Back in his teenage days, before he had status or a MacBook Air he almost broke because he was typing so hard, Kanye West was just another schmo getting his hip-hop hustle on. more ›

Pyyramids produce dark tinted post-punk music that recalls the menacing mood of Joy Division and the lively agitation of The Cure circa Boys Don’t Cry. more ›

Holy Ghost! have been putting in their time on the road, primarily opening for better known acts, to promote their excellent self-titled debut album. The duo of Nick Millhiser and Alex Frankel create electro-pop that is infectious and fun and, unlike many other in the genre, feels fresh and playfully new. There's a definite '80s bent to their approach but there's an approachability to their presentation that feels ver of the "now." There's a tropical feel mixed with an urban feel in their music so I guess you could say it feels like your dancing on a beach with a kick-ass light show surrounded by beautiful people. What's not to like? more ›

I've been a Butch Walker fan for awhile now, at least since his (very) brief reign as a MTV power-pop prince with former band The Marvelous 3 in the late '90s. While his music has always been an ever-evolving stew of nods to the history of pop - from '80s hair scuzz to emo to Top 40 - it's the guy's situation as an artist that I've found most intriguing. more ›

Tonight, Saturday and Sunday Riot Fest will be in full swing at five venues across the city, with a great line-up that's bigger and broader-stroked than previous years. more ›

When Portugal. The Man was in town for Lollapalooza a few months ago, and before they had their gear stolen (and found! and showed their gratitude!) they took some time to film a couple videos around Wicker Park. We'll be debuting two of these videos this week and next in advance of their show at The Metro on October 15. Today's video finds the band at Double Door playing a stripped down version of "All Your Light" backstage at Double Door. more ›

Chicago had been waiting more than 30 years for a visit from '70s group The Raincoats. Monday night at the Double Door, the influential post-punkers proved to be well worth the wait. more ›

Five years ago this correspondent booked a farewell show at Double Door for a little band named Rockit Girl. Lead Girl Gina Crosley (now Crosley-Corcoran) had been around the local music scene for a number of years, playing in college bands, anchoring Veruca Salt and even forming a short-live supergroup with Courtney Love. However Crosely was pregnant, on the verge of starting a family and decided it was time to hang up the guitar strap. We always thought Rockit Girl deserved far more exposure then they got, Crosley-Corcoran is especially adept at penning super catchy hooks and marrying them to the kinds of guitar chords that were meant to rule the radio, and we were sad to see the band go. more ›

Even if you've never heard of The Godfathers, you've heard them. They're most famous in the U.S. for their minor hit "Birth, School, Work, Death," a workmanlike driving slab of rock that encapsulated the band's strengths at combining hooks with acidic drive. If the quartet wasn't from the U.K. the would have definitely been described by many a rock scribe as a perfect example of midwestern brawny rock and/or roll. And there is something very industrial -- as in factory work ethic and not eyeliner and lace -- in the band's body of work. So that might be why we're feeling like their Chicago show this weekend almost feels like a homecoming of sorts. more ›

For those of you tried and true music lovers out there, those of you who are insane devoted enough to brave the 2011 Blizzaster, there will be music! A select number of venues and crazy dedicated musicians will be playing across our great, snow-covered land this eve. more ›

The monthly Soul Summit dance party at Double Door is one of the best places to be if you enjoy getting down to early soul and R&B. The sound is ripped from the days of dancing in dark basements with sweat dripping off the ceiling and it's brought to you by resident DJs Dave Mata, Sloppy White, and Duke Grip. Each month this core group invites guest DJs to help rip up the joint and tonight features an appearance by (arguably the masters of spinning the genre in Chicago) East of Edens Soul Express. more ›

Tame Impala's strength is in channeling '60s psychedelia filtered through a thick rock and/or roll thump. You can almost hear the beads clinking in a doorway when they enter a room. But these Australians aren't a bunch of feel-good hippies, no siree. Instead there's a groovy brutality behind their sound. There's a haze of stoner smoke swirling about the songs, that's for sure, but there's also a hard bite in there, an unexpected twist or turn that keeps things from getting too comfy. more ›

