‘Bikeriders’ Maneuvers Through 60’s Chicago Motorcycle Gang Life

US actor Austin Butler attends the Los Angeles premiere of Focus Features' "The Bikeriders" at the TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood, California on June 17, 2024. (AFP)
US actor Austin Butler attends the Los Angeles premiere of Focus Features' "The Bikeriders" at the TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood, California on June 17, 2024. (AFP)
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‘Bikeriders’ Maneuvers Through 60’s Chicago Motorcycle Gang Life

US actor Austin Butler attends the Los Angeles premiere of Focus Features' "The Bikeriders" at the TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood, California on June 17, 2024. (AFP)
US actor Austin Butler attends the Los Angeles premiere of Focus Features' "The Bikeriders" at the TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood, California on June 17, 2024. (AFP)

For Austin Butler, getting into his role as the stoic bike rider named Benny in the Focus Features film "The Bikeriders" meant learning everything he could about riding a motorcycle.

"Just riding for so many hours that it feels like second nature and then by the time I'm there I'm not having to think about the motorcycle or anything," the "Elvis" actor said.

The film is based on photojournalist Danny Lyon's 1968 book of the same name, featuring photos and interviews with members of the Chicago Outlaws Motorcycle Club.

Jeff Nichols, who wrote and directed "The Bikeriders," believed it was important to reimagine Lyon’s work through a feature film.

"You can't pick that book up and not be captivated by these photographs and these interviews," he said.

"The people in it, they just feel honest, and they also feel really cool. You're looking at their hair, you're looking at their bikes and their clothes and the detail work that they put in their clothes, it really is a compelling thing," Nichols added.

The drama movie takes place in the 1960s and follows the lives of local outcasts in a Chicago motorcycle gang called Outlaws MC that become like family.

Their lives suddenly change when the club becomes a hub for violence that forces Benny to choose between his family and a life of crime.

"The Bikeriders" arrives in theaters on Friday.

Tom Hardy plays the leader of the gang named Johnny while Jodie Comer portrays Benny’s wife, Kathy.

Hardy appreciated how immersive the world of the 1960s biker gang was in the film.

"You could sense how beautifully laced it was in nostalgia of the period and the attention to detail was really specific, that it was hard not to be drawn in by the evocation," he said.

Part of the authenticity of the film was Nichols accessing some of Lyon's interviews with his subjects on reel-to-reel tapes to share with all the actors, which was very helpful for Comer.

"It just became very important for me not to worry about doing a generic Chicago and then worry about people judging me on that," Comer said.

Both Comer and Hardy had the task of taking on the unique pacing and Midwestern dialects of their characters based on Lyon's interview recordings.

"She is larger than life and she has some interesting stresses and inflections but it's such an insight as to who she is," the "Killing Eve" actor added about her character Kathy.



‘All Good Things Must Come to an End’: The Who Will Perform One Last Time in North America

 Pete Townshend poses for photographers during the announcement of "The Who: The Song Is Over, The North American Farewell Tour" on Thursday, May 9, 2025, in London. (AP)
Pete Townshend poses for photographers during the announcement of "The Who: The Song Is Over, The North American Farewell Tour" on Thursday, May 9, 2025, in London. (AP)
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‘All Good Things Must Come to an End’: The Who Will Perform One Last Time in North America

 Pete Townshend poses for photographers during the announcement of "The Who: The Song Is Over, The North American Farewell Tour" on Thursday, May 9, 2025, in London. (AP)
Pete Townshend poses for photographers during the announcement of "The Who: The Song Is Over, The North American Farewell Tour" on Thursday, May 9, 2025, in London. (AP)

British rock band The Who are to say their final goodbye to North America this summer.

Singer Roger Daltrey and guitarist Pete Townshend confirmed Thursday that they will perform hits from six-decade career during "The Song Is Over North America Farewell Tour," named after the band’s 1971 hit.

The band, which by the 1970s had become one of the world’s biggest touring bands, easily filling the largest US stadiums, will play their first gig in Florida on Aug. 16, with further dates in cities including New York, Toronto, Los Angeles and Vancouver, before a final date in Las Vegas on Sept. 28.

"Every musician’s dream in the early '60s was to make it big in the US charts," Daltrey said. "For The Who, that dream came true in 1967 and our lives were changed forever."

The band went from performing club shows to headlining the Woodstock festival in the US and becoming one of the biggest box-office draw in the world. The band were inducted into the Rock n’ Roll Hall Of Fame in 1990.

Daltrey, 81, and Townshend, two years his junior, have been one of rock's most prolific double acts, surviving the deaths of drummer Keith Moon in 1978 and bass guitarist John Entwistle in 2002.

"Today, Roger and I still carry the banner for the late Keith Moon and John Entwistle, and, of course, all of our long-time Who fans," Townshend said. "I must say that although the road has not always been enjoyable for me, it is usually easy: the best job I could ever have had. I keep coming back."

Though Daltrey didn’t write songs, he was able to channel Townsend’s many and complicated moods — defiance and rage, vulnerability and desperation.

Together, they forged some of rock’s most defining sounds: the stuttering, sneering delivery of "My Generation," the anguished cry of "They’re all wasted!" from "Baba O’Reilly," and the all-time scream from "Won’t Get Fooled Again." Two of their albums "Tommy" and "Quadrophenia" were also adapted into successful films in 1975 and 1979, respectively.

Pre-sales will run from May 13 ahead of the general sale beginning May 16.

"Well, all good things must come to an end. It is a poignant time," Townshend said. "For me, playing to American audiences and those in Canada has always been incredible."

Daltrey, who said a throat specialist has told him he should have a "day off" after every gig he performs, and Townshend also revealed there are no plans at the moment for a farewell tour of the UK.

"Let’s see if we survive this one," Daltrey said. "I don’t want to say that there won’t be (a UK farewell tour), but equally I’m not confident in saying there will be."