Recent Articles
Jennifer Hudson live!
There’s nothing like playing the home field, especially in a loyal town like Chicago. That’s true for our sports teams as well as our musicians, as South Side native Jennifer Hudson demonstrated in an emotional homecoming at Ravinia on Saturday the 16th. Flaunting her newly trim figure in a neon-yellow blouse and tiny hot-pink skirt […]
Laughing, dead people, and fictional music
This weekend’s menu has so much (little) variety (consistency), it’s a surprise Pitchfork hasn’t sponsored it. It also means one of you out there might have interest in one of The People Under The Stares, Gillian Welch, Air Guitar Championships, intimate Kelley Deal, or Tally Hall. Surely, one of you.
Hotter than a Furnace fan
Why just the other month we were telling you about a Fiery Furnaces show. How they’re all so Oak Park – specifically Oak Park. When they’re of Illinois at all. Those words cut Eleanor Friedberger to the bone. And so she’s back to make amends.
New photo galleries!
We have Tim Hiatt’s shots from Soundgarden/Mars Volta, Steve Forstneger’s from the first day of Pitchfork, and (belatedly) Brian Ormiston’s from Rihanna last month! Visit illinoisentertainerphoto.com!
Hush now, don’t say a word . . .
Falling asleep wearing headphones hasn’t gotten much easier since the proliferation of earbuds, but it’s worth the attempt nonetheless. Despite a frantic rise in sleepy records, King Creosote and Jon Hopkins‘ Diamond Mind is one of the few worth adding to your doze-off collection.
#P4K 2011, LOL
Overheard in Union Park on Friday night, from two separate pairs of people – two girls, then two boys – were the following snippets of conversation: “He has so many girlfriends”; “I have totally compromised myself.” And that seemed to sum up this year’s Pitchfork Music Festival fairly well.
A Pitched battle
Like our cover stars Soundgarden, not every band has a slot locked down at Pitchfork or an afterparty — be they Moonface, Country Mice, Miguel on the Ravinia undercard, or the 2011 Metal Mergence festival.
Patti cake
After rising to fame fronting the girl group The Blue Belles in the 1960s and turning towards the futuristic funk of the trio Labelle during the front half of the ‘70s, Patti LaBelle was well bred for solo stardom. Stepping aside from the group format proved to be her best career move, if only for […]
Pitchfork Music Festival Preview
We’ve been asked for weeks: Are you guys doing a Pitchfork preview? What kind of preview are you doing for Pitchfork? Pitchfork?
‘Til Tuesday
This weekend you can do Folk & Roots, see 2 Live Crew at the Exxxotica Expo in Rosemont, or, in a bizarre symbiosis of the two, watch Dave Matthews dump poop in the lake at his Caravan. But what for Tuesday? Jolie Holland returns . . .
U2 live!
At a Grammy Awards ceremony a decade ago, U2 frontman Bono proclaimed that his band was “reapplying for the job of the best band in the world.” In order to accomplish this Herculean task, the Irish quartet would fall back on a dependable approach, specifically aping their own sound for maximum impact. The side effects, […]
We’re getting the band back together
Those words might seem cringe-worthy for, say, Loverboy or someone. But coming from Archers Of Loaf, one of the true progenitors of indie rock, they’re welcome words – fightin’ words. They play Friday, as do Yob and The Wooden Birds.
Your holiday schedule
You’ve proven incapable of handling the most meager tasks when left to your own devices. Independent study? FAIL! This weekend, you will see Ronnie Montrose, Jeff The Brotherhood, hit FitzGerald’s American Music Festival, and then drive to Iowa for the 80/35 Festival, too. Get going!
Cover Story: Soundgarden
The Place I Tried To Live Through the phone line, you can practically hear Kim Thayil’s eyes squint and roll a little up. He’s drawing mental maps and can’t quite picture Chicago’s layout as his questions are answered. Appearing: Saturday, July 16th at UIC Pavilion in Chicago.
Interview: Mat Kearney
Water Log Like many Nashville musicians, Mat Kearney lost practically all his instruments and equipment in the 2010 flood, and while that could’ve easily spawned a negative attitude (not to mention a pile of bills), the singer/songwriter simply stripped his entire life down. Appearing: Friday, July 29th at Aragon Ballroom in Chicago.
Recent Comments