Concert Reviews

I did something Friday night that I've never done. Actually, I think I did a few things I've never done, but there was one specific faux pas that I not only performed flawlessly, I openly embraced how incredibly corny I might have appeared. Yes, last night, I blatantly wore the shirt of the band I went and saw at that band's show, and I fucking loved it. I rolled around and reveled in my handflapping fanboy fandom as if it was a pile of freshly laundered sheets. I went puppy getting comfortable on this motherfucker. The last time Gang of Youths came through Chicago in March of this year, they managed to super pack Subterranean something fierce. Nuts to butts as hell, I swears, 400 something people clamoring to touch that dude's hair. Yet the time before, in June of 2017...

I never really liked the Beatles: Maybe it was coming from a family that chose the wrong side of the cultural revolution? Maybe it was my anti-pop, anti-corporate bboy stance, a result of being raised by that same family and a well-developed commitment to anything my pubescent mind considered “establishment”? And by that time the Beatles, in all their hallowed glory and holiday boxed CD sets represented nothing more than that to me.  I for sure don’t know shit about the intricacies of jazz:  I am not a student of music. I wish someone had grabbed me by the ears, like the nuns did in Catholic school, for something other than petty theft or not tucking my shirt in, and made me do it. Also, I was lazy and prone to cutting corners. I still tend to gravitate toward the path of least resistance...

For the last couple weeks, I’ve been obsessed with the band Future Generations. They stormed into my world with the song “Thunder in the City” through the amazing power of Spotify’s Discover Playlist and boy-oh-boy did it hook me, like Thom’s mom on the corner of Girard & Frankford (cue Family Guy cut scene). By some stroke of luck they happened to be playing a show in Philly that same week. The show was only $10 (just like Thom’s mom) so I knew I’d be able to badger some of my friends into attending. Girard & Frankford is an interesting segue because, I set that shit up on purpose. This busy street corner is the home of Johnny Brenda’s, which just so happens to be my favorite venue in the city. It’s relatively tiny (100-200 people) and therefore smaller indie...

So I know this concert was last week, but I think I needed a week to process. That, and because I'm a procrastinator.  This last month I've been all over Gregory Alan Isakov's balls. He recently put out an album with a collection of his songs that were re-recorded with The Colorado Symphony Orchestra. And these re-re's are out-fucking-standing. This album is probably my favorite album released this year and I've listened to it so much already that the songs have become the soundtracks to my dreams. I've been waking up in cold sweats yelling "CHURCHES AND TRAINS...THEY ALL LOOK THE SAME TO ME NOOOOOWWWWWW". As soon as I found out GAI was going to be coming to Thalia Hall (pronounced with a lisp) in Chicago I pinched my nipples, squealed,...

As a fully admitted Wolfmother fanboy, I can say with utmost certainty that the second time I saw these hairy fuckers in concert last week was just as memorable as the first time almost six years ago. (If you haven't heard about my first time, it's right thrr.) Towing a magically mythical aura behind them, Wolfmother seem to be the future of throwback rock on record, and the personification of rock expectations (rockspectations?) in concert. While their recorded music has always suggested they'd be fucking monstrous in person, I've been disappointed so often in life that I almost force myself to lower my expectations whenever I see live music.  I do my best in life to make sure I'm always, at least slightly, pleasantly surprised. If I imagine all of the...

What started out as a unknown name at the top of a list of the best rappers in the early oughts, has become something of a religion. A cult, if you will?  I ordered a CD from a rapper previously unknown to me. His name was Sage Francis and the record was called, Sick of Waiting Tables because so was I.  Fourteen years later and Sage Francis is one of my all-time favorite humans on planet Earth.  I know there are people who aren’t into his emo/wordy/smart/white style. I heard him called everything from not hip hop, to everything that is wrong with hip hop.  But Sage Francis does something on stage that only one other person pulls off. In the lineage of Jello Biafra or Gigi Allin...

In Chicago most of the venues are on the North/Northwest side of the city. So when I heard that Dilly Dally was playing at The Promontory I was like 'I'm fucking going to that shit.....wait, where is The Promontory?'. For those of you from Chicago, it's in Hyde Park. For those of you not from Chicago, it's on the South side of the city where the Obamas live. I didn't know what to expect, I just plugged it into google maps, jumped in the car, listened to the Mets score 4 runs on the Cubs in the first inning, swore at and hit my steering wheel multiple times, and then arrived.  I walked into the venue and had to laugh to myself: a large empty room donned with chandeliers, a modern/luxe bar, and votive candles all over the place. I wasn't sure if it was a Las Vegas night...

BITCH, I'M MADONNA The Queen of Pop stormed through Chicago on Monday, turning the United Center into a musical revue. Being a huge theatrical production, Madge didn't vary off the standard set list that preceded this show. Opening with "Iconic," it seemed that newer songs received full attention, while the older classics were worked into medleys.   I loved every minute of this spectacle (save for the guy next to me who kept pushing me over, acting as I was the one at fault) - from Madonna making her entrance in a cage being lowered from the ceiling, to closing it all off by throwing a huge dance  party for "Celebration." At 57, she ain't messing around. After all, bitch, it's Madonna. 

Every year on a hot weekend in July a section of South Broadway in Denver has a rendezvous with a tramp named the Underground Music Showcase (UMS). Four days of bands, booze, and blistering sun. Rock and fucking roll. This year I wanted to branch out and see bands that I had never listened to or heard of before. The nice part about writing for this here site is that we only cover bands that we love. Which means when I'm at a festival like the UMS, I don't have to stay and listen to any band I don't like. There were only a couple of bands that I listened to and left. There was a large pool of talent and I went swimming bro. I saw as many as I could within reason. There were a lot of bands. Many hundreds. Going to run it down for you in order. I recommend every band here...

Last Wednesday embarked the beginning of pre-Lolla shows, which were everywhere throughout Chicago. Pandora powered Taco Bell’s Feed the Beat, featuring Robert Delong at the Double Door. Free show (w/RSVP) - no brainer there.  I was looking for a free taco, but what I found was an EDM dude who actually played instruments...several of them, actually. It was a wild ride inside a semi-grunge-y venue, hands being thrown in the air, faces being painted...another great gig, Pandora. I still have yet to get my free taco.