Two Gallants are some weary motherfuckers. Besides the strained, vagabond nature of their music — and the "holy crap, that guy is messed up!" storytelling in Adam Stephens’ serrated, whiskey-choked voice — there’s the black-and-white fact that these San Franciscans have a total of 14 days off between now and the end of the year. Indeed, Stephens and drummer Tyson Vogel seem to be living up to the title of their latest release, The Scenery of Farewell (Saddle Creek).

"Stark" doesn’t even begin to describe the sparseness of Stephens’ guitar and vocals over Vogel’s straightforward, pinpoint drumming; this is desperation in musical form, the kind of sound that encapsulates a certain perspective of life in America. All of the stress of political and economic climates, racial and religious conflicts, environmental concerns, rampant consumerism, greed, commercialization, and the trappings of pop culture fall by the wayside as Two Gallants take listeners back to J.D. Salinger’s America, where grit and merit were sometimes synonymous, and hope was as vast as the open road.

Two Gallants play two shows Saturday at Schubas, all ages at 7:30 and 21+ at 10:30. Tickets are $12.

Photo courtesy the band.

We admit we were a little late to the Watchers boat, not jumping on until we heard the band’s latest, Vampire Driver, shortly before its release this summer. It has now become one of our favorite albums of the year.

Vampire Driver is hard; it’s jolting and jarring. But the harshness is backed by a funk bass-line and Talking Heads-esque vocals that contrast the beefy rock and create something that just makes you want to shake your ass. Trust us, there’s not a single track you’ll want to skip.

About six years into the band’s pursuit, the Watchers are a recognizable name in the local scene, and like most bands, they’ve experienced their fair share of members coming and going. After some drama trying to find a bass player earlier this year, they’ve picked up the Jai-Alai Savant’s Dan Snyder to fill in (at least for now).

Get pumped for the show: Visit the Watchers’ MySpace page and listen to the clip of S.I.S.I.A.I. Every time we hear it we either want to do a tribal dance or set something on fire … or a little bit of both.

The Watchers are opening for dirty Jewish punk band Golem. As Golem's website reminds visitors, their gypsy folk-punk is "Where Eastern Europe meets the Lower East Side." The six-piece described themselves as a klezmer band — traditional secular Jewish music that dates back to the 15th century — but there's no sign of stuffy tradition here. Snarky English lyrics pair with the Yiddish version of the "Oi!" (or would it be "Oy!" in this case?) call to punk rock arms — imagine a mosh pit in the shtetl.

Get pumped for the show: Hit up MySpace and listen to "Warsaw is a Khlem." It'll make you want to yell "mazel tov!" to everyone you meet.

The Watchers open for Golem at 9 p.m. on Sunday at Schubas.

Golem portion of this entry written by Lizz Kannenberg.

Band photos via MySpace.

When Tim Kasher isn't busy fronting the band Cursive and writing screenplays, he's penning songs and touring with his other project, The Good Life. The band began as a side project of sorts, but now has noted two albums under its belt: 2004's heart-wrenching The Album of the Year, which narrates a romantic-turned-nasty two-year relationship, and the recently released Help Wanted Nights, which actually serves as a soundtrack to Kasher's play of the same name. (Click here for a full discography of The Good Life's albums/EPs/seven inches.)

Booze, cheating lovers, passionate lovemaking, more booze, new friends, small-town life, and, well, booze, are fixtures of The Good Life's songs. The sound is surprisingly stripped-down compared with Kasher's work with Cursive, showcasing the band's Saddle Creek / Omaha roots, and this dual frontman's versatility. Help Wanted Nights is actually a bit country (for lack of a better word), further polarizing The Good Life from the in-your-face rock that has defined Cursive for so many years. Whether indie-folk music speaks to you or not, those who value lyrics over harmonies will likely get sucked in. Kasher isn't much of a vocalist, but his deliberate clarity in pronouncing each word means you can easily understand the narrative in each song -- much like a kids' sing-a-long for adults with alcohol-abuse issues.

Tomorrow's doubleheader at Subterranean will allow Chicagoans to get their first preview of The Good Life's newest album. The early show will likely be populated with under-age Conor Oberst wannabes. Proceed with caution.

The Good Life plays an all-ages show on Friday at 7:30 p.m. and an 18 + show at 10:30 p.m. Both shows are at Subterranean.

Promo photo of the band via Myspace.

Guess what? We've got the dates for next year's Lollapalooza! So get your calendars out and mark off August 1-3, 2008, and start picking out your outfit now.

OK, that's all we've got for now, but we just knew you would want to know.

