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. While there will be no advanced ticket sales, The Cool Kids will be playing the Abbey Pub on......

There is nothing more that we want to get done than this installment of Empty Out Your Wallet, so we can get outside and enjoy this day. Leave it to the Ticketmaster gods to curse us once again with numerous great shows making our job harder. The show that our readers were looking forward to last week, The Flaming Lips at the Aragon, goes on sale at 11 a.m. on Saturday. This should be a......

Another Friday, another snowstorm, another installment of Empty Out Your Wallet. This week we’re not so inclined to whip out the credit card as we have been in past weeks, but here we go. We honestly didn’t know these guys were still around writing songs for the Adult Contemporary crowd. Apparently, they are still popular enough to fill up the Vic. Five for Fighting is best known for "Superman (It's Not Easy)," which was the......

Energy! Lots of people! These groups aren’t bands, they’re “collectives” – a moniker that let’s us accept that not every member will be on every album or even at every show. Not knowing who may show up adds to the anticipation. Animal Collective is known for creating layered, multi-faceted songs that carry the listener on a trip. Is it a drug trip? Chaotic? Or just a dreamscape of interconnectedness? Or the ability to stay connected......

For this week’s edition of Empty Out Your Wallet we’ve decided to primarily point you to smaller shows whose tickets are already available for purchase, plus one surprise. We’re always on the side of the little guy (and / or gal) and believe that they are deserving of your pre-show guaranteed dollars as well. Decemberists Alasdair Roberts The Decemberists are this year’s Death Cab For Cutie with a better background in literature and seamanship. We......

We hope you used our Decent Days and Nights as a guide to what fun things are going on in music this week. Empty Out Your Wallet is for those of us who obsessively plan ahead and like charging things on our credit cards. Here are some of the shows going on sale this weekend that could help fill out those upcoming Decent Days and Nights. Bob Dylan Kings of Leon Oct. 27 & 28,......