We were sitting around the table during the Chicagoist summer retreat last night (a.k.a. happy hour) and the question was posed: Remember when each neighborhood had a single street fest? It's come to the point where not only do neighborhoods throw multiple street festivals, but they're growing so dense you need never leave the three block radius around your home all summer and still continually stumble across one! For music lovers this has created a happy conundrum. In order to attract the crowds the food and the freedom of drinking overpriced brews in the street is no longer enough. Now we demand good music too! Luckily for us this street fest season has gifted us with a ridiculously rich number of line-ups and this weekend's bill at West Fest is no different. more ›

As we trudge through the numerous press releases for what seems like an endless amount of festivals here in Chicago sometimes we grow more than a little jaded in the face of the sometimes cheesy traditional fest-fare they have to offer. When our eyes glanced upon the information for West Fest we were stopped in our tracks and immediately did our happy dance. Not only will Chicagoians be treated to the usual local vendors, food and family and pet options that fests tend to bring, but the music this year at West Fest surprised us quite a bit with not only the veteran west fest-ers like Scott Lucas of Local H, but critically acclaimed acts like King Khan featuring Gris Gris Sound and a DJ Set by former Six Finger Satellite guitarist and dance music convert Juan Maclean. Of course we are also excited to see local acts like the lady garage vixens, Hollowsand Descendents disciples, Team Band. more ›

If you have an event you wish for us to consider for "Pencil This In," please e-mail out Tips inbox, Chuck, Tankboy (for arts and events), or Anthony (for food and drink-related events). more ›

Moving on in our series on why local notables love about Chicago in winter, Michele speaks with Local H frontman Scott Lucas. more ›

As the holiday fast approaches we've been so busy between shopping, baking, not to mention recovering from the Chicagoist holiday Festivus, that our heads haven't stopped spinning since Thanksgiving. Now is the time we decided to take a small break and actually enjoy the season with one of our favorite local acts here at Chicagoist, Scott Lucas and the Married Men. more ›

Well you certainly can't accuse Scott Lucas of being lazy. Today sees two releases from both his main musical projects with Local H's Awesome Mix Tape #1 covers compilation and Scott Lucas & the Married Men's The Absolute Beginners EP. more ›

Well, summer is still here and we are slowly yet surely approaching another weekend, so yes, there is another festival to speak of in Chicago. As the end of summer is, sadly, approaching, we want to soak up as much outdoor fest goodness as possible. more ›

Spoiler Alert: He gets the girl. more ›

Another weekend. Another street fest. This weekend the annual West Fest closes off Chicago Avenue between Damen and Wood for two days of live music, kid and pet festivities and even an outdoor fashion show. The antithesis of the chaos formerly known as Ribfest, West Fest is the one street fest we can always count on for a relaxing afternoon. more ›

There's never a shortage of events going on in Chicago on Fat Tuesday, but we decided to highlight two shows from opposite ends of the musical spectrum that accompany the spirit of the holiday without falling into cliche. more ›

Jay Reatard at The Empty Bottle more ›

Well, that is some well deserved praise we can get down with, especially since Local H's 12 Angry Months was one of our favorite local discs of the year as well. [Trib] more ›

The following ten groups released albums or EPs that we believe launched them far above the roiling masses making up the Chicago music scene. While these are our favorites it should be noted that this was an amazingly strong year for the local scene, and we could have easily made a top 50 list without much of a problem. In fact, just reviewing the bands while making this list we realized how thankful we are to be located in such a musically fertile city! more ›

The Prairie Cartel's debut 12" successfully lays out the group's sonic manifesto in two original tracks, a cover, and a remix. The band is populated by men who can only be described as rockers and Chicago mainstays seduced by the sounds of the dance floor. Opener "Fuck Yeah, That Wide" features Scott Lucas' ragged vocal delivery over a combination of adrenalized four-on-the-foor beats and electric guitars. Think of it as punk blood in a Go-Go cage. It leads nicely into "Keep Everybody Warm," as the group subverts a hippy-dippy vocal sample and turns it into an entreaty to get even closer to your dance partner and loose yourself in the swirling rhythms. more ›

One thing that tends to get overlooked about Scott Lucas is his pure ambition. Local H's latest disc 12 Angry Months, released today, is the band's second concept album by our count, and deals with the intensely personal cycle of the demise of a major relationship and the year of fall-out that follows. It's not like break-ups are exactly unusual territory in pop music, but Lucas has the undeniable talent to take an individual experience and expand its relevance to universally touch. In that way 12 Angry Months is his strongest lyrical contribution to the Chicago rock songbook since 1998's Pack Up The Cats. more ›

Ten years ago last week Cheap Trick played a four-night stand at Metro to celebrate their 20th anniversary, playing one of their first four records each night in its entirety. Local H, wrapping up a week's worth of shows at Beat Kitchen this week, was just starting to break onto the local and national scene. more ›