The Empty Bottle, in conjunction with Britain's The Wire magazine, will host this weekend's fifth annual Adventures in Modern Music festival, a self-described "celebration of 'outsider sounds.'" The festival promises to pack 'em into the Bottle for sets by groundbreaking artists both new and historic. Daily lineups, with highlights:

TONIGHT (Wednesday): White Magic, Badawi, Holy Fuck, and Graveyards & Zac Davis

Drag City's White Magic is fronted by the smoky-voiced Mira Bilotte, who channels a little Grace Slick and a little Stevie Nicks to give a soulful depth to an airy, atmospheric instrumental bed. Canada's Holy Fuck are dance-pants electronic music whizzes, who create entirely with traditional backline rock band instruments and homemade thingamabobs, no laptops required or welcomed.

THUSDAY: Pere Ubu, Ulrich Schnauss, Hair Police, Glen Jones & Jack Rose

Pere Ubu is often credited with moving the ideals, attitudes, and culture of the New York punk movement west, establishing Cleveland as an ancillary hotbed of change and innovation in rock music.

FRIDAY: Qui, Excepter, Thomas Ankersmit, and Leslie Kefner

SATURDAY: Deerhunter, Daniel Carter with Michael Reed and Ben Vida, No Age, Jim Becker & the Sin Ropes with the films of Brent Green

Deerhunter's raucous after-Pitchfork Music Festival party performance with Dan Deacon inspired a visit from the po-po, and these psych-rockers from Atlanta show no signs of putting on any less noticeable of a performance this weekend.

The Adventures in Modern Music festival takes place tonight through Saturday at The Empty Bottle, and tickets are $15 per night.

The Bon Mots' profile has long been on the rise, including a spot on last year's Lollapalooza bill, and it seems certain to only climb higher with the release of their sophomore effort Forty Days And Forty Nights With The Bon Mots.

Singers/guitarists Mike Coy and Eric Chial again share songwriting duties, alternating spots on the track listing, and again we find ourselves enjoying the way the two men's complementary yet conflicting styles complement each other. Coy tends towards the more straightforward tempos and sunny melodies, while Chial traipses through territory marked by Byrds-ian guitar flourishes and a slightly unbalanced rhythmic delivery that keeps the listener engaged and on their toes. Both men have a severe weak spot for the sugary beauty of pure pop, and both have an uncanny knack for composing songs that make one want to snap their fingers from side-to-side while doing the shimmy-shimmy-shake.

The new disc also benefits from the addition of Neal Ostrovsky's solid drumming that manages to swing while still nailing down the beat. His chops help the band get a little grit in there, giving their songs better traction and a more solid presence. The band's secret weapon, though, just might be keyboardist Chris Frantisak. He hides in the background, but his layers of keys and vocal melodies support everything the band does. We're looking forward to seeing all four men replicating the savoir-faire and fine wit of this album at their CD release party this Friday.

The Bon Mots play September 28 at Hideout. Each attendee will receive a free copy of the new album.

Image courtesy the band.

We admit to having mixed feelings about the beast that has become Wicker Park's Around The Coyote Festival. We don't dig all the suburbanites stumbling down the sidewalk in an effort to discover "culture" in the space of a few days. At the same time we have plenty of artist friends that look forward to the event as a chance to sell some of their work and mingle with the public. So, weighing that, we've decided that overall the fest has good intentions.

It began as primarily visual arts oriented, but in recent years the disciplines included have expanded to include music, film, theater, books, and pretty much any other mode of artistic expression the organizers can cram into the program.

Naturally, as the festival grows bigger, there's a greater need for people to help out with the ins-and-outs of the non-profit's signature event, so the organizers have put out a call looking for folks willing to donate a few hours of their time in order to keep everything running smoothly. And if you volunteer, not only do you get the chance to rub elbows with real-life starving artists, you also get a festival T-shirt, a one-day pass to the festival for each day you volunteer, and admission to the opening night party. Interested? Apply here.

Coyote Building photo by sierraromeo.

The Hood Internet DJs STV SLV and ABX's band that plays actual instruments, May Or May Not, is releasing their second album tonight, and they've decided to post the whole thing online for a short period of time so everyone can check it out. We've heard it and would say it's well worth buying, so you'd be a fool not to grab it for free right now.

May Or May Not spends a lot of time crafting their tunes, and the results show the effort and care involved. Lots of folks have already heard many of the new songs previewed at Schubas over the last few weeks and can attest to the solid step forward the band has taken.

