Stage Buzz
Mavis Staples recording live!
Mavis Staples Hideout, Chicago Monday, June 23, 2008 A night before Liz Phair arrives home at the Vic to recreate Exile In Guyville, Mavis Staples will rock the Hideout and record the sucker for a forthcoming live album.
Sloan preview
Sloan, The Golden Dogs Double Door, Chicago Monday, June 23, 2008 Normally, 13 songs on a CD would be considered pretty good bang for the consumer’s buck. When it comes to Sloan (who released Parallel Play on Yep Roc earlier this month), however, a baker’s dozen almost feels like a rip-off.
The Explorers Club preview
The Explorers Club Empty Bottle, Chicago Friday, June 13, 2008 We compare new bands to their forebearers because it helps get everyone on one page; sometimes there’s no other way to describe them. Interpol sound like Joy Division, Godsmack like Alice In Chains. John Mellencamp was “Baby Boss.” But The Explorers Club really sound like […]
Donita Sparks preview
Donita Sparks & The Stellar Moments Double Door, Chicago Friday, June 13, 2008 If you check the Double Door Web site for info on Donita Sparks & The Stellar Moments’ gig, you’ll notice it says “ex-L7” in parentheses behind Sparks’ name. It’s a safe assumption, considering the grunge band haven’t released new material since 1999’s […]
Soilent Green preview
Soilent Green House Of Blues, Chicago Monday, June 16, 2008 There’s bad luck, there’s terrible luck, and there’s absolutely, god-awful, ridiculous, don’t-wish-this-on-sewer-rats, Soilent Green luck.
White Hinterland preview
White Hinterland Hideout, Chicago Monday, June 16, 2008 Casey Dienel must hold the classic Peanuts cartoon specials dear to her heart. The 22-year-old pianist emulates the legendary Vince Guaraldi on her second disc, Phylactery Factory (Dead Oceans), especially on “Dreaming Of The Plum Trees.” Instrumentally the song constitutes a perfect foil for our unlikely hero […]
Ladytron preview
Ladytron Vic Theatre, Chicago Tuesday, June 17, 2008 Ladytron’s electro-pop sizzle had to undergo a series of maneuvers once trends caught up with them. Their 2001 debut, 604 (Emperor Norton), remains a bankable continental classic, but for their fourth entry, Velocifero (Nettwerk), they go international by looking at their own roster.
Centro-Matic preview
Centro-Matic Schubas, Chicago Saturday, June 7, 2008 Sunday, June 8, 2008 Centro-Matic’s Will Johnson can’t have just one. Of anything. It’s right there in his halved band name, as if we’d mispronounce it Cen-TROM-a-tic otherwise. Two shows this weekend (but only one club). Alternating headlining slots with The M’s. Supporting a split release (Dual Hawks) […]
Cyndi Lauper preview
Cyndi Lauper Chicago Theatre, Chicago Tuesday, June 10, 2008 Cyndi Lauper’s 1983 girl-power anthem “Girls Just Want To Have Fun” lives on in both clubs and You Tube and has been known to blare from the hallway PA system of Chicago’s own Mother McAuley, the largest Catholic all-girls high school in the country, during its […]
Tim Fite preview
Tim Fite Lakeshore Theater, Chicago Tuesday, June 10, 2008 Tim Fite certainly isn’t the first artist to attack Western culture, though he has kept his hands and conscience relatively clean. Artists from The MC5 to The Clash to Rage Against The Machine have looked silly by espousing rebellion and pointing fingers at the rest of […]
Lauren Harris preview
Lauren Harris Allstate Arena, Rosemont Wednesday, June 11, 2008 Opening a tour for Iron Maiden ain’t easy. It might not be as stressful as facing 30 minutes of continous (occasionally life-threatening) “SLAYEEEER!” screams, but tough nonetheless. Most Maiden fans, after all, don’t buy their concert tickets with discovering young, opening talent in mind. They want […]
M83 preview
M83 Empty Bottle, Chicago Thursday, May 29, 2008 Was there a creepier moment on record in 2005 than the waking nightmare of “Car Chase Terror!”, off M83’s previous effort, Before The Dawn Heals Us (Mute)? Probably not. The song, as voiced by one adolescent girl playing herself and her mother, tells the tale of the […]
Mudhoney preview
Mudhoney Reggie’s, Chicago Friday, May 30, 2008 Revisionism can be a beautiful thing: After Metallica and Megadeth blew their wads in the ’90s, rock critics swore they always loved Slayer. Kurt Cobain and Layne Staley are long dead, Chris Cornell is a laughing stock, and Pearl Jam have joined the David Bowie-curated “best album since […]
Adele preview
Adele Martyrs’, Chicago Saturday, May 31, 2008 It’s a bit jarring when a pasty British teenager opens her mouth and out comes the whopping voice of an old-time soul diva.
Hoots & Hellmouth preview
Hoots & Hellmouth Schubas, Chicago Saturday, May 31, 2008 It should be a rule that if your last name is Hoots and you have a band, you must play down-home, folksy, rootsy, backporch music. Though IE currently sit on the Rules & Regulations committee of our condo association, our power to issue such a decree […]
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