Devo

Music venues citywide will be vying for your Lollapalooza-loving heart before, after and even during the three-day music marathon. Thankfully, this year’s official after-show lineup clears up a lot of the schedule conflicts that cause dangerous anxiety attacks (i.e.: Hot Chip vs. The Black Keys, watching The National vs. feeling guilty that you’re not staking a primo spot for the Arcade Fire set, etc).

While the Phoenix concert as the weekend’s nightcap isn’t exactly the thrill Them Crooked Vultures was last year, the French-indie band’s House Of Blues fest Sunday will be a great chance to see one of the festival’s headliners, should you refuse to spend the money on the whole shebang.

The rest of the after-sets continue to represent the bulk of all that is worth seeing of the daytime lineup. What could be a better pre-show than Soundgarden’s last-minute concert at The Vic Thursday night, though tickets are only available through the band’s fan club. There’s also Devo with The Dirty Projectors at The Congress Theater (7:30pm) and Cymbals Eat Guitars with Young Galaxy at Schubas (8pm). On Friday, catch either Cut Copy with Dragonette at the Metro (10pm) or MGMT at the House Of Blues (11pm). Read the rest of this entry »

RECOMMENDED

The xx released their self-titled debut album back in June of last year and, suddenly, the precocious young trio of former southwest London school mates are becoming the next big crossover hit, with their sparsely arranged tracks moving beyond Pitchfork acclaim and end-of-year-list love to popping up on hit TV shows like “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Cold Case” and “Lie To Me,” and even accompanying spinach-chinned skating hero Apolo Anton Ohno in a high-profile Winter Olympic spot for AT&T. Their formula is simple: sterile guitar melodies, swaggering post-punk bass, astonishingly effective machine beats from in-house producer and drum-pad maetro Jamie Smith and, of course, the cooing of guitarist Romy Madley Croft and mumble-harmonizing bassist Oliver Sims. Sure, it might not sound like much, but the xx are masters of minimalistic efficiency, proving that it’s not what noise you make, but the spaces in between that resonate most deeply. And tonight’s show might be your last chance to catch the xx in an intimate setting like the similarly clean and black-clad Lincoln Hall. Like their biggest hit “Chrystallized,” the xx are ready to be dropped into the supersaturated solution of big-time gigs, as the band is set to return later this month to open up for Hot Chip at the cavernous Riviera, before taking their intimate sound to festival-land at Bonnaroo, Coachella and, most likely, Lollapalooza as well. (Duke Shin)

The xx play Lincoln Hall, 2424 North Lincoln, (773)525-2501, on April 8 at 9:30pm. $18. This show is sold out.

By Tom Lynch

Here’s an example of how much can change over the course of ten years—Lincoln Park’s Lounge Ax, the premier indie-rock venue in the city, which even had a cameo in the Chicago-shot “High Fidelity,” took its final bow on January 15, 2000, just two weeks into the new decade. By now, it’s unlikely the majority of those who frequently attend rock shows at places like Empty Bottle, Schubas or Hideout were old enough to have ever gone there.

When considering changes and adjustments in all mediums over the last ten years, music offers the most significant transformation, not only here in Chicago but across the globe. Moving into 2010 we’re heavily entrenched in the digital age, as it took iTunes, introduced by Apple in January of 2001, and the iPod, which came in October of the same year, a relatively short amount of time to make over the record industry and put the future of record stores, independent and corporate, in limbo. Goodbye Virgin. Goodbye Tower. It was sort-of nice knowing you. Read the rest of this entry »

RECOMMENDED

Last week’s Lollapalooza drove the Grant Park Orchestra indoors to the Harris Theater to traverse Gustav Mahler’s Ninth Symphony for the first time ever in the festival’s seventy-five season history; the results, particularly in the fragile finale, were glorious and well worth the wait.  To close the seventy-fifth season, Carlos Kalmar and the GPO take back the outdoors and are joined by Christopher Bell’s vastly under-appreciated Grant Park Chorus and soprano Amber Wagner, mezzo soprano Kathryn Leemhuis, tenor John McVeigh and bass Jason Grant in the monumental Beethoven Ninth Symphony.  Those quiet sections will give traffic a chance to compete but by the time of the glorious finale, street noise won’t have a prayer against all of those forces blaring away and singing out about the brotherhood of man.  As the season closes, don’t forget the Festival’s new coffee-table book “Sounds of Chicago’s Lakefront: A Celebration of the Grant Park Music Festival” ($39.95) that is not only a chance to relive the musical highlights of the summer festival’s three quarters of a century all year long, but is chocked with fascinating history and photographs concerning the development and evolution of Chicago’s lakefront for well over a century.  (Dennis Polkow)

August 14, 6:30pm, and  August 15, 7:30pm, at Millennium Park’s Pritzker Pavilion, (312)742-7638. Free.

