Stage Buzz
Nile & Chthonic preview
Nile, Chthonic Pearl Room, Mokena Tuesday, August 7, 2007 Here’s the thing about Ozzfest 2007: The lineup is lame. Maybe the festival lost what credibility it had left a few years ago when Sharon Ozzbourne publicly sabotaged legends Iron Maiden during their last night on the tour, or maybe they couldn’t get many “names” this […]
Tegan & Sara preview
Tegan & Sara Lakeshore Theater, Chicago Tuesday, August 7, 2007 The angular haircuts. The high-pitched, nasal vocals and seamless harmonies. It must be twin singer-songwriting team Tegan & Sara.
Ra Ra Riot preview
Ra Ra Riot Beat Kitchen, Chicago Thursday, July 26, 2007 Ra Ra Riot supposedly hadn’t even practiced when they booked their first gig – an example of how rapidly things took off for the Syracuse chamber pop group. Barely more than a year after forming, Riot had all the hippest rock publications all but fist […]
Bat For Lashes preview
Bat For Lashes Schubas, Chicago Friday, July 27, 2007 She has Thom Yorke’s seal of approval, and really that’s quite a feat in itself. In addition to rock’s favorite falsetto-drenched experimentalist, Natasha Khan (a.k.a. Bat For Lashes) has won over a slew of heavy-hitting musicians with her debut, Fur And Gold (Caroline/Echo), including Björk, Pulp’s […]
The Subdudes preview
The Subdudes Beverly Arts Center, Chicago Saturday, July 28, 2007 New Orleans, for the most part, has not recovered from Katrina yet. The Subdudes are more than back on their feet, however, and show the kind of fundamental strength a building or levee could never match.
ZibraZibra preview
ZibraZibra The Note, Chicago Saturday, July 28, 2007 What do a band mentored by pudgy, white, R&B crooner Har Mar Superstar sound like? Apparently ZibraZibra.
The Race & The New Mastersounds preview
The Race Wicker Park Fest, Chicago Sunday, July 29, 2007 In mid 2004, Chicago Reader columnist Bob Mehr wrote an article on The Race, subtitled “finally starting to get somewhere.” Rather amusingly, it has been attached to the press kit for the Chicago band’s fourth album, Ice Station (Flameshovel).
Mr. Gnome preview
Mr. Gnome Ronny’s, Chicago Friday, July 21, 2007 What if the White Stripes decided to eschew their blues influences and concentrate solely on metal and hardcore material and switched the lineup around with Ms. Meg White taking lead vocals and saddling Jack with the drum kit? The result would sound a lot like Cleveland, Ohio […]
The Fold preview
The Fold Metro, Chicago Friday, July 20, 2007 This show, for which The Fold play in support of the disbanding Allister, probably shouldn’t seem so distant for the openers. The Chicago group barely survived a dissolution of their own — actually, they didn’t.
Matt Dusk goes shopping
Matt Dusk Sam’s Club, Hodgkins Friday, July 20, 2007 We’ve heard about artists like Garth Brooks signing deals with Wal-Mart, making their albums available exclusively through that chain of stores. But promoting your new album by touring Sam’s Clubs?
Sounds Of The Underground preview
Sounds Of The Underground Congress Theatre, Chicago Monday, July 23, 2007 Hoping to go to the Sounds Of The Underground festival when it stops in Chicago? Have a job? Go to school? Need to watch your kid(s) during the day while your wife/husband is at work/school? If you answered yes to any of these, it’s […]
Paid Dues preview
Paid Dues Tour Abbey Pub, Chicago Wednesday, July 25, 2007 With the exception of a few possible spots on the Vans Warped Tour, indie hip-hop acts are pretty much on their own when it comes to touring the states in the summertime. But thanks to down-to-earth MC Murs and marketing company Guerrilla Union, some of […]
Pitchfork Music Festival preview
Pitchfork Music Festival Union Park, Chicago Friday, July 13 – Sunday, July 15, 2007 Wal-Mart has everything you could possibly want or need, right? Still, it’s nice sometimes to go to the local grocery mart instead. The choices may be fewer and parking might be tougher, but you don’t have to give your hard-earned cash […]
John Doe preview
John Doe Abbey Pub, Chicago Sunday, July 15, 2007 John Doe has established enough of a solo career that it feels uncomfortable and lazy to keep mentioning his old band, Los Angelino punk juggernaut X.
Weedeater preview
Weedeater Empty Bottle, Chicago Monday, July 16, 2007 Some bands eschew “stoner rock.” Fu Manchu, often thought of as one of the sub-genre’s grizzled vets, aren’t fond of the term, for example. Weedeater aren’t either. To hear them explain it, they aren’t stoner rock – how degrading? The North Carolinians much prefer “weed metal.”
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