Gapers Block published from April 22, 2003 to Jan. 1, 2016. The site will remain up in archive form. Please visit Third Coast Review, a new site by several GB alumni. ✶ Thank you for your readership and contributions. ✶
There was a time not long ago that it seemed most people were pretty much snickering at the idea of taking a street artist approach to fame via Youtube. Really, there're millions of people who own webcams and play a guitar. But as we evolve, so does the method in which we find diamonds in the rough. And so it is that a Malaysian singer/songwriter went from a self-shot video to a full-length album and opening for Pete Yorn in two years. Now two years later, Zee Avi's sophomore record, Ghostbird, has been produced by Mario Caldato, Jr., who's worked on a few albums by some acts called the Beastie Boys, Seu Jorge and Super Furry Animals, among others. Not too bad for a 25-year old who plays ukulele, right? It doesn't hurt to have such a smooth voice while adeptly blending southern Pacific and American folk musics either.
Zee Avi headlines Schubas next Tuesday, the 4th. Matt Jennings opens at 8PM. The show's 18+ and $12. But you won't have to worry about that if you're lucky because Gapers Block is giving away a pair of tickets to this show. Write in to contests@gapersblock.com with "Ghostbird" in the subject line for a chance to win. [Update: We have a winner. Congratulations to Maura.] Schubas is on the corner of Belmont & Southport.
Beirut at the Congress Theater (photos by Andy Keil)
Ah, how time flies. No more the 17-year-old Sante Fe-based wunderkind piecing together an album in his bedroom, Beirut frontman Zach Condon has grown into his own, and nowhere was this more apparent than at their show at the Congress Theater on Monday night. Where before Condon was a bit gawky and awkward onstage, he is now a self-assured, 25-year-old trumpet-playing crooner who knows how to keep an audience captivated.
Last month, Heineken brought TV on the Radio to a billboard in Manhattan as the first installment of their "Occasionally Perfect" concert series, and last night Chicago got a pop up show of our own. Thanks to some cryptic tweets on Heineken's Twitter account and a bit of investigative work done by A.V. Club, Twitter was abuzz with the news that Canadian indie rock heavy hitters Broken Social Scene would be playing a surprise set in a parking lot across the street from Wrigley Field, at Addison and Sheffield.
Convinced there would be overwhelming crowds, I showed up half an hour early, only to find about 200 people milling about the huge lot. Within ten minutes, that number doubled, and by the time the band started the crowd had amassed at least 500 people. Occasionally perfect it was, as it had stopped raining shortly before the show started and was somehow warm enough to be outside in short sleeves. The band came on promptly at 8 pm, and played seven songs in approximately 40 minutes, including "Anthems for a Seventeen Year Old Girl", "Cause = Time", "7/4 (Shoreline)", before topping it off with "Ibi Dreams Of Pavement", wherein the band made the crowd scream at the top of our lungs, last gasps of summer into the night.
On August 26th, a leather-clad, Viking-esque man named Nordic Thunder took to a rain-slicked stage in Finland and showed the world how a Chicagoan rocks the fictional guitar at the 2011 World Air Guitar Championship. Despite a valiant effort that included one monumental slide off the stage, the U.S.'s 2011 champion lost by 0.3 points to Germany's The Devil's Niece.
On the other side of the world, I, along with many of my Rotary coworkers, watched Nordic Thunder, who we knew as that video guy, Justin Howard, flip sweat-drenched hair and jam his imaginary ax. It was hard to believe that guy on stage was the same quiet guy from the elevator.
Nordic Thunder (aka Justin Howard) (photo by Alyce Henson)
It got me thinking, who is this Nordic Thunder fellow and just what makes him rock? Luckily, the air guitarist had some free time between photo shoots and signing autographs to sit down for some tea.
Folk rock group The Avett Brothers play a sold-out show at the Aragon Ballroom tomorrow night -- and we're lucky enough to have three pairs of tickets to give away! If you're interested, email contests@gapersblock.com with the subject line "I and Love and You." Include your name and phone number. We have our winners! Congratulations to Casey, Lindsey and Emily!
As the first half of the 20th century drew to a close, it was looking like the big innovation defining the century would be Arnold Schoenberg's concept of Serialism. The mathematically precise 12-tone compositional approach turned classical music into something like composing by mathematical algorithm, something better analyzed like architecture than felt. But as the post-war years progressed, it became clear that other, more exciting forces were gathering momentum.
The 1950s, contrary to pop culture's depiction of it as a sterile, Leave It To Beaver-styled cultural wasteland, supported a thriving community of radical thinkers and artists, working in relative obscurity and pushing further outward despite the general disdain of the post-war public toward anything avant-garde. For a time, art was progressing faster than critics could dissect and compartmentalize it: as Morton Feldman put it, "there was a period [in the early '50s], maybe six weeks at most, where nobody understood art." Jazz musicians showed that compositions could be melodically and harmonically rich, yet also spontaneous. The Abstract Expressionists pushed themselves into difficult artistic corners, reducing and refining their emotional and aesthetic urges into movements and gestures, personal rhythms and "happy accidents" that moved even beyond abstract movements like Cubism. And, during the intermission of a concert featuring the music of Anton Webern, two complete strangers met for the first time...
