Live Reviews
Q-Tip & The Cool Kids live!
Q-Tip, The Cool Kids House Of Blues, Chicago Saturday December 6, 2008 The Cool Kids and Q-Tip are not the most likely acts to tour together. While the Chicago-based duo, consisting of Mikey Rocks and Chuck Inglish, draw heavily from the golden era of hip-hop of which Q-Tip (of A Tribe Called Quest) was a […]
Staind, Seether, & Papa Roach live!
Staind, Seether, Papa Roach, State Of Shock The Venue/Horseshoe Casino, Hammond, IN Saturday, December 6, 2008 This was IE‘s maiden voyage to The Venue, a new, er, venue inside the newly renovated Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Indiana — just a hop, skip, and jump from downtown Chicago. The casino re-opened this summer after a $500-million […]
Jason Mraz & Lisa Hannigan live!
Jason Mraz, Lisa Hannigan Aragon, Chicago November 22, 2008 Forget about the screaming girls for a minute. Forget about the cheesy predilection for hats. Forget about the gimmicky routines instituted to spur a rapt crowd to simultaneous action and all the other reasons Jason Mraz inspires eye-rolling among those who wouldn’t be caught dead dancing […]
Rise Against, Alkaline Trio, & Thrice live!
Rise Against, Alkaline Trio, Thrice Congress Theater, Chicago Thursday, November 20, 2008 Early in their Thursday-night set at Congress, Rise Against performed against a massive backdrop with the word RISE looming prominently. It seemed fitting, as the band has risen from the ranks of suburban sensation to national power punk staple. And while it could […]
Calexico live!
Calexico Metro, Chicago Friday, November 21, 2008 One can always count on Tucson, Arizona-based Calexico to throw a party, but a straightforward rock show? That’s like Dave Matthews crashing a White Stripes gig – strange, but not totally unbelievable.
The Herbaliser live!
The Herbaliser Darkroom, Chicago Tuesday, November 18, 2008 London’s The Herbaliser don’t make it across the pond to play very often. But in support of their latest album, Same As It Never Was, this hip-hop-rooted collective, led by Jake Wherry and Ollie Teeba, stopped by The Darkroom as part of a rare North American tour.
Hotel Café Tour live!
Hotel Café Tour Park West, Chicago Wednesday, November 5, 2008 Girls just want to have fun until it’s time for a soul-baring, singer-songwriter night. The Hotel Café tour rolled into Chicago’s Park West the night following Barack Obama’s historic presidential win and quickly sucked the euphoria left lingering from Election Day out of the room. […]
Jack’s Mannequin live!
Jack’s Mannequin Bottom Lounge, Chicago November 9, 2008 Despite hailing from sunny California, the Windy City is almost a second home for Jack’s Mannequin, at least according to frontman Andrew McMahon at Sunday night’s Bottom Lounge show. And judging by the commitment of the sold-out crowd (some camped out in the cold for hours to […]
Coheed And Cambria quadruple live!
Coheed And Cambria Rivieria, Chicago Tuesday, October 28-31, 2008 Coheed And Cambria have always gone big. From overly pretentious album titles (Good Apollo, I’m Burning Star IV, Volume One: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness) to sprawling nine-minute epics, the group has continually aspired toward the ambitious and grandiose. Thus, it was hardly surprising […]
TV On The Radio live!
TV On The Radio Riviera, Chicago Wednesday, October 22, 2008 Shortly before the end of TV On The Radio’s Wednesday-night stint, the group’s show became too expansive to merely be contained on the Riviera’s stage. For “Let The Devil In,” the band was joined by a slew of accompanying musicians, including percussionists wielding maracas, extra […]
Maxwell live!
Maxwell Chicago Theatre, Chicago Saturday, October 18, 2008 “I can’t tell you how special it is not to have to put out an album, but to still see you all here,” Maxwell shouted to those gathered at the Chicago Theatre during his first trip through town in seven years. “It’s just me meeting my people […]
Death Cab For Cutie live!
Death Cab For Cutie Assembly Hall, Champaign Sunday, October 12, 2008 Seattle’s Death Cab For Cutie released its first album a decade ago. Comprising smart geeks who write melodic songs, DCFC manages the spectacularly difficult feat of combining quirkiness with muscle. Sunday’s 90-minute-plus set at the Assembly Hall demonstrated just how very good at that […]
Ben Folds live!
Ben Folds Congress, Chicago Friday, October 10, 2008 As a performer, there has always been a sense of duality surrounding Ben Folds. Initially, there was his alt-era piano-man rock outfit Ben Folds Five and, following the group’s demise, Ben Folds, sometimes introspective, sometimes cheeky solo artist. On record, there was the Folds who would heartbreakingly […]
Tina Turner live!
Tina Turner United Center, Chicago Friday, October 3, 2008 Tina Turner must have forgotten she vowed 2000’s tour would be her very last (though it’s certainly not the first time a diva’s done one or the other). Apparently the decision was motivated by her show-stopping duet with Beyoncé at the 2008 Grammy Awards, but without […]
Beck live!
Beck Aragon, Chicago Friday, October 3, 2008 Beck and his four-piece band tore through 25 songs in less than 90 minutes Friday night at the Aragon Ballroom with nary a wave or hello. Stripping away the gimmicks of yore – goodbye marionettes – Beck played it straight . . . really straight. Skewed dance moves […]
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