Great billboard? Or greatest billboard? more ›

As if we haven't heard enough about the impending LeBron James sweepstakes (yes, we're guilty, too) two more stories are popping up. While we think it'd be nice to have LeBron playing home games at the United Center, we didn't shell out cash for a new billboard downtown calling for LeBron to come to Chicago. But one group of fans did, purchasing a billboard at Grand and LaSalle trying to woo LeBron into signing with Chicago. And according to the website, the group is looking into buying a second billboard, this one on LeBron's home turf of Akron, Ohio. Ouch. Whether this can successfully counter Cleveland's own wooing remains to be seen. But we cordially offer this suggestion: perhaps donating to LeBron's favorite charity might be a better way of wooing him? Or at least showing him some sort of spirit among fans he's looking for. more ›

Remember the atheist bus ads that hit the CTA this past spring? Now there's a new example of atheism in advertising, this time in the form of a downtown billboard but it doesn't seem to be causing much of a fuss. The billboard, located at LaSalle and Grand and paid for by the Chicago Coalition For Reason, says, "Are You Good Without God? Millions Are." The CCoR describes itself as "an exciting group of organizations in the Chicago area, each of which celebrates a human-centered and naturalistic approach to life. For us, non-dogmatic and rational approaches to ethics, culture and the human experience are the most meaningful and satisfying." more ›

where she will not only take on the role of executive producer but will also star as legendary singer Etta James. No word yet on when she will actually arrive, but we’re certain well know as soon as her private jet lands, as Beyonce buzz travels fast. The film will mainly be shot in New Jersey and Mississippi, but may shoot in Chicago for a few exteriors. more ›

The Plain White T’s have quietly been playing around since 1997, but ten years in they are experiencing something called “success” with their first major label album, Every Second Counts. The band earned its first Billboard Hot 100 No.1 with their single “Hey There Delilah” unseating Rihanna’s “Umbrella” which spent seven weeks at the top. more ›

The Hideout plays host tonight to two of Chicago’s brightest independent collectives, Skybox and Plane. The latter have been on the Chicago and national radar since their 2004 album Shake My Ground debuted at #42 on the CMJ charts, but the going wasn't as smooth after that. Fans and critics alike were puzzled by the alternatingly hooky pop and quizzical experimentation on 2005’s follow up EP, Hello More. Never fear, however – Plane has clearly... more ›

We have a huge case of the giggles today. It all started when we tried to type “jagoff” and it came out “jagoof” and we could not stop laughing at ourselves for five minutes. Then we decided to be productive and write up this edition of EOYW, which only proved that the Ticketmaster gods were laughing along with us with their offerings for this week’s ticket sales. more ›

It’s been a harsh week, hasn’t it? First, we had to walk through a blizzard, prove our love on Valentine’s Day and then it got cold again. The rest of the week they piled work on us here at the office, and now we have to decide what tickets to buy for upcoming shows. Life is just hard sometimes. Too bad the John Legend and Corinne Bailey Rae show didn’t go on sale earlier; it... more ›

There were three and a half long hours of the Grammys last night where the performances took top billing to the actual awards. Did anyone actually watch past The Police? Well, we did. Until a little after 10:00 when our eyes just wouldn’t stay open anymore. As we watch the Grammys we try to guess who might win based on which band just performed or if there is some sort of trend with the presenters... more ›

Some days when Chicagoist is busy reading the trades, it’s almost enough to put us to sleep. Thank goodness for that that intravenous caffeine drip. Lately, these stories all have a “Chicago Connection”. From working with Jay-Z and Kanye West on his debut album to garnering three Grammy nominations, Lupe Fiasco has had some dreams come true. He’s decided to take Oprah’s advice and dream even bigger for what comes next. His high hopes include... more ›

God, we're so sick of Snakes on a Plane that we want to kill anyone and everyone that makes a "something on a something" joke. But then we realized that there was no way we could ever win this fight, and, hell, if you can't beat them, we might as well join them. And with that, you have the theme of this weeks' Gothamist network post. Austinist makes it easy for us, with Candidate on... more ›

Chicagoist has long held that it’s important to separate the artist from the art; some of the best musicians make lousy human beings (Chuck Berry, take a bow!). But lately, we keep stumbling upon two artists who seem like lovely people you could bring home to Mom. more ›

Yesterday local record label Touch and Go announced its plans for a "This Is Your Life"-style 25th Anniversary show that will coincide with the Hideout’s tenth anniversary and its annual block party in September. From September 8th through September 10th, 25 past and present Touch and Go artists will play at the Hideout. So far, nine artists have been announced including Didjits and Scratch Acid (each with all their original members), Enon, Shellac, Calexico and... more ›

Yesterday, we posted about a piece that ran on Billboard.com regarding a possible Smashing Pumpkins reunion at Lollapalooza. Our curiosity was piqued by one line in particular that said “Chicago media reports” had first carried this speculation. Since we hadn’t seen anything like that, we started doing a little research and sending a few e-mails. What follows is an account of our attempts to track down exactly how stories like this get legs and whether... more ›

Yesterday afternoon Billboard's website added to the Smashing Pumpkins rumors circling the globe with a possible reunion occuring at the August 4-6th Lollapalooza here in Chicago. There's no confirmation of the dates or who will be playing, but the Texas-based Capital Sports & Entertainment are in charge again. The line-up will not be announced for weeks, but Thievery Corporation told Billboard that they would be there. more ›

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... more ›

Chicagoist maintains that both Lester Bangs and the New journalism movement of the 1970s spawned some of the most bloated and least interesting rock writing of the last twenty years; countless imitators took a vital form and sapped all the energy from it with writing that focused on the messenger and not the message. But in yesterday’s Chicago Tribune, music critic Greg Kot and U2 lead singer Bono showed that even when a writer IS part of the story, the revelations that come from such a confrontation between artist and critic and can be vital indeed. more ›

The well-worn cliché about British rock and pop audiences is that they are ready and willing to embrace a band that breaks the mold and presents something new—much more so than music fans over here. Just two years ago, music execs were in a panic over the lack of British artists on the Billboard charts. While Robbie Williams still remains a hard sell here, whatever plan was devised back in 2002 is clearly working. And... more ›

Chicago community activist Derrick Mosley was arrested and charged with extortion after phoning the business manager of a professional athlete and demanding $20,000 in return for a tape showing that athlete's wife having sex with a professional musician. more ›