We really enjoyed their debut, but felt that, at times, the group over-thought the songs, lending a timid air to tracks that were later beefed up through live performances. Overall that album was a winner though, and it certainly whet our appetite to further output.

Last year's Bike EP displayed further growth, but was only a harbinger of developments to come. A Kaleidoscope of Egos is the band's most solid effort, building upon the orch-pop of their earlier work, expanding into more aggressive rhythms and expansive choruses. The stand-out "Mt. Hopeless" is a good example of this, with its propulsive guitar, earworm chorus, and coda of peppy brass. Between those folks and OFFICE, there's a good chance Chicago could emerge as the capitol of thinking people's pop in 2007.

MP3: May Or May Not "Mt. Hopeless"

May Or May Not's CD release show is at Schubas tonight, and tickets are available here.

For all you Chicagoist fans who love to bitch--whether it’s about the CTA, Macy’s, Comments by Guest #2, or a typo right here on Chicagoist--we’ve found a new forum for you: The Complaints Choir of Chicago. Artists Tellervo Kalleinen and Oliver Kochta-Kalleinen will work with local musician Jeremy Jacobsen to create the first choir of complainers in the Midwest.

No singing experience is needed, just a good gripe. The choir will meet during five workshops in October. The grand premiere of the Complaints Choir will be November 3 at the MCA, as part of the Humanities Festival.

Chronic complainers are encouraged to send their complaints to complaintschoir@yahoo.com, and all complaints, from daily irritations to global nuisances, will be stitch together with all participants during the workshops.

Wonder what a complaint choir sounds like? Check out other cities'.

Photo by apgroner.

Rhett Miller is as poppy a dude as you'll find, but he's mastered the art of knowing when to hold back and when to let the whole symphony out to play. As leader of the seminal-turned-name-checkable insurgent Americana band the Old 97's, Miller culled a rep for giant, hooky melodies and had one of the sharpest tongues on the independent rock scene. As a solo artist, he's replaced much of the whiskey and vinegar of the 97's with melodic flourishes of strings and piano on 2002's The Instigator and 2006's The Believer. With the 97's touring again, perhaps on the strength of a kinda bizarre cameo (filmed at the Riv) in a certain Chicago-set Jennifer Aniston movie, now is the time to catch Miller alone and in an intimate setting where the real sweetness of his songs can shine through the snarkiness of his lyrics.

The last time we caught Rhett solo was at the Park West two springs ago, at a ballsy rock show that proved once and for all that the guy who used to desperately sing "I believe in love / but it don't believe in me" had finally grown into his role as spokesman for the playful, sexy side of alt-country ... the Brandon Walsh to Ryan Adams' Jordan Catalano, if you will. Gone for Miller are the days of drunken hook-ups and listless wandering as lyrical fodder, allowing the structural maturity of his pop songwriting to finally take center stage.

Rhett Miller plays tonight and tomorrow night at Schubas | 7:30 p.m. Sold out.

Man, if ever there was an evening to get your groove on, this evening is that evening.

Daniel Ash has a long, storied career manning the axe in not one, but three, groundbreaking bands — Bauhaus, Tones On Tail, and Love And Rockets. Whilst those past acts are known for their atmospherics, said atmospherics owing a pretty huge debt to Ash's guitar work, the man's DJ sets are a world apart. Which is why we find it a little funny that tonight's set at Neo is being touted as something coming from the "godfather of goth." (Dude, admit it, Bauhaus was always way more T. Rex tight-pants than doom-n-gloom deathwatch.) In our experience, Ash seems most at home spinning house and disco, so we expect tonight show to be packed with mystified fans expecting the 60-minute remix of "Bela Lugosi's Dead." At the same time, we expect that when Ash breaks out the Herve Goes Low remix of Larry Tee's "Licky," the crowd will go nuts no matter what.

Across town, in hipsterville, Brazilians Bonde do Rolê will be decimating the Empty Bottle's stage. Their mixture of baile punk-funk is super-infectous and sure to get even the most staid white-belts wearers itching to shimmy out of their skinny jeans. We were first exposed to this exuberant trio through the Diplo produced / sponsored Melô Do Tabaco tape, and they had us from the first twisted strains of Alice In Chains' "Man In A Box" refashioned as a funky dancefloor stomper. And their debut, With Lasers, remains one of the few albums we've actually bought through iTunes, because we simply couldn't wait for our review copy to arrive via snail mail.

MP3: Bonde do Rolê "Danca Da Ventoinha"

Daniel Ash DJs at Neo tonight, and is $15 at the door.

Bonde do Rolê plays at The Empty Bottle tonight, and you can get your tickets here.

