Wintrust Arena

2/21/2024

Writer: Sommer Thornton 

Photographer: Shrithik Karthik 

Styled-out and sexy fans packed the Wintrust Arena to see Burna Boy’s Chicago stop of his “I Told Them” tour.

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The African Giant hit Chicago’s Wintrust Arena for his “I Told Them,” Tour. The show kicked off with Burna Boy seated at the “City Boy Cutz” barber shop, part of an imaginative set with two tiers and a full band of over a dozen musicians. The top tier seemed to be an homage to his young adulthood in Ghana. As the lights came up, dancers dressed in white overalls were cleaning the windows to the beat, then Burna Boy emerged and immediately seized the crowd.

Burna Boy’s voice is flawless, and the energy in his vocals was on 10. Not many artists can move between singing and rapping at a fast pace seamlessly live, and Burna has mastered this. For this show, the African Giant brought us into the world this album was created in, where Burna shows how raw he is to his critics and whoever still doesn’t know his brilliance.

One song in, Burna sang the first line of his timeless hit, “Gbona,” and the crowd went crazy. Burna Boy and his band made the concert stellar. His rich satiny voice and the horn section that belted out these blissful bridges along with multiple keyboards, a guitar and a special all-female string quartet created an atmosphere that felt like we were being transported from a party in Johannesburg to laying on the beach in Negril, to a symphony in Egypt.

Burna Boy breezed through current hits from his new album like “Dey Play,” “Location,” and “On My Hand.” But it’s the classics “Anybody,” “On the Low,” and “Kilometre,” that sent the crowd to the next stratosphere.

Hit after hit after hit Burna Boy showed off his incredible vocals and amazing stamina teasing the crowd and playfully interacting with his all-female dancers who, dressed in painter’s overalls and doing very relatable choreography connected with the audience in a fresh way. It was like friends or cousins were up there doing the dances they practiced together that made everybody happy. When Burna sang the ballad, “If I’m Lying,” from his new album, he poured his heart out with the string quartet.

With this tour, Burna Boy has ascended to the helm of Afro Fusion with hard work, grit, and refined talent. He has forged his own lane. After over 10 years in the game, no other artist in this genre can touch him vocally and lyrically. On top of charisma, good looks, style, and incredible stage presence, Burna Boy uses the stage design, the wardrobe, even the musical accompaniment to show a deeper side of himself and his artistry. It’s like the lyrics in his song “I Told Them” say, he told them he would make it, he told them he was the flyest, they said he was crazy, self-confidence of a lion.

Saying that Burna Boy’s voice live is as flawlessly sweet as it sounds on the album is an understatement. Even when silent on stage, the Burna Boy show was captivating because he allowed his band to reinforce the vibe and the audience could sit – not recording, but really taking in the beautiful moment together and letting the music immerse us.

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High School Reunion Tour’s Chicago Show

Words Sommer Thornton

Photos Keeton Robinson

Headliners Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa reignited the excitement of their tour from the 2011 album, “Mack and Devin Go to High School,” bringing rap nostalgia of the 90’s and early 2000’s.

The High School Reunion Tour hit the suburbs outside of Chicago the same weekend as Beyonce’s sold-out Renaissance concert at Soldier Field downtown, bringing many hip-hop heads to the Credit Union 1 Amphitheater for a different kind of party.

The nearly 5-hour High School Reunion concert featured rap legends Warren G and Too $hort from the 90’s, notable mixtape giants, DJ Drama and DJ Green Lantern, and west coast rapper Berner. The show, entertaining, fun and intoxicating, was also a trip down memory lane for the audience of 30’s, 40’s, 50-somethings as well as a history lesson for the Gen-Z’s in the crowd who may only know Snoop from his cooking show with Martha Stewart and Corona commercials. It was a throwback rap party with nothing but great vibes throughout.

Here are 5 (of many) Memorable Moments from the High School Reunion Concert in Chicago:

#5 DJ Drama kept the crowd going with hype hits from the last 20 years.