Andrew Bird

The consistent drizzle kept moods damp for the most part of opening day at Lollapalooza in Grant Park, not to mention the epic mud that slicked the terrain and caused a few spills. Admittedly, other responsibilities kept me from reaching Grant Park until after 4pm, so I missed the surprise appearance by country star LeAnn Rimes, as the first thing I heard while approaching the fest was the distant sound of Ben Folds banging on his piano (in a set that I heard from trusted sources was awful). Read the rest of this entry »

If you’re planning to spend time in Grant Park for Lollapalooza, you’ll want to download the free Lollapalooza iPhone app. Unlike the mediocre brochure-ware we’ve seen in some of these “corporate” apps, this one offers high functionality where it really counts: schedule management and the map. Browse the interactive schedule by day, by who’s playing right now or by stage. Further organize things alphabetically or by time. Build your own schedule to keep track of your choices. (It does not include a conflict-manager, so for better or for worse, you can schedule yourself to be at two shows at stages a half mile apart at the same time.) Want to know more about an act? Click on their name and check out their bio, link to YouTube or iTunes, where you can conveniently sample or buy their music. I wish more drill-down points on the map were available than just the stages, and that more general information about the event was on the app itself, but those are minor quibbles relative to the functionality of this free app. Please they’ve got this groovy Lolla Ball thing that you can wave at the stage—it flashes and changes colors—and make your own little light show. (Hallucinogens sold separately.) (Brian Hieggelke)

This morning the official lineup for Lollapalooza 2009 was announced. The festival’s to be held August 7-9 in Grant Park. 

Performers include: Read the rest of this entry »

It’s the economy, stupid.

Not only has the music industry had to adapt to the growth of digital technology and file-sharing, now everyone’s broke and on the brink of fighting for food. This century has not been kind to record labels, record stores and record manufacturers, not to mention the promoters and venues who’ve seen some declines in business due to—you guessed it—the elevating economic crisis. Top that off with the threat of a Live Nation/Ticketmaster merger and a citywide Promoter’s Ordinance, and the fear is very much real. No matter how good the intentions are of all parties, there may not be enough room for the little guy for much longer.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Andy Seifert

How exactly do you top: an appearance on “Saturday Night Live”; performing on “The Late Show with David Letterman” with the Boston Pops; and feature time slots at Lollapalooza, Coachella and Bonnaroo, the last of which included an exhausting, nearly four-hour-long set in the middle of the night? My Morning Jacket’s answer: a two-night stint at the Chicago Theatre and a New Year’s Eve party at the king of arenas, Madison Square Garden. Aside from three straight nights at Wembley Stadium (with special guest Brian May), I’d say that’s about as epic as it gets.

Kentucky’s own My Morning Jacket has spent 2008 recording and touring on “Evil Urges,” the follow-up to the critically acclaimed “Z.” Where “Z” solidified the exponential growth of the band’s fan base, it seems “Evil Urges” was meant to divide the loyal masses. While one of the band’s charms has been its boundless eclecticism (MMJ has been no stranger to, among other genres: southern rock jams, space-rock interludes, psychedelic experimentation and old-school country melodies), the opening tracks of the record still came out of left field: Prince-inspired funk, big-ass choruses and extremely high vocals. Surely, when singer Jim James started busting out the falsetto squeal (especially for the chorus of the polarizing “Highly Suspicious”), the band could envision the mixed reviews.

“It’s about how we expected it,” drummer Patrick Hallahan says about the reception to “Evil Urges.” “We expected it to be met with skepticism. We expected it to sort of split our fan base down the middle pretty much, cause there are people that like the older stuff and want us to continue making the same album over and over again, and there are people that are supportive of any growth that we want to take on. So we knew that this one would definitely separate those two sides of the audience.”

The funkadelia of the opening tracks act as a prelude foreshadowing an album that never really settles on any genre. Disco jams, southern rock anthems, country-folk and smooth soft rock are all attempted MMJ-style, which quite literally represents the ultimate artistic goal for Jim James and company, and not just for this album, but for the entire catalogue of the band.

“Honestly, I can’t put a categorization on what our band sounds like now, and I think it’s because our roots changed over time, we always listened to a bunch of different things,” Hallahan says. “If you’re never one thing then nobody expects you to be that one thing, and you have room to grow. We really like that great creative freedom.”

If the band’s unwillingness to settle on a sound drove people from the band, then it’s not showing in ticket sales. Needless to say, you don’t play Madison Square Garden without putting a few asses in the seats (unless you’re the Knicks), and tales of the band’s live antics have something to do with it. The four-hour stint at Bonnaroo (including James Brown and Motley Crue covers), the “Under the Sea” prom in Athens, Georgia (complete with cakes, mermaid costumes and “Earth Angel”) and the Donner Party-themed show in San Francisco (where the band dressed up as hunters and Native Americans, then “killed” and “ate” bassist “Two Tone Tommy” Blankenship) all beg the question: where the hell do these guys come up with this stuff?

