Day 1: Lady Gaga, Mavis Staples, The Black Keys and more more ›

Oh, we're looking forward to this. Based on a short tease published on Chicago Magazine's website, writer Bryan Smith will be bringing us the tale of the "Mighty Mouth" Sam Adam Jr., also known as Rod Blagojevich's main legal counsel (for now). In the June issue, Adam reveals that the legal defense for Blago's rapidly-approaching trial basically consists of "Let this guy say as much crazy shit as he wants." We'll see how well that plays out when we find out how much other crazy shit is on those tapes that the ex-governor keeps saying he wants played. more ›

In case you missed our reminder last night, advance general admission Lollapalooza tickets are on sale now for $190. Once these are gone, you'll have to shell out $215 for your three-day pass. This year's edition of the festival is August 6th through 8th. more ›

The Daily Swarm is claiming they've gotten the inside skinny from "multiple industry sources" that three of the Lollapalooza headliners will be Lady GaGa, Green Day, and Soundgarden. We admit that these names make sense, and we have been all but certain Soundgarden would be amongst the headliners since they announced their reunion earlier this year. For Lady GaGa it would be a victory lap of sorts, since she made her Lollaploooza debut on a tiny side-stage in 2007. And Green Day is one of the last remaining arena rock acts that haven't played the festival yet. more ›

We think it's not too much of a leap to say Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong is striving to be his generation's Pete Townsend. Pearl Jam may carry on The Who's musical heritage but Armstrong seems to have appropriated their mindset. And if the songs dealing with teenage wastelands and politic over the band's last two punk rock opera albums weren't enough to suss this out, the band's recently released note for note cover of The Who's "A Quick One" should prove our point beyond a doubt. more ›

Those of us who were born under the latter years of the umbrella of Gen X were raised on a healthy diet of of MTV. As we've aged our musical tastes have changed and (we hope) become more sophisticated, but we still hold a soft spot in our hearts for some of the pop-centric acts MTV skyrocketed to stardom. more ›

At some point today, Fall Out Boy will be playing an invite-only show at House Of Blues to celebrate the release of their new album, Infinity on High. Okay, stop your laughing. To folks with asymmetrical haircuts and teenagers whose composition books are dripping with despondently poetic ink, this is a big deal. And, to a certain extent, it’s sort of a big deal for Chicago as well. Sure, the new disc is probably not... more ›

Chicagoist did our duty and tuned into the MTV Video Music Awards last night just in case anything Chicago related occurred. Or in case a giant tidal wave washed over Miami. Either way, it would’ve been cool with us. It had been a number of years since we last had cable and were able to watch this so count us as being rather surprised by just how much the rock and/or roll dominated the proceedings.... more ›

Independent film festivals are often a hit-and-miss affair. For every film that combines humor, insight, or drama with the visual excitement that is the medium of film, there are usually two or three works that sap your will to live just by watching them. Moreover, August is usually the month when major film studios start dumping the lesser lights in their summer release schedule. Oh save us, Chicago Underground Film Festival! This is CUFF’s 12th... 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 ›

Yesterday, The Mayor’s Office of Special Events announced the musical lineup for this summer’s Taste of Chicago. It’s the usual mix of artists that fall into two categories: it-would-be-cool-to-see-them-live and all-you-have-to-do-is-ask. more ›