A group of 26 fans are taking their dissatisfaction with Ticketmaster to court. In a lawsuit submitted to a California court, the fans accuse Ticketmaster’s parent company, LiveNation, of “anticompetitive conduct” that let scalpers snap up a surplus of tickets, resulting in higher ticket prices for the fans who could actually get their hands on them. The lawsuit takes umbrage with the presale system that Ticketmaster uses, as well, noting that the company “intentionally and purposely mislead Taylor Swift presale ticketholders by providing codes to 1.4 million ‘verified fans’” when it actually didn’t have enough seats to go around. According to Ticketmaster, 3.5 million people pre-registered as Verified Fans to gain access to the sale, but it had to put 2 million of these fans on a waitlist for a chance to pick up any remaining tickets.
Are Taylor Swift fans justified? The conversation lives on Facebook!
Despite a valiant effort from the Chicago Bears, Aaron Rodgers is still our daddy. Rodgers and the Packers picked up their eighth straight victory over the Bears after a second-half comeback that ended in 28-19 victory for Green Bay. Rodgers went 18/31 for 182 yards, while Justin Fields went 20/25 for 254 yards and went for 71 rushing yards.
Brian Vander Ark is the lead singer of 1990’s alternative darlings The Verve Pipe, who gave us the song “The Freshman.” (Not to be confused with The Verve, who Brian hilariously references in his Twitter bio)
That same Twitter account shared a video of Brian belting out his band’s biggest hit — and no one realizing that the person singing was the original McCoy:
Flea, of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, takes in a Dodgers playoff game. [📷 : USA TODAY/Jayne Kamin-Oncea]
After appearing as a bounty hunter in the new Obi-Wan Kenobi series on Disney+, it seems the bassist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers already has an idea for his next role:
If a good director decides to make a popeye movie, I’m your man.
If you’ve ever seen it, Popeye was originally released in 1980, directed by Robert Altman and starring Robin Williams in the title role. But I think Flea would give him a good run for the money in the role.
Flea second career as an actor has seen him make appearances in movies such as The Big Lebowski, Fear & Loathing In Las Vegas, Back To The Future, and many others…
Parents and guardians can register their children online for two races at Chicago’s premier event of the holiday season. The Chicago Park District is on the hunt to find the fastest kid in the city…for reasons. The event takes place from 11a-4p on December 17 at Gately Park’s track and field center on 10201 S. Cottage Grove Ave.
If you sign your child up for what may or may not be a government surveillance program, they will get a free t-shirt. That makes it all worth it.
#PilkandCookies is what the marketing geniuses at Pepsi came up with. According to Lindsay Lohan and Pepsi’s chief marketing officer, “Combining Pepsi and milk has long been a secret hack among Pepsi fans.”
Anyone who has mixed milk and Pepsi together before this trend needs to be put on a list.
Please tag not only Pepsi in your #PilkandCookies videos, but Q101 as well. We need to keep track of who is deranged and who isn’t.
200,000 Christmas lights light up a house in Tinley Park that continues to receive media coverage for its bold light display.
This is too much. I’m notoriously very holly and jolly, but I also like getting some shut eye and I can’t fathom doing that when I’m living next to a winter wonderland.
Rapper-turned-antisemite Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, tagged alongside Alex Jones and his vile, conspiracy-filled platform InfoWars on Thursday to praise Nazi’s for…inventing the modern highway system. Never one to conform, Ye’s passion for stirring up controversy has become a tired, bored mode of operation as he continues to fail to write interesting music or contribute anything worth of value to society. We have now hit a point where Alex Jones – the man who lied about the Sandy Hook shooting, the man who said there are chemicals in the water turning frogs gay, the man who peddled PizzaGate conspiracies, and the man who argued that the government is controlling the weather – is trying to act as the voice of reason.
Casey Anthony, who shocked the world when she was found not guilty in 2011 over the death of her infant child, is back in the headlines for all of the wrong reasons. The Florida mom was spotted at a Steel Panther show, getting her grove on from the side stage, right before her “Where the Truth Lies” documentary hit the streaming platform, Peacock. It is a bad look, to say the least, for the childless-mother to be having nothing but a good time while also marketing a documentary meant to rehab her image.
Should streamers be able to make money on the tragedy’s of others? The conversation lives on Facebook!
A 72-year-old woman has been arrested after she allegedly switched off a hospital roommate’s ventilator twice because she was annoyed by the sound it made, according to authorities in Germany. Prosecutors say that this 79-year-old woman ignored pleas from the hospital to leave her roommate’s ventilator running. The woman has been charged with manslaughter.
