Weekend Reminders

Party on, lads. Irish rockers Inhaler will perform at the Shaky Knees Festival in Atlanta, GA on Friday, and at Riot Fest in Chicago on Sunday.

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 Shaky Knees Festival runs tomorrow through Sunday at Piedmont Park in Atlanta, GA with Deftones, My Chemical Romance, and Blink-182 as the headliners. Other scheduled acts include Lenny Kravitz; Pixies; Spoon; Inhaler; Cage The Elephant; The Black Keys; Johnny Marr; The Beaches; Vampire Weekend; Devo; Wet Leg; Franz Ferdinand; Stereophonics; and Weird Al Yankovic.

Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan has a new album titled Better Broken coming out tomorrow; with the title track being the first single. Her 2025 North American tour kicks off on October 15 in Victoria, BC, and will include a stop at the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago on November 22.

Fashion-minded attendees at the 20th Annual Riot Fest, which runs in Chicago tomorrow through Sunday, might want to purchase a limited-edition CBGB And Riot Fest - Homes of Underground Rock t-shirt. According to a press release from Western Publicity, the “collaborative shirt marks [the] first step in future plans with the inaugural CBGB Fest set to take place Sept. 27 in Brooklyn and Riot Fest kicking-off this weekend in Chicago.” The t-shirt will only be available in limited quantities at Riot Fest, so keep an eye out for any vendors in Douglass Park that have them. Check out yesterday’s Broken Hearted Toy Incoming post for information on the scheduled acts at Riot Fest.

Singer-guitarist Michael Steven Cohen, a former member of the power pop bands The Abbeys and Pop Dollys, has embarked on a successful career playing selections from The Great American Songbook at dinner clubs. He’ll perform from 6:00 to 10:00 pm tomorrow night at the Chicago Prime Italian restraurant in Schaumburg, IL.

Reeling2025 - The 43rd Chicago LGBTQ + International Film Festival opens tomorrow at Landmark’s Century Centre on the city’s north side, and will run through September 28.

The Hoodoo Gurus will celebrate the 40th anniversary of their rollicking second album Mars Needs Guitars with an event tomorrow at The Barracks in North Head Manly in Sydney, Australia. They’ll perform the entire album in order, and then move on to a variety of garage rock selections from their illustrious and zany career.

Exsanguinated Roommate, an adventurous Chicago-based band led by Paul Foreman, will showcase songs from their new Healing Trends album this Saturday night at Montrose Saloon. They’ll be preceded that night by Another VU, the Chicago-based act that performs 1969-era Velvet Underground songs; sax-driven Morphine tribute band Honey Whites; and Made of Stone, which honors the work of  The Stone Roses. The music starts at 8:00 pm.

Surf instrumental rockers Los Straitjackets are celebrating 30 years of exuberant fun, and will release their latest album, Somos, tomorrow. A few songs are already available to preview on Bandcamp.

Uptown Live, which is being billed as Uptown Chicago’s Premier Street Festival, takes place this tomorrow through Sunday on Broadway between Lawrence and Leland. Entertainers will include Joywave; DJ Mark Farina; Dancing Queen: An ABBA Salute; Liquid Soul; The Western Elstons; Crocodile Rockstar: Tribute To Elton John; and Planet Claire: Tribute To The B-52’s.