I'm tempted to write about every anniversary of every amazing musical experience I've ever had. Most go unwritten, eliciting just a hint of pleasant nostalgia, some are acknowledged via tweet, but some just wrestle around in my brain until they receive the full treatment.Spring of 1998 was a pretty amazing time to find yourself neck...

The music of Led Zeppelin occupies a rarified air. With a songbook asbeloved as any seminal rock band, and an outsized mythology that seems to revereits members to the point of forgiving their generalaloofness, they find themselves in a comfortable zone -- able to maintain mystique and prestige aming their diehard fanslong after the initialdiscovery...

I've heard so much shit talking about The Rolling Stones lately. Sure, I get it. They're old (really old), worse for wear, nostalgia-driven, no longer "relevant". The tickets are priced astronomically. They play large, inpersonal mega-arenas. The jokes write themselves.Honestly, when the 50 and Counting tour was announced I had no intention of coming anywhere...

Contributed by Mike Guzaski (@312mrg)Chicago experienced a typically loaded Spring weekend over the 4/20 "holiday". Highlights included Greyboy All Stars and Funky Meters holding court on Friday, and Jim James bringing his show to the Vic. But the clubs had some worthwhile shows as well, and Animal Liberation Orchestra gave Double Door denizens a little...

Contributed By Mike Guzaski @312mrgAfter a week of crazy news, torrential rainfall and accompanying flooding, on Saturday (4/20!) Chicagoans were ready to let loose and liberate their inner animals. Animal Liberation Orchestra blew (both) doors off the Double Door with a explosive celebration of sound that balanced classics and newer material. From the moment they took...

On Saturday Night at the Park West, I started to keep track of how funky Galactic's tunes were by counting the number of times drummer Stanton Moore leaped off his stool to emphasize a beat or dramatically finish a fill.Cutting their teeth as one of the most party-ready bands of the nineties, it is...

On the cusp of the release of their third LP, Stories Don't End, southern California band Dawes is criss-crossing the country on a promotional tour playing primarily radio shows and record stores. The Chicago stop, on April Fool's Day, was part of WXRTs "Free Sample" concert series, which afforded them the luxury of playing in...

When a band has been continually on the road as much as New Orleans' Galactic, major cities become more than just stops on a tour, they become wrapped up in aspects of the band's narrative. After the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina, Chicago became the temporary (to the tune of seven years!) home of Galactic's original...

If you're a Chicago music fan who just can't get enough of that sweet spot where rock meets jazz, Joe Marcinek is a name that comes up quite a bit. Not content to be just a double threat -- laying down both guitar and keys in the Indiana-based jazz-fusion quartet Fresh Hops -- he's branched...

Contributed by: Chris MurtaughThe stage was small and the mushrooms were large at Evanston's SPACE on St. Patrick's Day. My first time at the suburban venue, I wondered if the prop mushrooms were always on stage at this intimate facility, or if they were a Todd Snider thing. Minutes before he came out for his...