Now…hang with us here. We’re not saying it’s right to unplug someone from the thing keeping them alive, but imagine dealing with this sound all day? That’s all we’re saying – it must’ve been annoying. And if you don’t think so, keep this sound playing on your desk all day as you go about your workday. It won’t be fun.
Can we get a hell yeah, brother? Bats like to yell just like us. Researchers at the prestigious University of Southern Denmark note that some bats use the same vocal structures as death metal singers to make their unique vocalizations. The scientists set out to understand exactly how Daubenton’s bats maximize their vocal range, but we are waiting for a group of bats to put out their first EP at any moment.
Studies have shown that these folds are crucial for a few unique forms of vocalization, like the distinctive “growling” death metal singers use. Scientists still don’t know what exactly the bats are communicating when they use their death metal growls. “Some seem aggressive, some may be an expression of annoyance, and some may have a very different function,” said study coauthor, friend of the show, and University of Southern Denmark biologist Lasse Jakobsen.
Pour some suds out for the hotel bathtub. Once a place for romantic escapades (or discarded dead bodies), they are now becoming a thing of the past. As one travel blogger points out, many modern hotels are renovating their bathrooms and opting for a sleek shower-only setup instead of a traditional shower with a bathtub.
Paige Harris, the director of design and development at Valor Hospitality Partners, agrees, adding that she thinks hotel bathtubs are “practically obsolete,” except in very specific cases.
Would you ever take a bath in a hotel room? The conversation lives on Facebook!
Five people, including two children, were found dead on Wednesday in Buffalo Grove. Police said around 11 a.m. Wednesday, officers went to a two-story home in the 2800-block of Acadia Terrace after receiving a call for a well-being check for a woman. After no one came to the door, police said they made forced entry and found five people dead inside.
Police have not revealed the names of the victims, but they have confirmed that it is a murder-suicide.
Q101 would like to extend our well wishes to everyone in Buffalo Grove after this horrific incident. Information on a crisis hotline can be found here.
The crabbiest man on the planet once doubted Britney Spears. After TLC passed on the what turned out to be the greatest debut single of all-time, Simon Cowell attempted to swipe the song away from Spears. He claimed that no one named Britney Spears would ever have a hit song.
Spotify Wrapped 2022 is here and once again, and Bad Bunny remains globally dominant. He led the pack in terms of global streams, followed by Taylor Swift, Drake, The Weeknd, and BTS. In America, Drake swapped places with Bad Bunny, with Ye bumping BTS out of the top 5.
The five most streamed songs in America this year were “As It Was” by Harry Styles, “Heat Waves” by Glass Animals, “Bad Habit” by Steve Lacy, “Me Porto Bonito” by Bad Bunny feat. Chencho Corleon, and “First Class” by Jack Harlow.
Who was your most streamed artist of the year? The conversation lives on Facebook!
While Q101 remains the greatest source in the world for discovering new music, we only have so many hours in the day and occasionally some songs fall through the cracks. If your Spotify Wrapped results have you down, or you’re in desperate need of something new to listen to as we close out the final weeks of the year, these are 11 great songs that you may have missed this year. -Case the Producer
Dazy & Militarie Gun“Pressure Cooker”
As far as I’m concerned, Militarie Gun currently holds the heavyweight championship around their waist when it comes to being the most exciting band in the world. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing them live four times over the last calendar year, and each time the shows got better. They pivoted from blistering, two-minute-growls that laced their first 3 EPs and in March and unveiled this corker alongside electro-punk Dazy. This song is groovy, it’s infectious, and it’s one of the best tracks I’ve heard all year.
Momma “Speeding 72”
Etta Friedman and Allegra Weingarten are the faces you clicked on that led you to this article. The school friends-turned-bandmates make up the powerhouse known as Momma, who dropped their third studio album, “Household Name”, in July. The duo pulls at the heartstrings with this song, as the band paints a picture of two people falling in love at a DIY show and then proceeding to do “the most romantic thing” – drive around together and listen together. Momma may be singing about coming from a complicated pace, but the infectious nature of this song is as clear as day. Get on the ground floor with Momma before they do indeed become a household name.
Drug Church “Million Miles of Fun”
When frontman Patrick Kindlon isn’t stirring up controversy on either of his podcasts (Axe to Grind / Worst Possible Timeline) or in the printed word with his comic books, he is leading the juggernaut that is Drug Church. When Drug Church rolled through Beat Kitchen on St. Patrick’s Day this year, I became mesmerized by Kindlon’s ability to command a room. His message was simple: if someone stage dives, you catch and you carry them to the back of the room. The 200 patrons, drenched in sweat and beaming with angst, followed instructions. Despite Kindlon being Chronically Online, “Million Miles of Fun” is a buzz-bin-belter pleading for the 24/7 news cycle to stop. Backed by guitarists Nick Cogan and Cory Galusha, this thrashy, two minute jam is essential listening for the modern world.
