Since professional wrestling is as popular as ever with WWF’s Monday Night Raw and WCW’s Monday Nitro getting huge ratings week in and out…Whoa, sorry about that.
For some reason, I was thinking it was 1998.
But the fact that it’s 2011 isn’t stopping Billy Corgan (formerly/currently ofSmashing Pumpkins) from starting his own professional wrestling company. For realz.
Here are three hey-it’s-only-Wednesday-but-let’s-get-the-new-year’s-weekend-started-early reasons to get out and see an Umphrey’s McGee “hump day” show at the Riviera Theatre…
1. Tonight marks the start of the band’s eleventh straight year of New Year’s Eve shows in the fair city of Chicago that they have long called home, dating all the way back to 2000 at the Cubby Bear. They’re back at the Riv for this run for the first time since 2004. They’ve shown Chicago love, now it’s your chance to give it back.
Basically what happened was that in 2006 Jam signed a deal with Ticketmaster to sell tickets to Jam’s concerts. Of course, Ticketmaster got the fees for tickets sold, but a problem arose when Ticketmaster merged with Live Nation this year. See, Live Nation is Jam’s biggest competitor. The suit filed by Jam’s attorney’s argues that the 2006 deal can be terminated so that Live Nation don’t get any fees from tickets sold to Jam Productions’ shows.
The deal was supposed to last until the end of 2011. But Ticketmaster is fighting for it to continue and has threatened legal action of their own. Additionally, for anyone who has bought tickets to a Jam show this year, you’ve probably noticed that Jam have been using Etix for a number of shows.
LCD Soundsystem rolled through Chicago for their third and fourth times since the release of their latest, This Is Happening, on Monday and Tuesday. Read our review of the Aragon performance here. Our full photo gallery from Monday night’s show will be up later this week, but until then, check out this great fan recording of LCD Soundsystem performing “Daft Punk Is Playing At My House” at the Riviera Theatre last night from Youtuber largeman:
And now three reasons to grab a handful of roses and book it on over to the Riviera Theatre tonight…
1.X JAPAN! Yes, Japan’s biggest export since Hello Kitty and Sushi is back in Chicago for the second time in three months. The band, who take an epic metal-meet-symphonic approach to their sound, made their American debut just last August at Lollapalooza 2010. We really dug them as they were probably the LOUDEST band of the entire festival. Not to mention their pyro scared the ba-jeezus about of many in the press tent. If you missed them in the big festival setting, better see them tonight in a mid-size theatre…while you still can!
Umphrey’s McGee sound caresser Kevin Browning does a hell of a job keeping up the band’s blog The Floor. Over the years Browning has posted countless videos showing glimpses into life on the road and on stage. Below is a video he posted of the band at the North Coast Music Festival debuting a cover of the recently released Cee Lo Green hit, “Fuck You” complete with a snippet of their backstage rehearsal. For those that like what they see, Umphrey’s just announced they’ll be playing three nights at the Riviera Theatre, Dec. 29-31.
Lollapalooza 2010 and Pitchfork Music Festival 2010 came and went, but if the massive festivals were just too much for your feeble little body and out of your price range, don’t stress. Many Lollapalooza and Pitchfork acts have already booked return trips to the windy city.
Since professional wrestling is as popular as ever with WWF’s Monday Night Raw and WCW’s Monday Nitro getting huge ratings week in and out…Whoa, sorry about that. 
Here are three hey-it’s-only-Wednesday-but-let’s-get-the-new-year’s-weekend-started-early reasons to get out and see an Umphrey’s McGee “hump day” show at the 
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Lollapalooza 2010 and Pitchfork Music Festival 2010 came and went, but if the massive festivals were just too much for your feeble little body and out of your price range, don’t stress. Many Lollapalooza and Pitchfork acts have already booked return trips to the windy city.
