Chicagoist was out at Martyrs’ last night for the launch of the Chicago Music Commission, which kept the focus not so much on the “commission” but on the “music.” The soft-sell approach was probably best considering the crowd of “extras from High Fidelity” (in the word of one Chicagoist writer), ex-hippies and others with nothing better to do on a Tuesday night. It was a night to “solidify the base” as political consultants like to... more ›

When Chicagoist travels around this great country of ours, we brag about being from The City That Works. In response, people usually respond with “Oh! Michael Jordan!” or make that annoying rat-a-tat-tat machine gun sound. Gangsters, ha ha! It’s funny because it’s...actually, it’s not funny at all. Especially since the city’s got so much more to offer like, say, a kickass live music scene? Anyone? Seems we’re not the only ones tired of faux machine... more ›

An article in The Chicago Journal last week detailed the efforts of a Japanese television crew that sought to document the last vestiges of the Maxwell Street blues scene. The authenticity of the current scene could most charitably be described as “in question” (if for no other reason but its presence on Canal Street rather than Maxwell Street. Fortunately, the flag for Chicago blues is still carried nightly by an army of local musicians in... more ›