DJ Drama kept the music going between sets. DJ Green Lantern acted as Snoop’s DJ as he ripped the stage. Both are well-known DJs from the 90’s and 2000’s who’ve had great mixtape success and continue to work with top rap artists.

#4 Warren G lights up the stage, literally and figuratively.

Warren G performed hits like “Regulate,” “I Want it All,” “I’m Fly,” and “Nobody Does it Better,” and even did an impromptu version of the Rick James hit, “Mary Jane” as he lit a huge spliff and passed it to a lucky audience member. The best part is when he sang the parts of the late Nate Dogg, whose silky voice laced many west coast classics.

#3 Youngins learned why Too $hort is considered a rap legend.

Fans sang along with every word of “Life is… Too Short,” “Gettin’ it,” and “Freaky Tales”. Too $hort left the stage asking the crowd to yell out his favorite word, “%*#^@” – if you knew you knew.

#2 Wiz Khalifa’s explosive set featuring his son as his hype man.

Wiz Khalifa gives a great show, and he effortlessly put his stamina and vocal range on display with songs like “Black and Yellow,” “On My Level,” “Roll Up,” “Peace and Love,” from his new album, and a sexy version of “Or Nah.” When the shirtless Khalifa hopped back on stage to his mixtape classic, “Taylor Gang,” his son Sebastian joined in the fun, dancing and shooting off a smoke gun.

#1 Snoop Dogg Rips the Stage

For over an hour Snoop Dogg performed his mainstream hits and some of his earlier cuts like “Lotti Dotti,” “Ain’t No Fun,” (joined on stage by Warren G) and “Murder Was the Case”. Snoop, now in his 50’s had the crowd super-lit bringing us all back to the 90’s gangasta rap era.

Friday, June 2, 2023

Chicago Soldier Field

by Sommer Thornton

Photos TAS Rights Management 

Friday night under perfect weather, Taylor Swift shut the Bears stadium down, bringing together her adoring Swifties and fans from everywhere for a lovefest, reunion, and trip down memory lane.

Chicago, IL. June 4, 2023: Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour hit Soldier Field in Chicago, June 2-4 for 3 sold out shows. For her Eras Tour, the first tour Swift has done in five years, she performs nearly 3 ½ hours with over 40 songs. Tay-Tay, as she’s affectionately called, took fans on a journey of where she has been mentally and emotionally all while belting out songs like “The Archer,” and “You Belong with Me” perfectly.

In front of her thousands of fans, Taylor Swift was introspective, revealing her woes and her resilience. She talked about the importance of owning her work, and that being the determination to rerecord her Fearless and Red albums. Then Swift performed her new version of “All Too Well,” and she got emotional as the crowd cheered her triumph.

Taylor Swift takes concert-goers exotic places with the beautiful imagery on a large screen blending seamlessly with her set. And with Taylor’s amazing storytelling, the audience is brought to the folklore cabin as Swift plays her guitar and talks about writing the Folklore album during quarantine.

The Eras Tour may become Taylor Swift’s most successful concert to date as fans will enjoy the visuals, the theatrics and Swift’s flawless vocals. That, her loyal fans already expect. But even more, Taylor Swift creates a bond between her and the massive crowd and brings fans into her world while returning all the love she has received.

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Hollywood Casino Amphitheater, Tinley Park, IL, USA August, 04, 2019

by Sommer Thornton

Santana’s still got it, to say the very very least. It – being legendary skills, the finesse of the fingers and sensuality oozing from every note.

For his current “Supernatural” tour, the legendary guitar player has a multitalented band, including drummer and wife, Cindy Blackmon Santana, who beat the breaks off the stage and led every tempo Santana’s notes danced to. Karl Parazzo and Paoli Mejis were on percussion, and an energetic bass player and a guitar player played multiple guitars sometimes in-between the songs.

