Feb 1st, 2008
Park West in Chicago
Two Men. Eight Turntables. Hundreds of seven inches and musical mayhem. Friday’s night’s sold out Park West show saw the meeting of two great minds: Cut Chemist (aka Lucas MacFadden) and DJ Shadow, otherwise known as Josh Davis. The two have collaborated both with other djs [...]
12/15/07
Hideout in Chicago
I didn’t know what to expect of Allroh, who flew into Chicago from Berlin just to play the afternoon Shellac show in a very rare North American performance on Saturday. She gleamed in white and carried a piercing look in her eyes as heavy as a suitcase. As she played those [...]
12/7/07
Logan Square Auditorium
I don’t want to get too personal here but the whole tone of the evening leading up to seeing Balkan Beat Box was replete with the bittersweet. After losing one friend to Seattle, I had to say goodbye to another good friend of mine who is heading west. The way I [...]
I know I know…I haven’t posted in forever have I? Let me tell you about how I’ve felt he last few weeks. Coughing until I was in danger of fracturing ribs, four medications including two different inhalers, bandaging up my rib cage every day and night, soreness, nausea…such is the world of Pertussis [...]
Cabaret Metro
11/8/07
There are a few times in a year when I see a band and come away from it inspired and changed. The experience is transcendent and visceral and has taken me to another place. Such is the case of last Thursday’s Caribou set and even though I’ve seen well over a hundred [...]
Well, of course I do….I mean, having lived for so long so close to the border, I learned to love the finer cultured things in life (which also means Canada) I even went as a Canadian to a Halloween party…ok, ok you got me. That just meant I put on my Besnard Lakes [...]
11/1/7
Logan Square Auditorium in Chicago
This is the second time I’ve had the opportunity to see Tom Brosseau, the talented singer songwriter who was born and raised in North Dakota and swoons with a tenor to accompany his acoustic guitar finger plucking (and occasional harmonica playing) in a more traditional folk style. Perhaps the best [...]
10/25/07
Cabaret Metro in Chicago
Man, oh man what happened to this band? The last time I saw them, they were playing with raw intensity inside The Empty Bottle about four years ago. What I remember most back then was all of the politically liberal literature they had for sale, not surprising considering John K. [...]
Cabaret Metro in Chicago
10/25/07
Though she played with a backup acoustic guitarist, Last Town Chorus is all about Megan Hickey and what wonders she can create with her lap steel. I had seen Last Town Chorus play a couple of years ago at Schubas Tavern and was excited to see Megan garner some critical and [...]
10/24/07
Schubas Tavern in Chicago
There are a few times each year when I realize how great it is to live in Chicago. Think of it, we have bands coming all the way from Australia and Denmark and we get to experience them in clubs that are most definitely smaller and more intimate than the ones [...]