Take parts hip-hop MC, gravelly Waitsian vocals, and a heaping spoonful of literary, historical, and musical influences, and you've baked yourself a tasty little Astronautalis pie. The Minneapolis-based indie rapper and singer's latest album, This Is Our Science, recently opened at number three on the CMJ Hip-Hop Charts and number nine on the iTunes Hip-Hop Charts (check out his video for "Contrails," featuring Tegan Quin (of Tegan and Sarah). Or check out some crowd-shot video of him performing the song in Texas back in May.
Catch Astronautalis live on Saturday, Oct. 1 at Schubas (3159 N. Southport). Opening is locals Ant'lrd and Sharkula. The show starts at 10pm, tickets are a whole $12, and you can get yours online or at the door.
Riot Fest returns for their seventh year in Chicago next week, bringing in a large number of big-name acts to five venues around the city. I've been covering Riot Fest for Transmission for the past couple years, and I've never been as fired up about a line-up as I am for what they have in store for us in 2011. What makes Riot Fest the highlight among the massive list of Chicago music festivals are its almost unheard of reunions of legendary punk acts, its secret shows in tiny venues, along with its exposure for local talent. Keep reading for a Riot Fest 2011 night-by-night run down.
My thoughts on the success of the Hideout Block Party this past weekend depends on when you asked me. If it was while I was enjoying food truck fare, sitting in the sunshine, while a lazy crowd milled about during Booker T.'s killer set, then I would have given a resounding two thumbs up. If you asked after the food and beer ran out, when the lines to go anywhere (inside the Hideout, inside a toilet) stretched far and wide, and I was freezing as the temperatures dipped, then I might have growled. Weather aside, I was surprised at the lack of organization, but given the fact the actual party has been on hiatus a few years (The Mad Decent Crew and Bloodshot Records took over for a bit), I'll chalk it up to being a bit rusty and hope that next year they don't run out of beer or food.
There's a strangely sparse yet full atmosphere in Grandkids' music that sounds partly like a band making conscious efforts to stay reserved and partly finding the right recipe. It's not difficult to hear the influences of current indie-folk, but there are all sorts of random hints bubbling underneath their music from a little garage-rock to some avant-garde stuff that reminded me of Imperial f.f.r.r. to 60s girl-pop and beyond. With a cello as a bass substitute, the foursome has some interesting room to explore by bringing it out from just being a rhythmic device. Even though this college band has a lot of promise in their songs, their greatest asset might be the spirited fans who crowded the chapel at the Channing-Murray Foundation, which actually reminded me of the defunct Epiphany, though without awesome steel supports. (Grandkids will be at the Fireside Bowl next Saturday, the 4th.)
They Might Be Giants' John Flansburgh (photos by Steve Stearns)
I never expected the 1972 song "A Horse With No Name" to get stuck in my head after Friday night's They Might Be Giants show at the Vic, but when I woke up Saturday morning there it was — it's unimaginative two-chord self fixed into my eardrums. Midway through the show John Flansburgh and John Linnell invited the entire Onion AV Club onstage, acoustic guitars in hand, for the purpose of playing a song that has only two chords in it. "Join in, don't act like you don't know the words," Linnell called into the mic, prompting the sold-out audience to sing along to what is possibly the most boring song ever written, and transforming it into a wryly humorous piece that only TMBG could pull off.
The show was full of such playful moments — the audience dance contest, for example, with one lucky fan winning a vinyl copy of TMBG's latest album, "Join Us", and three other not-so-lucky fans that came away with booby prizes like a copy of a Rick Springfield LP. At one point the band went backstage, appearing on a giant screen in the form of sock puppets reporting "live from London", in order to appease their newest sponsor, "Epic Fail Bologna Sandwiches." And in a moment of playful hilarity, they broke into the chorus of the 1997 Chumbawamba earworm "Tubthumping," with lively audience participation.
Start your week off right, with a pair of tickets to tonight's show at The Empty Bottle and an autographed poster from The Low Anthem. The Rhode Island indie folk act have been on tour for the past three years since the release of their third studio album Oh My God, Charlie Darwin. They released Smart Flesh this past February, a mix of hauntingly beautiful love songs and rousing Americana folk with always present perfect harmonies. The band is getting ready to take a break from touring for a bit, so this is your last chance to see them live for a bit if you've been putting it off. Also make sure to head out early and catch opening act Sleepy Sun for a woozy dose of swirling psychedelic folk pop.
