By: Philamonjaro StudioPortland, Oregon's The Decemberists contrasted the hip-hop and alt-rock of the first two nights of The Taste, with a pleasing take on indie-folk for the Grant Park crowd.Front man Colin Meloy, guitarist Chris Funk, and keyboardist Jenny Conlee combined for soaring and dramatic melodies, wrapped up in folksy narratives.  ...

By: Philamonjaro StudioDespite a threatening sky, music fans stuck it out in a mild rain to see the double bill of The Kongos and opener Elle King on the second day of the annual Taste Of Chicago.Both acts shared an unbridled energy on stage, with hooks and ...

[fblile]By: Aaron Stein (@neddyo) | Photos: Rene Huemer (via @phish_ftr)There are few things greater in the Phish arsenal than the build/release jam. The anticipatory tension that can only be resolved satisfactorily with an epic climax, the moment when all four musicians (and usually the lighting director, too) hit their mark at...

By: Philamonjaro StudioThe 36th Annual Taste of Chicago opened last night with excitement in the crowd and a handful of on-stage surprises.Grey skies threatened, but the weather held out this night for a packed Chicago audience.The opening night headliner was Grammy Award winning band The Roots, belting out their...

The White Sox hosted the infamous Disco Demolition night back in the 70s and in more recent years welcomed Elvis and Country Music fans to the ballpark.  One year after Fare Thee Well graced another of the city's sports stadiums, the team welcomed Deadheads to the park for the first ever Grateful Dead Night...

By: Alex Wood Paul Simon- Stranger To Stranger [6/3]Paul Simons 13th album may be the singers last. If his claim to retirement is true, Simon is certainly going out with a bang. Though slightly more lighthearted than classics like Graceland, the songwriting on Stranger To Stranger is still of a quality so elevated that...

 I was born in 1973. The Grateful Dead had already been an entity for 8 years, having travelled thousands of literal, and millions of psychic, miles by the time Id breathed my first.By the time I first saw Jerry Garcia he'd already faced down a diabetic coma, written just about all of his most impressive...

This edition of Notes From The Jazz Underground was culled from the June 17th  & June 24th broadcasts.Ever since we launched Tomorrow's Verse, we've been playing catch-up with these NFTJU posts, so let's combine two of them into a huge Jazz Underground DOUBLE SHOT for your listening pleasure and get us up...

Words: Robin Zimmerman | Photos: Howard Greenblatt (imaginepictures.net)Over 500,000 people recently flocked to Grant Park for the 33rd Chicago Blues Festival. Behind the beautiful backdrop of the citys high-profile skyline, fans enjoyed blues from a variety of traditional and contemporary artists.  This years festival ran from June 10th through June 13th....

By: @WeirScrewedIn a busy Chicago live music scene, timing can be everything. Every single night in this city offers a ton of possibilities, but often terrestrial responsibilities can stop weeknight plans in their tracks.  But timing counts, so when Steve Gunn announced a show at Schubas on the eve of two Phish...