Billy Corgan is out on tour right now celebrating the 25th anniversary of Machina: The Machines Of God, the last album released during the Smashing Pumpkins’ original run. Pumpkins bandmates James Iha and Jimmy Chamberlin declined to participate in this tour, but at least one Machina era band member has now made an appearance.
On Saturday, the US government threw a military parade in Washington, DC to celebrate the US Army’s 250th anniversary. It also happened to be President Donald Trump’s 79th birthday. Reportedly, the Army has been planning an anniversary celebration for two years, but a parade was only added after Trump, who has long desired such a spectacle, entered office. Concurrently, a series of No Kings protests across the country objected to Trump’s policies, including his deployment of the National Guard and Marines to combat anti-ICE protesters in Los Angeles.
The confusing situation with Zak Starkey has gotten even more confusing. After the drummer (and son of Ringo Starr) was fired from the Who in April for “overplaying,” Pete Townshend announced shortly after that Starkey was back in the band. The following month he was fired again. Starkey then explained that he had a phone call with Roger Daltrey, who told him he “hadn’t been ‘fired’…I had been ‘retired’ to work [on] my own projects.” He also said he was “gutted” about being excluded from the Oasis reunion tour (as he drummed for Oasis between 2004 and 2008). Now, he’s saying he turned down the Oasis tour to tour with the Who.
The remainder of Bonnaroo was canceled due to severe weather, but 2hollis got to perform on Thursday (June 12). The rising hyperpop rapper and producer brought his usual blown-out, invigorating chaos to the stage, including an unreleased track called “Warhorse.”
Our 2016 Artist To Watch Gordi has a new album called Like Plasticine arriving in August. Yesterday (June 13) the Australian artist made her solo US TV debut on The Kelly Clarkson Show to perform the single “Peripheral Lover.”
Doja Cat drama? In 2025? That’s right. It’s been too long. There’s always been tension between the rapper/pop star and her audience; in 2022, she was annoyed when people kept asking if she was OK after she shaved her head and eyebrows, and the following year she refused to say she loved her fans because “I don’t even know yall.” This time, the drama is a bit more personal.
Yesterday “Weird Al” Yankovic kicked off his massive Bigger & Weirder Tour in Vegas. The event was just as extravagant as fans expected, and it featured live premieres and rarities from throughout his lengthy career.
The remainder of Bonnaroo 2025 has been canceled. The event got underway Thursday on the Farm in Manchester, TN, but midway through this afternoon, performances were suspended due to severe weather. After a series of further delays, the fest announced a few minutes ago that the rest of this weekend’s festivities have been scrapped due to “significant and steady precipitation” forecasted by the National Weather Service. “We are beyond gutted, but we must make the safest decision and cancel the remainder of Bonnaroo,” festival management writes in a statement on their social media accounts.
Because we’re still having problems due to OpenWeb changing its API on us, I do not know your highest rated comments this week. I’m told I’ll get some comment data next week, but I’m not holding my breath. Shut Up, Dude was going to be coming to an end soon anyway; as you might have seen me mention in Gumcord, we are moving to a new, much better platform for the entire site in Q3 (maybe Q4). Its in-house commenting software will be more affordable too, but it will also make publishing a Best Comments list impossible. I didn’t want this column to end so unceremoniously, though, so I will give OpenWeb a couple of weeks and see if we can schedule a proper farewell tour. Anyway, #NoKings except Brian Wilson, so scroll through all of these best comments instead:
Panel hail from Minneapolis, where they kick out ultra-catchy rock music that veers between subgenres from song to song. Their music revolves around singer Annie Sparrows, whose mastery of shout-along melodies cannot be denied. The seven tracks on their debut A Great Time To Be An Empath, out today, range from power-pop to post-punk to grunge, and there’s even a swooning piano ballad called “Two Little Dogs” in the middle. Stream the album below — and if you only check out one, make it “Victoria,” a snappy little pop song that builds up a hell of a lot of momentum in under two minutes as Sparrows lets her voice fly high. (Thanks to see/saw for giving this one some shine.)