“We really are living our dream, this is something that we’ve always wanted to do since kids, so we’ve had plenty of time to conjure up scenarios that can now be put into motion,” Hallahan says. “Our brains are always rolling. We’ll be sitting around on the bus or backstage, and our concert themes always seem to start with, ‘Wouldn’t it be funny if…’ or ‘What if we could pull this off…’”

It’s worth noting, since a lot of these scenarios seem reminiscent of ideas that high-school musicians/aspiring rock stars concoct while dreaming of fame and stardom, that James and Hallahan have been very close friends since grade school, and that Hallahan can confirm what already was obvious: James still sort of has that childlike bounce to his step.

“You know I think that’s something I could say about all of my friends, including Jim,” he says. “Everybody’s maintained the youthful spirit that we befriended each other with. We’re 30 now, so I hope there’s a little more sensibility, but the spirit is the same.”

December 27-28 at Chicago Theatre, 175 N. State, (312)263-1138, 7:30pm.

By Tom Lynch

Last year’s Hideout Block Party sticks in my memory for two reasons. One, when The Frames’ Glen Hansard played his “Falling Slowly” song from the film “Once,” the crowd singing its cathartic chorus back to him in unison, it was one of the more touching moments of live music I’ve seen in recent years. But more importantly, the communal atmosphere of the setup, the overall sweeping blanket of togetherness that Hideout’s annual two-day party provides, prevails in my mind. It simply has what most live music festivals do not: heart.

Each summer Chicago sees countless music festivals, some big, some small, some decent, but most tedious. The common complaint is that the sound is substandard—sure, that’s true, it would be much more satisfying to see any band within the confines of an Empty Bottle or a Schubas or a Metro. My issue’s with the bullshit scenester meet-and-greet attitude in which the cattle dress to impress and the music’s lost forever and ever. (Please shutup about your condo. Sam Beam’s being introspective again and I can’t hear him.) Some of the best moments for me from this year’s Pitchfork fest were when fantastic outfit ensembles, intricately orchestrated days in advance I’m sure, were corrupted almost immediately by rain, mud and sweat. Call me a grouch, that’s fair, but it sure was amusing, much more so than Jay Reatard, at least.

But there were, of course, some really great moments this summer as well. Pitchfork had its Mission of Burma, Caribou, Fleet Foxes, Dinosaur Jr., HEALTH and, most importantly, an unforgettable set from Jason Pierce and Spiritualized. Lollapalooza managed even better with sets from Explosions in the Sky, Broken Social Scene, Lupe Fiasco, Kid Sister, The National and (of course) Radiohead that won’t be forgotten anytime soon. Yet, neither will the Rage Against the Machine debacle—it’ll be interesting to see how something like that is better prepared for next summer. (Dates announced already, August 7-9, save the weekend!) Andrew Bird did Chicago good to thousands at Millennium Park just a couple weeks ago; hell, I caught a Cursive set at the Belmont Arts & Music Festival back in June and it was serene. My personal favorite festival moment, however, came on day three of Lollapalooza, walking the Columbus stretch from one end to the other, jabbing with a friend something absurd about Perry Farrell’s protocol, only to be passed by the man himself, being escorted by golf cart, milliseconds later; the smirk on his face, directed squarely at us, has branded itself permanently into my being. And Jane says I’ve never been in love.

Point is, I see the Hideout Block Party, which turns 12 this weekend, as the closing ceremonies to a summer of outdoor noise, and a fitting one at that. Its laidback nature suits the dawn the autumn and, if nothing else, the bill is rich. Saturday includes headliner Neko Case, Monotonix (whose “Body Language” is powerful), Plastic People of the Universe and Little Cow; Sunday’s even better, with Tim Fite, Mucca Pazza, Dark Meat (a must-see), Robbie Fulks, Rhymefest, The New Pornographers (pictured), Ratatat and a closing DJ set by Hercules and the Love Affair. Not bad for a parking lot. The allure of Hideout for me, other than the digs, has always been its apparent booking of friends and supporters—its support of hometown talent, for sure, but also putting up bands that give you a strange sense of comfort. It’s nice to see them not betray that with its biggest event of the year.

Despite some disappointments—let’s face it, Kanye was boring, yet Nine Inch Nails didn’t do much to lure you away—the end of the summer rock-festival season tastes bittersweet. Maybe it’s the impending doom of another worst Midwestern winter ever, maybe the sun already sets too early and we’re clinging to whatever strands of warmth and livelihood we can still grasp. The elite fall schedules for just about every rock club should keep your spirits high—nearly every night from now until Thanksgiving one venue or another has something worth checking out. If this weekend offers anything as striking as the “Falling Slowly” moment of last September, I might deem this entire season a success.

If not, hey, we got My Bloody Valentine next week. You’re going, right?

The 12^th Annual Hideout Block Party takes place September 20-21 at Hideout, 1354 West Wabansia, (773)227-4433, from noon-10pm each day. $25-$45.