Live Reviews
Erasure live!
Touring before a CD drops is generally a challenge, and though Erasure swung through Chicago more than two weeks before Tomorrow’s World (Mute) bows, the material previewed during the first of two shows was so infectious, it was impossible not to dance along. Rather than treading the nostalgic route, Andy Bell and Vince Clarke were […]
Blondie live!
Unlike several veteran bands that cling to a repertoire of old hits, Blondie entertained a capacity crowd at House Of Blues Wednesday night with several tracks from its latest release, Panic Of Girls.
Pearl Jam 20 review!
As career choices go, rock ‘n’ roll isn’t exactly the most reliable path. Failure is the rule not the exception. So any time a band reaches any sort of recognizable milestone, it’s usually cause for celebration. When that benchmark is two decades, well, a simple Hallmark card isn’t going to do it.
Guster and Jack’s Mannequin live!
Between the constant rain, empty spots in the pavilion and lawn, and complete mid-set power outage, Chicagoland’s famed outdoor venue Ravinia wasn’t real kind to Guster and Jack’s Mannequin on Saturday night, as both bands played their debut show there. Fortunately, neither group let those challenges affect their sets.
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!
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 […]
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
Sade live!
Ten years is a lifetime to wait for new music in this age of instant-gratification media like iTunes, YouTube, and Facebook. With maximum and constant exposure as the mantra for most artists, a musician who dares to ignore this doesn’t stand much of a chance. Unless of course, you are Sade.
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.
Journey, Foreigner, and Night Ranger live!
For any gate-receipt certainty these days, package tours are a must, especially those that are so well stacked they’re impossible to ignore. For classic-rock fans, the idea of seeing Journey, Foreigner, and Night Ranger together in the same night certainly looked appealing on paper. But with significantly shifted lineups for those first two bands, only […]
Bon Iver live!
Say goodbye to the sad sack Justin Vernon exemplified on his 2008 stunner of a debut, For Emma, Forever Ago. Selling out the Chicago Theatre and surrounding himself with eight multifaceted backing musicians (everything from the violin to the trombone to the French horn was represented) Sunday night,
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