The Moth started out in 1997 as a storytelling series in New York. Stories are told live, open mic-style, no notes, and are strictly from the storytellers’ hearts and heads. The Moth then grew into a podcast and a radio show, and it’s become so popular that there are now monthly Moth StorySLAMS in Los Angeles, Chicago and Detroit. Each month has a theme, like fame, confusion, or danger. Storytellers have five minutes to tell a true story that pertains to that theme, whether it be funny or sad or both. Each story gets a score, the the one with the highest is deemed that months’ winner. more ›

We love old school soul music and agree with Peter Margasak's assessment of tomorrow night's choice between Mavis Staples at the Park West and Syl Johnson at the Old Town School of Folk Music being a pleasant dilemma. more ›

A fantastic show earlier this spring and a memorable opening slot at Pitchfork this summer has left us with some pretty immodest praise for Sweden's The Tallest Man On Earth (known informally as Kristian Matsson). If last week's sold out show at The Park West was any indication, the rest of Chicago hasn't tired of The Tallest Man On Earth either, even with a set list and stage banter that has remained mostly unchanged. more ›

When we got a tip from a friend that Pitchfork was live streaming their annual festival this year, the first set we caught from our desks was Dalarna, Sweden's Tallest Man on Earth. It was early on the Friday of the fest and the crowd looked a bit thin, but TMOE - known to his parents as Kristian Matsson - left nothing on the stage except the guts of his powerful performance. Those of us who never saw Dylan or Cobain in their primes were left with the impression that this guy understood what it meant to play a show. more ›

A thousand might be a little facetious, but between a strong roster of bands playing Ribfest and piles of amazing shows gracing our city's venues this weekend, your options are vast. Here is the weekly rundown of the upcoming shows on sale in the days ahead, and holy crap are there some good ones this week. more ›

One could argue that glossy pop is the product of an overindulgent mindset, but one would be wrong. Pop takes simple components and weaves them together in surprising and ear-popping arrangements. Listen to something like Beyonce's "Halo," with it's Queen stomps, glacial synths and odd warbles for proof of this. There is no practical reason that song should sound so good with all those disparate elements, but it does. more ›

Park West, 322 W. Armitage, January 12, 8 p.m., Tickets $30-$50 more ›

Singer/Songwriter Martin Sexton hit up Park West for a solo show to promote his new live album, Martin Sexton: Solo. more ›

Soulful acoustic crooner Martin Sexton has had quite the career and has become well-known for his outstanding live shows. And his continual touring has given him the opportunity to release a document of some of his best solo live performances: Martin Sexton: Solo, which was released a few weeks ago. The record features Sexton at his live best, singing a handful of covers - including the album's single, Prince's "Purple Rain," Ray Charles' "Hard Times" and The Beatles' "With A Little Help From My Friends" - as well as rarities like "Caught In The Rain." The album also includes two bonus band tracks and a voucher redeemable for a free song download. And now Martin's bringing the magic to Chicago's Park West for, what else, a solo show tomorrow night. We've been fans of Sexton's stuff in the past and his solo performances always seem to carry a bit more oomph than full band shows, so it's worth a look. Ryan Montbleau opens. more ›

Matthew Sweet's latest disc, Sunshine Lies, is a bit of a throwback. Considering Sweet is an artist who consistently mines the AOR past to populate his albums with sunny '70s sing-a-longs, this might seem like an obvious statement, but in this case we mean he's looking back to his personal past. A number of players on this disc also played on Sweet's best album Girlfriend, and it seems fairly obvious that Sunshine Lies is an attempt to recapture some of that magic. more ›

Last week, we gushed about the State-side release (finally!) of Swedish pop star Robyn's self-titled record. A magnificent, intelligent slice of dance-pop heaven, the record has been garnering rave reviews, even three years after its release on her native continent of Europe. Now she's on a cross-country trek to continue her quest to capture our American hearts, minds, and ears. We caught up with her on the day after the record's release, as she was traversing between East Coast shows, to get her thoughts on the record's long path to U.S. release, how the internet has affected her popularity, having her own record label, and appearing on The Late Show with David Letterman. more ›

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The Chicago City Council held off on voting on a controversial ban on urban chickens yesterday. Since urban chickens are all the rage, it seems like a perfect time to ban them, right? Southwest Side Alderman Lona Lane (18th), who proposed the ban, said she didn't know why the vote on the ban was held up. Maybe it is, as the Sun-TImes suggests, because Mayor Daley has a thing for urban poultry: "Let's be realistic,"... more ›

"100 Days, 100 Nights", the new album from Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, has been getting a serious workout from us since its release last month. We're guessing the Dap-Kings are happy to be back supporting the sassy Jones after a summer backing up the Amy Winehouse trainwreck. Seeing Jones and the Dap-Kings live was the sole redeeming factor of our last New Year's Eve on the town. They're playing Park West Thursday night,... more ›

Girl Talk, aka one Greg Gillis, has been wowing audiences from the Empty Bottle to the Pitchfork Music Festival with his wildly popular brand of mash-up wizardry. Just try to hold a stoic cool-kid pose when Gillis brings his one-man jammin' train through town in January, with newly minted prince of the hipster dance party Dan Deacon in tow. Metro, January 26, 7:30 p.m. (all ages) and 11:30 p.m. (18+), $16. On sale Saturday.... more ›