Most bands have to worry about maintaining a high level of energy, not curtailing it. The Heavy are not most bands, and with a front man as irrepressible as Kelvin Swaby, playing with and adjusting to off-the-charts excitement is practically routine. Saturday night at the Double Door, Swaby and the band stepped on stage fully charged from the first number and were already pulling on the reigns by the third. The decision was as keen as it was necessary; had the band continued at the pace they set, everyone in the audience would have passed out by the halfway point. more ›

Chances are good that you've heard The Heavy--you just didn't know it. Since their formation three years ago, the UK-based band has made several trips stateside (and to Chicago specifically), playing in support of acts like Mayer Hawthorne and Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings while quietly building a following for themselves. more ›

Our friends over at Chicago music blog Simplesinger have been raving about the hometown gents in Eiffel Tower for months, but until recently we didn't grasp the true genius behind the haphazard production and deftly constructed, contagious melodies. Audiophiles won't get the obviously basement-quality recording of their recent self-titled EP, but that's part of the charm. Anyone looking for refuge from the overly self-indulgent "indie rock" that's been oozing out of the Near West Side for far too long will surely find themselves clapping along to jaunty, irreverent tunes like "Billy Joel" and "Vicky." more ›

For seven years Jason Isbell played the George Harrison role to Patterson Hood's Lennon and Mike Cooley's McCartney in the lauded Drive-by Truckers. Isbell would get a couple of solid songs on each DBT record, but compared to the prolific Hood and his partner-in-crime Cooley, that was about it. more ›

As far as album titles go, This is Fancy must be The Streets on Fire’s idea of a joke. After all, one listen of the Chicago group’s full-length debut reveals that their brand of new-wave and post-punk inspired rock -- featuring the requisite buzzy guitars, slinky basslines, double-time drum beats and crooning, yet still excitable vocal work -- is as straightforward as it gets. There aren’t any alternate time signatures or digressions into free jazz that might suggest any kind of experimental bent. And yet, the quartet lay down a stronger, if not exactly mind-blowing, foundation of tunes than a similar-sounding band, The Horrors, did on their debut. more ›

As evidenced by their raucous, sold-out show at the Double Door Sunday night, The Buzzcocks may be getting on in years, but that hasn’t blunted much of the punk legends’ good-natured aggression and spot-on playing. And while the Double Door was about as comfortable as a hothouse in July, that didn’t stop the packed body-to-body crowd from moshing, jumping and throwing devil horns as the band played through their seminal albums Love Bites and Another Music in a Different Kitchen. more ›

We’ve all had those moments of fantasy where our favorite bands—long in the tooth as they may be—reunite, release a fresh album or come to town for just one last tour! The best-case-scenario is a dream come true; at its worst though, a weak performance by a once-favorite-now-aging band burns us with buyer’s remorse and forever sullies the image of our rock heroes. more ›

Ladies, if you're trying to figure out how you're going to kill some time this weekend, consider putting together your submission package to become the next "Miss Wicker Park." If you're female, unmarried, between the ages of 21 and 36 (Cougars need not apply, apparently), and living in Chicago or any of the collar counties, you can throw your tiara into the ring for the chance to win a thousand bucks and the title of Miss WP as well as all the privileges that go along with it. If it's preferred seating at Big Star or Violet Hour, we might sign up ourselves. more ›

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to get through this thing called life. Poignant words from one of music's finest, and most likely a mantra for perpetual partiers and DJs, Team Bayside High. Mainstays at Debonair Social Club's Monday party, Rehab, Team Bayside High (Derek Berry & Rick Carrico) are bringing their magic touch to Double Door tonight by introducing The iPod Battle Royale, this week's pick for Weekend Dance Party. What's an iPod Battle Royale, you ask? No, no, don't strangle your neighbor with the headphone cord because he's got that unexplained Natalie Imbruglia techno remix. It's a lot more friendly than that. But presumably just as rowdy. more ›

