ilentertainer's Latest Posts
Sweet Home: September 2011
Race, Rage, & The Blues Nobody expected a brief Alligator Records tribute to become a catalyst for examining blues-industry race relations. When the Chicago Reader ran a profile of founder Bruce Iglauer commemorating the 40th anniversary of the label, buried within the May 19th piece was a quote that inflamed the blues community:
North By Northcoast
Electronic music doesn’t have to be scary. But if you continue to avoid it while it advances at its rapid pace, you’ll be terrified in no time. Here’s our rock-leaning preview of North Coast festival, as well as upcoming gigs by Jim Ward, Plain White T’s, Keegan DeWitt, and Heart-Set Self Destruct.
I Am . . . somebody
We just noticed that two of the biggest local-music showcases, Mobfest and I Am Fest, are acronyms (Music Over Business and Independent Arts & Music). That’s not the only weirdness you’ll find in our preview containing I Am, The War On Drugs, the long-awaited Braid reunion, and Blah Blah Blah’s release show.
Dumb, da-dumb-dumb dumb!
LMFAO are not the most terrible thing to happen to music, ever. Even if it seems that way. They’re in town this week, as are Canon Blue, Kyle Andrews, and Something Fierce.
For your benefit
Another block of weekend shows features two illness benefits, the rebirth of Q101, Shayna & The Catch, and Radiation City.
Lovett every minute of it
Leave it to Lyle Lovett to leave a tribute album to a fellow Texan sounding like an entirely different Texan — the Rick Perry effect? It’s all part of your unpredictable weekend including Tim Kasher, Nikka Costa, Elzhi, and Natalia Kills.
Taylor Swift pics online
Head to our photo site for a full gallery of Taylor Swift pics by Curt Baran at Allstate Arena last week!
Woodstock started today . . .
. . . and The Spirit Of Peace And Music Festival begins this weekend in Freeport, just west of Rockford. Also this week, donate some coin for the damaged Garfield Park Conservatory, see George Thorogood revisit Chess Records, and Incubus commit career suicide. The inaugural Spirit party launches Friday and lasts all weekend, during which […]
Steely Dan live!
The idea of centering a tour around a classic album is nothing new, but it’s a concept that always seems to attract both the radio browsers banking on the hits and more studied aficionados craving deep cuts. Few have perfected the formula better than Steely Dan, who first tested it out in 2009 during multiple […]
Kids These Days, Gold Motel, + Maps & Atlases backstage @Palooza
To call Kids These Days sudden upstarts on the scene would be an understatement. The group began turning heads earlier this year on high profile blog-curated bills at SXSW, and have been making moves ever since. IE caught up with the group’s Liam Cunningham, Vic Mensa, Nico Segal, and Macie Stewart backstage at Lollapalooza to […]
Your mud-free weekend
This weekend isn’t entirely without festivals, but regular shows are trickling in as Lollapalooza peels itself off our front lawn. Digitalism, Dntel, Disney’s Selena Gomez, Lil Wayne, and more will be stumbling through a patch of days that ends with a Bret Michaels marathon.
Pretty Reckless backstage @Palooza
As an actress, Taylor Momsen could have remained involved in high visibility projects like “Gossip Girl,” where she played the character Jenny Humphrey. Instead, Momsen opted to pursue a music career as frontwoman of The Pretty Reckless, an act aiming for a polished, Celebrity Skin-era Hole approach.
Of a Revolution
There’s nothing wrong with another festival, so long as you have a point to it. Entrepreneurial Chicago-based/focused band manager Shawn Kellner wants to start a Local Music Revolution this weekend at Metro, and so he shall have one.
Get what you came for.
The problem with salad-bar festivals like Lollapalooza is you always overload your plate and can never be sure what was good under all the dressing. The Ettes, Mia LeBlon, and Totimoshi provide simple, a la carte entrées. It’s easy to imagine what cubby hole The Ettes would tidily fit if it weren’t for the sixth […]
Deftones backstage interview @Palooza!
Following a serious car accident in late 2008, Deftones bassist Chi Cheng entered a coma, with his current condition described as “minimally conscious.” In the aftermath of Cheng’s tragedy, longtime friend of the band and previous musical collaborator Sergio Vega, formally of Quicksand
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