All Santana needed was two handsome vocalists to croon songs in his more than 30-year catalog and have all the ladies in the audience wanting to slow dance on stage. Andy Vargas belted out hits en Espanol, and the amazing Ray Greene sang like Marvin Gaye and played the trombone. Both singers played the maracas, and Santana an array of beautiful guitars, some at the same time.

First up, was the opening act, the Doobie Brothers featuring Patrick Simmons and Tom Johnston on lead vocals and John McFee et al. on guitars. The Doobie Brothers played a host of hits starting with Rockin Down the Highway, and Clear as the Driven Snow. Then to Takin it to The Streets, Sweet Maxine, Long Train Running and ended with a dope encore to Black Water. They still got a lot of tricks up their sleeves harmonizing four strings beautifully with vocals.

Santana started his set with Soul Sacrifice, but the show really kicked off when Santana got into his cuts from his world-renowned album, “Supernatural.” From the onset, with a near ten-minute rendition of (Da Le) Yaleo, the entire band took the audience to another planet – with Santana strumming his guitar with poignant meanness, Ray Greene singing then running across the stage stretching his trombone, Vargas belting out, ‘Yaleo!’ with the band in unison and the drum section erupting in salsa!

Throughout the show, the percussion section starring Cindy the goddess Blackmon Santana kept the show on full bop.

Through the beauty of the music cypher, Santana and his band transcended space and time with him in the driver seat. He offered peace and love in the form of dramatic solos and breaks and switched guitars multiple times during his songs.

Vargas serenaded the ladies with Love of My Life and Corazon Espinado, while Ray Greene sang Put Your Lights On, Black Magic Woman, Right On and much more.

The vocals were awesome, but the real star of the show was Carlos Santana’s fingers strumming the guitar for these romantic overtures. Somewhere after Black Magic Woman and Incident and Neshabur things got erotic – everyone else on stage disappeared and Carlos Santana stood in the darkness with only his suit, the sweat on his forehead and his guitar’s trim twinkling in the spotlight, as he strummed his guitar like a woman to begin In Search of Mona Lisa.

The show put a bevy of beautiful guitars on display played by Carlos Santana and his bandmates. At one point Carlos Santana played one guitar on a strap and another on the stand at the same time. Santana also performed Los Invisibles, Foo Foo and Oye Como Va which really got the crowd winding.

After a brief pause, Santana did two Chambers Brothers covers, Are You Ready and Love Peace and Happiness.

Carlos Santana talked a lot about peace and love and good vibes during his show, calling his show “mystical medicine music,” and encouraged those who needed to be healed to pray. Later Carlos Santana paid homage to some of the great blues players of Chicago.

The “Supernatural” show made lovers [and dancers] out of the entire crowd putting us all in the vibe that reverberated long after the concert ended.

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Hollywood Casino, Tinley Park, IL, USA, July 13, 2018

by Sommer Thornton

House of Blues, Chicago, IL, USA, October 19, 2017

By Sommer Thornton

Two soul powerhouses thrilled a sold-out crowd at House of Blues in Chicago last Sunday. Dubbed the “Savage X” for crooner Tank’ new school R&B, love ballads and sexy bedroom tunes, and “The Soul” for singer Leela James’s throwback neo-soul, contemporary R&B hits the show is a perfect date night.

Tank and Leela James are on a propulsion all the way up with current singles spinning on pop, hip-hop and R&B radio. “Don’t Want You Back,” is James’ new breakup anthem. And Tanks “When We” is a certifiable cuffin’ classic, so stimulating that the hook puts you in a daze. Along with a catalog of hits from their decade-long careers Tank performed new hits from his Savage album, and Leela from her current Did it For Love EP.

Leela James sauced on stage dressed in a sexy black flowy one-piece with her signature big curly hair. She had a full band with two backup singers as she instantly hyped the crowd with her rendition of Fat Joe and Remy Ma’s hit, “All the Way Up”. James is one of the most charismatic performers I’ve seen since Badu. She greeted the crowd asking who had been to church then calling them heathens for attending her show the same night.