The rallying cry of "We want food trucks!" has gone up almost simultaneously around the city, starting when ChicagoFoodTrucks.com went live on March 28th. Since then, plenty of ink has been spilled about why we can't eat Korean tacos like LA does, what it'd take to get some legal falafel carts around town, and how great it would be to have guys like Bill Kim and Graham Elliot Bowles show up outside the Double Door or the Whistler at midnight. more ›

Last Friday Saturday The Glitch Mob kicked off their 32-city tour at Double Door to promote their new album, Drink The Sea (out on May 25). While the L.A.-based group has been around since 2006, releasing mixtapes and remixes and the like, Drink The Sea marks the trio's official debut album. Stepping into Double Door Friday we were greeted by darkness, both literally and figuratively, as we had no idea what The Glitch Mob would deliver from its debut, or exactly how it would sound. Several days later, we still aren't. more ›

For many, familiarity with Flying Lotus' music exists out of obscurity. This is expected--when most of your exposure is limited to five-second, uncredited clips between Adult Swim programming, the path to fame is indeed a difficult one. But when FlyLo opens for Thom Yorke in less than a week at Aragon Ballroom, he's begun to transcend those lines. And when his second third LP Cosmogramma drops in a month on Warp, he'll have transcended even more. But first, last Friday night the electronic/hip-hop/dub/unclassifiable mastermind had a gig at Double Door--perhaps one of the last shows he'll play in the murky waters of the underground. more ›

Soft Speaker can veer into folksy territory bordering on alt-country and that's pleasant enough. But when they turn up the volume until it creeps on the edges of distortion and urges the rhythms towards a gallop the band blossoms. Their earlier track "Mercury Park" was not only one of our favorite local songs f the last year, it made it onto our best songs of 2009 list with its Dinosaur Jr guitars being kept under control by a rich, honeyed tenor vocal delivery. more ›

Ezra Furman and the Harpoons are coming home for Thanksgiving week and giving Chicago two shows to be thankful for. They’re booked to play a solo show at the Lincoln Park Whole Foods November 25 and another with The Sleeptalkers at Double Door November 27. more ›

Halloween is quickly approaching and next week brings a host of musicians through the city to get your ghoulish weekend kick-started days in advance. more ›

Living Colour's sold-out show at Double Door was a marathon-length set that proved this hard rock / jazz / funk / kitchen sink quartet can still deliver a ferocious show over 20 years into their career. Singer Corey Glover, guitar whiz Vernon Reid, dextrous drummeer Will Calhoun, and swooping bassist Doug Wimbish crammed in amongst the piles of cables, pedals and gear onstage to pluck a set touching upon every stage in their career, as well as offering a preview of tracks from their latest album The Chair In The Doorway. All the material was met with an enthusiastic crowd response, with the audience matching Glover's singing and at times providing complete verses and choruses, much to the band's obvious delight. Our own personal highpoint of the show was the incredibly moving delivery of "Open Letter (To a Landlord)" that began with a swooping gospel vocal from Glover before the band descended into an impassioned heavy groove. Sunday night's show wasn't a band trying to reclaim former glories, it was a band still fully in its prime. more ›

Soulsavers rolled through Chicago last night, but it was obvious everyone filling Double Door last night was there to see their frequent singer and collaborator Mark Lanegan. He presided over the evening's dark affair, and while he rarely moved just about every eye in the house was on him. It's hard to describe Lanegan's charms through pure description, since he stands stock still, doesn't address the crowd at all, and insists on stage lights that barely push through the darkness. But he is so focused on each song's delivery he becomes a hypnotic presence. He conveys more drama and emotion through sheer will than most other performers can do with a stage full of props. It's pretty incredible. more ›

It often takes seeing a band live to better understand and fully appreciate their sound. We headed out Friday night to the Double Door to check out British pop's freshest new face, Esser, and conceptual electro-rock trio Datarock. Three hours and two acts later we left all smiles, appreciating the power a live show has to unite an audience and tie up the loose ends of an album. more ›