Write to contests@gapersblock.com with "Oh My God, Charlie Darwin" in the subject line for a chance to win! The winner will get two tickets to their show at The Empty Bottle tonight, along with a lovely signed poster from the band. Update! We have a winner! Congrats to Christopher!
The Low Anthem and Sleepy Sun play tonight, Monday September 26th, at The Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western Ave. The show starts at 9:30pm and tickets are just $12.
The showcase event at this year's Pygmalion Music Festival was the Polyvinyl 15th Anniversary show that took place in a parking lot behind the Highdive on Saturday. Despite less than favorable weather (chilly, sporadic drizzling), a large crowd showed up to celebrate the Champaign label that's heralded numerous acts from our backyard to Sweden and Australia, from hardcore to ambient.
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin (all photos by Rory O'Connor)
Now, I must begin by admitting that I cannot take Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin seriously because of their name. (See also: Let's Get Out of This Terrible Sandwich Shop, Natalie Portman's Shaved Head, Does It Offend You, Yeah?, et al.) Even when they described a rather serious song about three missing girls, I couldn't get past their name. And it turns out they're really just safe indie-rock with a few punchy hooks.
[This review comes to us from writer Kyle Sparks.]
It's an awkward time to see Japandroids. It's been two years since the two-piece garage-rock group from Vancouver, British Columbia, dropped their debut LP, Post-Nothing, and we've heard nothing but a trio of 7" records last year to remind us that they even exist. Their forthcoming record is all but done, but nobody's heard any part of it. So the entire atmosphere behind their show at Schubas Friday night was a collective state of bated breath for what comes next.
That's a pretty complicated question for Japandroids, because it would seem that immaturity is a cornerstone of their success. Post-Nothing was a brilliant concoction of pop songs teeming with youthful vigor, and perhaps the best way of describing Japandroids to the uninitiated is "boyish." Brian King and David Prowse are like two energetic puppies, incapable of sitting still long enough not to play extra-rowdy renditions of their inspired rock 'n' roll gems. For roughly an hour, the duo ran through the majority of their catalog like there was nothing else in the entire world that mattered near as much. There's hardly a person at a Japandroids show who enjoys their set more than they do, though there were those who came close. The onslaught made a lot of middle-aged concertgoers get rowdy like they were kids again, and made this 22-year-old think twice about his plans to go straight home after the show.
I happened to run into Bottle Rockets drummer Mark Ortmann in the lobby of the Old Town School of Folk Music as they waited to go on for an encore with Marshall Crenshaw at the earlier of their two shows Friday night. Exchanging a pleasantry, I complimented him on the show, and he smiled and thanked me, commenting that "This tour is so much fun." I was glad to hear it, but I don't think I needed the confirmation, as the performances of both The Bottle Rockets and Marshall Crenshaw were consistent with good artists having a good time plying their trade.
Temporarily reduced to a three-piece as guitarist John Horton attended to a newborn at home, the remaining Bottle Rockets, guitarist and vocalist Brian Henneman, drummer Ortmann and bass player Kieth Voegele opened the show with an acoustic set that included many of their classics such as "1000 Dollar Car" and "Kit Kat Clock". The acoustic versions hew closer to the songs' origins, and brought into sharp relief the quality of the band's songwriting, exploring various aspects of Joe Six-Pack existence. Even with stripped down instrumentation and a shorthanded band, songs packed emotional depth while managing to remain light, often weaving dark themes with levity as in "Lucky Break", about spending time on workman's comp.
Finishing their set and coming back in rock band mode, The Bottle Rockets returned to support Marshall Crenshaw as he led the attentive audience through a retrospective of his thirty year career. Crenshaw dipped into his vast repertoire, playing a variety of songs from all stages of his career, as well as some choice covers including Richard Thompson's "Valerie", and Buddy Holly's "Cryin', Waitin', Hopin'" and "Rave On". Wielding a disconcertingly shiny candy-apple red Strat, Crenshaw played songs written with writing partners stretching from his teen years to more contemporary collaborations with artists such as Dan Bern.
In fact, if there was anything wrong with the show, it was somewhat mirrored in the pristine finish of Crenshaw's guitar. Under the plain white lighting of the Old Town's stage, and in front of an attentive but subdued audience, the performance occasionally felt a little too sterile, at times seeming more like a workshop on what a show should look like than a living, breathing show. Though the room itself seemed a little flat at times, it's ultimately hard to argue with the success of the night's lineup. A stage full of tested musicians having a good time is never a bad thing.
It was just over two months ago that Cut Copy dominated a late afternoon set at Pitchfork. (And it was just this past Tuesday that they played a packed Riviera on the last leg of US touring.) They've come a long way from the band they used to be even three years ago - ditching t-shirts and jeans for dress shirts and trousers, using lighting more efficiently and scaling back when appropriate. It took a couple songs for them and the crowd to warm up at the Canopy Club on Friday night, but soon enough everyone got their bearings.
