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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.
Lollapalooza Day 3
Local natives Gold Motel get Day 3 moving at the north end of Grant Park. Their innocuous brand of pretty pop music is proof that Lolla 2.0 isn’t about being on the cutting edge.
Lollapalooza Day 2
Face paint alert! Walk The Moon are rockin’ the Dayglo makeup and it would appear plenty of those already planted in front of the Music Unlimited stage got the memo. The boys are churning out buoyant pop music for the crowd of believers who are getting an early start on Day 2.
Lollapalooza recap: Day one
It’s was 20 years ago today, Perry Farrell told the bands to play. O.K., maybe not to the day, but two decades ago the Jane’s Addiction lead singer took a concept already popular in Europe and gave it his own alterna-twist. Huge music festivals like Reading and Glastonbury always bring in huge crowds on the […]
Paul McCartney live at Wrigley!
Paul McCartney managed to do in one evening what the Chicago Cubs haven’t been able to do all season: he generated countless hits in Wrigley Field.
Cover Story: Blink-182
Everything Hits At Once Tom DeLonge has noticed the smoke billowing from his hat. “Oh, my god,” he exhales. “I just got some gas in my truck – I’m in San Diego and Orange County is an hour away; L.A.’s two hours away.
Interview: Death Cab For Cutie
Speaking In Codes Back when Death Cab For Cutie had only begun peeking their heads above the underground, their annual Chicago stomping ground was the venerable Metro.
Interview: Tim Robbins
Going Rogue He must not have had the chops – seen the competition and promptly backed off. He’d been set up perfectly for a career as a lighthearted barroom rocker, giddily butchering Otis Redding’s “Try A Little Tenderness” while seated on a tourbus in Bull Durham. Bruce Willis, Don Johnson, Eddie Murphy, and other actors […]
Interview: Cults
Frame By Frame The eponymous debut from joyfully jangling New York duo Cults is easily one of the best records of the year, full of Spector-plush arrangements, sugary Crystals/Ronettes choruses, and hooks so huge they reverberate inside your skull for days after just one listen.
File: August 2011
Timlollarpalooza In keeping with last month’s baseball-themed Pitchfork Festival preview, we’ve dedicated our Lollapalooza snippet to the playing days of former San Diego Padres pitcher Tim Lollar, who did his damnedest to help the Cubs win in ’84 (4 IP, 2 HR, 4 BB). Lollar also wears the distinction of having been traded to the […]
Sweet Home: August 2011
Reflection Eternal As one of the most consistent contemporary bluesmen performing today, it’s a surprise to discover that Grammy-winning Keb Mo (a.k.a. Kevin Moore) doesn’t actually consider himself a bluesman.
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