Stage Buzz
Pat Benatar preview
Pat Benatar House Of Blues, Chicago Friday, July 18, 2008 Everything that once was comes back again and again. Walk into an Express these days and you’ll find leggings, stirrup pants, and wide elastic belts for sale. Someone having an ’80s party? No need to scrounge thrift stores or those old boxes in the basement […]
Valient Thorr preview
Valient Thorr Reggie’s Rock Club, Chicago Saturday, July 19, 2008 Tom Cruise believes they attach their souls to chosen humans, members of the Air Force’s 509th Bomb Group stationed in Roswell, New Mexico in 1947 might have captured a few, and Sammy Hagar was abducted by them (twice!), but most of us know very little […]
Bowerbirds preview
Bowerbirds Schubas, Chicago Sunday, July 20, 2008 This backwoods-dwelling, North Carolinian trio emerge for another road trip, supporting the re-release of their homespun debut.
Feufollet preview
Feufollet Dawes Park, Evanston Sunday, July 20, 2008 It’s not hard to imagine Anne Rice’s vampire, Lestat, sulking in the dark corners of a Louisiana dance hall scoping out the lean necks of his potential victims with Feufollet’s music driving the activity.
Punch Brothers
Punch Brothers Ravinia, Highland Park Monday, July 21, 2008 Bluegrass is a virtuosic style of music — no denying that. But King Crimson it ain’t, or at least shouldn’t be. So beware of bands like Punch Brothers and their four-movement, 41-minute songs.
Van Morrison live!
Van Morrison Rosemont Theatre, Rosemont Tuesday, July 8, 2008 Anyone who has seen Van Morrison knows there’s no telling what mood he’ll be in, what genre he’ll focus on, what hits he’ll sing (if any), or how long he’ll play. At 62, with 35 self-produced solo CDs under his belt, Morrison is certainly entitled to […]
Modey Lemon preview
Modey Lemon Beat Kitchen, Chicago Friday, July 11, 2008 Pittsburgh-based (how often do you read that?) Modey Lemon used to get so rough it wouldn’t have been unexpected for frontman Phil Boyd to emerge from the crowd with a fan’s newly decapitated skull dangling by its white afro. He’d probably mock headbang with it, and […]
Gavin Rossdale preview
Gavin Rossdale House of Blues, Chicago Sunday, July 13, 2008 Bush never pretended to be everyone’s cup of tea, but the Gavin Rossdale-led foursome enjoyed more than a modicum of success during grunge and alternative rock’s heyday. While often considered a second- or third-tier act on a scale defined by Nirvana, the band made the […]
Son Ambulance preview
Son Ambulance Schubas, Chicago Tuesday, July 15, 2008 For their latest album, Saddle Creek’s radar jammers waft through a tour of American songwriting techniques, lingering mostly on the West Coast.
Cancer Bats preview
Cancer Bats House Of Blues, Chicago Tuesday, July 15, 2008 On their new album, Hail Destroyer, Cancer Bats prove mixing hardcore and metal doesn’t have to equate to lame-ass metalcore. Maybe tourmates Bleeding Through will take note.
Kansas preview
Kansas Eyes To The Skies Festival, Lisle Friday, July 4, 2008 “Nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky,” go the lyrics to Kansas’ career-defining hit, “Dust In The Wind.” Well, there’s one other thing in addition to the earth and sky . . . a Kansas concert.
Hacienda Brothers preview
Hacienda Brothers FitzGerald’s, Berwyn Saturday, July 5, 2008 Despite the recent passing of founding-member Chris Gaffney, Dave Gonzalez will carry the band’s flag for this year’s American Music Festival.
Green Jelly preview
Green Jelly Double Door, Chicago Friday, June 27, 2008 In nearly three decades as a band (“3 Little Pigs” in 1992 might have been the first time you heard ’em, but they have actually been around since the early ’80s), Green Jelly have released two full-length, studio albums. Two. In 27 years. That’s 226 fewer […]
God-Des & She preview
God-Des & She Circuit Nightclub, Chicago Friday, June 27, 2008 Though we’ll never say never, there are a lot of factors working against God-Des becoming a household hip-hop name or Source-approved MC. One, she is obviously a woman, and though there’re certainly exceptions to the rule, sadly, female rhymers only seem to get attention when […]
Hayden preview
Hayden Schubas, Chicago Saturday, June 28, 2008 The standout track on Hayden’s fifth full-length, In Field & Town (Fat Possum), is also the album’s shortest number. “Weight Of The World” wisps by in less than two minutes, leaving a vapor trail of loveliness that just begs for another verse. Rolling acoustic guitar, a sweet harmonica […]
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