Portland electronic act Starfucker (STRFKR) are stopping through town next week in support of their second album Reptilians. The band has gone through a few name and line-up changes since their 2008 self-titled album, and their sound has undergone some transformations as well. After the death of songwriter John Hodges' grandmother, they've been exploring dark and morbid themes in their songs, but ironically have remained as catchy and poppy as ever.
STRFKR will be scoring the soundtrack to feature film In Bloom, written and directed by Chicagoan Chris Birkmeier. The movie, which follows a couple falling out of love, has just wrapped up filming and is about to move into post-production, but they need a little cash to help with production costs. Tonight at minibar, the film's producers are hosting a fundraising event featuring music from local DJ Beakr and specialty cocktails. 20% of the night's sales will be donated to fund the post-production of In Bloom. For more details, check out the Facebook event page.
STRFKR play an all ages show Lincoln Hall Tuesday, September 27th at 7 p.m. (show moved from Monday, September 26th). Tickets are $15 and can be purchased here. Beat Connection and Alexico open.
First nights of music festivals, even established ones with stellar lineups, can be a mixed bag with the culmination of months of planning, little hiccups and the sense of anticipation jumbled together. On Wednesday, the 7th year of Champaign's Pygmalion Music Festival kicked off with Common Loon, Viva Voce and Explosions in the Sky at the Canopy Club. It wasn't perfect, but the flaws weren't major and the anticipation is clearly warranted.
With the last day of the North Coast Music Festival came the sigh of disappointment heard round the city; it was the end of summer music festival season. But while our sweat-filled days of grooving and boozing along side of thousands of like-minded music junkies have come to an exhausted and satisfying end, there is still plenty of music to love left for fall.
Fortunately for Chicagoans, when temperatures dip the Chicago music scene just moves indoors to the lovely hearths of Lincoln Hall, the Empty Bottle and the Riv (just to name a few favorites). Think of it not as an end to your music-saturated summer days spent flirting with five or more bands a day, but rather the opportunity to settle down with that one special band in intimate quarters...at least for one night.
Check out who the Transmission staff will be cozying up with over the next few months.
For most of their career, St. Louis' Bottle Rockets have languished as something of an alt-country wallflower. While their formation in 1992 certainly qualifies them as one of the genre's seminal groups, their bio at times reads a little a hard-luck depression era novel, filled with near misses close calls. It's fortunate for us, then, that a band that has rightfully flirted with fame and just not quite gotten there to date is still around for us to enjoy.
Often criminally overshadowed by contemporaries Uncle Tupelo, the Bottle Rockets' earnest folk rock style remains an exemplar of the genre. More or less, they inhabit the live space like the Platonic Form of what a bar band should be. Recently, the band has rolled back the chicken wire cage and retreated a bit from its honky-tonk roots with an acoustic album Not So Loud - An Acoustic Evening with the Bottle Rockets on Chicago's Bloodshot label. The album showcases the group's tight songwriting, which draws comparisons to Woody Guthrie, and stands up to the work of any working folk songsters of the modern age.
The Bottle Rockets are opening the show at the Old Town School of Folk Music for singer, songwriter, DJ, and general musical yeoman Marshall Crenshaw. Crenshaw has penned songs for a bevy of other artists, and know inhabits an interesting space as a DJ for New York station WFUV, drawing from his personal record collection.
The Bottle Rockets and Marshall Crenshaw perform at the Old Town School of Folk Music tomorrow night, Friday, September 23rd at 7pm and 10pm. Tickets for the 10pm show are still available at Old Town School's site.
[This review comes to us from writer Davis Inman.]
Freelance Whales at the Empty Bottle (photo courtesy Eventbrite)
On Saturday night, Chicago was part of a simultaneous five-city, five-concert series put on by the San Francisco-based event ticketing start-up, Eventbrite. While The Hold Steady rocked The Beekman Beer Garden in New York and Wavves played L.A.'s The Troubadour, the indie-pop quintet Freelance Whales took the stage at Chicago's Empty Bottle.
The New York-based Whales drew a respectable crowd, and what the fans lacked in numbers, they made up for in enthusiasm, singing and dancing along with the band's multiharmonied baroque pop gems. The band opened with the song "Generator First Floor," a catchy ode to a haunted house, which also scored a spot in Twitter's quirky site redesign video. The group displayed plenty of musical dexterity with a stage full of instruments — guitar, banjo, synth, glockenspiel, harmonium, mandolin — which members seemed to trade between each song. Frontman Judah Dadone came out on banjo, but throughout the evening also played acoustic and electric guitars, bass, and a small synth at the front of the stage. The band's "bassist" Doris Cellar sometimes did double-duty (mid-song!) on harmonium, which Dadone joked was on its last leg after tipping over during one particularly raucous jam-out.
