Incoming

Photo of Jack White from official Riot Fest Facebook page.

But wait, there’s more. Additional entertainment news, unrelated to Monday’s Incoming post here.

Welcome to everyone who’s arrived in Chicago for the 20th Annual Riot Fest this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The scheduled performers range from punk pioneers such as The Sex Pistols; The Pogues; Marky Ramone; The Damned; The Effigies; and The Buzzcocks to more recently formed acts such as The Linda Lindas and Inhaler. Green Day; Jack White; The Beach Boys; Weezer; The Cribs; Dropkick Murphys; and Rilo Kiley are among the other acts coming to Douglass Park. The Friday-only “Weird Al” Yankovic’s Weird World Stage at Riot Fest will present Shonen Knife; Mac Sabbath; Puddles Pity Party; Camper Van Beethoven; Sparks; and “Weird Al” himself.

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.

Pravda Records Presents, a showcase featuring three of the Chicago-based label’s acts, will take place at Martyrs’ on October 10. A Facebook post today from The Handcuffs teases with the promise, “The ’Cuffs will be doing something a little different for this one show which should be fun for you and for us.” They’ll be joined by Brian Krumm And His Barfly Friends and Nathan Graham. Martyrs’ is located at 3855 N. Lincoln Avenue.

As noted in a Facebook post yesterday from musician Jason Narducy, he and actor-musician Michael Shannon have another R.E.M. album tribute tour coming up. This time, they’ll be celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Lifes Rich Pageant, backed by Dag Juhlin, John Stirratt, Vijay Tellis-Nayak, and Jon Wurster. The tour kicks off in Denver on February 11, 2026, and will include stops in Seattle; Los Angeles; Washington, DC; Pittsburgh; and Minneapolis. There will be two shows in the R.E.M. birthplace of Athens, GA on February 26 and 27; as well as two shows in Narducy and Shannon’s hometown Chicago on March 12 and 13. Tickets go on sale this Friday. Years ago, a fellow proofreader at a company I worked at complained she would never forgive R.E.M. for the grammatical error of using ‘Lifes’ as a possessive without an apostrophe. I was willing to give them a pass.

In related news, Drink The Sea, an exotic, experimental band of established musicians that includes R.E.M. founding member Peter Buck, has a U.S. Tour coming in 2026 that will visit Chicago, Boston, Cincinnati, and Philadelphia and several other cities.