Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Top 5 Chicago Festival Performances
Downtown Boys at Riot Fest
ESG at Westfest
PJ Harvey at Pitchfork
Arcade Fire at Lollapalooza
Condo Fucks (Yo La Tengo) at Hideout Block Party
—Bart Lazar
Top 5 Chicago Non-Festival Performances
Sheer Mag at Thalia Hall
Courtney Barnett & Kurt Vile (And the Sea Lice) at Rockefeller Chapel
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds at Auditorium Theatre
Re-TROS at Rebuilding the Rights of Statues at Schubas
Liam Gallagher at Park West
—Bart Lazar
Top 5 Chicago Old Punks Shows
Buzzcocks at Cobra Lounge
The Dead Boys at Empty Bottle
The Damned at House of Blues
Psychedelic Furs at Thalia Hall
X at Riot Fest
—Bart Lazar
Top 5 Chicago Band Shows
The Orwells at JBTV/Riot Fest
Negative Scanner at TCC Gallery, Thalia Hall
Fred Anderson Legacy Project at Museum of Contemporary Art
NE-HI at Pitchfork
The Walters at Lollapalooza
—Bart Lazar
Top 5 Local Records
Panda Riot, “Infinity Maps” (self-released)
Melkbelly, “Nothing Valley” (Wax Nine)
Mavis Staples, “If All I Was Was Black” (Anti-)
Meat Wave, “The Incessant” (SideOneDummy)
The Mons, “The Mons Trust No One” (Triple Eye Industries)
—Craig Bechtel
Top 5 Chicago Symphony Orchestra Concerts
Prokofiev, “Ivan the Terrible,” Riccardo Muti
Elizabeth Ogonek, “All These Lighted Things” (world premiere), Bruckner 4, Muti
Stravinsky, ”Chant funébre,” Charles Dutoit
Brahms, Complete Symphony Cycle, Muti
Haydn, “The Creation,” James Levine, Ravinia Festival
—Dennis Polkow
Top 5 Early Music Concerts
Monteverdi 450 Trilogy, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists at Harris Theater
Haydn, “Seven Last Words of Christ,” Muti/CSO at Holy Name Cathedral
Scarlatti, “Agar et Ismaele esiliati,” Craig Trompeter at Haymarket Oratorio Series
Bach, “Ascension Oratorio,” Michael D. Costello, Bach Cantata Vespers Series
Schütz, “St. Matthew Passion,” James Kallembach, Rockefeller Chapel Choir
—Dennis Polkow
Robert Rodi is an author, spoken-word performer and musician who has served as Newcity’s Music Editor since 2014. He’s written more than a dozen books, including the travel memoir “Seven Seasons In Siena.” His jazz quintet recently completed a two-year residency at Uncommon Ground, and he regularly hosts a jazz singers’ jam at Lizard’s Liquid Lounge. His literary and music criticism has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, Salon, The Huffington Post and many other national and regional publications.
Contact: robert@newcity.com
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