The free show was also a benefit for local charity Rock For Kids, which provides music education programs for underserved kids in the Chicagoland area. The band, who are not currently touring and had driven all the way from New York to play the show, were clearly excited by the opportunity to support a good cause, encouraging audience members to donate. Eventbrite's Vanessa Hope Schneider says the five concerts were a huge success. "A hundred percent of the money we collected will be going straight to the charities," she said.
[This review comes to us from writer Jason P. Olexa. He can be found on Twitter at @TacoHugsPHD.]
"Dixie" Dave Collins strode onto the stage of Reggie's Rock Club in Chicago's south side with his bass slung low. He braced his legs into a perfect sea captain's stance and directed his steely glare across the mass assembled to see his band, Weedeater, perform. After taking a long draw from his tall-boy of Old Style, Dixie smiled, revealing a mouth of gold, and lead his band of warriors into "Hammer Handle," the first crushing reverie from Weedeater's newest album Jason... The Dragon (Southern Lord, 2011). Drummer "Keko" Keith Kirkum and Dixie annexed large swaths of sonic low end in their quest to find the perfect rollicking laid back beer-in-a-paper-bag rock groove. Dave "Shep" Shepherd's guitar amp spit purple fog as the words of Dr. Stephen Strange from Marvel Team-Up, Volume One, Issue 21 flashed across his mind "There are few things in the infinite cosmos that are far beyond my power to command". Shep conjured a psychedelic metal riff from the ether that slithered its way onto the audience's amygdalae. Dixie lolled his head back, feeling the groove roll over him and hunched over the mic ready to deliver. The spirit of Bon Scott was called back to this level of existence through Dixie's whiskey soaked vocal chords. The gathered Chicago metal warlocks raised their hands in elaborate eldritch claws and rasped the lyrics into the rapidly shrinking space between the audience and the performers. The assembled spell casters with precognitive abilities knew this was the beginning of another masterful display of muscular southern metal from Weedeater. In the dim corners of the rock club one began to imagine a gathering of spirit animals taking shape and tapping a keg for one hell of a cosmic party.
[The following preview comes to us from writer Davis Inman.]
Laura Marling, the young British singer-songwriter who came up alongside the London folk ranks with Mumford & Sons and Johnny Flynn, will play Lincoln Hall on Thursday.
Marling's new album A Creature I Don't Know puts her more firmly in the spotlight, having gained steam off last year's I Speak Because I Can, as well as a nice Jack White-helmed cover of Neil Young's "The Needle and the Damage Done" for Third Man Record's blue series.
On Creature, the comparisons to Joni Mitchell's Laurel Canyon golden age are even harder to ignore. First single "Sophia" finds Marling rolling through the hills and hitting those high lonesome notes.
Opening for Marling will be Alessi's Ark, another young Brit, whose obscure and whimsical tunes are given a wider audience by the British indie label Bella Union (Midlake, Vetiver).
Laura Marling plays Lincoln Hall on September 22, 2011 at 9pm (18+). Alessi's Ark opens. The show is currently sold out. Lincoln Hall is located at 2424 N. Lincoln Ave.
Last weekend welcomed the inaugural Brilliant Corners of Popular Amusements festival to West Town's Eckhart Park, a combination carnival/music festival/circus/vaudeville show. The park was separated with two tents — the Criss/Cross Tent with live music and the Magic City Tent with several circus and cabaret acts. Between the tents lie an assortment of carnival games and rides, a smaller version of the Renegade Craft Fair, and a few wandering jugglers and other performers.
Brilliant Corners certainly didn't lack in entertainment, but was strangely absent in attendees. The crowd was sparse throughout the entire weekend, and Sunday's rain showers certainly didn't help. Over the course of the weekend I mentioned the festival to several people I know who would probably enjoy seeing Shellac or Dan Deacon or School of Seven Bells in a circus tent, and not one person had even heard of it. The festival had two entrances off Chicago Ave, but I did not see any sort of sign facing the street that a festival was going on inside the park.
[This review comes to us from writer Jason P. Olexa. He can be followed on Twitter @TacohugsPHD.]
Bass rumbles and spits from my breathing regulator as I was deep under the sea in some gear that makes me look relevant to a goth's steampunk fantasies. Trying hard to focus on the reason I'm in this Batman wet dream get-up to find the long hidden entrance to Atlantis. My attention kept drifting to the species of aquatic life striped in colors humanity didn't even know existed. A deep-sea dub beat explodes and I find myself straddled on a Pegasus lifting me high out of the ocean, climbing effortlessly through the air. We're talking post skyscraper high, post supaman high, post rainbow high. As my vision adjusts to the brilliant light I make out St. Peter, Pimp C, and the metaphysical spirit of the Jodeci album Mad Band given human form in a candy colored hot tub. A clean-cut young man on a harp is dropping these R. Kelly romance jams straight out his vocal cords. I'm taking it in. I'm smiling. I'm in heaven and even if that Pegasus takes me back down to earth I have a new goal. This whole heaven deal seems all right with me and I'd like to spend more time.
