Results tagged “andrewbird”

Andrew Bird will be playing an 18+ Rock For Kids benefit show at Schubas on August 6. Tickets go on sale at noon today and will run you $40 a piece, but after seeing Bird at Hideout earlier this year we consider that price to be well worth it. Some pre-registration is required so do that now. Good luck.

As reported here and here, the full list of Lollapalooza 2009 headliners has been revealed. In addition to the Beastie Boys, Jane's Addiction, and Depeche Mode, the anchor stages at either end of Grant Park will also feature The Killers and Tool. Lou Reed, the Decemberists, Neko Case, and Andrew Bird have also been tipped to participate.

We were at the show the below video was filmed at, and we admit we thought Andrew Bird was pulling our leg when he offered a synopsis of the storyline ... we should have known better. Plus, we will always hear this song from here on out along with the awesome swell of Mucca Pazza's brass section in a comfortably crowded Hideout at the climax of the song.

Andrew Bird's excellent new album, Noble Beast, is available today for $1.99 at Amazon. That is a steal of a deal!

When the lineup for MegaFest Coachella was released last week, we barely batted an eyelash. It failed to impress us much headliner-wise (giving Amy Winehouse that high a billing? really?) though some of the undercard was nice, but nothing we haven't seen at Lollapalooza or Pitchfork Fest.

Hometown introvert and Chicagoist fav Andrew Bird will play a second show at the gorgeous Lyric Opera House on April 9 in support of his epic Noble Beast. Check back later this week for our review of the record and pick up your Lyric tickets this weekend.

                     

At first we wondered how a bus-full of rowdy Hideout regulars -- musicians, employees, and employees -- would be greeted by a city like D.C. We pictured streams of lobbyists and grumpy Republicans growling with disdain at a ragtag group dressed up in their finest duds of proms long past.

It may be another couple of weeks before you can lay your hot little hands on an artwork copy of Andrew Bird's Noble Beast, but the Bird Herd wants you to be plenty familiar with what our hometown whistle blower has been up to before then. Building on an already carefully-calculated career that hit a high point when Bird drew 13,000 people to a free show at Millennium Park's Pritzker Pavilion in September (and incited a sweaty dance riot and some bra-throwing), the diminutive troubadour finally seems poised to go from cult hero to bona fide pop star. His decidedly un-meteoric rise was recently chronicled in the New York Times and the slight, angular 35-year-old will soon loop, lull and pluck the shit out of David Letterman's stage.

Last minute, but hey, it's something. If you're sad about missing Andrew Bird's shows at the Hideout on Sunday and Monday, you can still catch the hometown indie rock hero in action TONIGHT (Friday) at Ronny's. Bird is listed as a "special guest" for tonight's show with Baby Alright, starting at 9 p.m. (21+). So get yourself over to Ronny's (2101 N California Ave.) and have yourself a ball with Bird.

              

We have to admit from the very top that we've never really been huge Andrew Bird fans. We've appreciated his nuanced compositions and have respected his technical expertise, but he's never really connected with us on an emotional level.

Well, it's not on Hideout's website, but there are two shows at Hideout listed on Andrew Bird's site. And tickets are were only $20 (and still available for Sunday and Monday)?! What the hell? How is this not already sold out?!

Andrew Bird will be touring in January and February ... but dude must have been hanging out with Wilco or The Smashing Pumpkins too much because he ain't playing Chicago! What's up with that? Other tour dates after the jump.

Despite being one of the city’s most notorious warm-weather tourist hubs, Millennium Park just keeps bangin’ out some rather impressive locally oriented programming. This week is no exception, as the Park celebrates Blockbuster Week, a celebration of some of Chicago’s “most beloved cultural gems.” Two highlights, both of which come at no charge to you:

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.

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.

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 hand-screened poster by Kathleen Judge.

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?

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 life on the road. Fresh off a tour with Brett Dennen, Chicagoist caught up with Jason for a quick chat about touring, Chicago's music community, and Singapore's transvestite prostitutes.

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.

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.

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....