Results tagged “lifeduringwartime”

After last night's Sounds and Hey Champ show -- photos to come on Monday -- we are in the mood to keep dancing on into the weekend. Luckily for us is Life During Wartime night at Darkroom with some of our favorite local DJs Bald Eagle and Mother Hubbard spinning the boogie.

Life During Wartime is throwing an Inaug-u-rave at Hideout tomorrow, but don't let the title of the event scare you with images of spandex-clad hipsters with glowsticks since it features some of the best rock and/or roll we've heard in a while. Headliner Lasers and fast and Shit play heavy hooky borderline punk-metal with a DIY light show that has to be seen to be believed. These guys are so hardcore they build most of their musical equipment from common household objects, bent nails, and duct tape.

      

Last Saturday's Stay Smooth X was a blast. Yacht Rock cast members Hollywood Steve and Hunter Stair represented the show, DJs Bald Eagle and STV SLV had the assembled dancers displaying their smoothest moves, and cover band Haulin' Boats pretty much stole the show with an incredible set of classic FM-lite tuneage. We took a few seconds out from our time on the dance floor to snap a few photos to share with you.

We love the Yacht Rock. We love the smooth jams. And we've loved this crap since we were kids in the '80s addicted to Kenny Loggins' appearance on what seemed like every single movie soundtrack in existence. As we grew older we also learned to incredible power Toto's "Africa" can exert over a dance floor, and that Steve Perry -- solo or with Journey -- can provide a direct route into the pants of your dance partner. Smooth is strong.

Coming on like Curtis Mayfield in a Mack truck, The Heavy are a UK-based fivesome that takes both their soul and their rock in equal doses. Frontman Swaby's vocals occupy that sweet spot between flawless falsetto and lascivious drawl. The band backs his sexy crooning with a melange of beats and instruments plucked from the '70s and shoved through a hip-hop shredder feeding directly into a tube-blown analog console. They can craft a suitably quiet come-on like "Girl" that dampens pants while delivering an honestly solid dose of soul, and then just as easily construct a massive wall of horns, caterwauling guitars, and thundering drums to propel a neu-Blaxploitation theme like "That Kind Of Man." Clothes will be shed at this show.

Baby, it's cold outside ... but Chicago's brightest musical talent is on display at a cozy venue near you. Here are some solid bets for this week:

Grab your quirky t-shirts and head over to the Metro tonight to celebrate the grand opening of the first Threadless store at 3011 N. Broadway in Chicago. To really tee it up and kick it off right tonight, Threadless and Metro are bringing you two free shows. Tonight's lineup will feature Hey Mercedes, Anathallo, Freer and host Marcus Monroe. It starts at 6:00 p.m. and is open to all ages, but you will have...

This past Sunday marked the 25th birthday of Chicago’s most beloved (and sometimes bemoaned) rock club, the Cabaret Metro. Known to most simply as “The Metro,” the joint kicked off its venerable life with a performance by a then-little-known rock combo from Athens, GA called R.E.M. A quarter-century later, Metro is one of the last remaining major independent clubs in the country, with a rich history of offering many of rock’s most hallowed names their...

Chicago's DJ collective, Flosstradamus, featuring DJs Josh Young (a.k.a. J2K) and Curt Cameruci (a.k.a. Autobot), and Melissa Young (a.k.a. club rapper Kid Sister and actual sibling of J2K), grace URB's April 2007 issue, "The Next 1000." These eclectic artists blend electronic and hip-hop beats, while sampling lyrics spanning several genres from crunk to punk. Flosstradamus thrills hipsters and hip-hop heads alike with their unique blend of genre-hopping. The duo employs a three-turntable set up with...

Last week, we recommended catching this weekend’s Cold War Kids show at Hideout. You listened, because the show is sold out. But we’ve got our hands on a pair of tickets to the show and we’re giving them away to you!. As one of our commenters pointed out, Cold War Kids was on tour with The Futureheads with a stop at Metro planned for this Saturday before that tour was cancelled due to an injured...

Chicagoist has lots of friends (we pay them), but few of them are as able to turn our frowns upside down like former Ctrl-Alt-Rock popsters May or May Not, who put the wraps on a week of CD release shenanigans tomorrow night at Hideout. Chicagoist was a big fan of the band’s debut, and though we realize it sounds like an insult to say that MOMN provides more of the same on their Bike EP,...

While Chicagoist plans on spending 24 of the 48 hours this weekend out at Intonation, allow us to put forth the hypothesis that this might be the perfect weekend for the live show novice to hit up a local club or two. We’ve gotten all Miss Manners on the subject of Live Show Jackasses before, but we’re also advocates of the Show No Fear mentality. All those clubs you’re intimidated by, be they of the...

We love WLUW. We love supporting WLUW. We love records. We love fairs (as long as they don’t include jousting since we grew out of that oh-so long ago, like, in 1998 and all.) So one would think that a combination of all four would be an instant aural slam dunk, no? We have to be honest here. If you’re looking for miles upon miles of records to thumb through in hopes of finding some...

The mainstream media has moved on to other issues but the effects of Hurricane Katrina are still being felt by people in the Gulf Coast region. Two upcoming shows will try and ease some of the burden for folks who weren’t lucky enough to hit it big at the slots. (Seriously, CNN: was “flooded” really the best verb for the job in that second graf?) The stylish and hip folks at Pistil Magazine will strut...

There are a lot of reasons to go to see live shows. Maybe you want to keep up with what’s happening in music. Or perhaps your favorite band is in town. Or you might be a crazy-ass groupie/stalker. Whatever your reason, tonight you can feed your jones and help out a sick little kid at the same time. Tonight at Double Door, several hot-shit Chicago bands will take the stage for the first of three...

Hate festivals, but want to see some of the bands anyway? A few of the bands playing Intonation Festival this weekend will also be playing at other venues around town. So click around and see if anything is of interest. First up, Four Tet will be doing an in-store at Reckless Records at 3161 N. Broadway on Friday at 5:30 pm. Free. The Go! Team will be at the Double Door on Friday night with...

Bobby Conn is a little Jesus Christ Superstar, a little Nilsson, a little Jackson 5 and a whole lotta rock and/or roll. This diminutive Chicagoan has been making waves just under the surface of the city’s music scene for years now and every once in a while he pops up for a live performance or to release a new album. Tonight at Double Door he’s combining those two events by performing a show to celebrate the release of his new concert album Live Classics: Vol. 1. Talk about a postmodern hyper-commentary on an action taken in self-referential reverence to an action performed.

Once upon a time Chicago was known as a city of bands unafraid to add a little grandiose spectacle to its rock and/or roll shows. Then we got over Styx, thank god. But in the Eighties there was a definite resurgence of groups (i.e. that whole Wax Trax contingent) combining instruments, computers and stage extravaganzas to accomplish something more human and interactive than your typical concert experience.

Since we know that many of you won’t be able to make the Lollapalooza fest this summer due to insufficient funds, we’re going to try and keep you up to date on shows by some of the bands that’ll be rocking Grant Park this summer. One of the few Chicago bands on the bill is The Changes. Thanks to a spot at CMJ, lots of love notes in Time Out Chicago, and some choice opening...