Live Reviews
Photo Gallery and Recap: Wax Trax! Records Industrial Accident Screening and Launch Party at House of Vans Chicago
Could there have been a more brilliant way to end Record Store Day than with an Industrial Accident? The Wax Trax! documentary distills the history of Chicago’s seminal record label and store into an entertaining yarn about love, family, music, sex, drugs, rock & roll and how not to run a business, if you wish […]
Live Review and Photo Gallery: Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets at Chicago Theatre
Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets Chicago Theatre, Chicago April 4, 2019 Thursday’s concert by Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets was a dream come true for fans of early Pink Floyd and psychedelic rock. Focused exclusively on material released prior to 1973’s epic Dark Side of the Moon, Mason and his cohort of four musicians delved […]
Live Review and Photo Gallery: Andrew Bird at Green Mill
Andrew Bird Green Mill, Chicago April 2, 2019 On a brief introductory jaunt for his new album My Finest Work Yet, Andrew Bird returned to his old stomping grounds for the first of two intimate shows at Uptown’s 160-capacity Green Mill. Befitting his surroundings in the venerable jazz room, Bird began with the 1944 Jule […]
Live Review and Gallery: Michael Bublé at Allstate Arena
Michael Bublé Allstate Arena, Rosemont Sunday, March 17, 2019 A six-year gap in between tours for a post-2000s artist may as well be a lifetime, but in the case of Michael Bublé, it didn’t come at the hands of a laborious creative pursuit or some self-indulgent exile. Instead, his infant son was dealt an extremely […]
Live Review and Photo Gallery: Eric Johnson at Arcada Theatre
Eric Johnson Friday, January 25, 2019 Arcada Theatre, St. Charles Eric Johnson’s Ah Via Musicom tour, featuring his original 1990 bandmates – drummer Tommy Taylor and bassist Kyle Brock, pulled in to The Arcada Theatre on Friday night for a rescheduled show from October 31. Anticipation from ticket holders was high, to say the […]
Live Review and Gallery: Alkaline Trio at Metro
Alkaline Trio Metro Thursday, January 3 Alkaline Trio played the first of four consecutive sold-out nights Thursday at Metro, marking their first hometown club show since the release of their latest album, 2018’s Is This Thing Cursed? The record represents arguably the band’s strongest output in over a decade, as it captures the spirit of […]
Live Review: Guided By Voices at Bottom Lounge
Guided By Voices Monday, December 31, 2018 Bottom Lounge, Chicago On Monday, Dayton, Ohio’s Guided By Voices visited Bottom Lounge to add to its memorable history of New Year’s Eve shows in Chicago. In 2004, the band played what was intended to be its final show at Metro, reeling through a four-and-a-half hour, career-spanning set […]
Live Review: Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats
Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats Aragon Ballroom Thursday, November 29, 2018 On Thursday, radio station WKQX closed the first of five nights of its “The Nights We Stole Christmas” series at the Aragon Ballroom with a sold-out headlining set by Denver’s Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats. The sweat-soaked performance began with the deep […]
Live Review: Echo and The Bunnymen at the Vic Theatre
Echo & the Bunnymen The Vic Theatre November 24, 2018 Liverpool may have been put on the map by the Beatles, but Echo and the Bunnymen continue to prove that the town in Northwest England has other musical gifts to offer the world. On Saturday, the Bunnymen returned to Chicago with a six-piece lineup […]
Recap and Photo Gallery: Nine Inch Nails with Jesus and Mary Chain at Aragon Ballroom
Since Nine Inch Nails embarked on the Cold and Black and Infinite tour back in September, they’ve kept fans on their toes by switching up the setlist every night and dropping in random covers and deep cuts where they see fit. It wasn’t any different on the last of three nights at Chicago’s Aragon Ballroom. […]
Live Review and Photo Gallery: Phil Collins at United Center
Phil Collins United Center, Chicago Monday, October 22, 2018 Too many superstars perform so often that they oversaturate the marketplace and play to diminishing returns, but that hasn’t been the case for Phil Collins thus far this century, who outside of his “First Final Farewell” Tour in 2004 and a brief Genesis reunion in 2007 […]
Photo Gallery and Recap: Gorillaz at United Center
“The last time we played here was 2010,” Damon Albarn told an enthusiastic crowd at the United Center during the second to last night of The Gorillaz’ Now Now tour. Albarn and his 13-member ensemble turned the arena into a nightclub, where everyone from longtime followers to fans barely in their teens danced the night […]
Live Review & Photo Gallery: Lindsey Buckingham at Athenaeum Theatre
Lindsey Buckingham Athenaeum Theatre, Chicago Wednesday, October 17, 2018 The first time Lindsey Buckingham left Fleetwood Mac, it was on his own accord, though by all indications including a very public lawsuit, the latest round was a result of being asked to leave. But one band’s loss is another man’s gain, at least as far […]
Live Review and Photo Gallery: Fleetwood Mac at United Center
Fleetwood Mac United Center, Chicago Saturday, October 6, 2018 Every instance when the current members of Fleetwood Mac chanted “chains keep us together” at the United Center on only the second night of a North American tour that stretches well into 2019, it seemed to be much more than a chance for the audience to […]
Live Review: Zebra at Arcada Theatre
Zebra The Arcada Theatre, St. Charles, IL Friday, August 31, 2018 Review by Jeff Elbel Photos by Luciano J. Bilotti The Arcada Theatre in St. Charles continues to reinforce its reputation as an essential musical hub in the greater Chicago area. On Friday, the Arcada welcomed ‘80s hitmakers and New Orleans hard rockers Zebra for […]
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