Rhett Miller is as poppy a dude as you'll find, but he's mastered the art of knowing when to hold back and when to let the whole symphony out to play. As leader of the seminal-turned-name-checkable insurgent Americana band the Old 97's, Miller culled a rep for giant, hooky melodies and had one of the sharpest tongues on the independent rock scene. As a solo artist, he's replaced much of the whiskey and vinegar of the 97's with melodic flourishes of strings and piano on 2002's The Instigator and 2006's The Believer. With the 97's touring again, perhaps on the strength of a kinda bizarre cameo (filmed at the Riv) in a certain Chicago-set Jennifer Aniston movie, now is the time to catch Miller alone and in an intimate setting where the real sweetness of his songs can shine through the snarkiness of his lyrics. more ›

One week from today we’ll be sitting in the sun (hopefully) listening to The Polyphonic Spree. We know everything doesn’t end and begin with Lollapalooza, so here are some concerts that are happening locally after the madness is over. Wilco in the Park – that should be the album they record when we, their fans, are past our prime and sit on park benches reminiscing about the good old days of mp3 players. Instead, Sky... more ›

Memorial Day weekend is nigh! That means summer is officially here and girl-watching season is in full force. We thought we’d dedicate today’s EOYW to all the ladies who make summer worthwhile. Amanda Leigh Moore has been cultivating that girl next door image her entire life. We’re not sure how Mandy has managed to avoid the pitfalls of excess that other Hollywood divas her age seem to revel in, but this movie and television star... more ›

Chicago native Jason Kanakis is one of those rare dudes who can honestly call himself a "career musician." He's has toured the world playing with the likes of KT Tunstall, Butch Walker, Rachael Yamagata, Aqualung, and an impressive heap of others. Now based in Los Angeles, Jason has an interesting perspective on how the Chicago music scene shapes up in comparison to the rest of the country, not to mention some pretty weird stories about life on the road. Fresh off a tour with Brett Dennen, Chicagoist caught up with Jason for a quick chat about touring, Chicago's music community, and Singapore's transvestite prostitutes. more ›

Considering what it's like outside, we were tempted to name this week's column Awesome Day and Decent Nights, but then we looked over the listings and realized Awesome Days and Awesome Nights would be more appropriate. more ›

The House Theater of Chicago moved one step closer to world domination this morning, netting 13 Joseph Jefferson Citation nominations, 10 for their phenomenally successfully spring show “The Sparrow” (pictured, right) and 3 for their modestly admired fall show “Hatfield and McCoy.” TimeLine Theater improved by 10 over last year, netting 12 nominations, 10 for celebrating a New York mayor in song in "Fiorello!" (pictured, far right) Lifeline and Bailiwick Rep once again impressed,... more ›

The best excuse to see TV stars sans makeup, The Tenth Annual Chicago Improv Festival continues through Sunday at The Athenaeum, Park West, and sites all over the north side. (Yes, south siders, they do hate you, get over it…) Chicagoist attended the opening show Monday night at the Cultural Center, featuring the only three performers dedicated (or crazy) enough to perform at all 10 festivals: Joe Bill, Susan Messing, and Mark Sutton. They brought... more ›

Perhaps it is the image of Jennifer Hudson walking down the red carpet at the Academy Awards, but we've been getting inundated with talk of the event. The barrage has had its affect though, we have some Oscar related events for you this weekend, well except for one that involves vintage beer drinking, but we all need a break some time. We are all about gluttony and package deals this weekend, enjoy! We would suggest... more ›

Did the groundhog see his shadow this morning? What does that mean again? We'll just jump forward to spring and get us some tickets to shows where we can don a jacket instead of a parka. My Brightest Diamond will be opening for The Decemberists on a pair of evenings at the Riviera. If anyone has the perfect pedigree to open for the lit-rockers it would have to be Shara Worden. She's the granddaughter of... more ›

Time to get that credit card out of hibernation and spend away, my friends! This week must mark the proper amount of time between on sale dates and concert dates that corresponds to warm weather coming back to Chicago. Kaiser Chiefs will be out in support of their soon-to-be-released album Yours Truly, Angry Mob off which the single “Ruby” we were told sounds like Morrissey fronting Cheap Trick. While this image still has us reeling,... more ›

Well, it’s that time of year again. We’re done with Halloween costumes and on to the more pressing question, “How are we ringing in the New Year?” We know our readers aren’t chumps and bought their Raconteurs tickets for the 30th at the much cheaper rate than the New Year's Eve show. Here are a few more choices for that evening that holds so much promise, but usually just ends up being expensive with someone crying uncontrollably. more ›

After a day of seeing great art we can’t think of anything better than going to see some great fashion. • Head over to The Lot, 2038 W. North Ave. before it closes for the year (October 29.) The Lot is a spot where rotating vendors sell homemade clothes, vintage clothes, jewelry as well as other surprises. The Lot is just what it sounds like, a rare empty space near the Damen Blue Line stop.... more ›

Chicagoist is positively overflowing with free stuff lately. And next on our list of giveaways is two tickets to the Hotel Cafe Tour. more ›

We were gonna start these Decent Days & Nights off Sunday with some dancing at Scissor Sisters, but instead we got our fix of "Desperate Housewives." We guess that everyone is trying to hit the Midwest before the snow starts flying, which may not be that far away, because there are an insane number of great shows happening this week. This week offers something for our ever-changing moods. On Monday, we may feel like being... more ›

According to Mute Math’s myspace page, the group has “enough dizzying energy to make the hardest cynics wet their pants”. Well, we will be the first to admit that there was no need for Depends last night at Park West. We wanted to piss ourselves, but we just didn’t believe Mute Math even cared that they were there. Oh, they went through the motions – pulling all the rock star moves. Guitars held over head? Check. Jumping into the crowd? Check. Standing on the drum set and jumping off? Check. It seemed like the hot guy who got us into bed with his Sting vocals and Springsteen looks didn’t really have what it takes to get us off. more ›