Marnie Stern may look like a bookstore clerk or a Starbucks barista, but this Brooklyn guitar virtuoso has little else to do with lit or lattes. She's a metalhead through and through, having mastered such thrash-god techniques as finger-tapping, shuddering time-signature shifts, and balls-to-the-wall shredding that would make Eddie Van Halen blush. So what's this obvious shred-head doing on venerable punk rock shock shop Kill Rock Stars Records? She's carefully bridging the gap between the colorful, technical, and often posturing world of metal, and the guttural vocals, minimalist production, and eff you attitude that "punk" has come to inspire. It's a tenuous position, given that punk set out to destroy all the egotistical excess and arrogance of the metal scene, but maybe the old adage is right -- it just takes a woman's touch.

Stern's 2007 release, In Advance of the Broken Arm, was released in February but is holding steady in a lot of critics' top albums lists for the year, and her SXSW performances in March solidified the fact that she's nothing if not unique and gluttonously talented. Who doesn't love a petite blonde absolutely torturing the guts out of a Fender Jaguar??

Marnie Stern plays Double Door tonight with Jucifer, Evil Beaver, and 8 Inch Betsy as part of the Estrojam festival | 8:30pm | $15

With A Night at the Ritz, their first album on Scratchie/New Line Records, due out Sept. 25, everyone's favorite up-and-coming Chicago band OFFICE has got themselves a brand new music video for the single "Oh My." We know it looks like an (awesome) '80s porno, but we promise it's SFW.

OFFICE hits the road right after the album's release, making a brief pit stop at Schubas on Oct. 3. Get your tickets now, because we are pretty sure that by the time these kids are done with their tour, they're gonna be bigger than Jesus.

We still remember sitting in Danny's back in 1995 when one of the bartenders started this track named "Leave Home" on the bar's cruddy stereo system. Back then, Danny's was basically a punk-rock house party every night, and the aggressive electronic song that suddenly tumbled forth stunned the entire room. We didn't know quite what to make of it, but we realized that someone had finally successfully synthesized a dance track with a rock and/or roll attitude.

That mind-bending track was off The Chemical Brothers' debut, and the band went on to help redefine the common man's perception of what dance music could be. Indie rockers discovered it was OK to shake their hips, Jeep-driving frat boys learned something else besides the electric slide, black-taffeta'd goths learned to sway to a different beat, and everyone met on the dance floor amidst blaring sirens and thunderous drum breaks.

The Chemical Brothers have continued to release solid albums over the years, although we must admit, as countless bands have appropriated their sound, their most recent output had us feeling a little less than moved. The band recaptured our attention earlier this summer with We Are The Night, a powerful return to form. We wouldn't call the disc backward looking, but we would say it recaptures some of the excitement of their earliest singles, and the most obvious improvement is the band's successful wrangling of its guest singers. Many of the more recent vocal contributions have run roughshod over songs that would have been better without them, but this time around The Chemical Brothers have paired up singers with their songs perfectly. Standouts are the Klaxons-driven "All Rights Reversed" and the goofy rap Fatlip provides on "The Salmon Dance." And of course there are the requisite dance-floor ragers mixed with more thoughtful melodic workouts throughout the remainder of the disc.

The band is stopping in Chicago next Monday, September 24, for an 18+ show at The Riviera. We've got two pairs of tickets to give away to some lucky readers, but you need to enter now, since we're closing the contest at 5 p.m. today. Enter after the jump and good luck!

Photo by Mick Rock.

Shellac, that merry trio of fun-loving noisemakers, is taking over Hideout in mid-December. We love Hideout, and we love the fact that Shellac always tries to play somewhere interesting on those rare occasions they do deign to grace the public with a live performance. The band will be playing a bunch of shows between December 13-16, including a few double-header days with shows at noon and in the evening.

Our only question is; has Hideout owner Tim Tuten thought ahead and reinforced the club's foundation? Because we're pretty sure that back room has never been challenged by such punishing decibel levels.

Tickets go on sale today at 2:00 p.m., so start revving up those browsers and warm up your "refresh" buttons now!

Also of note: If you dig a different wall of noise, in the form of a far-out marching band, Mucca Pazza has their own multi-day residency at Hideout, starting tonight and running through Saturday.

If you were at last night's Estrojam (warning: makes noise) opening-night Panty Party at Funky Buddha, it's likely you're familiar with the festival. You're also probably a) hungover from all the $1 beers and mango vodka shots, and b) searching for your face on Last Night's Party, hoping for a new MySpace photo.

