In spite of the chilly weather, the first round of street fests are approaching. While Pitchfork and Lollapalooza dominate the headlines, our fair city's many street fests often boast some pretty decent bands. Many fests are just beginning to announce their lineups and there are some great bands already listed with more to be added, so this promises to be a pretty awesome summer of sun and music. You can scope out our comprehensive list of festival dates and keep tabs on developments at the city's Neighborhood Fest website. Here's a small sampling of some current lineups. As usual, most, if not all, fests require a small donation ($5ish). more ›

Last Friday night, we braved the deep freeze of February and headed over to the Park West to see the Chicago stop of the Undertow Orchestra. We were drawn by way of Will Johnson (also of Centro-matic), but we were familiar with Mark Eitzel (also of American Music Club), and curious about the music and musings of Vic Chesnutt and David Bazan (also of Pedro the Lion). more ›