Weekly
Jackson Browne live!
Ravinia, Highland Park Thursday, July 30, 2009 With six years between studio CDs and just as long since last playing a proper Chicagoland concert, Jackson Browne had no trouble selling out Ravinia, marking his fifth appearance at the venue since 1977. “It’s always a pleasure to be in Chicago and Ravinia’s very special to me,” […]
Dead Weather live!
Vic Theatre, Chicago Wednesday, July 29, 2009 The reality of Jack White’s celebrity was a given way before his latest project, The Dead Weather, sold out two nights at the Vic Theatre. His blues-based classic rock milieu will always find fans in America, but his prodigious ability to shake its junky old parts up and […]
Lollapalooza 2009 preview!
Kings Of Leon Without a list, Lollapalooza can be like going to a record store: You know there was something you wanted to see, but you end up going home with a Killers album. Here at IE, we want not only to help you choose what to see and avoid, but how to shape your […]
Coldplay live!
Alpine Valley, East Troy, WI Saturday, July 25, 2009 Once in awhile, a concert comes along that is so captivating in all of its parts that after its short-lived moment, one leaves feeling brighter and more inspired than before. This past Saturday, Coldplay brought such a show — complete in flawless, live performances and luminous […]
The Veils & Foreign Born live!
Empty Bottle, Chicago Thursday, July 23, 2009 Venturing out to experience Foreign Born and The Veils on Thursday proved to be fortuitous. Previewing the show last week, I wrote of a darkness on FB’s debut, Person To Person (Secretly Canadian), how you could trip over extension cords while listening to it, and blah blah blah.
Polkaholics preview
Quenchers, Chicago Saturday, August 1, 2009 For the longest of times, we thought Chicago’s Polkaholics had done wrong by both polka and punk bands — or right. We forgot which. They’re certainly doing right by Walter “Li’l Wally” Jagiello, whom they brought back here from Florida and played with ’til his 2006 death.
The Warlocks preview
Empty Bottle, Chicago Wednesday, August 5, 2009 Thursday, August 6, 2009 Far from the cold-eyed evildoer of their namesake movie, The Warlocks’ music is religion to them, a dirge-like moan that emanates like prayer from a Buddhist temple — contextualized by pop melodies and heavy drug use, of course.
As Tall As Lions preview
Bottom Lounge, Chicago Thursday, August 6, 2009 If they don’t kill each other, You Can’t Take It With You is a place where prog-rock, R&B, and Death Cab fans can harmonize.
Baby Teeth reviewed
Hustle Beach (Lujo) We’ve all been there. You sit on the couch with a shit-eating grin, chuckling and guffawing away at a comedy you’ve seen a hundred times since high school while the person sitting beside you utters those infernal words, “This is stupid.” (This person who loves you?) And you say, “What are you […]
Trainwreck Riders preview
Ronny’s, Chicago Sunday, July 26, 2009 Alt-country bands can come from anywhere, which is why there’s no need to raise a brow at Trainwreck Riders’ Frisco origins. In fact, it’s a boon for the band to have a little hometown weird on tap.
Def Leppard live!
First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre, Tinley Park Friday, July 17, 2009 This past Friday, Def Leppard rocked a sprawling, First Midwest crowd eager to experience a band that claims to inspire the “Rock Of Ages.” By the night’s end, it proved the claim.
Foreign Born preview
Empty Bottle, Chicago Thursday, July 23, 2009 If you’ve never been to Los Angeles, you no doubt still feel you know it. Movies and TV are clearly responsible, and we’ve been clubbed with the idea of an “L.A. band,” as if, post ’80s, the phrase still has meaning. It doesn’t define Foreign Born, anyway.
Grand Duchy preview
Subterranean, Chicago Friday, July 24, 2009 Black Francis must be in a good place right now. With the Pixies having exhausted their reunification options, he can put the band back to rest without having to hear that question for awhile. He has even stuck with his name, which he inverted when he went solo back […]
Green Day live!
United Center, Chicago Monday, July 13, 2009 If there were such a thing as a punk rock year book, Green Day’s entry would be on the “least likely to succeed” page. Graduates of the famed 24 Gillman Street shit hole, the Berkley trio were at one time indistinguishable from the now countless bands that called […]
No Doubt, Paramore live!
First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre, Tinley Park Saturday, July 11, 2009 There are really only two reasons bands reunite and hit the road to tour together again: they either have a new record to promote, or they simply need the money. In the case of No Doubt, they have no new album to promote (no new […]
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