The five-year-old, woman-centric music and culture festival continues all over the city this week with a bevy of concerts, films, workshops and comedy shows. A few highlights:

• Margaret Cho's The Sensuous Woman opens tonight. As she told us last week, the show is a big 'ole variety show, complete with a viral YouTube star, burlesque dancing and, duh, a gay rapper.
• The Cinejam Film Festival, featuring shorts, animation and music videos created by women filmmakers from around the world.
• Workshops that span from women's reproductive options/issues to the obligatory sex-ploration seminar.
• The final performance ever by the renowned and often sampled electro, art-funk band ESG.

While not a man-hating affair (the penis-growing set is more than welcome and invited to attend the festivities), Estrojam serves as an annual celebration of women's contribution to music, art and filmmaking. So get on out there and celebrate the ladies, already. The festival ends Saturday, and tickets are still available.

Northern State at Estrojam photo courtesy of the festival.

Imagine our surprise when gearing up to see tonight's performance by The Mystery Jets, a band whose live show we've greatly anticipated seeing, only to be stymied. So yesterday we checked the website of the club they were scheduled to play to confirm the set-time, only to discover the show had been moved to Schubas! Which, oddly enough, is where we were supposed to see them the first time they didn't come around when their previous tour was canceled due to visa issues. (Note to fans: even though the band's website states the wrong venue, their label has confirmed the show has been moved to Schubas.)

These kids are reasonably well-known overseas, so you would think that at least some buzz would have crept over here. Alas, they remain largely unknown in the U.S.A. Which is actually pretty surprising, because who wouldn't love a bunch of kids making an oddly cohesive and professional racket with one old man filling in on the bass? Sound-wise, the group most resembles a hyper cross of early Pink Floyd and The Smiths. Tight. And they've finally made their American debut with Zoo Time — most of their original British debut, Making Dens, along with a few newer songs swapped in — and now that they've got all their visa issues sorted out (we hope) they're finally set to start doing their best to convert the American crowds and to raise their profile.

So far we're guessing that profile is still pretty low, since tonight's show got moved to a much smaller room, but we prefer to take the optimistic view that we'll get to catch them in one of the best-sounding and most intimate clubs in the city. All the better to knock our collective socks off.

Mystery Jets open for Jaimie T tonight at Schubas and tickets are still available.

Photo by Tom Beard.

One of our favorite rock albums of the last year was created by two guys who don’t play a single conventional instrument. To add insult to injury, the gentlemen in question also come from a nation that despises the phrase “freedom fries.” Worse yet? They threw one of our own fair city’s preeminent hip-hop celebrity missionaries into a tizzy when they snatched an MTV Europe award from his hands last year, spiraling said local celeb into a never-ending succession of highly prolific tantrums.

Oh, and it gets even worse, considering after seeing Daft Punk at this year’s Lollapalooza (yup, we managed to resurrect that festival yet again), we realized they stole all their best tricks from two of their fellow robots/countrymen. So how could we possibly say that Justice, the duo in question, has recorded one of our favorite rock albums of the year?

Well, the duo of Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay have (a) released a dance album of such stunning immediacy and intensity it is nigh irresistible, and (b) that same duo has learned from others less skilled and actually released a dance disc that works as an album (yes, a rock and/or roll album in attitude and thematic coherence) with almost zero filler. Hell, these two cats have even seduced Kanye the whiner, and forced him to emulate them in his latest video. (And to get meta-meta on you, this is after Kanye already sampled their progenitors on his excellent “Stronger” single. Yeah, our head hurts too.)

Rilo Kiley has been around for nine years, did y'all know that? In that time, they've achieved a modicum of success for an indie band: respectable records sales figures, critical acclaim, lots of pretty photos. Blake Sennett and Jenny Lewis have both done well for themselves outside of the band, and the breakup of their romantic relationship a couple of years ago doesn't appear to have adversely affected the band they share.

The band's latest effort Under the Blacklight is a definite step towards the pop mainstream, but it shows a blatant willingness to please and an acute understanding of what sounds good. Funny how many bands in today's holier (as in both the nonsecular and the thrift store sense)-than-thou independent music scene forget that if you want to survive on your "art," you have to convince more than just a few hardcore snobs to buy it. For all the potential cries of "sellout," Lewis & company deserve plenty of praise for stepping out of an underground that's decidedly overcrowded.

Rilo Kiley play The Riviera tomorrow night, Johnathan Rice and Grand Ole Party open | 7pm | $22.50

For years, we've heard about the Green Tie Ball and wondered if we'd ever get to go to something so fancy. Turns out we will, and we're excited about it. The Green Tie Ball is an annual charity event held by Gateway Green. According to their website, "The Green Tie Ball is the signature fundraising event for Chicago Gateway Green."

