Jan 16, 2015
Karl D and his boys played Chicago on New Year's Eve for the third consecutive year. While last year, they shared the stage with Robert Randolph, this year there was a bigger twist -- transforming themselves into a RUNDMC cover band for the holiday. Yeah, I'm calling in KarlDMC,There they are above decked out...
Jan 16, 2015
One of Chicago's best kept secrets is Blotto / Helping Phriendly Orchestra guitarist Mark Hague, so it's always a treat when he gets a chance to shine with a national touring act.Assembly Of Dust gave him that opportunity on the second night of their two night run in Chicago on January 9th & 10th. ...
Jan 16, 2015
I've recently expounded on the top ten shows of the year that I've seen personally, but as I try to put an punctation on our 2014 coverage, I just HAVE to call this one out as one of the most under-rated jams of the year. No, I wasn't there, but man was I caught off guard...
Jan 16, 2015
Who are the buzziest of buzz bands? Let's use this handy Venn Diagram courtesy of SPIN magazine to help us determine.They've taken the three of the biggest festivals -- one each from East, Central and West regions -- and conveniently demonstrated the overlap (and exclusives). I'd love to see this get redone once...
Jan 16, 2015
In years past, I've done my yearly round ups as a mixture of best "things" -- shows, albums, concepts -- that made in impact that year.In 2014, I had such a diversity of show experience that I would consider in the top echelon, that I decided to go shows only. It also gives me a...
Jan 14, 2015
[1/16 Update. It's On]There's been chatter about something -- anything -- to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Grateful Dead since the 49th anniversary was just a month old. Bob Weir speculated as such in a Rolling Stone magazine interview last January ("we owe it to the songs").But that was a Furthur break-up,...
Jan 9, 2015
We love our photographers around here, especially when they are able to capture such photogenic bands.You can just feel the soul and funk drip off of the shots from Rickie Kostiner's camera as she covered a pre-holiday double bill with two of the hottest Chicago bands going right now.Main Squeeze capped a national...
Jan 9, 2015
Joes Garage: Joe Marcineks Christmas Jam At The Wire - BerwynBy @312mrgLive music has a way of rewarding you with enchanted evenings if you're willing to make a little effort or taking a risk.Whether its following a lead, listening to a buddy, or maybe just allowing your interest to be re-kindled with an artist...
Jan 8, 2015
Photos: Heidi Peters | Reporting: KC DriscollThe Psychedelic Furs completed a sold out three night stand at City Winery and Heidi and KC were on hand for Sunday night's gig to report for The Barn.Richard Butler, clad in a black three-piece suit, white shirt, black tie and fashionable black glasses, sported the look of a...
Jan 7, 2015
Frequent contributor Alex Wood has assembled his list of the top 150 albums of the year.1. Jack White- LazarettoLazaretto is an instant classic, an album that successfully combines the sounds of Jack Whites past work and influences to create something wholly his own. A record free of crazy effects and using no compression in the production...