The Pegasus taps the dulcet toned harpist on the shoulder and informs him of an earthly engagement. As a man who can't stop moving, partially due to the bends induced by my rapid accent into the metaphysical cosmos, I key in on the cut of The Pegasus' jib and hitch a ride back down to earth. I find myself in a candlelit neo-Gothic tavern named Schubas as my partner in travels hoists his harp onto the stage. Two fellow members of his sonic clergy on bass and drums join him; he introduces himself as Pat Grossi and his band is Active Child. Led by a rumbling bass tone, they launch into their fist song and I'm back at that heavenly poolside party.
Marissa Nadler, a singer-songwriter from Boston, draws on the haunted minor key dirges of Gillian Welch with some of the atmosphere of Kate Bush. But with long black hair, a white dress, and black stockings, singing songs about loss and death, she could also be the ghost of Joan Baez, ca. 1963.
Nadler pulled mostly from songs from her new self-titled, self-released album. Whereas album versions feature weeping steel lines and occasional synths, on stage it was Nadler, alone. It's hard to be entertaining in a quiet room these days, but it helps to have a great voice or great songs, and Nadler has both.
The Baltic-influenced craze that hit the indie world a few years ago has died to a slow simmer, but that waning has separated the true troubadours from those who just wanted a reason to grow fancy mustaches. Beirut counts among the former. After appearing at Lollapalooza 2011, Beirut will be back in town on Monday, September 26, at the Congress Theater, touring to promote their third full-length album, The Rip Tide.
Opening the show is Stereolab singer Laetitia Sadier. The show begins at 7pm. Tickets are $30 presale. Get yours online or at the door. The Congress Theater is located at 2135 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Since the advent of digital music files and sites like MySpace and bandcamp, it's become easier than ever to start a band. Ergo the extremely high turnover rate of popular musical acts and the fickleness that many music scenes have come to experience in recent years. With so much turbulence in the music industry today, a band's ten-year anniversary is not something to be taken lightly. This year, alt-indie rockers Minus the Bear are celebrating the big ten with a special anniversary tour that hits the Metro on October 11.
With a sound that's obscure enough to have steered MTB away from an abundance of radio success, this Seattle-based crew has spread their musical dabblings across the indie, alternative and experimental spectrum, gaining a highly dedicated fanbase along the way. Minus the Bear have continued to dominate the field of alternative rock with a constant array of velvety guitar lines interwoven with a driving rhythm section and soulful vocals.
As a special commemoration of the band's history, Minus the Bear will be playing its debut full length, 2002's Highly Refined Pirates, in its entirety at each stop of the tour.
Minus the Bear will take the stage at the Metro on October 11. The show is all ages and starts at 7:30pm. The Velvet Teen will be kicking the night off. Tickets are still available through the Metro's website. $23.50 in advance/$26 day of the show.
If you're feeling a little overwhelmed with your typical street festival, look no further for something truly original and enchanting. The Brilliant Corners of Popular Amusements held in Chicago's Eckhart Park seems like it will provide just about everything to concert goers and thrill seekers alike. The weekend festival boasts a delightful and eclectic lineup musically as well as rides, games, circus acts, a farmer's market and the Renegade Craft Fair (which on its own typically draws a large amount of traffic). The Brilliant Corners website states, "Some might say that Brilliant Corners of Popular Amusements hopes to reinvent the traditions of Vaudeville for a 21st century audience..." and considering what it's offering, this sounds quite accurate. Plus, if you're still on the fence, the festival has partnered with local non profits including Girls Rock Chicago to make this truly a feel good experience in all ways.
Head over to Panchos - 2200 n. California Ave - tonight for The Treasure Fleet (includes members of Smoking Popes, The Arrivals, Sass Dragons and The Lawrence Arms). The Treasure Fleet play with Canadian Rifle, Witches and Holopaw.
Doors open at 8 pm, is 18+ and is $8.
You can buy tickets and get more info of this show here.
[This preview comes to us from writer Kyle Sparks.]
Hunx, aka Seth Bogart, is not afraid to let it all hang out. With his Punx by his side, the flamboyant frontman writes catchy, Ramones-esque melodies about cute parties and cuter boys, shouting all of his most intimate romantic yearnings for all to hear. But it's just as likely that most readers will recognize his face (or something else...) from his nude cameo in the "hardcore" version of Girls' "Lust For Life" video in 2009 (link NSFW, obviously).
Photo courtesy Hunx & His Punx
But it's important not to think of Hunx & His Punx as simply a gimmick of homoerotic fantasy housed in the musical talent of others. The group's first outing, last year's Gay Singles, is an eclectic collection of singles and EPs that introduced an ethos better fleshed out on this year's To Young To Be In Love. The contradiction is apparent, because nearly every song is about falling in love. But Bogart's point has more to do with the other half of it--the falling out. Because no matter how many boys woo him, he never comes away from a relationship without some nagging regret. Love is only exciting so long as it is regenerating.
