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We’ll be bloggin’ ’round Palooza when it comes . . .
Be sure to check in all weekend, as we post pics and summaries of Lollapalooza 2009. Just visit www.illinoisentertainer.blogspot.com!
DVD Zone: August 2009
Reliving The Cold War Watchmen Warner Bros. After the glut of superhero movies over the past few years, you would think that the public would be starting to tire of the whole genre. Yet the success of Iron Man and The Dark Knight means it isn’t going away anytime soon. Don’t get me wrong, it’s […]
Tori Amos live!
Chicago Theatre, Chicago Monday, August 3, 2009 Over the last two decades, Tori Amos has become one of the most prolific recording artists to emerge from the alternative era. With 10 studio albums in addition to a box set brimming with b-sides, the piano siren’s sheer output is a bit overwhelming. Especially when her 2002 […]
Jackson Browne live!
Ravinia, Highland Park Thursday, July 30, 2009 With six years between studio CDs and just as long since last playing a proper Chicagoland concert, Jackson Browne had no trouble selling out Ravinia, marking his fifth appearance at the venue since 1977. “It’s always a pleasure to be in Chicago and Ravinia’s very special to me,” […]
Dead Weather live!
Vic Theatre, Chicago Wednesday, July 29, 2009 The reality of Jack White’s celebrity was a given way before his latest project, The Dead Weather, sold out two nights at the Vic Theatre. His blues-based classic rock milieu will always find fans in America, but his prodigious ability to shake its junky old parts up and […]
Lollapalooza 2009 preview!
Kings Of Leon Without a list, Lollapalooza can be like going to a record store: You know there was something you wanted to see, but you end up going home with a Killers album. Here at IE, we want not only to help you choose what to see and avoid, but how to shape your […]
Cover Story: Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode Across The Universe Very few bands have endured 30 years, let alone remained relevant throughout the majority of their tenures together, but Depeche Mode is unquestionably one such elite anomaly. Sure, the electronic innovator has passed under the occasional dark cloud since debuting in the early 1980s (apart from the expected dips in […]
Heaven & Hell interview
Heaven & Hell Confidence Game “Nerves don’t do me any good, unless you’re going to jump off a cliff or something on a hang-glider,” says Ronnie James Dio. “I knew it was going to be good, and we knew there was anticipation for this.” Appearing: Friday, August 19th at Charter One Pavilion in Chicago.
Haymarket Riot interview
Haymarket Riot: Dischordancy Haymarket Riot aren’t new. The Chicago-based punks haven’t been recently discovered by some hip label or blogger who’s trying to spark a revival in a sound that doesn’t get much play or press. In fact, their third album has been available for four months already and garnered a ridiculously modest amount of […]
Other Lives interview
Other Lives Dining Out They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day. The five members of the Stillwater, Oklahoma-based collective Other Lives know this all too well — especially when mired in the relentless pace of touring the country in support of the band’s self-titled debut album. Frontman Jesse Tabish is almost […]
File: August 2009
THE WOODSTOCK EXPERIENCE Amid the spate of 40th-anniversary Woodstock product (see “Spins”), Sony’s Legacy arm believes five two-disc sets by acts who performed that long-ago weekend at Yasgur’s farm stand out. Listing at $19.98 apiece, each one comes with an original, and in most cases classic, 1969 studio album (no big deal, as those albums […]
Hello, My Name Is Dan
Hello, My Name Is Dan Q&A With 88 Fingers Louie’s Dan Precision IE: How long has this August show for 88 Fingers Louie been on the books? Dan Precision: Let me tell you this: We started practicing for it back in November. We hadn’t set a date because I’m a stickler with things and was […]
Woodstock revisited
VARIOUS ARTISTS Woodstock/Woodstock 2 (Cotillion/Rhino) By their very nature, cultural icons achieve a largeness beyond their mortal stature. Mona Lisa’s smile, the Liberty Bell, or Alberto Korda’s photo of Che Guevera all carry with them a weight of meaning that makes them outsized symbols into which an entire generation pours meaning. Seeing the reality behind […]
George Harrison compiled
GEORGE HARRISON Let It Roll: Songs By George Harrison (Capitol) Two diametrically opposed camps have formed in response to this compilation. One wishes it had been two discs and included all of Harrison’s best work (his Traveling Wilburys songs included) and that the songs had been sequenced less haphazardly, both to reflect the trajectory of Harrison’s […]
Around Hear: August 2009
Alan Bailey evokes theatrical productions with the ambitious keyboard and string arrangements on Can’t Let Go. The forced wackiness of “To The Breaking Point” gets annoying, but Bailey entertains with fluid piano playing and inviting melodies on “(Don’t) Get Your Hopes Up” and “Release.” On the simple but charming “I’m Off To Bed,” Bailey sounds […]
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