Features Stories

Review, Stream & Download: Ragbirds & Chicago Farmer @ SPACE 7/15/22

Chicago Farmer and The Ragbirds @ SPACE - Evanston, IL July 15, 2012For a small town man from just south of Peoria, Cody Diekhoff sure has adapted to life as Chicago Farmer. The folk singer with a one-man-show was an appropriate choice to open up for The Ragbirds as just a few days earlier his reincarnation folk...

Review, Stream, Download, Video: Furthur @ Northerly Island, Chicago, IL 7/17/12

It was 25 years ago this summer that "Touch Of Grey" became an unexpected top ten hit for the Grateful Dead. The band had been steadily building an audience over the previous 22 years, but the exposure certainly led to a huge commercial boost for the band.The legions of teenage and young-adult so-called Touch-heads consequently became...

Setlist, Recap & Photos: Bruce Hornsby & Van Ghost @ Park West 6/17/12

Bruce Hornsby and the Noisemakers sucked the audience down a into wormhole on Sunday night. We entered an alternate reality where popular music valued chops and musicianship over flash and gimmick -- a world were Bruce and his primary musical outlet have had unparalleled commercial success over the past 25 years.But alas, we don't live...

Recap, Setlists & Audio: Shoe Groove, Afternoon Moon, Catfish & Dogstars, and Ed Anderson, Ace Bar, 6/15/12

Words and Photos: Dave WecksteinI have arrived at two certainties today. One: I have some new favorite grub -- I write this review after having experienced for the first time the splendor that is Kitschn Diners chicken and waffles. Two: I think my breakfast choice was influenced by hearing the debut of Shoe Groove, a...

Grateful Dead Illustrated: A Conversation With Scott McDougall, Cover Artist For Road Trips, The Europe 72 Box & More

The 40th anniversary of the landmark Grateful Dead 1972 spring tour of Europe was indeed something to celebrate. Of course, re-listening to my favorite shows was on the agenda to commemorate the occasion. But I also found myself reflecting, and diving into a series of written pieces: tweetsreviewingeach show on the tour from Jesse Jarnow (@bourgwick)...

Legendary Yes Vocalist Brings Classics and Great Stories to Town with Solo Tour

Dial up any classic rock station in the world and you'll likely hear Jon Anderson within an hour or two. As lead singer of the prog-rock stalwarts Yes, his iconic voice weaves through the musical lives of baby-boomers and Gen Xers everywhere.But sidelined by his former Yes bandmates after an extended illness -- in...

An Interview With Galactic: A Veteran Band's Thoughts On Sticking Together Through 18 Festival Seasons

With their funky New Orleans sound worked out annually at the citys Mardis Gras and Jazz Fest celebrations, there has been eighteen years worth of solid festival seasons for Galactic. As we approach the summer, the band will see action at Milwaukee's Summerfest, High Sierra, Forecastle, All Good, Floyd Fest, Japan's Fuji Rock Festival, moe....

Recap: Anders Osborne @ SPACE, Evanston, IL 5/25/12

Evanston isn't the most easily accessed part of Chicagoland, and thus a visit to its "newish" club SPACE has been on The Barn's to-do list for some time. From the beginning their booking has been tremendous, but it took an appearance by Anders Osborne to make the stars align for coverage of an event at...

Help The Barn Write Its Phish Summer Tour 2012 Preview

There's no matching Phish fans for pure, unadulterated enthusiasm. I cover scores of bands for this site and no content can generate traffic quite like articles about The Phish from Vermont.And while this year's summer tour announcement was met with typical anticipation and celebratory fervor, before too long something curious happened. I started to...

Review, Photos, Setlist: Old Shoe & Sean Shiel @ Ace Bar 5/9/12

Words: Dave Weckstein, Images: Norman SandsWhat the world needs now is another folk hero, like I need a hole in the head is a phrase penned by Cracker on Teen Angst but in the years since they wrote it, it has been covered by the likes of acoustic artists suchThe band went on later in...