This summer-like weather we've been enjoying all week? It's going to disappear this weekend. But our brief respite from Spring won't get us down. We mentioned the upcoming Rock The Bells fest is coming to Chicago this year and that reminds us of one thing: summer music to look forward to. Hey, it's not always about Lollapalooza. While there will be no advanced ticket sales, The Cool Kids will be playing the Abbey Pub on......

Even the cops can't get enough Wilco. While our Chicagoist photographer sat in line waiting to get into Friday night's show, a CPD cruiser drove by by with the intro to "I Am Trying To Break Your Heart" planking away on it's megaphone, eliciting a roar from the crowd. The band is playing a 5-night stand at The Riv that looks to span the group's collected works. Tonight's show is being broadcast live on......

That Obama, he's a total hipster. First it's Wilco, Cool Kids, and The Changes...now it's Andrew Bird and Dianogah. Despite the slightly weird combination of baroque chamber pop maestro and underground instrumental rock band, we'll take any opportunity to 'rock for Barack.' Also, as an added bonus -- at this event only -- all the folks willing to shell out the minimum $100 donation to gain entry will receive a super ultra-rare insanely limited-edition......

We first witnessed the cockamamie genius of Jon Brion at the second Intonation Festival. Pouring rain be damned, the guy captivated 15,000 people that day, many of whom knew him only as “the guy who worked on Kanye’s records.” Chicagoist left the festival grounds that day with that rare inspiration feeling that reminds you of just how powerful it is to witness true musical aptitude when it meets unbridled creativity. Fast forward to the winter......

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 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......

O.K., let's say you're cheap (or on a really tight budget, that's totally understandable too) so you're not buying tickets to this year's Hideout block party ... but you still want to see fabulous bands like Andrew Bird, Bloc Party, The Frames, Mucca Pazza, Art Brut, Dan Deacon (who you really MUST see live), and a bunch of other cool acts yet to be announced. You can still get in by volunteering! Volunteers do everything......

...for Frisbie’s New Debut. Masters of the turn of phrase and worshippers at the altar of harmony, Frisbie is back in full force. Things look a little different, and the elements have changed. The local band that seemed destined for stardom had some things to work out. Through all of the uncertainty and doubt, the growing pains and a very pregnant pause – Frisbie has come out better for the wear. But they haven’t remained......

Since our hipster cred went down the drain last night when we saw The Police at Wrigley, we decided to just join the ranks of our parents and give up. The on-sale listings from Ticketmaster confirmed this for us when all we found were shows at the Paramount Theatre in Aurora. Shows that would have excited us about forty years ago, but who's to say grandpa and grandma don't deserve a great night out. The......

Chicagoist had a debate with a friend a few months back about the deficiency of really influential musicians coming out of Chicago in the past several years. We argued about the semantics of “coming out of Chicago” – does that mean born and raised here? Still living here? Commonly associated with the Second City? We never came to a clear consensus, but the conversation opened up Chicagoist’s eyes to some artists who cut their teeth......

Chicago native Jason Kanakis is one of those rare dudes who can honestly call himself a "career musician." He's has toured the world playing with the likes of KT Tunstall, Butch Walker, Rachael Yamagata, Aqualung, and an impressive heap of others. Now based in Los Angeles, Jason has an interesting perspective on how the Chicago music scene shapes up in comparison to the rest of the country, not to mention some pretty weird stories about......

Sometimes we worry whether a “big break” will be too much for someone, if they can live up to the expectations and scrutiny of the many more people that will be watching their every move. Well, we needn’t have worried about Andrew Bird. He nailed his debut at The Riviera on Friday night. The stage was set with a rotating phonograph that, from afar, looked like spinning legs, alongside another zebra-striped phonograph (at least that’s......

It's way too nice outside to be sitting there staring at a computer screen, so let's get this done quickly, all right? Tonight's Klaxons show at Schubas is super-duper sold-out. Even those of us lucky enough to score a spot on the guest list stand a good chance of being left outside crying, so we hope everyone got a chance to see them play yesterday (and if you did, how was it?). Even if you......

Andrew Bird has been garnering praise with his latest release Armchair Apocrypha, and there is no better way to target the mainstream music audience than on late-night television. It’s amazing how quickly albums fly off the shelves at discount retailers after an appearance on Letterman. Tonight Andrew will be on the "Late Show with David Letterman," along with David Duchovny and the Phillies’ Ryan Howard. Cue up the TiVo, or be forever doomed to searching......

It's true, hot on the heels of his super-sold out Steppenwolf appearance, we've been told Jon Brion will be performing at The Hideout a few days later on March 11. And tickets are already on sale. Get 'em while you can! Brion is best known for his collaborations with Fiona Apple, his stunning film soundtracks, and his just all-around genius-itude. This is even more exciting than that Andrew Bird show The Hideout snagged a while......

The main tickets going on sale are Cubs tickets, but for those of us who prefer our activities in smaller bars than Wrigley and usually during the night time so our precious flesh doesn’t burn, here are a few choices for dropping some Benjamins. Three nights at the Chicago Theatre will be taken up by The Arcade Fire. The shows aren’t until May which will give us enough time to delve into Neon Bible and......

