Live Reviews
The Police live!
The Police Allstate Arena, Rosemont Saturday, May 10, 2008 Funny thing about victory laps – if left unchecked, they can go on longer than the race. This could be an apt description of The Police at Allstate Arena. Visit the official Illinois Entertainer Photo Gallery to see more Police concert pics.
Gigantour wrap-up!
Gigantour Aragon Ballroom, Chicago Tuesday, May 6, 2008 Decades ago metal was proclaimed the beast that refused to die. But now it seems to be merely immortal. Gigantour, which made its Chicago stop on its international tour at the Aragon on May 6th, showed how metal has maintained its infinite vitality. Visit the official Illinois […]
Dolly Parton live!
Dolly Parton Chicago Theatre, Chicago Friday, May 9, 2008 Those hoping to catch country-pop crossover queen Dolly Parton on her Backwoods Barbie tour had to wait just a little longer, thanks to a back injury. “I’m mending very nicely and will be fit as a fiddle soon,” the singer-songwriter said at the time. “And I’ll […]
Flosstradamus live!
At this point in the game, predicting the continual advent of the next generation of Chicago hip-hop talent is hardly a new or groundbreaking call. Nearly every music magazine in the country has written about at least some, if not the majority of the talent that has emerged the last few years. In fact, many […]
Atmosphere live!
Atmosphere Metro, Chicago Wednesday, April 23, 2008 It doesn’t seem much of a stretch to see life imitating art in the case of Minneapolis hip-hop outfit Atmosphere. After all, the group’s just-released record is titled When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold, which might explain the impressive level of output released by […]
Earth live!
Earth The Note, Chicago Friday, April 25, 2008 “Dude, I’m bored,” announced a friend of a friend in a Venom-themed Boris T-shirt. “Are you guys going to leave soon?” It was a damned good question. After six songs of blandly introverted, lightly amplified twang, many at the quaint Wicker Park bar were starting to come […]
International Pop Overthrow Wrap-Up
International Pop Overthrow Various clubs, Chicago April 15th – 27th, 2008 Back in 1998, when David Bash organized the first International Pop Overthrow in Los Angeles, he probably couldn’t have imagined how much his low-budget, annual celebration of power pop would flourish. By 2001, International Pop Overthrow, named after a Material Issue song and album […]
Iron And Wine live!
Iron And Wine Vic Theatre, Chicago Tuesday, April 22, 2008 Just as bookends maintain a shelf’s order and organization, the breathtaking opening and closing numbers of Iron And Wine’s tour-closing show on Tuesday – the second of a two-night stand in Chicago’s Vic Theatre – kept the rest of the set list from going off […]
Counting Crows — Double live!
Counting Crows To preview his upcoming interview with Adam Duritz in the May issue of Illinois Entertainer, we shipped Jaime de’Medici to a pair of outposts to catch Counting Crows getting intimate.
Vampire Weekend
Vampire Weekend Metro, Chicago Sunday, April 6, 2008 Vampire Weekend rolled into a sold-out Metro on Sunday night – quite a jump from the quartet’s last local appearance at Schubas – but such is the result of the hype machine’s ever-churning gears.
Shelby Lynne live!
Shelby Lynne Park West, Chicago Saturday, March 29, 2008 Since winning the Best New Artist Grammy in 2000 for I Am Shelby Lynne (her sixth album, natch — still mind boggling), Shelby Lynne seems to be wandering through the musical landscape in search of an identity. After the Memphis-soul vibe of I Am, she took […]
Ray Davies live!
Ray Davies Chicago Theatre, Chicago Tuesday, April 1, 2008 No one can ever credit Ray Davies as being a prolific solo songwriter: at age 63, he just turned in his second proper full-length offering, Working Man’s Café (New West). But for fans of his time in The Kinks, a fairly thin individual catalog meant spending […]
Louis XIV, What Made Milwaukee Famous live
Louis XIV, What Made Milwaukee Famous Metro, Chicago Saturday, March 22, 2008 When Louis XIV picked up steam in 2004, it was on the road alongside The Killers and Von Bondies, and quickly led to a deal with Atlantic Records. Even though the industry was riding the resurrected garage and dance rock crazes to excessive […]
Stephen Malkmus live
Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks Vic Theatre, Chicago Friday, March 21, 2008 The patchwork wall between indie rock and jam bands came crashing down Friday night, as a plodding Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks burned holes through the Vic stage with their eyes.
Justice live!
Justice Riviera, Chicago Thursday, March 20, 2008 Somewhere in the midst of Justice’s whirlwind set last Thursday at the Riviera, it became difficult to distinguish exactly what song the electro duo were performing off their 2007 breakthrough album †. Good thing that was hardly the point.










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