Likewise, the boy-girl vocal interplay between Hunx & His Punx supplies their lively tunes with a dynamic backdrop. While they tear through the same styles of San Fran punk rock like Nobunny, Hunx & His Punx deliver four-chord pop songs like they owe it to themselves. They add elements of doo-wop and '50s candy shop pop. At their best, they sound like a great group of friends who can't get over how great life would be if it weren't for all these other people. Everyone can be reduced into two categories: fun and miserable. For the former, Wednesday's show at the Double Door will be a great time. Those of the latter need not apply.
Hunx & His Punx headline the Double Door this Wednesday, September 14. Natural Child opens. Doors open at 9pm, and the show is 21+. The cover is free with an RSVP. The Double Door is located at 1572 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Overshadowed by Jeff Tweedy's Black Eyed Peas covers at the @MayorEmanuel book release party, Wilco released a video this week for the new song "Born Alone" from the band's forthcoming album, The Whole Love. It was directed by Mark Greenberg, proprietor of Mayfair Workshop and a member of The Coctails. GB contributor Dave Elfving interviewed Greenberg in 2005 about music-making and odd instruments. Greenberg is credited as an assistant producer on the album, so it's possible some of those instruments are woven into the background.
Chicago label Bloodshot Records is getting out and having themselves a bit of a party Friday night, and you're very much invited. Two years ago, they went all out for the 15 year mark with their own Hideout Block Party and earlier this year, they released a live CD from the day of rock called No One Got Hurt: Bloodshot's 15th Anniversary — a true enough title, for sure (currently on sale at the Bloodshot site).
This weekend is still a big party, even if they're not putting up a tent about it. With prime Bloodshot acts the Waco Brothers, The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir, Danny Black and Nora O'Connor, and Deadstring Brothers (solo) on the bill, it'll be a night packed with super alt-country and rock favorites. Better yet, there's beer from Goose Island and food specials, including yum yums from Dangerously Delicious Pies. Tickets are $10 and music starts at 7pm. The Hideout is located at 1354 W. Wabansia. 773-227-4433.
While Sunday is a day of rest for most, North Coast goers knew that the third and final day of the fest was their last chance to get all the raging out of their system. It was one of, if not, the most rock-heavy days, with acts like Of Montreal, Gogel Bordello and locals Van Ghost hitting the big stages, but you didn't have to search too hard to find some bass thumping. -Katie Karpowicz
If Saturday was sloppy, Sunday was a bit strung out, as tired hippies hooped a little slower and in general the crowd (until Bassnectar) seemed a bit more subdued. Granted there was a raging circle pit at Gogol Bordello and the kids at the Red Bull stage were still dancing hard (that might be the Red Bull), but overall I saw more people relaxing in the shade, taking it easy on the suddenly chilly afternoon. I also thankfully saw more security around the areas surrounding the sound board, a problem that was apparent in my Saturday coverage, so it was nice to see the festival staying on their toes and trying their best to improve any newbie mistakes. -Lisa White
A mere eight weeks after Lollapalooza, Perry Farrell will be in Chicago again, this time to launch Jane's Addiction's latest album, The Great Escape Artist, with a pair of shows at the Metro Sept. 24 and 25. The band will do similar two-night stands in New York and Los Angeles after Chicago. They're playing at IHeartRadio in Las Vegas the night before.
Tickets are $35 and will go on sale Saturday, Sept. 10 at noon on metrochicago.com only -- no lining up at the box office for this one. There will be a four-ticket limit per order. The show is 18 and over.
The album, which is officially released Oct. 18, is the band's first since 2003's Strays. The first single is "Irresistible Force." According to the press release, Jane's Addiction launched their 1988 album Nothing's Shocking with two shows at the Metro; Symphony of Ghosts has a bootleg of the Nov. 25, 1988 show.
There is this unique phenomenon at smaller music venues in Chicago. Promoters smash together random bands (usually all under the general "indie" category) and see what happens. Sometimes the Frankenstein created is hideous, but other times, like Friday night's "Orange Tree" music video premiere at Schubas, it is legendary.
The line-up for the night was odd and seemingly backwards in intensity. It started with the energy and fury of Sleeping in the Aviary, moved to the rock-infused bluegrass of Dastardly, and ended with the sweetly catchy pop of Paper Thick Walls. But the sequence worked for the Schubas crowed, who got riled up with Sleeping in the Aviary and rode the buzz through the video premiere.
