Live Reviews
Foo Fighters Live!
Foo Fighters Auditorium Theatre, Chicago Friday, August 25, 2006 Dave Grohl has unplugged before, and as with Friday, veteran punk guitarist Pat Smear was onstage with him. But for Foo Fighters’ intimate performance at Auditorium Theatre in support of the acoustic half of last fall’s In Your Honor, he didn’t allow it to affect his […]
Assassins Live!
Assassins Schubas, Chicago Saturday, August 26, 2006 While Assassins have played here and there over the past three years, Saturday’s two sets at Schubas was part of a new concept to them– performing in support of an album available for public consumption.
Willie Nelson & John Fogerty live!
Willie Nelson, John Fogerty Charter One Pavilion, Chicago Sunday, August 20, 2006 In the world of double bills, Willie Nelson and John Fogerty doesn’t seem like the most obvious combination, aside from each artist’s affinity for Southern traditions. In Nelson’s case, the American icon has blazed trails mostly in country and folk circles, but has […]
Dixie Chicks Live!
Dixie Chicks United Center, Chicago Tuesday, August 15, 2006 When the Dixie Chicks last rolled through town in 2003, tickets sold out within seconds of being put on sale. But between that day and the actual concert, the group struck up its share of controversy when frontwoman Natalie Maines made negative remarks about President Bush […]
Urge Overkill Live!
Urge Overkill West Fest, Chicago Saturday, August 12, 2006 If you gloss over the lineup for the 10th Annual Hideout Block Party, a fest organized around Touch And Go’s 25th Anniversary celebration, you’ll notice there are a number of bands from the label’s past and present. One notable exception, still banging around, would be Urge […]
Lollapalooza Live Review!
Lollapalooza Grant Park, Chicago August 4, 5, and 6, 2006 In its second year as a Chicago-based, standalone festival, Lollapalooza was a rousing success for nearly all involved. What appeared at first to be a logistical nightmare (the mile distance between the two main stages) proved to be no more than a sweaty inconvenience on […]
The Wreckers Live!
The Wreckers Joe’s, Chicago Monday, August 7, 2006 I wasn’t aware this show was acoustic until I arrived at Joe’s and saw the room half full of tables taking up the usual standing room. It was a welcome surprise, though, since The Wreckers’ record is an organic, country-tinted slice of Americana, obviously written on acoustic […]
Lollapalooza review 2
Page [ 1 ] 2 [ 3 ] BIGGEST SURPRISE Lady Sovereign if only because I was expecting the obnoxious better-at-jumping-around-and-screaming-than-rapping Lady Sov my partner-in-scribe Steve witnessed at Intonation. While the pint-sized MC did plenty of jumping and screaming (provoking her to exclaim “I’m losing my voice, bloody hell!” toward the end of her set) […]
Lollapalooza review 3
Page [ 1 ] [ 2 ] 3 WORST BIG-SCREEN VIDEO EDITING Sleater-Kinney. We know it was probably their last Chicago show ever, but did we need the slow-motion effects? We almost expected the soundperson to cut the power on the Oregon rockers and blast Green Day’s “Time Of Your Life.” (TF) The crew working […]
Muse Live!
Muse Aragon, Chicago Thursday, July 27, 2006 Thursday night’s Muse show inside a sweltering Aragon may not have provided any relief from the unforgiving heat, but it did provide an oasis of sorts. It acted as a respite from seemingly like-minded alt-arena art bands who have since disappeared or abandoned what gained them their notoriety […]
Dashboard Confessional live
Dashboard Confessional Chicago Theatre, Chicago Friday, July 28, 2006 Somewhere along the way, Dashboard Confessional, lead by non-threatening heartthrob/poet laureate Chris Carrabba, switched things up on us. And if you weren’t paying attention, you might not have really noticed. The group — or, more specifically, Carrabba — has gone from acoustic balladeer, writing tender songs […]
Melissa Etheridge Live!
Melissa Etheridge Auditorium Theatre, Chicago Thursday, July 20, 2006 Chances are Melissa Etheridge wouldn’t have had any trouble selling tickets to three nights at the Auditorium Theatre on her own, though it’s safe to say she found additional leverage from the Gay Games being in town last week. “You have a very gay city at […]
The Sword Live!
The Sword Subterranean, Chicago Monday, July 24, 2006 A funny thing happened after The Sword finished their second song Monday night: An audience member, standing toward the front of a packed Subterranean crowd, yelled “Black Sabbath” loud enough for everyone to hear. Sword frontman/guitarist J.D. Cronise smiled as he quipped, “No. We’re The Sword.”
DeVotchKa Live!
DeVotchKa Subterranean, Chicago Friday, July 21, 2006 When a band arrives onstage bearing a Christmas light-bedecked tuba played by a woman, you know you’re in for a good time.
Fiona Apple, Damien Rice live
Fiona Apple, Damien Rice Charter One Pavilion, Chicago Thursday, July 13, 2006 It’s emotionally exhausting to be overwhelmingly heartbroken, so when the essence of this process is flawlessly captured by a song it’s both distinctively illusionary and sensory for a listener. Past frustrations and sentiments become more lifelike with the utterance of each lyric and […]
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