Sydney Sprague “Think Nothing”
Mark my words: Sydney Sprague will become one of your favorite artists, sooner rather than later. I saw her kick off the festivities during last year’s Front Bottoms tour and I’ve been obsessed ever since. Sprague put this sad-sack-song-of-the-summer into orbit in July and it’s been on repeat for me ever since. Her voice is soft enough to make me want to curl up and face existential dread as her no-nonsense lyrics wash over me. Don’t let the clean guitars and wonderful harmonies fool you, this song packs a punch.
Signals Midwest “Blind Contour”
Signals Midwest put out a record called “DENT” this year that is my favorite record of the year. Every song on it is great. While in recent years, singer Maxwell Stern, who I think of as one of the single best songwriters on Earth, has channeled his softer side, he and his band let it rip with the album opener “Blind Contour”. Even in a room full of underrated bands, Signals Midwest has always been chronically underrated. They have a decade of work under their belt right now with each release being better than the last. “DENT” is their finest work yet and it’s in part to tracks like “Blind Contour”.
PUP “Matilda”
PUP are an entity entirely unto themselves. They made their name touring relentlessly in DIY clubs and driving themselves to the brink of madness. After penning tracks like “If This Tour Doesn’t Kill You, I Will” and “Dark Days“, they opened their hearts and wrote one of the best love songs of the year in “Matilda”. Singer Stefan Babcock detailed his long, drawn out breakup with his favorite guitar, the titular “Matilda”. This song is as romantic as you can be while also singing about an inanimate object. PUP has been a “band to watch” for years now, and their best song may as well be this, which tonally is such a sharp contrast to their usual output.
Julia Jacklin “Lydia Wears a Cross”
Drenched in religious guilt and aching for something greater, Julia Jacklin followed up 2019’s brilliant release, “Crushing“, with the lead single off of 2022’s “PRE-PLEASURE”. In “Lydia Wears a Cross”, Jacklin’s inner monologue fights of the temptation of organized religion. While her peers buy into the process, Jacklin is merely interested in the song and dance of it all. The minimalist instrumentals give the siren that is her voice a chance to cut through and cut deep. Catholic School Trauma has never sounded as catchy.
Koyo “Ten Digits Away”
Hardcore heavyweights Koyo are a gift to this world. They play songs big enough to fill theaters, even if they often find themselves playing in backrooms in front of a few hundred rowdy fans. Never afraid to get emotional, Koyo accomplished the rare feat of writing a love song with some muscle that doesn’t sound utterly ridiculous. This song of passion is perfect for anyone yearning alone during cuffing season.
BoyWithUke ft. Oliver Tree “Sick of U”
I’d be lying if I said I fully understand the complexities of Oliver Tree’s brain. There’s a lot going on there and not all of it makes sense. That being said, packaged alongside the hit-ready production that BoyWithUke brings to the table, Tree became part of one of my favorite songs of the entire year. BoyWithUke is someone that continues to win me over with every new release. After blasting “Toxic” all summer on Q101, I hope we hear more of him in the new year.
The Wonder Years “Oldest Daughter”
For so many years now, The Wonder Years have acted as an entry point into underground music. Despite over a decade of work as one of pop punk’s most prominent acts, they find themselves in small print on every festival poster with their name on it. With 2022’s “The Hum Goes on Forever”, the band embarked into territory rarely explored by a pop punk band: parenthood. The lead single on the band’s seventh studio record, “Oldest Daughter” is a heartbreaker of epic proportions. While most of the record looks ahead to the future and what parenthood means, this song looks back at a former lover, Madelyn, who has been referenced on the band’s prior works.
Arm’s Length “Object Permanence”
Arm’s Length came along at the wrong time. They absolutely deserved to sign a horrible contract with Victory Records before getting scooped up by a major label (I’m thinking Dreamworks) in the early aughts. This band plays at full tilt, always. They sound remarkably powerful for an emo-inspired four-piece and “Object Permanence” might be their most muscular track to date. Vocalist Allen Steinberg drops a few Tumblr-quality lyrics in this one, notably, “I am your baby bird / Catching evеry other word / You breathe life into a body washed ashore / And call it love”, which is delightfully toxic. Don’t go into the new year without hearing this song.
