Wednesday

Treaty Oak Revival played a knockout set as their rise continues. With a heavy helping of their latest record, West Texas Degenerate, the quintet was electric from start to finish. Although alcohol is a prevalent theme in a lot of their music, lead singer Sam Canty opened up about his sobriety journey. With a Michelob Ultra Zero in hand, “Boomtown” lead to a monsoon from the skies. Treaty Oak Revival continues their tour this fall. You can find tickets here.

Thursday

Hootie! The return of Hootie and The Blowfish to Chicago was high on my list this summer. Darius Rucker and his band delved into fan favorites from Cracked Rear View and a handful of covers as well. Hitting some Led Zeppelin, Buffalo Springfield, and Darius’ solo work, there was nothing more you could have asked for in this rain shortened set. With warning of their limited time, Hootie and The Blowfish played Rucker’s track “Wagon Wheel” which started as a Bob Dylan chorus and verses that were put together by Old Crow Medicine Show. The final track is arguably the bands biggest hit, “Only Wanna Be With You” as the masses began to head for the exits. Although too brief, it was a joy to see Hootie and the Blowfish back. The band has two more dates this year, Bourbon and Beyond and Oceans Calling. You can find tickets here.

If you were missing Hold My Hand from Hootie and the Blowfish’s set, Scotty McCreery had you covered. Bringing out the full band to sing their collab tune Bottle Rockets, we got a taste of the band before they went on. Scotty’s set went over so smooth with the crowd, playing a career spanning set with covers thrown in the mix like Tom Petty’s Won’t Back Down, and a country classics medley with Alan Jackson and Johnny Cash thrown in. Scotty will continue his time on the road as his new album 15 drops on July 17th. The first single “Your Man” is out now.

Friday

Lainey Wilson was the headliner for packed Friday night. The masses all moved in real close to see the Lousiana native play tracks from almost all of her records, including her most recent output Whirlwind. Wilson has had a busy year, releasing her latest single “Phone, Keys, Wallet” with John Mayer and gearing up for more time on the road this year. Lainey Wilson will be joining Chris Stapelton in Atlanta along with a collection of headline dates. You can find tickets here.

Saturday

Jordan Davis ran the stage like he built it himself. It was a hefty set with dashes of his debut all the way to his 2025 record Learn The Hard Way, it was what any fan of Davis’ new or old would’ve wanted. Although this was a country fest it didn’t stop Davis from reaching into the back pocket of his favorite rock tunes like blink-182’s “All The Small Things” and The Killers’ “Mr. Brightside”. Jordan Davis has a packed year ahead including performing at the sold out John Prine tribute show this October at the Chicago Theatre. The rest of Davis’ tickets can be found here.

Earlier in the day, one half of Florida-Georgia Line brought that southern humidity to Smokeout. Tyler Hubbard, the Georgia side of the duo, played through his latest solo tracks as well as FGL favorites. The group recently reunited at CMA fest in June to perform a brief set. Tyler Hubbard has a large slate of dates for the rest of the year with headline and support shows for Dan+Shay. You can find tickets here.

Sunday

Blake Shelton returned for his first Chicago show in 5 years and first performance at Windy City Smokeout. There has been a consistent flow of music from Shelton over the past two decades with For Recreational Use Only bringing up his most recent work. Shelton has select dates throughout the year, culminating in a headlining slot at The Hondo Rodeo Fest in November. Tickets can be found here.

Despite the rain and heat trying their best, there wasn’t a damper put on this crowd throughout the 5 nights of country music and bbq. Rows and rows of pitmasters from all around the country congregated right next to some of the top names from Nashville playing their tunes for a lovely weekend. Windy City Smokeout returns in 2027, you can sign up for updates here.

The post Windy City Smokeout Recap appeared first on KRUI Radio.

The Bulls are Barrymore, a team that has no identity and has to constantly be reminded by Adam Sandler, or in this case head coach Tom Thibodeau, of who they are: a title contender.

Up to this point however, coach Thibs hasn’t been as successful as he’d like to be. In the past the Bulls have been the hard-nosed defensive team that wore teams down and fought until the end.

That killer instinct has faded many times this season as they are giving up 99.1 points to opponents and the only consistency we’ve seen from them as a unit is their inconsistency. One night they’re beating the feared Golden State Warriors on the road in double overtime and the next they’re falling apart against a lowly, Kobe-less Lakers squad.

Some may argue it’s the injuries as the Bulls have gone through stints, some short some long, missing guys like Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson, Mike Dunleavy, Jimmy Butler and the list goes on. In fact, they’ve only had their starting five together for 20 games this season.

Yet, even when healthy the Bulls seem to lack the killer instinct and toughness that had propelled them through playoff runs as underdogs in the past. Nazr Mohammed disagrees however and thinks grittiness is still there, “We got us a dog. We got us a couple of dogs…There’s nothing in particular that we need. It’s more of us not having focus and desperation, along with the understanding of what it really takes to win a championship.”

We have seen Tony Snell step up as of late and Derrick Rose continues to show more and more flashes of his glory days. Noah has been on the ups and Pau Gasol continues to have what may be the best year of his career. First time all-star Jimmy Butler has been a treat to watch besides a slump in January and Aaron Brooks is the latest piece of evidence that proves any decent point guard can succeed in Thibs’ system.

So fine, maybe they do have some “dogs” but what’s scary is that Mohammed mentioned the Bulls not having focus. With only 28 games left in the season the Bulls must get focused immediately if they’re serious about bringing a title back to the Windy City.

Finishing the first half on a four game winning streak with a huge win against division rival Cleveland, who had stolen the first two of the season series prior to that Bulls 113-98 victory, was a very necessary step in the right direction.

Now well rested after the all-star break and seemingly healthy the Bulls will have to put it all together in the final months. They start the last stretch on Friday at Detroit before heading home for a big seven game home stand.

The pieces are in place to succeed. If they really want this all they need to do is focus.

The post 50 First Games appeared first on KRUI Radio.