Live Reviews
Tool live
Tool Auditorium Theatre, Chicago Saturday, May 13, 2006 Tool are in a precarious position. It’s entirely possible, though just as likely not, they’re aware of it. It’s also remarkably more likely they don’t care even just a little bit. The Los Angeles-based outfit wields a rabidly loyal, insanely passionate fanbase. A fanbase who will trek […]
Avenged Sevenfold/Coheed live
Avenged Sevenfold, Coheed And Cambria Aragon, Chicago Wednesday, May 10, 2006 There were so many pre-driver’s license females at Avenged Sevenfold and Coheed And Cambria’s co-headlining stop in Chicago we felt dirty being there, convinced directing our eyes anywhere but the stage would surely earn us a savage beating from an unhappy father. And this […]
John Corbett live
John Corbett Joe’s, Chicago Saturday, May 12, 2006 Many of you may have no clue that actor John Corbett has a country record out, and a song, “Good To Go,” that debuted at 48 on the Billboard country chart earlier this spring. Having been a fan since his “Northern Exposure” days, and being somewhat of […]
Alkaline Trio, Against Me! Live
Alkaline Trio, Against Me! Metro, Chicago Thursday, May 4, 2006 Now that two-thirds of the band live outside Chicago, Alkaline Trio’s homecoming shows truly are homecomings. To celebrate the end of one leg of their latest tour, they spun off three sold-out shows at Metro with Against Me! and basked in the adulation as much […]
Jon Langford, Cowboy Jack Clement Live!
Jon Langford, Cowboy Jack Clement Old Town School Of Folk Music, Chicago Sunday, April 23, 2006 For April’s installment of his country music series, Robbie Fulks pulled together two of its most disparate elements: one making his millionth appearance in Chicago, another who had never performed here once.
Franz Ferdinand, Death Cab For Cutie LIve!
Franz Ferdinand, Death Cab For Cutie Aragon Ballroom, Chicago Wednesday, April 19, 2006 The double bill of Franz Ferdinand and Death Cab For Cutie sure did look strange on paper. After all, the first are a Scottish-bred band of ’80s-influenced garage rockers, while their partners are a dominant Seattle force pushing heartfelt modern rock with […]
Yeah Yeah Yeahs live live live
Yeah Yeah Yeahs Riviera, Chicago Friday, April 14, 2006 Chapter Two, the Second Act, the Sophomore effort; these things take on an almost mythical proportion when used in the Rock milieu. And if your band was birthed on hype and word-of-mouth buzz, than you can also add razor-sharp scrutiny to the aforementioned hyperbole.
David Gilmour live
David Gilmour Rosemont Theatre, Rosemont Thursday, April 13, 2006 There’s a fine line between boring and hypnotic. Appearing in support of On An Island, his first new material since Pink Floyd’s 1994 work The Division Bell, David Gilmour managed to cross that line both ways.
Sia live
Sia Martyrs’, Chicago Wednesday, April 12, 2006 It was an uncommonly warm April evening in Chicago on the 12th. There was an insubstantial threat of rain and the wind moved briskly, but nothing else was amiss, although the moon turning full. But could that cliché omen explain why Australian starlet Sia was crazy with a […]
Elbow live
Elbow Double Door, Chicago Sunday, April 16, 2006 In a slightly muted performance on Easter night, Elbow frontman Guy Garvey proved not to be kidding when he said they brought the weather with them. Countering the chugging momentum of their third album, Leaders Of The Free World (V2), Elbow’s delayed return to Chicago felt a […]
Say Anything review
Say Anything Beat Kitchen, Chicago Friday, April 7, 2006 Over the last few years, pop punk has gotten a bad name — at best a guilty pleasure and at worst a cred-destroying scarlet letter in your iPod, bright red against a backlit screen. Which is a large part of why Say Anything are a refreshing […]
Mates Of State, Maria Taylor Live!
Mates Of State, Maria Taylor Metro, Chicago Thursday, April 6, 2006 The initial effect Mates Of State have on people is how much sound the two of them produce — though their giddily happy marriage is a close second. So when opener Maria Taylor and her five-piece band joined them onstage prior to the encore, […]
UB40 Live!
UB40 House Of Blues, Chicago Friday, April 7, 2006 It would be easy to dismiss UB40 as an adult-lite version of true roots reggae, and their Friday performance at HOB wouldn’t have won over skeptics, as they performed nearly all their tried-and-true hits. Modern roots reggae in the U.S.A. still lives in the shadow of […]
Mat Kearney Live!
Mat Kearney Park West, Chicago Wednesday, April 5, 2006 Mat Kearney made a second appearance in Chicago within a few days, playing the House Of Blues on April 2nd, with a detour to Kentucky for a performance, and then back to the Park West. Although the singer-songwriter has never called Chicago home, he provided more […]
Neko Case live!
Neko Case Vic Theatre, Chicago Friday, March 31, 2006 While the debate rages whether Fox Confessor Brings The Flood is a darker affair than 2002’s Blacklisted, Neko Case used Friday’s gig at The Vic to bring considerable levity to her material. Casting the cloak of reverential austerity aside, Case led a five-piece band through a […]
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