Bottom Lounge Goes Nuts For CHON
I’ve never been quite sure how to characterize CHON‘s music. Is it instrumental metal with jazz and classical tendencies? Is it lounge music played on electric guitars, backed by ferocious […]
Gogol Bordello in Chicago: Celebration without a blackout
Gogol Bordello transformed the Metro Chicago stage Wednesday night into a street performance, as my preview for this concert predicted. Each band member had his or her own bottomless tank of […]
The Hideout Gave Eight Chicago Bands A Great SXSW Sendoff…And They Thanked Us Handsomely
As I walked into The Hideout around a quarter to seven last night, I almost immediately ran into Crown Larks frontman Jack Bouboushian, one of the nicest guys you’ll meet […]
Eliot Sumner in Chicago: A musician species
With a beer in hand, an honest smile and a light soul, Eliot Sumner welcomed the audience to her Information set Thursday night at Schubas Tavern. I only discovered the […]
Ty Segall and the Muggers Got Really Weird with Thalia Hall
At some point on Monday, between my morning coffee and heading off to run errands, Ty Segall and the Muggers descended on WGN Morning News. The loud screeches of a […]
Molehill: Camaraderie fills Martyrs’
A determined man with voluminous, curly hair made his way through the crowd Saturday night in the middle of a Molehill performance at Martyrs’. Even in darkness, it only took […]
Waco Brothers album release: Moving forward with the help of history
The rebellious words, “You can’t kill us/we’re already dead,” welcome you to the newest Waco Brothers album and journey, “Going Down in History.” Before listening to it, I anticipated a […]
Blacklisted!: An Afternoon of Songs “Joe McCarthy Didn’t Want You to Hear”
Making your living as an artist has never been an easy path, but it was particularly difficult in America from the late 1940s to the early 1960s during the Second […]
From Dawn to Dusk: Music of the Baroque Offers Lively Interpretations of the Day
In an imaginative whim of programming, Jane Glover and the Music of the Baroque orchestra mined Haydn’s very early career and Mozart’s maturing phase to cobble together “From Dawn to […]
After the Show is the After Party…My Evening at Soho House Chicago
Tucked away in the seemingly top secret, instrument adorned “music room” of Soho House Chicago, Eryn Allen Kane hosted an after show following her first ever solo and, might I […]
Lil’ Ed and the Blues Imperials Made Me Forget About The Bleakness Of Reality
The blues are an inherently paradoxical art form when they make a public appearance—misery with the travails of life transmuted into joyful music. Last night at Rosa’s Lounge, Lil’ Ed […]
Diet Cig: A Blazing Ball Of Energy at Subterranean
They say the best cure for cold is moving around. If that’s the case, the Diet Cig show last night at Subterranean was probably the healthiest thing that’s happened in […]