First, I pay my respects to the fallen Prince, whose legacy will always live in thriving artists like the band whose news I am honored to bring you today. “EM-I-LY! EM-I-LY! EM-I-LY!” […]
Brother StarRace Concert Review: A racing heart fills Schubas
Lisa Loeb Wins us Over all Over Again @ Old Town School
Everyone in the room at Old Town School of Folk Music had that moment when they fell in love with a Lisa Loeb song. For many it might have been “Stay”, or […]
Howardian: Bedroom Music by a Garage Band
The veteran rocker Ian Vanek places a small drum kit at the front of the stage: bass drum, snare, ride cymbal, floor tom, and another tom. Though a minimal kit, he prepares […]
Let The Funk Be With You: Songhoy Blues’ Story Unfolds Through Soul
Minutes before Songhoy Blues made their way center stage to appear before an eager, excited crowd, I saw them huddled together behind a pair of windows placed above Martyrs’ kitchen doors. From a distance, […]
Junior Boys at Metro Chicago: Program Me into Light
Two modest Canadian guys named Junior Boys filled Metro Chicago Wednesday night with syncopating synth pulses, and vocals that made the audience below me feel like a tide. Behind Vocalist, Guitarist and […]
weAREproductions Damns Love, Lies in Fleetwood Macbeth at Public House Theatre
Writer/director and weAREproductions co-founder Ricky W. Glore has set the Scottish play in a 70s radio station. King (Duncan, played by lanky Aaron Sarka) is the reigning disc jockey with a penchant […]
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 drumming? My typical […]
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 energy. At […]
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 in Chicago’s […]
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 band three […]
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 crying baby […]
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 me a […]