Gateway Green is a non-profit working for "the beautification of the city." The proceeds for tomorrow night's event will directly benefit the Expressway Partnership. It's a public-private partnership dedicated to turning roadways into parkways. This year's 16th annual Ball will have a "Garden of Good and Evil" theme.

VIP events start tomorrow at 6:30, and the gala will kick off at 8:00. There will be a live auction and charitable gambling as well as over 75 restaurants showing off their wares. If you'd like to get a ticket (prices range from $140-250), call 312-902-1500 or go to www. greentieball.org.

"green tie and chapped lips" by MB!

Of all the city-sponsored music festivals, few utilize as much of the city limits like the World Music Festival (check out the festival's Myspace page, also). In its nine years, World Music Fest has become a showcase event, even though it lacks the resources the city pours into Blues Fest, Jazz Fest, and Viva! Chicago. Its drawn visitors to the city from around the world, done a remarkable job in shining a much-needed spotlight on Chicago’s numerous music venues (the only festival in the city to truly do so on a regular basis), introduced Chicago residents to neighborhoods they would not have otherwise visited, raised awareness and created fans of so-called “world music” and proved that Chicago has an audience base with the interest to sustain and support many of the acts featured in previous versions.

World Music Fest 2007 will also mark the first version of the festival without the participation of HotHouse, still “itinerant” since it left its South Loop digs in July. Long before there was a World Music Fest, HotHouse was the only place to go to find a wide array of musical styles from around the world. But the show must go on, and following the jump we have a list of recommended performances for those of you interested in participating in what, to this Chicagoist writer, is the best musical festival in the city. The artists' names link to their respective websites or Myspace pages.

It's grown easy to take Ministry for granted. Hell, we bet most people didn't even realize that the band was putting out albums since the group's public profile has dropped considerably since they had a hit with the Gibby Haynes-sung speed freakabilly of "Jesus Built My Hotrod."

Certainly the band seemed to deserve to fall by the wayside. A couple bad puns passing as albums that were saddled with mediocre metal was enough to even press die-hard fans’ allegiance. Y’see, back in the day Al Jourgensen was a motherfucker of a producer, crafting bruising, pummeling, goth speed-tech. His masterpiece was The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste, an album that sampled everything and anything to craft a bad acid trip tempered with about 70 pounds of aural cocaine. It sounded like danger and Armageddon, and it was darkly beautiful.

And then things started to slowly roll downhill.

We admit the primary reason we even really paid attention to Ministry’s new album, The Last Sucker, was because it arrived alongside the news that this would be the band’s final offering. Naturally, this news was somewhat weakened a few days later when we learned that “Ministry & Co-Conspirators” were currently working on an album of covers, but by then it was too late, we’d already listened to The Last Sucker. And man were we surprised by what we heard.

Apparently Al got his groove back.

Button up your sweaters and pack a picnic, because Wilco is set to give the Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park a proper inauguration tonight. The skies don’t appear to hold the same nasty storms that plagued the Decemberists’ show there in July, so the full beauty and potential of the space should be on display this evening. Not to mention, it’s freakin’ Wilco.

A beautiful Lollapalooza 2006 performance aside, it’s been a while since perhaps the most critically important rock band ever to call Chicago home has played a truly accessible set for its fellow Chicagoans. The show sold out of its 11,000 available tickets within a few days of announcement, no doubt in part due to the palpable love affair the band seemingly has with this city. From the cover of the iconic Yankee Hotel Foxtrot album to the classic “Kiss and ride on the CTA” line in Being There’s “Far, Far Away,” Jeff Tweedy and company have consistently and incomparably worn their hometown pride on their musical sleeve.

In addition to its Chicago smooch fest, Wilco’s also honed a healthy and collaborative relationship with its ever-growing fan-base. This tour marked the launch of a setlist recommendation option for visitors to their website, in which the band solicited song requests and is taking them under advisement when writing each show’s setlist. For a band with a sizable back catalog and a high percentage of concert attendees who might qualify as “Wilcophiles,” it’s a pretty cool move. There are plenty of hidden gems in the folds of the band’s six studio albums and two collaborations with England’s resident hobo punk Billy Bragg, and the website suggestion option gives us hope that some deep cuts may get their live performance due.

What Wilco song would really yank your crank to hear in Millennium Park tonight?

