Archive for July, 2009
Polkaholics preview
Quenchers, Chicago Saturday, August 1, 2009 For the longest of times, we thought Chicago’s Polkaholics had done wrong by both polka and punk bands — or right. We forgot which. They’re certainly doing right by Walter “Li’l Wally” Jagiello, whom they brought back here from Florida and played with ’til his 2006 death.
The Warlocks preview
Empty Bottle, Chicago Wednesday, August 5, 2009 Thursday, August 6, 2009 Far from the cold-eyed evildoer of their namesake movie, The Warlocks’ music is religion to them, a dirge-like moan that emanates like prayer from a Buddhist temple — contextualized by pop melodies and heavy drug use, of course.
As Tall As Lions preview
Bottom Lounge, Chicago Thursday, August 6, 2009 If they don’t kill each other, You Can’t Take It With You is a place where prog-rock, R&B, and Death Cab fans can harmonize.
Baby Teeth reviewed
Hustle Beach (Lujo) We’ve all been there. You sit on the couch with a shit-eating grin, chuckling and guffawing away at a comedy you’ve seen a hundred times since high school while the person sitting beside you utters those infernal words, “This is stupid.” (This person who loves you?) And you say, “What are you […]
Trainwreck Riders preview
Ronny’s, Chicago Sunday, July 26, 2009 Alt-country bands can come from anywhere, which is why there’s no need to raise a brow at Trainwreck Riders’ Frisco origins. In fact, it’s a boon for the band to have a little hometown weird on tap.
Def Leppard live!
First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre, Tinley Park Friday, July 17, 2009 This past Friday, Def Leppard rocked a sprawling, First Midwest crowd eager to experience a band that claims to inspire the “Rock Of Ages.” By the night’s end, it proved the claim.
Foreign Born preview
Empty Bottle, Chicago Thursday, July 23, 2009 If you’ve never been to Los Angeles, you no doubt still feel you know it. Movies and TV are clearly responsible, and we’ve been clubbed with the idea of an “L.A. band,” as if, post ’80s, the phrase still has meaning. It doesn’t define Foreign Born, anyway.
Grand Duchy preview
Subterranean, Chicago Friday, July 24, 2009 Black Francis must be in a good place right now. With the Pixies having exhausted their reunification options, he can put the band back to rest without having to hear that question for awhile. He has even stuck with his name, which he inverted when he went solo back […]
Green Day live!
United Center, Chicago Monday, July 13, 2009 If there were such a thing as a punk rock year book, Green Day’s entry would be on the “least likely to succeed” page. Graduates of the famed 24 Gillman Street shit hole, the Berkley trio were at one time indistinguishable from the now countless bands that called […]
No Doubt, Paramore live!
First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre, Tinley Park Saturday, July 11, 2009 There are really only two reasons bands reunite and hit the road to tour together again: they either have a new record to promote, or they simply need the money. In the case of No Doubt, they have no new album to promote (no new […]
Justin Adams & Juldeh Camara preview
Millennium Park, Chicago Thursday, July 16, 2009 Robert Plant isn’t the only member of his band to have a feel for African and Middle Eastern sounds. Of course, you could credit guitarist Justin Adams for merely being sold on the idea of Juldeh Camara’s weapon of choice: the west African spike fiddle.
Pitchfork Music Festival preview
Union Park, Chicago Friday, July 17 to Sunday July 19, 2009 While we’re still waiting for Pitchfork to hire one of the black-metal bands they wrote so much about in 2008, there is a change in store for this weekend’s festival that proves they’re paying attention.
Judson Claiborne preview
Schubas, Chicago Monday, July 20, 2009 Former Low Skies frontman Christopher C. Salveter and band Judson Claiborne continues their July Schubas residency, spilling stories and playing covers that, for one reason or another, were ill-suited to his former band’s swooning dynamics.
Dave Matthews Band reviewed
Big Whiskey & The Groogrux King (RCA) Big Whiskey & The Groogrux King will go down as the album Dave Matthews Band were making when saxophonist LeRoi Moore died, not that you’d know from the recording. Appearing: July 18th and 19th at Alpine Valley in East Troy, WI.
Brand New live!
Subterranean, Chicago Tuesday, July 7, 2009 In the first half of the decade, a new class of sensitive artists emerged and were quickly embraced by wristband-clad teenagers everywhere, epitomized by vulnerable acts like Chris Carrabba’s precious, whisper-laden Dashboard Confessional. Yet among all the new sensitivity and tales of boys with broken hearts, Levittown, New York’s […]
Recent Comments