Jim DeRogatis provides an obligatory "Chicago's next big bands" list today, and we actually find ourselves agreeing with most of his picks, even if a few are overly obvious. For instance it's not exactly like he's mining the underground when he predicts Kid Sister and the Cool Kids are going to break in 2008. We were pleasantly surprised to see Airiel and Tom Schraeder on his list, though, since those are two acts that we......

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......

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......

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......

It figures, as the number of shows each week ramps up, the mercury in the thermometer drops down causing us to risk frostbite whilst waiting for the bus, or drop way too much dough on cabs. Here are a few things that makes either of the above options palatable. Is Airiel actually from Chicago? You wouldn't know it from their sound, which leans walls of My Bloody Valentine guitars against melodies plucked from the late-80's......

Chicago sure seems conducive to fostering public relationships between critically abrasive duos. We produced one of the most famous teams in movie criticism with Siskel and Ebert, and who can ever forget the headline-shattering team of Marin and Mancow? We think it’s time to add DeRogatis and Kot to that list as well. Greg Kot and Jim DeRogatis head up Sound Opinions, what they claim to be the world’s only rock 'n' roll talk show.......

Last week, we recommended catching this weekend’s Cold War Kids show at Hideout. You listened, because the show is sold out. But we’ve got our hands on a pair of tickets to the show and we’re giving them away to you!. As one of our commenters pointed out, Cold War Kids was on tour with The Futureheads with a stop at Metro planned for this Saturday before that tour was cancelled due to an injured......

As the group Liars droned on with their less-complicated-than-it-looks brand of noise rock, they repeatedly intoned the words “the weather is fierce.” It was a lyrical aside that would define the weather, if not necessarily the atmosphere, of the second Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago’s Union Park. Though Pitchfork was instrumental in creating last year’s Intonation festival, a split with some of last year’s organizers led to two separate events this summer. So the site......

Approximately 17,000 indie rock fans now have tans thanks to the 2006 Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago’s Union Park. With temps in the 90s all day long and plenty of humidity radiating off the bodies of a sold-out crowd, Day One was a sweat-filled celebration of some of the best indie rock has to offer, including Chicago groups like Hot Machines and Chin Up Chin Up. Many attendees lined up to enter the park as......

With a music scene as robust as Chicago’s, it’s rare that we’re at a loss for things to write about (with the notable exception of the entire month of February). No, our problem is we’re so easily distracted. When faced with the choice between making words form sentences or reading a few good websites, we usually end up taking the road most easily traveled. Give us a decent blogroll and we’re like a little kid......