I was initially drawn to Friday's show because of a familiar name. Sleeping in the Aviary was a hit Madison-based screamo band (in the best sense of the word) when I was a Badger (back in good ole 2008). I was jazzed for a piece of college-life nostalgia even if SITA is now officially a Minneapolis band. I was pleasantly surprised to find the band has matured from emotionally-fueled rockers to a more ridiculous, less serious and more varied rock group. SITA jammed from classic indie rock to '60s pop with barely time for a key change in between. The band seems to have learned growing up right means letting go of the angst and embarrassing the insane. To start their opening set, lead singer Elliott Kozel, took off his shoes and threw them at (not into) the crowd. With his feet free, Kozel, along with the rest of the band, jammed on stage heavy with bass and guitar with an occasional touch accordion and plenty of rock n' roll antics. SITA gave show reminiscent of a classic rock era with a strange familiarity to a drunk '70s prom band. The set could only have been better if it ended with a pantless encore.
Oh, North Coast. A stoner's oasis. An epileptic's worst nightmare. While Day One started off slow and steady, Saturday seemed to go from zero to sixty in a matter of minutes. Union Park remained almost eerily barren through the first couple rounds of acts Saturday afternoon--too much raging on Friday night, I suppose--but once the rain started around 2:30pm, festheads started pouring into the park like moths to a flame.
What followed was a bit of sensory overload. Bass thumping from three stages simultaneously at almost all times; strobes, lasers and glowsticks everywhere you looked; the overwhelming scent of a certain, ahem, herb in the air; and a day and night-long battle between waves of sweat and rain made for quite the experience on Saturday. I'm honestly amazed at the relentless energy Coasters were still able to produce though despite the natural and chemical elements that, in the end, helped turned Saturday into the ten-hour party that it was. -Katie Karpowicz
My Saturday at North Coast involved a lot of soggy kids tripping on a variety of things, yelling at a kid who almost tipped over a toilet while dancing on it, yelling at some other kids who almost toppled over a girl in a wheelchair, and watching a bunch of kids buy nitrous balloons from some sketchy guys on a corner. Needless to say Saturday got a little rude and sloppy, but it didn't stop the artists from giving it their all to the more than entertaining crowd. -Lisa White
Well, we avoided the rain on Day One of 2011's North Coast Music Festival, but fest goers still suffered through a sweltering September evening. Things got sweaty once the bass started bumping throughout Union Park. Organizers of this year's NorCo fest organizers admittedly bulked up on electronic acts and DJ performers--an effort that was already noticeable after just one day with acts like SBTRKT, Wolfgang Gartner and headliner David Guetta all hitting the stage on Friday. -Katie Karpowicz
Before I even hit the festival grounds, I received a simple text from a friend that "this crowd is an odd mix." Her sentiment was spot on, since North Coast brings together a mash of ravers, hippies, hip-hop heads and everything in between. It's your best bet for seeing a guy wearing high end Nikes next to a girl wearing fairy wings while hooping. Yet one thing is obvious by the enthusiastic demeanor of the crowd; they came here to dance. -Lisa White
We'll be at Union Park (1501 W. Randolph St.) all this coming Labor Day weekend for the second annual North Coast Music Festival, but before we slather on the suncreen and grab a corndog, here are some best bets for sets that can't be missed, and info on the prime Chicago talent on the bill as well. Single day tickets ($60) are still available (will call info.), so come on down and join us! (Download a PDF festival map.) We'll be reviewing the best and bounciest beats all weekend long, too.
Quick quiz: Which musician spoke of this auspicious start to her career in music? "A radio station in Atlanta dared to put [my song] in rotation, and someone burned the station down. Strangers walked up to me in restaurants and spit in my food... one [fan] letter would thank me for speaking out, the next would have razor blades taped to the envelope so I'd shred my fingers opening it... People threatened to burn down the venues I worked in, to run me over in the street, to shoot me while I was on stage."
Hint: she was only 15 at the time.
Janis Ian (Photo by Peter Cunningham)
Janis Ian's "Society's Child" brought heat from all directions. Stations bold enough to play it were rewarded with equal doses of accolade and venom from listeners. A sensitively wrought portrait of a doomed interracial relationship, "Society's Child" is compelling enough on its own merits, but in a culturally abraded year like 1965, it was spark applied to powder. Read that first paragraph again: Razorblades. Fire. Guns. This isn't cowardly internet dweebs railing against Rebecca Black's auto-tuning; "Society's Child" brought out primal conflicts in the hearts of people who felt that the civil rights struggles throughout the U.S. represented the end of civilization as we know it, and they pushed back with all the violence and bile they could muster.
To no avail. "Society's Child" was a bona-fide radio hit, gaining country-wide acceptance following a glowing review of her music on Leonard Bernstein's one-hour TV special Inside Pop: The Rock Revolution. The respected orchestral composer's stamp of approval made Ian's music safe for timid radio programmers - KRLA in Los Angeles even took out a full-page ad apologizing to Ian for previously blacklisting her music. Far from a time-capsule piece that requires historical context, "Society's Child" still retains its literary and emotional power to this day, and it made Janis Ian a star at 15.
