Live Reviews
James Blunt live
James Blunt Riviera Theatre, Chicago Friday, February 22, 2008 James Blunt needs to watch a tape of himself performing so he can work on eliminating the wacky faces his mug contorts into mid-song. They’re a cross between disconcerting and just plain weird. Click here for a full photo set from Friday’s show.
Shannon Wright live
Shannon Wright Schubas, Chicago Friday, February 22, 2008 Shannon Wright’s fifth album, Let In The Light (Quarterstick), dropped the guitars from 2005’s Over The Sun like a three-headed kitten. But such a feline has more than the customary nine lives and Wright cashed one in Friday at Schubas.
A.A. Bondy live!
A.A. Bondy Beat Kitchen, Chicago Thursday, February 14, 2008 In his previous life, A.A. Bondy was Scott Bondy, frontman for Verbena, dirty sexy Southern grunge darlings from Birmingham, Alabama who burned hot fast then fizzled before they had a chance to warm up to more than a small but staunchly devoted following. The band’s implosion […]
Gallows live!
Gallows Metro, Chicago Sunday, February 3, 2008 The Super Bowl and a snowstorm proved a lethal combo for Gallows, as the U.K. punks played to a nearly empty house Sunday night.
Todd Rundgren live!
Todd Rundgren Park West, Chicago Thursday, January 31, 2008 It has been four years since Todd Rundgren’s last proper studio CD, Liars, but he has been far from inactive during the gap. Outside of embarking on an extensive solo tour (which spawned the Liars Live DVD in 2005) he became the unlikely though fairly well-fitting […]
Joe Henry live!
Joe Henry Old Town School Of Folk Music, Chicago Saturday, February 2, 2008 A rare tour by producer/songwriter Joe Henry found him in “Storytellers” mode at the Old Town School on Saturday night. During the first of two shows, he mocked his role in the world while quietly lamenting the country’s.
The Teenagers live!
The Teenagers Dark Wave Disco At Sonoteque, Chicago Saturday, January 26, 2008 There’s a good chance a group whose most notorious song is a document of the narrator sleeping with his step-cousin shouldn’t be taken too seriously. Perhaps that should’ve been the first indication of what was to come.
Lenny Kravitz live!
Lenny Kravitz Riviera Theatre, Chicago Saturday, January 26, 2008 These days Lenny Kravitz is more likely to play an arena than an intimate setting, making a pre-release warm up tour at the Riviera Theatre a somewhat unusual occurrence. The retro rocker likened it to being “just like the old days,” but with longevity under his […]
William Elliott Whitmore live!
William Elliott Whitmore Reggie’s Rock Club, Chicago Friday, January 18, 2008 It has become tradition when William Elliott Whitmore plays Chicago for audience members to continuously feed him booze. Couple that with the fact each time Whitmore comes to town he plays a bigger venue, which means even more fans, which means even more whiskey […]
Exile In Old Town School
Tribute To Exile On Main St. Old Town School Of Folk Music, Chicago Friday, January 18, 2008 Having an ensemble recreate a classic album is hardly a novel concept, but there was something diabolically reverent and iconoclastic going on with Exile On Main St. on Friday. As performed by Old Town School faculty, alumni, and […]
The Dresden Dolls live!
The Dresden Dolls Vic Theatre, Chicago Saturday, January 5, 2008 When you describe your music as “Brechtian punk cabaret,” like The Dresden Dolls do, you very well might be relegating yourself to underground, or cult status, for the length of your career. But something weird is happening with The Dolls: More and more people are […]
Duran Duran live
Duran Duran Chicago Theatre, Chicago Friday, December 14, 2007 For those who think Duran Duran went off the deep end by working with Timbaland and Justin Timberlake on its new CD, step outside the ’80s and consider the basics. To start with, Red Carpet Massacre (Epic), is loaded with robust beats destined for the dance […]
Wu-Tang live
Wu-Tang Clan Metro, Chicago Saturday, December 15, 2007 Less than four months after successfully headlining the Rock The Bells hip-hop festival at Northerly Island, the Wu-Tang Clan returned to Chicago to kick off a 25-stop nationwide tour. Not so surprisingly, the group’s producer-on-the-mic, Rza, was the only absent member at the Metro.
Silverchair live
Silverchair House Of Blues, Chicago Thursday, December 12, 2007 In an iTunes-dominated era, five years is a lifetime between albums. It not only puts act’s longevity in jeopardy, but can find a fanbase shift a complete generation. Though Silverchair tempted fate by stalling for a half decade, the time was clearly well spent.
Dewey Cox live!
Dewey Cox Cubby Bear, Chicago Thursday, December 6, 2007 South Side native and Brother Rice graduate John C. Reilly is a rock star. This designation may confuse anyone familiar with the Academy Award nominee’s past appearances in Chicago, Boogie Nights, and The River Wild because Reilly resembles Fozzy Bear more than Elvis. But, as Dewey […]
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