Feb 6, 2015
Photos: Rickie Kostiner (from 1/31/15 show) This is the story of losing touch and reconnecting. About making poor choices but also being true to yourself. About nostalgia and living in the moment.And yes, it's also a review of String Cheese Incident's Friday night show at Aragon Ballroom in Chicago.String Cheese Incident is a...
Feb 5, 2015
Words & Photos: Alex WoodSteve Earles third of four nights at City Winery found the songwriter performing a well-constructed acoustic set that felt like a guided tour through the history of roots music.The show began with a preview of Earles new blues record, Terraplane Blues. Aint Nobodys Daddy Now featured country twang over a...
Feb 5, 2015
Robert Randolph is just so many things. He and The Family Band popped in for a pair of shows at City Winery this winter as a part of the Chicago Bluegrass & Blues Festival. He's the bandleader, a brilliant soloist, more-than-capable singer, master of ceremonies, and part-time comedian.He was even the inspiration for his...
Jan 27, 2015
By Alex WoodKishi Bashi debuted his new string quartet at Athenaeum Theatre on Thursday as part of the Tomorrow Never Knows festival.The songwriter and violinist was joined by two violas, a cello and a violin, as well as his touring guitarist guesting on banjo when needed. In addition to vocals, Kishi Bashi conducted the...
Jan 27, 2015
It's hard to fathom exactly how incredible Panic en La Playa must be to WSP fans who are able to make the trip. Four nights. Stage right on the beach. Staying on site at an all-inclusive resort.After a blowout show on first night of the fourth edition of this destination festival, the band had...
Jan 16, 2015
The Leftover Salmon boys set up shop at Chicago's Vic Theater for two shows over New Year's Eve. There were plenty of reason to be excited with Keller Williams sharing the stage, but it it turned out the party planners had a big more up their sleeves....The NYE show also happened to coincide with...
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 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...