What was slated to be an ordinary hip-hop concert has turned into a mild boondoggle of ‘they said/they said/they said’ proportions between an up-and-coming rap duo, Near North concert venue the House of Blues, and the Chicago Police Department. more ›

Guns N' Roses played to a much smaller crowd than they were used to last Sunday, and the experience was at times thrilling and at times tedious. more ›

Seun Kuti, son of Afrobeat pioneer Fela and brother to cross-over star Femi, returns to the United States for a cross-country 30-date tour touching down in Chicago on April Fools' Day at the House of Blues. more ›

The one time we saw Guns N' Roses was the opening night in Alpine Valley of their Use Your Illusion world tour. It was a huge, bombastic show; one of those hugely over the top rock concert spectacles. The band was at the height of their powers. Man, a lot can change in 21 years, huh? The current touring version of the band is missing almost all the original members of the band but the replacements are all seasoned pros and are more than capable of helping W. Axl Rose maintain the stadium spectacle. Despite the incredibly disappointing Chinese Democracy the band has continued to successfully tour and have a huge back catalog that immediately triggers the smell of hairspray and sweaty leather. Despite the passage of years the band's fan-base still allows them to fill stadiums. more ›

We were excited to see dance duo Chromeo somewhere that wasn’t Congress Theater (mainly somewhere smaller) and Saturday night we got lucky when Dave 1 and P-Thugg played at the House of Blues. more ›

Ke$ha played here last week to a sold-out crowd at House Of Blues and we have to admit we weren't sure what to expect going in. While her records keep us happy and display a songwriter cannier than most reductionist critics are willing to give her credit for, her public image is a confusing mix of a gal that's just one of the guys and of a woman who consumes men whole, only to spit out their skateboards. Adding to the confusion is a history of televised live appearances showcasing a performer who often seemed unsteady and out of place. more ›

We've never understood why Danko Jones never really caught on in the States. Granted in the band's earlier years their brand of punk metal didn't really differentiate them from like-minded groups, but as time went on Jones refined his attack to into three-chord punchy crunch rock. Smeary messes became party anthems and if you've ever seen Jones onstage you know that he comes across like an overcharged battery out to electrocute every single person in the room via a charge of pure exuberance. Don't let this underrated Candian treasure go undiscovered for much longer, download "Had Enough" off their latest album and catch them next month at The House Of Blues. more ›

When we first heard about The Most Interesting Show in the World we couldn't tell if it was a rock concert, dance party, carnival or circus show. It turns out it's all of the above! This single evening event has been popping up in different cities recently and tonight marks its arrival in Chicago at House of Blue. Party madman / hard rockin' messiah / piano prodigy / motivational speaker Andrew W.K. is serving as the evening's host and at previous stops he's been tearing through some of his own songs between the other acts. more ›

Intrepid video mixing, classic bmore, Chicago house and electro. These are a few of the centerpoints this Friday at House of Blues, an unlikely spot for a Weekend Dance Party pick. But nevertheless, we picked it; besides, when you book both Mike Relm and Tittsworth to headline, along with some solid local talent, the whole when and where dynamic begins to not matter. What it comes down to is that tomorrow night's show will be full of prime dance music, making House of Blues a sure-thing destination to put your footwork to the test. more ›

Seeing Hanson, the Oklahoma-bred trio of brothers all grown up and promoting Shout It Out at the House of Blues Saturday night made us hip to a couple of things. The good: the band is evidence that not all child performers have to spectacularly flame out, enter rehab or systematically destroy the careers that made them famous. The bad: apparently, you can make a robust career out of conveying mostly one-note sentiments. more ›

Jupiter Outpost, 1139 W. Fulton Market, July 10, 7 p.m. - 10 p.m., free more ›

On Friday, February 5, Platform One Entertainment will host Dare 2 Dream, its seventh benefit event, at the House of Blues. The event will feature a concert and silent auction, with a portion of the proceeds going to the University of Chicago Comer Children's Hospital to support pediatric cancer research and treatment. more ›

Bad news for any fans of the band Evil Incarnate reading the site: Their appearance at the West Side's White Star Night Club, scheduled for Saturday, has been canceled under threats of protest from area activists. The groups are not exactly feeling the band's virulently anti-gay, racist lyrics. more ›

A quick head's up: the language in the below video is NSFW. more ›

The great part of Lollapalooza is the music. The not-so-great part is the crowds. For those of you who love the music but hate the festival scene, Lollapalooza weekend provides the city with plenty of preshows and after shows. For more, check out the list of all of the so-far-announced post-Lolla shows. more ›

Butch Walker is best known as a hot-shot producer to the stars. He's worked with Avril Lavigne, Katy Perry, Pink, Lindsay Lohan ... and so on. So you might be forgiven if you're a tad shocked to find out that the man also has a solo career fronting a decidedly backward looking glam-rock combo whose previous releases include an album that is actually titled The Rise and Fall of Butch Walker and the Let's-Go-Out-Tonites. more ›

We gave a shout out earlier this year to Minds Matter – a great non-profit college-prep program for inner-city high school kids. Their big fall fundraiser [PDF] is taking place tomorrow night and Minds Matter is hosting a three-hour all you can drink shindig at Sully’s House Tap Room & Grill, with proceeds going directly back to the organization. more ›

Friday, April 25: more ›

We don't know about you, but if we managed to escape 63 counts of involuntary manslaughter after being hanged in the court of public opinion, we might try to go back to our lives, shut the hell up, and count our lucky stars. more ›

If you saw a haze hanging over downtown this morning...nevermind, that joke's too easy. The Doggfather kicked off a two-night stand at the House of Blues last night on his current tour promoting his new record, Ego Trippin' (due out March 11th), and left our ears ringing. more ›

Common is playing a benefit at House Of Blues tomorrow night (along with OFFICE), and another Chicagoist turned us onto this sweet remix to help us get in the mood.* more ›

Lucky enough to get a few days off for the Chrismukkah holidays? Several Chicago area music entities have been kind enough to give you time-filling options. more ›

Man is there a lot going on tonight. Are you sure it's only Wednesday? Because it sure feels like the party is already kicking into high Friday mode. The last few weeks have been a tad lackluster, music-wise, but December is taking this year out with a bang! Here are just a few of tonight's options. Evan Dando resurrects The Lemonheads tonight at Double Door. We caught him last time he came through town and... more ›

We HATE the term Black Wednesday. more ›

Ah, it's like shootin' fish in a barrel over at Chicagoist EOYW headquarters. We know how passionate you guys can get about these things, so we'll cut right to the chase: more ›

We're always skeptical of the "farewell tour" phenomenon, but Ministry seems to mean it. On the heels of their surprisingly good swan-song The Last Sucker, the band has announced the final North American tour dates of its loooong career. more ›

Got the itch to do something fun tonight, given the unseasonably warm weather? We feel you. Options: One of Chicagoist's favorite charities, Mustaches for Kids, has its kick-off get together tonight at Jake Melnick’s Corner Tap, 41 East Superior St. The "growing season" starts Nov 19, so tonight's get-together is all about planning and making pals. 'Stachey! The International Interior Design Association has its Bizarre Bazaar in the Teknion Showroom on the 10th floor of... more ›

Each morning we're going to highlight five bands playing at Lollapalooza that we think are worth seeing. Some will be popular, some less known, but we believe they're all worth your time. And for those not making it to the festival itself, we'll round it out with an additional show going on after the grounds close down for the evening. The Switches We are sure we'll be cursing this band from England throughout the day.... more ›

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... 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 ›