Sunday Papers

The Journey – Part 3, due out on July 11, will wrap up The Kinks’ 60th Anniversary Anthology series with a selection of songs from their 1977 – 1984 recordings. Available as two LPs, two CDs or as a download, it will include hits such as “(Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman,” “Come Dancing,” “Better Things,” “A Rock And Roll Fantasy,” “Low Budget,” “Destroyer,” and “Sleepwalker.” The Journey – Part 3 will also feature live recordings of “Till The End Of The Day,” “Where Have All The Good Times Gone,” “Apeman,” and other Kinks favorites.

Happy Birthday to Ralph Covert, who formed the Chicago-based band The Bad Examples over three decades ago, and despite some lineup changes, has ensured their albums are always filled with catchy and clever indie rock songs. Covert is also known for his series of Ralph’s World children’s albums, which serve up important lessons set to fun arrangements. Lately, he’s been treating his Facebook followers to interesting and funny anecdotes from his many rock and roll experiences.

International Pop Overthrow - Liverpool kicked off today and will run through next Sunday at The Cavern Pub and The Cavern Club. Chicago’s own bands Who’s This Mary and Phil Yates And The Affiliates are among the acts involved, as is The Jeremy Band from Kalamazoo, MI. The entire schedule is on the official website, with links to most of the participants. If you can’t be there in person, the website is a convenient way to discover new music.

Congratulations to singer-songwriter Phil Angotti on the release of his latest album on this very day. Notebook Head, a collection of 10 acoustic, solo performances can now be downloaded on his Bandcamp page, and will be available on CD in a few weeks. All the tracks sound like winners, but “Wreck Of The Rowboat Named Harold” is particularly impressive in a Bob Dylan vein. Sure enough, the Info tab states it was inspired by the Dylan film A Complete Unknown.

Ringo Starr And His All Starr Band’s 2025 Tour will include a show at the Chicago Theatre on September 10. Starr’s latest album, Look Up, finds him working in a Country and Western vein, but it’s likely he and his mates will be covering all kinds of music, including Beatles tunes.

Montrose Saloon on Chicago’s north side has a four-act showcase coming up on May 30 that will feature Falling Stars, Bronco Bama, The Spindles, and Penthouse Sweets.

Tickets are now on sale for the Wolf Alice North American Tour, which kicks off on September 10 in Atlanta. The London-based indie rock band will return to The Vic in Chicago on September 26; other stops on the tour include Washington, DC; Philadelphia; Boston; Montreal; Toronto; Dallas; Denver; and Los Angeles. Wolf Alice recently released a new single titled “Bloom Baby Bloom” and has a new album titled The Clearing coming out August 29.

Chicago Shakespeare Theater, which recently imported the Kinks bio musical Sunny Afternoon from England, has another pop music fueled show coming up. 42 Balloons, written by Jack Godfrey, utilizes a 1980s-inspired score to tell a tale based on an actual 1982 event when a Los Angeles man attached weather balloons to a chair and sailed upward. It’s directed by Ellie Coote, with choreography by Alexzandra Sarmiento and orchestra ad music supervision by Joe Beighton. 42 Balloons opened yesterday and will run at Chicago Shakespeare Theater through June 29.

The Psychedelic Furs With Special Guest Gary Numan Tour is coming to the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago on October 4. Other stops on the tour include Seattle, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Denver, Washington, D.C., Boston, and Brooklyn.

Tickets are now available for a second Jason Narducy and Dag Juhlin Celebrate Pete Townshend’s (Belated) Birthday performance at Hey Nonny in Arlington Heights, IL on June 21. The late show will start at 9:30 pm; tickets for the 7:00 pm show are quickly selling out.

The feature-length documentary Bono: Stories of Surrender, which is described as The Tall Tales Of A Short Rock Star on the official U2 website, will stream on May 30 on Apple TV. The film is based on the Bono’s solo tour for his fascinating memoir, Surrender - 40 songs, one story.

Chicago area vocalist Gerald McClendon “The Soul Keeper” has a concert coming up at The Des Plaines Theatre in Des Plaines, IL on June 14.

Paul Weller’s Find El Dorado collection of reinterpretations of other artists’ material will be released on July 25. Robert Plant and Noel Gallagher are among the musicians who helped on the album.

Tethered Together, the fourth album from Chicago band Push Puppets, is now available in digital and CD formats on Bandcamp. Push Puppets specialize in melodic, well-crafted indie rock, and this time out, they’ve enlisted four classical musicians and a trio of horn players. It’s also interesting to note that long-time Chicago music scene veterans Steve Frisbee and Tommi Zender helped out on this album.

Wild Honey Foundation, the California-based 501(c)(3)non-profit that frequently supports worthy causes by staging all-star concerts, will combine with The Zevon Family in presenting Join Me In L.A.: The Songs Of Warren Zevon With The Wild Honey Orchestra on October 24 at new venue The United Theater on Los Angeles. The event will celebrate Zevon’s Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction, and raise funds for the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) and The Ed Asner Family Center, which assists the autism-neurodivergent community. Information on participating acts will likely be revealed in the near future.

Local publisher Numero Group has released Dante Carfagna’s two-volume, 732-page set Soul Music Of Illinois. The website states Soul Music Of Illinois “chronicles over 3200 artists, 1200 record companies, and 10,000 individual releases between the years of 1960 and 1990.”

Online applications are now available for those interested in being part of YippieFest 2025 at Chopin Theatre on Chicago’s north side. The freewheeling, in-person entertainment event will return for its seventh year on the weekend of August 22 – 24. The long-running sketch/musical comedy group Famous In The Future will once again host YippieFest, which is inspired by the annual Abby Fest that was staged by Mary-Arrchie Theatre for several years.

Adventurous prog rock musician and The Luck Of Eden Hall founding member Gregory Curvey, AKA Custard Flux, has a new album titled Enter Xenon coming out on June 1. It can be pre-ordered on Bandcamp, and the first three tracks are already available to purchase and download.

The Kooks’ June 9 concert in Chicago has been moved from The Salt Shed to The Vic Theatre. As noted in a Jam Mail email, “all previously purchased tickets valid for new venue.” The English rock band kicks off the North American leg of its All Over The World Tour on May 27 in Montreal, and recently released its latest album Never/Know.

Chicago-based blues singer-guitarist Rob Moore will perform songs from his new album Chicago Dog at the Windy City Hot Dog Fest this year. The album was engineered and mastered by musician/producer Ellis Clark, and features members of Liquid Soul. Moore’s set kicks off on the Community Stage at 6:00 pm on Saturday, May 31. The Windy City Hot Dog Fest runs May 30 – June 1 in Chicago's Portage Park neighborhood.