James performed a ton of cuts mixing seamlessly between ballads and slipping into a love therapy session with cuts like “Hard for Me “and “I Remember“.

Check out Leela James singing “Hard for Me” in Chicago!

At one point Leela James sang to the crowd, “what happened to real music?” She broke it down singing, “when you can sing, you don’t need autotune!” She dedicated her cut, “This Song is For You” to the audience and took them back to the 80’s with her cover of Womack & Womack “Baby I’m Scared of You.” Then came a dope interlude where each band member showed their solo chops and Leela reemerged sans her glittery stiletto boots to closed with her classic “Set Me Free.”

Leela James’ unique smoky vocals have deep-soul feeling reminiscent of Billy Holiday, mixed with Aretha Franklin and throwback hip-hop. Her timeless songwriting is what her grown & sexy fans relate to, and what keeps her tour dates sold out.

Tank jumped on what was nearly an empty stage jukin to his current trap soul hit, “Savage”. The hook says, “Once she see the sauce, now you know she gotta have it – I got a bad habit of turning good girls into a savage.” He proved to be 100% correct as many of the same ladies hugged up with their men exchanging romantic glances during Leela’s set were screaming and salivating once Tank hit the stage. James joked about it earlier that night when she told the ladies “most of you are just here to see Tank take his shirt off.”

Tank put the moves on the crowd right from start first getting them fired up with his up-tempo cuts like “She Wit the S***” and “Everything” featuring Trey Songz and Ludacris, then smoothing it out with “F It Up,” and “Sex Music”. Fans lost it when Tank took his shirt off early in his show and performed his sultry ballad “Scream.” Tank then sang a slew of romantic cuts putting the audience in a zone with “Good Thing,” “Can I” and his newest hit, “When We,” – all shirtless.

Check out Tank performing “F It Up,” and his new hit “When We.”

Once Tank put his shirt back on, he performed some of most popular cuts – “They Don’t Know” featuring Wale, “Please Don’t Go” and “I Deserve.” He closed out his set joking with the audience about stripping and ‘free sex’.

Tank put on an engaging one-man show and though it would’ve been great for him to sing with a band, his commanding stage presence and intimate vocals moved the ladies to swoon, and the fellas to admiration.

Tank and Leela James’s Savage X The Soul Tour is a soundtrack to love, soul, sex and agony. Perhaps because it’s been a while since I’ve been to an R&B show with great live vocals, that I wanted more.

The two R&B superstars continue their tour hitting Charlotte, Memphis, Atlanta and New Orleans. The show is a perfect couple’s night out and men shouldn’t worry about Tank’s 12-pack abs much because the voluptuous Leela James is also a marvel.

Allstate Arena, Rosemont, IL, USA, October 26, 2017

By Sommer Thornton

Janet Jackson emerged from what many thought was fairytale marriage to reveal she had been going through some things. Her fans embraced her and nurtured her return to the States – and that love is shown by them packing arenas to witness her State of the World Tour.

Janet Jackson gave an electrifying show at Chicago’s Allstate Arena on Oct. 26. State of the World, named after a

Janet Jackson (credit: Unratedmagazine

cut on her 1989 Rhythm Nation album had Rosemont lit for miles as fans poured in from all over. I talked to one gentleman who’d flown his family in from Atlanta. Also in the audience – probably Janet’s biggest fan, her dad Joe Jackson and her brother Randy.

The State of the World show started with a poignant montage of videos and sound bytes of controversial statements made about Janet Jackson as well as praises. These images were juxtaposed with a direct call for an end to racial injustice with statements plastered against a black background like “We Want Justice” and an uttering of slain teenager Michael Brown. Another statement said “there is no human being superior to another on this earth.” And yet another demanded acknowledgment of the term “white supremacy” in relation to domestic terrorism.