Is anyone else all disappointed in how short a two-day weekend seems now? Chicagoist is. Schuba’s is making sure that by mid-week their mid-winter fest will be keeping us out of the cold. The Tomorrow Never Knows fest brings together indie acts during the worst (in theory) weather of the year. A couple of our faves from the TNK line-up this week hail from Brooklyn and Indiana, respectively. Let us get to Wednesday’s possibilities with......

EOYW is a day late this week, and your forgiveness is begged. Luckily, most of the shows below are not yet sold out, so our laziness will not be to your detriment. For whatever reason, some of the most talented musicians don’t become well-known until after they contract some life-threatening disease that warrants a tribute album. Alejandro Escovedo managed to recover from his bout with Hepatitis C to release The Boxing Mirror earlier this year.......

We have no beef with The Chicago Tribune’s primary rock critic, Greg Kot. We’ve never accused him of exactly being cutting edge, but we do believe he writes insightful and honest critiques for the most part. Unfortunately, since Matt Lurie left the paper, the Trib had been pretty devoid of anything approaching decent music coverage. They’re consistently behind the trends and most of their freelancers would be better used to compose press releases instead of......

Who can argue with those? You're reading Chicagoist right now because, well, you can appreciate art. Chicagoist is all about the art. Oh sure, sometimes we're also entertaining too. A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down. And brevity is the soul of wit, which is why we keep our musings under 350 words each (usually). Chicago Short Film Brigade, a new organization, aims to showcase international short films with an ongoing series of......

Chicagoist has begrudgingly come to grips with the arrival of fall – seriously, we had to wear a coat this morning – and embracing the good that comes with it. Namely: sweaters and hot toddies. In the meantime, we're cherishing our memories of summer, especially the hot, sweaty and loud ones we formed at Lollapalooza. It's going to be a long time before we forget sitting in a tree and watching a bunch of Santas......

As if 130 bands, overpriced food, kids’ shows, an art exhibit, and people watching weren’t enough, Lollapalooza 2006 will serve up afternoons of interactive entertainment on the Mindfield Stage. Good to see three local comedy offerings on the bill but, with all due respect, they’re pretty much the opening act everyone’s sitting through to get to the headliner. To any of our readers coughing up $60 or more just to see Chicago comedy in Grant......

At the Old Town School of Folk Music on Friday, Chicagoist saw Bobby Bare, Jr. & Sr. perform on the same stage. From the moment that Bobby Bare, Jr. entered the stage, kicked his shoes off, and started tuning the guitar we knew that we were in for some fun on Friday night. Bobby Bare, Jr. played solo for one song among a stage littered with instruments and then the band entered for a quick......

A couple of things caught our attention yesterday and we thought we’d share them. First off Ike Reilly will be on NPR’s World Café today. Now this would be easier if Chicago’s WBEZ carried the show, but it doesn’t so we all have to continuously check the Archives in order to see when they have that up to hear the stylings of Libertyville's finest. And far be it from us to not break news......

As you travel to far-flung corners of the country for Turkey Tour 2005, a few Chicagoans are returning home to visit for the weekend. We’ve had a bit of fun at The Lovehammers’ expense here and there but they’ve got the last laugh with a sold out show tonight at Metro, an appearance at Q101’s sold-out Twisted show in December and a series of sold-out dates with INXS in the coming year. Start collecting those......

There happen to be dueling reports of when the tickets actually go on sale for this – it’s either tonight at 9 pm or tomorrow at the same time. We thought we’d give advance warning either way. Bobby Bare Jr’s Young Criminal Starvation League will be shooting a video on Monday the 21st at The Hideout ($10, 9 pm). Finding the perfect hipster/non-hipster outfit for this should be an adventure. Chicagoist first stumbled upon......

The Intonation Interviews...

The lack of flu shots this season is the proverbial chicken that is now coming home to roost; lots of people in the Chicagoist offices have been knocked out with various winter ailments. Events at The Oprah Winfrey Show this week proved that the famous and buxom are no more immune to illness than the anonymous and flat-chested. During an Oprah taping, Jessica Simpson became dehydrated due to a stomach virus. Thanks to the outstanding......

Chicagoist, after discovering this past Saturday's Q101 hipster love-fest was inexplicably sold-out � we wonder how exactly you sell out an open field � attended the Polyphonic Spree and were rocked... hard. From the chorus with Brady Bunch kids dance moves to their frequent fist-pumping, the Spree put on one helluva show � an aural equivalent of Prozac. Exuberantly happy and amazingly sincere, they made Chicagoist think of The Flaming Lips minus the huge......

Since it's the dog days of August ("dog days" now officially connotes 50-degree temperatures) and none of us have anything better to do with our time, get ready to go festival crazy. Not only does the Chicago Underground Film Festival begin this week, but Wednesday also marks the start of the Interchange Festival 2004. Their website describes it thusly: A collective of Chicago musicians, promoters and the city's top clubs and record stores have......