Wilco plays the Pritzker Pavillion at Millennium Park tonight, Dr. Dog opens | 6:30pm | SOLD OUT

Remember how WLUW, one of our favorite radio stations, is being taken back by Loyola and will no longer be an independent, community radio station? And do you remember that program director Shawn Campbell turned lemons into lemonade by creating the Chciago Indie Radio Project?

To jog your memory, CHIRP is working to bring low-power FM stations to Chicago and allow community radio to thrive, without the threat of being taken back by larger owners. But doing this ain’t cheap; they need to raise around $30k to be able to start a new station within the next 18 months. As a result, the group has been actively fundraising, and this weekend, the soliciting continues.

Finch Gallery, which recently opened above the old Fireside Bowl, will kick off a “fundraiser dance party” for CHIRP on Sunday. The party will follow a lecture by Andreas Ehmann, who will be speaking about “the mathematical nature of light and sound how [its] layering creates the visual and sonic world around us.” If that doesn’t turn you on, you might as well be dead.

The Chicago Indie Radio Project Sunday Night Dance Party will kick off at 7 p.m. on Sunday night at Finch Gallery, 2648 W. Fullerton. Entry is $7. Ehmann’s lecture precedes the party at 4 p.m.

If you’re not totally familiar with The Hideout, you’re not alone. It’s not called “The Hideout” for no reason – it’s tucked away amidst warehouses and a U.S.P.S. processing center in the gritty industrial neighborhood just south of the North Branch of the Chicago River. A hand-painted “<---HIDEOUT” sign that looks stolen from a kid’s backyard directs patrons from the nearest intersection, which is all a part of the charm. It’s only this kind of no frills, destination joint that could host the annual Hideout Block Party, an unpretentious celebration of local, national, and international talent that ends in a nice donation to charity, and this year’s lineup challenges Pitchfork for the best of the fest season around here.

There’s something about the genuine love for Chicago that comes through in any interaction with Hideout owners Tim and Katie Tuten, and they really just strive to throw a good ol’ party every year. You’re not going to find the big corporate sponsors, tons of useless swag, and $7 beers that clutter the summer festival circuit, but you will find a level of talent that’s on par with big promotors’ shows from headliner down to the breakfast slots. Friday night’s big show is Bloc Party, who bless the event with the first show on their fall U.S. tour, but they’re supported by three of Chicago’s most respected and deserving acts (The 1900s, The Changes, and Scotland Yard Gospel Choir). Sleeping in on Saturday is not advised, as you’ll miss the heartbreaking, freakish folk of new Chicagoan-by-way-of-California Cass McCombs. The mid-afternoon sees the triumphant return to the Second City of Baltimore’s Dan Deacon, whose riot-inducing set at the Pitchfork Music Festival this summer inspired a visit from the CPD, and hometown carny punks-cum-marching band Mucca Pazza. Always down for a good time are Art Brut and the Frames, and the festival will bid its 2007 incarnation goodnight with the lovely and ambitious chamber pop of favorite son Andrew Bird. At $35 for the weekend, much of which goes right back into social and literacy programs for Chicago’s school-aged kids, you’re just not a music fan if you’re skipping this party.

The Hideout Block Party kicks off tomorrow at 5pm | 1354 W. Wabansia | $20 per day or $35 for the weekend

We're not sure if you've managed to stay outside R. Kelly's Trapped in the Closet, or if you've managed to avoid the real-life "hip-hopera" of his ongoing saga surrounding a sex tape that surfaced several years ago featuring Kelly and an underage girl. If you have, kudos. Every time we think about Kelly peeing on anyone, much less a girl in her early teens, we just cringe. Golden showers are fine if that's your thing, but the kids aren't all right with us.

It's not okay with Chicago police, either, and they've been trying to prove this all happened and get some criminal charges brought down on Kelly. Despite all this grossness, Kelly's popularity has continued to grow. It brings up questions of if what an artist does in his/her personal life should influence the buying public to alter their habits. But, we just don't get him anyway. Have you heard "Trapped ..." before? Wack.

Kelly got another delay to his trial proceedings ... at the hands of a woman who just had a child. According to the Chicago Tribune, Assistant State's Atty. Shauna Boliker, gave birth last week, "prompting the judge presiding over the case to indefinitely postpone the trial less than two weeks before its scheduled start on Sept. 17." It's disheartening that something like this would take five years to prosecute. It also makes us wonder just how possible it is to nail down a celebrity when they've committed a crime. Justice may be blind, but it seems she really digs those with cash.