It’s clear why the show’s theme was a throwback to her more militant Rhythm Nation album. Before hitting the stage, Janet had already made a bold statement about her view of the current state of the world and ignited the crowd.  Jackson then sauntered on stage solo dressed in a long flowy black jacket belting out “The Knowledge” and “State of the World”.

After that it was time to get the party started, and Janet threw off that black Olivia Pope’ style jacket to reveal a sexy tight suit underneath. Her snapback game is next to none. Jackson and her young dancers in angelic white juked it out to “Nasty,” “Control,” “Miss You Much” and “Pleasure Principal”.

Janet doesn’t dance as hard as she used to since having her young baby Issa, but her background dancers more than compensate. The dancers spanned a wide range of ages, ethnic backgrounds and body types. It was great to witness Janet passing the torch by stepping back into the group for the more energetic choreography as her dancers went all in. Janet performed “Escapade” and “All for You” with two teen dancers taking the lead. Then back with the ladies, Jackson did a sexy chair dance to “When I Think of You”. Thickalicious dancer Allison stole the show with her breakdown during “Throb”.

Janet performed dozens of hits she’s had over the last three decades. As the show hit the halfway mark, Janet

morphed from a sexy Dom to a softer fresh-faced 90’s baby. She gave the crowd some of her R&B cuts like “Again”, “Come Back to Me,” and “The Body That Loves You”, as she sat alone wearing baggy denim and a chic bun. Her dancers returned to the stage in similar 90’s garb as Jackson performed her more recent hit, “No Sleep” featuring J. Cole.

One of my favorite moments from the show was the dancers doing a hip-hop soul train line to “Throb” where each displayed their individual talent.  As the brassy EDM beat thumped I was transported back to some forgotten nights at club 735 in New Orleans.

My other fav moment was the interlude featuring the ballad “Idle” by Spooky Black. In the roughly three-minute black and white clip, Janet is smiling, reflecting, sobbing, grimacing – exhausting many emotions before smearing her makeup. The last image is a composed Janet smiling slightly. The video seems to show the spiritual journey Janet has undergone since marrying a billionaire, moving to the Middle East and living a Muslim lifestyle, to later alleging emotional abuse from her husband, filing for divorce and fighting for sole custody of her baby. Janet need not say a word.

At her tour stop in Ontario, CA though, Janet broke down while performing “What About.” The songs follows the “Idle” clip. As Janet struggled through the emotional lyrics “my heart was pounding, but the time had come, to stop letting my whispering heart control me, and tellin my screamin mind what to do,” her dancers did an interpretation of an abusive adulterous relationship. At the end, in tears Janet simply told her fans, “this is me.”

Janet’s performance of “If” and “Rhythm Nation” towards the end of her Chicago show was probably the most entertaining of the night because it brought up so much nostalgia. The monster hits represent two distinct stages in Jackson’s career. Janet used Rhythm Nation, to make a social and political statement against racial and economic tensions in the 80’s. Velvet Rope, released in 1997 with “If” as one of its biggest records, was a sexual exploration put to sultry beats. Janet moans on one track on the album and was rumored to have masturbated for an interlude.

Jackson closed out the show again flipping a symbolic middle finger to injustice performing “Livin’ in a World” and “Black Eagle” while moving images showed behind her. Then she put her sexy back on for “Damn Baby,” and “I Get Lonely.”

The State of the World show is an exciting, nostalgic and very entertaining visual anthology. Janet thrills her fans with a lively band and energetic dancers. For those wondering if the 51-year-old still has the juice – she hasn’t missed a beat and shows no signs of stopping.

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Riot Fest Chicago Music Festival 2017

Chicago Riot Fest 2017 – Chicago Music Festival

Douglas Park, Chicago, IL, USA,  September 15-17

Review by Sommer Thornton

The 2017 Chicago’s Riot Fest brought out hundreds of thousands of metal, alt, emo, pop, ska, and hip-hop heads for three full days with five stage rocking at the same time. The acoustics for Riot Fest were so spectacular that I caught Taking Back Sunday open their set next to Wu Tang’s encore with no interference.

