of the Rising Sun than Anime Central. Tickets can be found here.
Margarita & Sangria Fest at Lincoln Park Zoo (Friday): Experience Lincoln Park Zoo like never before at this after-hours, 21+ only event. Guests will sample a variety of margaritas and sangrias while walking around and enjoying views of the blooming gardens and animals. There will also be live music, food offerings for purchase, interactive games and salsa and bachata dancing. More information can be found here.
Cursive at Bottom Lounge (Friday)
Iconic emo standouts Cursive head to the Bottom Lounge on Friday for a tour celebrating the release of 2000’s heartbreaking Domestica album. This event is sold out.
Natalie Merchant at Chicago Theater (Friday)
10,000 Maniacs frontwoman Natalie Merchant will be at the Chicago Theater on Friday. Merchant is currently on tour celebrating the release of her most recent record, Keep Your Courage. Limited tickets remain. If you can’t make it to the Chicago Theater this weekend, we still recommend bumping the 10,000 Maniacs album In My Tribe this weekend. It doesn’t get much better than that.
Narrow Head at Lincoln Hall (Friday)
Narrow Head are an up-and-coming band from Dallas, Texas who released the incredible album, Moments of Clarity, earlier this year. Incorporating a sound reminiscent of bands like Hum with a more punk edge, Narrow Head hit on familiar alt-rock leanings while also pushing the boundaries. Tickets still remain for what should be an epic show. We highly recommend snagging them.
the moss at Schubas (Friday)
the moss are yet another exciting new band on the scene, and they’ll be across town from another Lincoln Hall-owned venue, Schubas, on Friday. This band is surging in popularity and rightfully so. Their event at Schubas is sold out.
White Sox hosts the Royals (Friday-Sunday)
The SURGING White Sox host divisional rivals this weekend. Ever since I (Case the Producer) called them losers, they’ve been playing better…funny how that works.
Giovannie & the Hired Guns at Joe’s on Weed St (Saturday)
THEY’RE ON THE ROAD AGAIN!
PIQNIQ artists Giovannie & the Hired Guns will stop by Chicago on Saturday at Joe’s for their first gig since Q101’s epic Halloween Pop Up with them last year. Tickets are available here.
Pilsen Cantina Crawl (Saturday): Explore everything Pilsen has to offer by going on a cantina crawl through the neighborhood. You’ll get to sample craft cocktails from eight different restaurants and bars plus enjoy live music and drink specials. The fundraising event supports Pilsen Fest. Tickets can be purchased here.
Renegade Craft Fair in Andersonville (Saturday-Sunday): Renegade Craft’s flagship event takes over a stretch of Clark Street spanning from Bryn Mawr to Edgewater Avenue. Attendees will be able to shop the handmade wares of more than 225 vendor booths, selling everything from candles and screenprints to jewelry and pottery. Information can be found here.
Chicago Spring Half Marathon & 10K (Sunday): Say hello to spring with a half marathon or 10K on the Lakefront Trail. Why anyone would do this, I don’t know. Details are here.
