This weekend, we plan on getting Blacked Out at the Empty Bottle, do some Dumpster diving at the Burlington, make a Day of it at Cole’s and so much more.

Let’s do this…

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Since 2005, Autumn in Chicago means not only meant Football but music venues all over the city hosting the massive punk rock party known as Riot Fest.

This year, Riot Fest will undergo a transformation in to a three-day outdoor festival in Humboldt Park on September 14-16 and join the ranks of other Chicago destination festivals including Lollapalooza, Pitchfork Music Festival and North Coast Music Festival.

The initial lineup for the revamped Riot Fest includes headliners Rise Against, Iggy and the Stooges, The Offspring and Elvis Costello.

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By Richard Giraldi  \  comments

White Mystery are no strangers to music videos, but they’ve taken things to a whole new level with their latest clip for “Rapid Overdrive” from their latest EP, People Power (Sea Of Infamy). The Penelope Gazin-directed video features amazing looking claymation likenesses of Alex and Francis White tangling with what appears to be evil skeleton alligators. In short, the skelegators kidnap clay Alex and clay Francis battles the beasts, after a short ride on the back of a dog, with an axe, rescues Alex and rocks out. It really works well with the song’s infectious and gritty fuzzed out riffage. Check it out below:

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HoZac Records has unveiled the full Blackout Fest line-up just as tickets for the three-day punk rager went on sale Wednesday afternoon.

As we previously reported, the rowdy punk and garage fest will return to the Empty Bottle this May 17-20.

This year’s edition will feature headliners Roky Erickson, Davilla 666, and Redd Kross.

Additionally, local acts Bare Mutants and White Mystery are also scheduled to play.

Three-day passes for the festival are now sold-out, according to TicketWeb. However, single-day tickets ($20 for Friday, $25 Saturday and Sunday) are still available.

The fun begins Thursday, May 17, with the opening art show party at the Bottom Lounge‘s Volcano Room featuring old Chicago punks Mentally Ill and Cemetery.

Find the complete lineup for all three days below.

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By Audrey Leon  \  comments

White Mystery recently set out on two-month tour that takes them to SXSW, New York City and beyond. But that didn’t stop the Chicago garage rock stalwarts from dropping new tunage.

While the duo’s new EP, PEOPLE POWER (Sea of Infamy), doesn’t drop until April, 20, last Friday White Mystery debuted the release’s title-track “People Power” over at MTV. Yes, that MTV.

Anyway, “People Power,” is a fuzz stomper that finds a slightly muffled Alex White barking, “Girl Power! Boy Power! People Power All Together!” The song emits some definite PMA vibes lyrically, but sonically it’s an uptempo shaker that features some downright nasty guitar solos over Francis White’s manic drums fills. Listen to “People Power” and/or download it for free after the jump.

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Monday Afternoon Quick Fix runs every Monday afternoon to showcase the best of Chicago music news, views and stories from around the interwebs and blogosphere that we might have missed.

• • The Chicago Tribune is reporting that, in order to deal with declining enrollment, a Columbia College report has recommended the closure of Chicago Jazz Ensemble, Center for Black Music Research and the Ellen Stone Belic Institute for the Study of Women and Gender in Arts and Media. A final decision will be made in June.
• • Congrats to the Reader on its website’s redesign! Gossip Wolf drops some more Pitchfork predictions, including the possibility of Fiona Apple making an appearance.
• • Jessica Hopper talks to Chicago trio Baby Teeth about the stigma attached to being middle-aged in rock music and whether the group qualifies as “dad rock” or “couch rock.”
• • Time Out Chicago has pictures and a short review of The Promise Ring and Joan of Arc’s sold out show at the Metro.
• • In case you missed it, Gapers Block has a nice recap of White Mystery’s tour kick off at the Empty Bottle.

By Audrey Leon  \  comments

Happy Friday! It’s another weekend chock full o’ music in Chicago, with shows like KoRn at The Congress and Van Halen at the United Center. How could we possibly choose?

Well, being that we’re all about options at Loud Loop Press, we decided to highlight some of the other rad shows happening around town in case you couldn’t snatch those KoRn tickets.

Let’s get it on.

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