Headliners Nine Inch Nails, Queens of the Stone Age, and rockstar ladies Peaches and M.I.A. all performed at the Chicago festival. Danzig returned to Riot Fest and set the crowd on fire. Prophets of Rage ripped the stage with Chuck D of Public Enemy. And Mike D. of Beastie Boys gave a heartfelt solo performance.

Mike D. performing some of the Beastie Boy’s hits: 

Day one – a sunny Friday Riot Fest kicked off with LIARS and Saul Williams rocking the big stages. Chicago rapper Vic Mensa gave an electrified show. Newcomer rapper Action Bronson also performed. Death From Above, Buzzcocks, Dirty Heads, State Champs, Ministry and New Order all hit the stage before headliner Nine Inch Nails closed out the show.

Check out Performances from Ministry, and Nine Inch Nails:

Day two of Riot Fest was a sweltering Saturday, but fans who braved the heat saw GBH, Fishbone, Knuckle Punk, Fidlar, Bayside, The Smith Street Band, and Shabazz Places rock stages. That night Danzig held it down with a fiery performance.

Later that night, New Found Glory, Taking Back Sunday and the Wu Tang Clan ripped it. On the way from the Wu Tang heading to Queens of the Stone Age, I got a pleasant surprise from the Heather Owen Stage where Streetlight Manifesto performed with a five-piece brass band. Streetlight Manifesto cleverly blends punk rock, ska, and uptempo Jazz bridges to create their unique sound.

Later then night Queens of the Stone Age and Taking Back ended the perfect Chicago summer night.

Check out performance from Wu Tang Clan

Knuckle Punk’s full set

and a performance from Streetlight Manifesto:

The last day of the Riot Fest brought out the Orwells, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Beach Slang, Dessa, and Engine 88 earlier in the day.

Check out performances from Prophets of Rage, Paramore and Pennywise from Sunday afternoon:

Recently reunited, veteran punk rockers Jawbreaker closed out the festival with a bang.

Check out Jawbreakers Riot Fest performance!

Riot Fest is the official end to Chicago’s summer festivals. Each year the lineup gets more diverse and so does the crowd. Festival goers of every background can rock out, juke, head-bob, and dutty wind together to their favorite bands, and discover an artist they never heard. My only suggestion for next year – sell more liquor with the beer.

Talib Kweli

Talib Kweli’s Exclusive Show at City Winery

The Blackstar native performed hits like Hot Thang, Never Been in Love Before and other hip-hop hits that had the crowd on their feet.

Talib Kweli

Black Thought of the Roots at Taste of Chicago 2016

The Roots at the Taste of Chicago

Review by Sommer Thornton

The mighty Roots band rocked the first day of the new-and-improved Taste of Chicago Wednesday, June 6. 

Black Thought, Questlove and their ensemble brought special guest Donnie Trumpet to Grant Park for the infamous food and music festival – jamming a 1000+ crowd. 

The Roots performed cuts from the last 10 years with the guitar, bass, and trumpet players doing some impromptu choreography. 

Plus, after an interlude of Prince hits capped off by a DJ doing some crazy EDM mixing, the Roots were joined on stage by Empire star Jussie Smollett for a remix of their hit You Got Me. 

Jussie crooned the hook, then dragged out co-star Taraji P. Henson who was watching the show from her

Captain Kirk Douglas of the Roots at Taste of Chicago 2016

VIP seats on the side of the stage. A tipsy Taraji danced a little then ran off back to her seat to keep enjoying the show as the crowd went crazy. Black Thought event called the stars “Chicago’s Finest.”

The Roots had their diverse crowd bobbing and dancing and rapping along. Even Taraji and Jussie couldn’t resist bustin a move. 

The Roots Rock Taste of Chicago 2016 on July 6, 2016 at the Petrillo Music Shell in Grant Park, Chicago, IL.