From May 7 through May 13 Local H will hold a residency at Beat Kitchen. Each night will see the full performance of one of their studio albums, in chronological order, through their latest, 12 Angry Months. Take that Wilco! more ›

Tomorrow Liar's Club is hosting the Fourth Annual Toy Drive To benefit the Schwab Rehabilitation Hospital Pediatric Playroom. They are hoping to provide toys and supplies to the KidsRehab program at the hospital. The folks at Liar's Club told us, "KidsRehab works with children who have sustained serious injury and need extensive physical, occupational and psychological rehabilitation." They need a whole bunch of stuff for the kids in the program (look after the jump for... more ›

Tired of Halloween yet? We've been celebrating "Christmas for Adults" since some time last week and admit that the parade of costumes is starting to turn into one long mental blur. But we ain't complaining; oh no! We love it. One tradition we were afraid we were going to miss this year was the annual Local H-led Halloween show at Double Door. When we heard last year was Scott Lucas and company's swan-song, we admit... more ›

The kid with the glow stick in front of the stage valiantly waved it over his head, until four songs into the sold out Klaxons show at Schubas last night he realized that the band onstage wasn't actually "new rave" at all. Part of the problem with Yanks getting caught up in British music press hype is that NME loves simple labels, and those labels often have almost nothing to do with the actual band.... more ›

While the deluge of bands making their way through town after SXSW remains strong, we decided this week we would focus on some hometown heroes. All Smiles is Jim Fairchild, stepping into the spotlight after play guitar in the now defunct Grandaddy. Fairchild crafts just the sort of lush pop you would expect, given his pedigree, but it's missing his previous group's willful quirks. Fairchild adopts a more direct approach with earnestly pleasing results. We're... more ›

We’re busy hitting “refresh” over and over again on Reuters in hopes that they will finally announce that rumoured Police reunion tour, but until that confirmation comes through, here’s some shows to keep us busy this week. Tomorrow night, Local H's Scott Lucas is getting together with a bunch of his musician pals at Debonair Social Club to bang out a set of covers in a low-key environment. This should prove to be a fun-filled... more ›

We realize we’re a bit late to the game on this one, but Illinois Entertainer recently published a list of the top 25 local albums of the last ten years. And we’re a bit surprised that it hasn’t inspired more discussion on their site. The usual suspects made the list with Wilco, Sea and Cake, Jim O'Rourke, Kanye and Smashing Pumpkins all making appearances. Local H seems to be the most glaring omission here, as... more ›

Debonair could have easily outlined all that’s gone wrong with Wicker Park, but instead it neatly reminds us of when clubbing used to be fun. We stopped in last night to check out Felix Da Housecat’s return to Chicago, check in with superstar bartendeder Matt Murray, and get checked by The Prairie Cartel. Breezing past the outlandish line outside Liz Armstong-style, we were greeted by an upstairs crowd going off its collective head to big... more ›

As Rocktober draws to a close, it does so with a helluva bang. Sure, there are still a few days left to this beast next week, but for all intents and purposes this is the last hurrah before the chill of November settles in, and holiday festivities begin to drain the attendance levels at local shows. Here are a few that we suggest you check out this week. Tomorrow night, the wrath of The Venom... more ›

Since we're so popular for spilling the beans about last night's Naked Raygun show at Cobra, we figured we'd go all "Oops, I did it again" on you. Tonight Urge Overkill are opening for Suffrajett. What? You don't care? Huh. Well, we don't either, really. We saw Urge over the summer and left us very "meh," even though the keyboardist was doing a pretty wicked Captain, from The Captain & Tennille, impression. We do... more ›

We’re busy people, and you probably are, too. So if you’re not getting out to the clubs to see enough live music, this edition of Friday Afternoon Diversion is for you. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah haters will want to skip this clip of the band's recent appearance at the Vic. Turn down your speakers a little for this Wolf Parade clip from Metro back in August, when they peformed a new song called... more ›

It’s easy to knock Veruca Salt. Only one of the founding members remains in the band. The group has gone through more line-up changes than the touring production of Cats. Once fame and fortune hit, they headed for the coast to live up the rock and/or roll lifestyle. The band’s last disc faltered under the weight of general debauchery and vitriol, leading many to question Louise Post’s ability to become the focal point and singular frontwoman. more ›

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,... more ›

Procrastinating indie kids and drunken Dads throughout the city will look a little down in the mouth this weekend as both the Boy Least Likely To and Jimmy Buffet shows are sold out this weekend. Plus, the lead singer of Snow Patrol lost his voice so their show is postponed as well. But there are still plenty of good shows going on over the next couple of days. But did we miss a memo or... more ›