Weekly
Live Review and Photo Gallery: Johnny Marr at The Vic Theatre
Johnny Marr The Vic Theatre, Chicago, IL Monday, May 13, 2019 Former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr’s last appearance in Chicago was a short-but-sweet set under the afternoon sun in Douglas Park at Riot Fest. This brief blast of Eurocentric alt-pop was timed to help introduce new material from 2018’s Call the Comet, the third in […]
Live Review: Mike Stern at Jazz Showcase
Mike Stern Band Saturday, May 11, 2019 Jazz Showcase, Chicago Jazz guitar virtuoso Mike Stern and his band settled into the Jazz Showcase for their annual week of residency, and audiences were most definitely in for a treat. Upon entering the Showcase, I was immediately greeted by Ainsley, who was welcoming the faithful as […]
Photo Gallery: The 1975 at United Center
Manchester’s The 1975 were greeted with an expected rapturous ovation when they took the stage at United Center Thursday. Hand it to the band, they’ve diligently worked Sunday side stages at Lollapalooza, and “smaller” shows at Lincoln Hall and the Riviera to slowly build an audience to finally play the United Center. The band is […]
Recap and Photo Gallery: PUP at Metro
Toronto punks PUP have quickly grown out of the small venues they frequented only a few years ago. Whereas their last Chicago visit saw them playing Empty Bottle, this time they brought their high-octane energy for the first of two sold-out nights at the Metro with fellow Canadians Casper Skull and Chicago punk rockers Ratboys […]
Photo Gallery: Rise Against at Chicago Theatre
At the end of their third song, “Audience Of One,” Rise Against lead singer Tim McIlrath joked, “I don’t think we’ve ever stayed this still for this long.” So what occasion caused the Chicago punk rock quartet to strike such statuesque poses? A special evening dubbed “Ghost Note Symphony’s,” which shares its name with the […]
Photo Gallery and Recap: Wax Trax! Records Industrial Accident Screening and Launch Party at House of Vans Chicago
Could there have been a more brilliant way to end Record Store Day than with an Industrial Accident? The Wax Trax! documentary distills the history of Chicago’s seminal record label and store into an entertaining yarn about love, family, music, sex, drugs, rock & roll and how not to run a business, if you wish […]
Stage Buzz: Uli Jon Roth at The Forge of Joliet and The Arcada Theatre [with added Photo Gallery]
German guitar maestro Uli Jon Roth’s 50th-anniversary tour – where he’ll be performing selected highlights from his entire musical career – comes to Chicagoland Friday and Saturday. Roth’s arrival in Chicagoland commences Friday, April 12 at The Forge in Joliet and concludes on Saturday, April 13 at the Arcada Theater in St. Charles. The concert’s […]
Stage Buzz: Record Store Day 2019
Record Store Day celebrates its eleventh birthday on April 13th, and it has become entrenched as a must-have shopping day for vinyl freaks. As the RSD curators state “this is a day for the people who make up the world of the record store—the staff, the customers, and the artists—to come together and celebrate the […]
Stage Buzz: Citizen Cope at House of Blues Chicago
It was one of those you-had-to-be-there moments that might sound callous — even a little cruel — in the retelling. But rest assured, it was neither of those things. It was a reckoning. Late afternoon a few years ago at a hip San Francisco nightclub — the universal hour for an artist’s pre-show soundcheck. Tonight, […]
Live Review and Photo Gallery: Andrew Bird at Green Mill
Andrew Bird Green Mill, Chicago April 2, 2019 On a brief introductory jaunt for his new album My Finest Work Yet, Andrew Bird returned to his old stomping grounds for the first of two intimate shows at Uptown’s 160-capacity Green Mill. Befitting his surroundings in the venerable jazz room, Bird began with the 1944 Jule […]
Live Review and Gallery: Michael Bublé at Allstate Arena
Michael Bublé Allstate Arena, Rosemont Sunday, March 17, 2019 A six-year gap in between tours for a post-2000s artist may as well be a lifetime, but in the case of Michael Bublé, it didn’t come at the hands of a laborious creative pursuit or some self-indulgent exile. Instead, his infant son was dealt an extremely […]
Stage Buzz: Disturbed at Allstate Arena [Updated with Photo Gallery]
There’s nothing better than a hometown show for an acclaimed national band. Local boys and two-time Grammy nominee Disturbed brings its Evolution World Tour to Allstate Arena on Friday (March 8) with special guests Three Days Grace. Area fans who missed their intimate performance last October at the Vic Theatre will get a chance to see […]
Live Review and Photo Gallery: Eric Johnson at Arcada Theatre
Eric Johnson Friday, January 25, 2019 Arcada Theatre, St. Charles Eric Johnson’s Ah Via Musicom tour, featuring his original 1990 bandmates – drummer Tommy Taylor and bassist Kyle Brock, pulled in to The Arcada Theatre on Friday night for a rescheduled show from October 31. Anticipation from ticket holders was high, to say the […]










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