Weekend Reminders

The Go-Go’s are among the major acts performing at The Cruel World Fest.

Thursday posts focus on events that were previously mentioned on Broken Hearted Toy, and are taking place during the upcoming weekend. Plus, the occasional event taking place this weekend that has just come to my attention, or concert tickets going on sale.

The Cruel World Festival kicks off this Saturday in Pasadena, CA. Headline acts include New Order; ’til tuesday; The Buzzcocks; Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds; The Go-Go’s; Devo; OMD; Garbage; Alison Moyet, Blancmange; Stereo MC’s; Midge Ure; and Madness.

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 on June 21. The late show will start at 9:30 pm; tickets for the 7:00 pm show are quickly selling out.

Wolf Alice’s new single “Bloom Baby Bloom” is now available on Spotify, Amazon, iTunes, and other streaming sites. The London-based indie rock band, led by vocalist-guitarist Ellie Rowsell, has also released a video for “Bloom Baby Bloom” that can be viewed on YouTube. A collaboration with director Colin Solal Cardo and choreographer Ryan Heffington, it finds Wolf Alice exploring new territory with a Broadway musical approach that might remind some people of Bob Fosse. The band also announced today that a next album, titled The Clearing, is due out August 29.

The 101.7 FM CHIRP Radio Music Film Festival at The Music Box Theatre on Chicago’s north side opened tonight with a 7:00 pm screening of the Brian Eno documentary Eno. The festival runs through Sunday with Angelheaded Hipster: The Songs Of Marc Bolan And T. Rex and Times Square tomorrow night; Lifers: A Local H Movie and Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story on Saturday; and Save The Children and I Am Trying To Break Your Heart on Sunday. See the festival website for additional information.

Hung Up On A Dream, director/musician Robert Schwartzman’s 2023 documentary covering The Zombies’ entire career, is now showing in American theaters. It was screened at the AMC theaters in Chicago and suburban Illinois earlier this week; and will be screened tomorrow in New York and Los Angeles. The film features the British Invasion band’s most recent live performances, along with archival footage.

Singer-guitarist Rachel Drew will perform with John Szymanski, Michael Krayniak, and Jason Batchko tomorrow night at FitzGerald’s Sidebar in Berwyn, IL. Drew’s most recent album, Old Sky New, was released in March 2024, and she has a brand new cover of The Replacements’ “Swingin Party” on her Bandcamp page.

Wild Honey Foundation, the California-based a 501(c)(3)non-profit that supports various worthy causes by staging concerts, will join The Zevon Family in presenting Join Me In L.A.: The Songs Of Warren Zevon With The Wild Honey Orchestra on October 24 at the United Center on Los Angeles.

Chicago singer-guitarist Michael Steven Cohen will perform selections from the Great American Songbook this Saturday night and next Saturday, May 24 at the Chicago Prime Italian restaurant in Schaumburg, IL.

Tellin’ Tales Theatre will present Divercity: Breaking Through this weekend at the Goodman Theatre/Alice Center for Education and Engagement in downtown Chicago. The show will feature solo performances by writers, artists, and advocates with disabilities. Tellin’ Tales Theatre’s mission is “to shatter barriers between the disabled and non-disabled worlds through the transformative power of personal story.”