"R. Kelly Sold Out" by Wes Mantooth

May Or May Not are having a whole fucking lot of fun, and you’re invited to join in every Monday of this month as they tackle the make-or-break opportunity of a Schubas Practice Space residency. You probably missed the chance to shake it this week in a haze of day-off cookouts and outdoor drinking, but pencil in the next three Mondays for a dose of buoyant pop that goes down easy with the spoonful of sugar singer Steve Reidell and company offer up. If you have to choose just one Monday to get manic with MOMN, go for the 24th – it’s also the release party for the band’s latest full length album, A Kaleidoscope of Egos, out on local label Two Thumbs Down Records.

There’s a playful pop movement afoot in Chicago, and bands like OFFICE are poised to open doors for the likes of May Or May Not and other worthy purveyors of feel-good, quirky rock. A residency at Schubas has traditionally been the breeding ground for success in the outside world, as bands like the aforementioned OFFICE, Catfish Haven, and The Changes all honed their sets and tried out new arrangements on the Practice Space stage just as they came to the attention of the music community outside of Chicago.

Will May Or May Not be the next indie-pop outfit to make waves beyond the friendly confines of the Midwest? Checking out their remaining residency dates may be the surest way to tell.

May Or May Not plays Schubas Mondays in September: 10th, 17th, and 24th

As you all know, we here at Chicagoist are avid Wentz watchers. We’re also big fans of looking svelte in our dungarees, but can these two passions ever meet as one?

Fear not, fellow drama and denim lovers – DKNY has the answer to all of your prayers. The New York-based icon of the jean has joined forces with Pete’s Clandestine Industries to (creatively) offer Clandestine Industries for DKNY, a snazzy line of tops, dresses, pants, hoodies, and the like inspired by such works of artistic importance as Wentz’s tattoos and the pixilated mug of his pet bulldog. According to the press release, the line will feature skinny jeans, worn leather and miniskirts that are “dark an moody, with pops of bright pinks…” Hm, sounds like white-belt emo all wrapped up and neatly packaged without all those pesky, you know, emotions. No word on whether there’s going to be a Clandestine presence at the cosmetics counters of Macy’s and Dillard’s, the two department stores lucky enough to offer this little piece of teenage heaven. Call us crazy, but buying your rebellion at the same store where your grandma buys her girdles is not the most rocknroll of aesthetics.

DKNY prez Kevin Monogue is pretty psyched to have the Prince of Mall Punk in his stable of designers. "This is a first for us as a brand and a perfect match," he gushes. "Pete Wentz is absolutely first name in music right now, and he also happens to have an innate designer's eye and a similar aesthetic to DKNY Jeans.”

No word yet on a Clandestine Industries for DKNY monogrammed Capuchian monkey.

As a boater on Lake Michigan, you're entitled to profanity-free air. At least that's what a group of 300 boaters and motorists, who came together to protest on Sunday night, are saying. They're, as the punny Trib puts it "honking mad" about the youth-infecting rap music that's been occurring at Northerly Island for the past two weeks.

There were apparently complaints after the show on Aug. 26, which included Wu-Tang, MF Doom and Pharoahe Monch. (Boaters don't take kindly to girls being asked to "rub on your titties.") Sunday's Snoop Dogg show (part of the Download 2007 festival) really put them over the edge, though, and inspired them to come together for one collective honking of their horns at 8 p.m. that evening.

Despite the fact that performers at Northerly Island abide by noise guidelines set into place in 2005 and that the venue posts a schedule of its performers for the boaters and everyone else to see, people are still pissed that while sitting outside enjoying the nice, sunny weekend, they had to hear rappers allegedly talking about bustin' caps in cops. In fact, the Trib quoted one of the protest organizers as saying, "You shouldn't be able to do that, out there in the open air."

Actually, Mr. Protest Organizer, a little something called the First Amendment says you can. These performances you are not too excited about take place at a venue with a permit to book live music shows. And while the music shows must abide by set guidelines, i.e. maintaining certain noise levels, censoring content is not the venue's steez.

Looking at the upcoming Northerly Island schedule, which includes Stevie Wonder (anyone want to give us tickets?), Joss Stone, Common and the Beastie Boys, we're pretty sure the boaters and lakefront path enthusiasts will be a little happier with the words they hear blasting out of the speakers, invading their eardrums. We just hope these silly protests don't affect the booking choices of Live Nation (the company that operates Northerly Island) next year. As much as we respect a child's right to go his or her whole life without hearing RZA yell "bring da mothafuckin' ruckus" (but what a boring life to lead), we also respect the whole Wu Tang clan's right to proclaim they "ain't nothin' to fuck with" to the entire Chicago boating community. Game on.

"The worst part of censorship ..." photo via net_efekt.