Tag / Riviera

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iTunes Top 200 Artists: #1

Music.  It is a powerful thing that brings people together, creates memories, and evokes emotions.  It is the universal language that speaks to the soul.  It forms the soundtrack of our lives.

It has now been five years since we last counted down the Top 200 artists in my iTunes library, featuring the songs I have listened to the most since 2007.  It is time to do so again, seeing which performers still resonate and if any newer ones have joined the fray.  So, without further ado, here are my most listened to artists, based on number of plays as of January 1, 2026.

In 1994, producers Butch Vig and Steve Marker teamed up with Duke Erikson to form a new band, taking a “remix sensibility and somehow translate it into all of the possibilities of a band setup.”  Later that year, Marker saw a video from the band Angelfish on 120 Minutes and shared it with his new bandmates in the hopes of snaring themselves a singer.  When Angelfish performed at the Metro in Chicago during their North American tour, the group met with the band’s singer, Shirley Manson, and invited her to Madison to audition.  The rest, as they say, is history.  So, we wrap things up today with the artist I’ve listened to the most over the last 19 years: Garbage.

 

#1: Garbage
iTunes stats: 2073 plays
Previous ranking: #1

With 255 songs in collection, 152 of which have been listened to, from 29 different releases, Garbage has added 954 new plays over the past 4 years, increasing their total by 85%.  In addition to being my most listened to band, they are also the band I have seen in concert the most, with now nine shows at seven venues across two states.

My first show was in 2002, while they were touring in support of their third studio release, Beautiful Garbage.  My most recent was in last September, when they performed at the Salt Shed, the new venue created on the site of the old Morton Salt factory.  That show threatened to be their last headlining performance in the area, so who knows what the future holds.  In between, I saw them at the Metro (twice), the Vic, the Riviera (again), Ravinia, the House of Blues in Boston, and, for the first time outdoors, the Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre.

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Travelling The 50 States – Illinois

Over my 47 years, I’ve done my fair share of travelling across these United States.  I thought it would be an interesting experiment go look back at those trips to each of the 31 states I have visited (62% isn’t bad, is it?) and see if, and when, I may be returning.  Working in alphabetical order, we continue today with the 21st state to be added to the Union: Illinois.

State: Illinois
Joined the Union: 1818
Visits: 16,000+

How do you track how often you’ve been in the state you’ve lived in your entire life, save for your time away at college?  My first “visit” came nearly 48 years ago on the day I was born at Mercy Hospital on the south side of Chicago.

I’ve managed to do 18 of the Bicentennial Bucket List: 200 Things To Do In Illinois, published by the Chicago Tribune in 2018 to celebrate the best the state has to offer in history, food, architecture, culture, sports, nature, drink, and oddities.  Among the places I visited were Water Tower, Morton Arboretum, Route 66, United Center, Skydeck at Willis Tower, the former Arlington International Racecourse, Rialto Square Theatre, Lake Michigan, The Second City, Chicago Sports Museum, and the Superman statue in downstate Metropolis.

I’ve seen baseball games at Wrigley Field, Comiskey Park, and Guaranteed Rate Field.  I’ve seen football games at Soldier Field, Memorial Stadium, Ryan Field, and Wrigley Field.  I’ve seen basketball games at the United Center, Welsh-Ryan Arena, State Farm Center, and Allstate Arena.  I’ve seen hockey games at the United Center.  I’ve seen both the White Sox and the Cubs win the World Series.  I’ve seen the Bears win a Super Bowl.  I’ve seen the Bulls win 6 NBA Championships.  I’ve even seen the Blackhawks win a Stanley Cup or two.

I’ve seen concerts at Wrigley Field, City Winery, Ravinia, the Riviera Theatre, Abbey Pub, Metro, the Chicago Theatre, United Center, Charter One Pavilion, Allstate Arena, The Vic Theatre, House of Blues, World Music Theatre, Soldier Field, and Mabel’s,

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Fitbit Week 37

Week37_FBA pretty good week, although my first without a 10,000 step day in 4 weeks.  The week got off to a decent, if unspectacular, start on Sunday, followed by a day off on Monday which garnered a high total thanks to a trip to Wrigley Field for Game 3 of the NLDS with Michael.  Tuesday was back to work, with Wednesday garnering the week’s highest total thanks to meetings in North Plaza.  Saturday just barely passed the 5500 step plateau, with the day spent working through the backlog on my DVR caused by playoff baseball and the night spent watching Garbage at the Riviera Theatre.

Total steps: 53,014

Daily average: 7573.4

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20 Years Queer

garbage-riv20 years ago, on August 15, 1995, the self-titled debut album from Garbage was released, starting an odyssey that would encompass 5 studio albums, 1 greatest hits package, and 1 live DVD concert video.  To celebrate, the group scheduled a small tour for this fall, called the 20 Years Queer tour, where they would perform the first album in its entirety along with other B-sides and rarities from that era.  Saturday night, that tour rolled into Chicago.

The show was at the Riviera Theatre, which was the site of my first Garbage show all the way back in 2002.  To gear up for the show, I listened to a recent Nerdist podcast with singer Shirley Manson, which got me in the mood without having to listen to the same songs I was about to hear.  The opening act was Torres, a band I had never heard of before.  Shockingly, I actually liked some of what I heard, so I may try to listen to their music going forward.  To date, though, I haven’t found a playlist from them, so I don’t know which songs I enjoyed.

The Garbage portion of the show started with a short video, with accompaniment by the B-side Alien Sex Fiend, projected on the curtain, followed by a mixture of songs from their debut album.  The order was mixed up, mostly, I would assume, to avoid burning through the hits halfway through the show.  The main portion of the show ended with a rendition of #1 Crush, from the William Shapespeare’s Romeo + Juliet soundtrack.  The encore consisted of 2 more B-sides, including a cover of a Vic Chestnut classic, followed by later hits Cherry Lips and, to close the show, Push It.

This was my 5th Garbage show, and my first since 2012.  Rumor has it that they are also working on a new album due out next year, so they may be coming through town again next year.  Assuming my poor feet recover from the experience, I hope to be there to see them again.

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Concert Flashback: Garbage

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In 2002, Garbage went on a headlining tour in support of their third release, Beautiful Garbage and their Chicago stop was at the Riviera, my first trip to the historic venue.  Abandoned Pools opened the show, followed by the Butch Vig-less Garbage.  The drummer had dropped off the tour after coming down with Bell’s Palsy and was replaced by Matt Chamberlain, at least according to the Interwebs.

I don’t remember much about the show itself, but it does live on as a bootleg that I have and can listen to whenever I’d like.  The 17 song set was evenly divided between the 3 albums, with 5 songs from their debut record and 6 each from the two followups.

After this show, I’ve only missed one Chicago performance by Garbage, which took place last year.  I certainly don’t plan on missing them the next time they come to town.