• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content

Newcity Music

Reviews, profiles and news about music in Chicago

  • Newcity Music ·
    • About
    • Advertise
    • Contributors
    • Privacy Policy
    • Newcity Network
  • Sections ·
    • Newcity
    • Art
    • Design
    • Film
    • Lit
    • Resto
    • Stage
    • Brazil
  • Newsletters
  • Subscribe
  • Members Hub
Newcity Music logo

Music Top 5: June 2018

by Robert Rodi | May 31, 2018

by Robert Rodi
May 31, 2018June 30, 2018Filed under:
  • Top 5 list

1
KENDRICK LAMAR
(Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre)
The Compton rapper sails into town on the wave of his Pulitzer Prize and his blockbuster soundtrack for the $1.3-billion-grossing mega-hit “Black Panther.”
June 15

2
DELMARK RECORDS BLUES BASH
(SPACE)
This celebration of the Chicago label’s sixty-fifth year—and founder Bob Koester’s eighty-fifth—features bluesmen extraordinaire including Dave Specter and Tad Robinson.
June 7

3
JANIS IAN
(Ravinia Park)
The festival’s June calendar is a who’s-who of classic rock and folk, but the uncompromising Ian is the act most deserving of a fresh appreciation.
June 24

4
POLO & PAN
(Lincoln Hall)
The French electronic lounge duo is an irresistible pomo throwback to the sophisticated Gallic charm of acts like Dalida and Françoise Hardy.
June 14

5
GOGO PENGUIN
(Constellation)
The Manchester trio’s acoustic sound is inspired by electronica, which makes for a mesmerizingly different sound world.
June 13 and 14

Robert Rodi

Robert Rodi is an author, spoken-word performer and musician who has served as Newcity’s Music Editor since 2014. He’s written more than a dozen books, including the travel memoir “Seven Seasons In Siena,” and his literary and music criticism has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, Salon, The Huffington Post and many other national and regional publications.
Contact: robert@newcity.com

Tagged:
  • Constellation
  • Delmark Records
  • Evanston Space
  • GOGO PENGUIN
  • Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
  • JANIS IAN
  • Kendrick Lamar
  • Lincoln Hall
  • POLO & PAN
  • Ravinia Park

Post navigation

Previous Post Winged Victory: A Review of Birds of Chicago’s “Love in Wartime”
Next Post The Real Deal: A Preview of Mike Nesmith and Micky Dolenz at the Copernicus Center
A man wearing a black hat and suit leans against a pillar under an elevated train track, holding a harmonica, with a guitar strapped to his back on a deserted urban street in bright daylight.

How the Blues Chose Toronzo Cannon The Chicago blues musician plays a series of local shows in the weeks ahead, at venues from Evanston's Space to the Blues Fest in Millennium Park.

Craig Bechtel May 19, 2026
A man wearing glasses, a dark beret, a gray hoodie, and a patterned vest sits outdoors on a stone ledge, looking at the camera with a calm expression. The background is blurred and neutral.

Shabaka Brings Meditative Sound to Constellation The musician who helped define a wave of British jazz performs at a venue known for nurturing experimental music.

Irene Monokandilos March 24, 2026
Mike Reed photo over Bricktown sattelite image

Mike Reed’s New Music Festival Is Stranger and More Imaginative Than Pitchfork Sound & Gravity is a five-day, multivenue music experience curated by Mike Reed, the man who directed Pitchfork Music Festival from 2006 to 2024.

Dylan Weinert September 4, 2025
Lyric Opera/Photo: Kyle Flubacker

Can’t-Miss Chicago Music Moments: Fall 2025

Todd Hieggelke September 2, 2025

A magazine cover shows a mans face on the right half and a wood texture on the left. The man has short dark hair and a beard. The text NEWCITY OCTOBER 2021 appears in the upper right corner.

October Issue
Realism

GET A COPY

SUBSCRIBE

White text on a light gray background reads NEWCITY in all capital letters, with the letter N featuring a stylized lightning bolt effect.
Facebook Twitter Instagram
  • About
  • Privacy Policy
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Newsletters
  • Chicago Film Project

Copyright Newcity Communications, Inc. © 2026