Though we would’ve loved to have seen the free Cro-Mags shows at either Reggie's or Cobra Lounge or wound our weekend down with the Smoking Popes, our aging punk rock bodies could really only keep focused on one thing - The Descendents. more ›

To kick off Riot Fest formally for us last weekend, we caught Social Distortion and The Tossers at the Congress Theater. Unfortunately, we missed out on Reverend Payton's Big Damn Band, but from the folks we spoke with in the crowd last night, they definitely got everyone warmed up in a big way. The Tossers took the stage around 8:30 p.m. to an exceedingly excited crowd hungry for some old fashioned Irish folk punk. While their set was solid, the majority of the songs came from some of the newer material. While we hate to sound like the old guy at the bar saying that the classics were way better, we would've preferred a more balanced set with some more mainstays. Classics like Aye Sir and their cover of Dirty Old Town made us feel warm and fuzzy, but overall, we think the folks who prefer newer cuts had a much better experience than we did. more ›

Tonight, Saturday and Sunday Riot Fest will be in full swing at five venues across the city, with a great line-up that's bigger and broader-stroked than previous years. more ›

Chicago’s punk show Riot Fest is in full swing today, kicking off a huge weekend with so many great acts, the only downside is that we can’t be in more than a few places at once. Unfortunately, we missed out on the X show last night at the Bottom Lounge, featuring a film screening of X: The Unheard Music, but we’ll be making up for lost time this entire weekend. more ›

Chicago had been waiting more than 30 years for a visit from '70s group The Raincoats. Monday night at the Double Door, the influential post-punkers proved to be well worth the wait. more ›

Chicago's premier punk festival Riot Fest announced most of its lineup today and this year promises to be as amazing as years past. more ›

We couldn't wait for By the Grace of God, the Bouncing Souls, Lucero and Against Me to hit town in the upcoming weeks, so we took a road trip to see them. more ›

If concerts were assigned a "physical exertion" index for the audience, most of us would agree to something like: intimate singer-songwriter folk jam < power pop indie rock < punk and metal freak-outs. Polite applause versus tooth-loosening mosh pits. Mild mustiness versus sweat and blood. A performance by Guitar Wolf, the self-described "jet rock n roll" trio from Japan, surely ranks in that red-zone level of intensity. They're tests of endurance; a Jack LaLanne-esque "feat of strength" for the concert-going contingent. more ›

No matter how many generations of former mohawked individuals say the phrase “punk is dead,” there’s always someone to take their place. Wednesday night, young and old punks alike crowded Reggie’s in the south loop for veteran DIY punks the Subhumans and MDC, along with two fantastic local openers, Daylight Robbery and the Neutron Bombs. We also had a chance to sit down for an interview with Dick Lucas of the Subhumans. more ›

Anyone who knows local psychedelic punk band Rabble Rabble knows they revel in the live concert experience. To replicate the band's live show in the best way possible, download the band's brand new live album through their Bandcamp. The group made the record available on Saturday. more ›

Tyler Jon Tyler has a name that’s bound to mislead. Tyler Jon Tyler may sound like some redneck parody out of My Name Is Earl or Eastbound or Down, or a forgotten teen idol from the mid-nineties. But, in fact, TJT is a sharp, tight power-pop group from the Windy City. Tonight, the trio is set to release their self-titled debut full-length at the Empty Bottle. more ›

On Tuesday, we gave you a look at the first few days of Riot Fest. The marathon punk festival will continue on Saturday and Sunday with equally impressive shows at the Congress, Metro, Double Door and Subterranean. Both days feature a series of nearly impossible choices. more ›

Tomorrow, the five day marathon punk show better known as Riot Fest begins. For fans of nearly every sub-genre tangentially related to the nebulous term “punk,” Riot Fest should please even the most jaded guy or gal who hung at Medusa's or the Fireside back in the day. The festival, which spreads nearly 75 bands over 5 days begins with the Busted at Oz reunion show at the Double Door. The show features some of Chicago's oldest punk bands including Silver Abuse, the Subverts and Naked Raygun. more ›

Looks like the king of encased meats, Doug Sohn, is getting into the t-shirt business. Pictured above are the new line of t-shirts from Hot Doug's, available only online at www.hotdougs.com. More designs and garments are in the works for fall. I can't help but express a little bit of disappointment that Hot Doug's still isn't shipping duck fat fries across the country. You take it as it comes. more ›

Monday is usually the night to stay in and couch. This Monday was a night worth putting on some pants and making it out of our ice-cream-eating, re-run watching den of sloth, have a buck-fifty PBR and see a free show and the reformation of one of Chicago’s great local acts. more ›

For a while it seemed like Pegboy only played one show every two years, but recently the band has made a welcome return to regular appearances, at least in our area. We think it's fair to say they're the epitome of Chicago punk rock, especially since John Haggerty's buzz-saw guitars created the template from which a million other bands took their cues. more ›

The term 'grunge' always inspires a shudder of self-consciousness in Chicagoist...primarily because when you're a fourteen-year-old eldest child trying to find culture in the void of early-90s Midwestern suburbia, you jump at the first "counter-culture"-ish offering you see. For many it was the commercialized version of the heavy, chugging rock dirge that had been slowly seeping out of the Northwest since the mid-1980s. While pop "remixologist" producer Andy Wallace may have coated Nirvana's Nevermind in an impenetrable shellac of radio-friendly shimmer, many of the bands who made that record's explosion possible continued to toil just under the surface veneer of the grunge phenomenon. more ›

Usually when we see a show that really blows us away, the initial impact is stunning, and then fades to a fond moment or two in our head. Daft Punk's performance at last year's Lollapalooza forced us to walk away from that show with an entirely new inner relationship with the band. more ›

Daft Punk is finally leaving our shores, but here's something to remember them by until the next time those two robots fly over our fair city.... more ›

One of our favorite rock albums of the last year was created by two guys who don’t play a single conventional instrument. To add insult to injury, the gentlemen in question also come from a nation that despises the phrase “freedom fries.” Worse yet? They threw one of our own fair city’s preeminent hip-hop celebrity missionaries into a tizzy when they snatched an MTV Europe award from his hands last year, spiraling said local celeb... more ›

As you all know, we here at Chicagoist are avid Wentz watchers. We’re also big fans of looking svelte in our dungarees, but can these two passions ever meet as one? Fear not, fellow drama and denim lovers – DKNY has the answer to all of your prayers. The New York-based icon of the jean has joined forces with Pete’s Clandestine Industries to (creatively) offer Clandestine Industries for DKNY, a snazzy line of tops, dresses,... more ›

It’s difficult to choose only one performance that was my favorite from 2007 Lollapalooza. Polyphonic Spree's joyous performance captured my heart and made me remember what Lollapalooza and all music festivals are for — losing myself in the music. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs put on an energetic, tight set, and Daft Punk brought it all home with a phenomenal stage show that was never topped throughout the weekend. more ›

To background, I manage a Chicago band called Tom Schraeder & His Ego, which landed a coveted spot on the 2007 bill. Though our slot was early (12:30 p.m. on Friday), the work for artists doesn’t stop once they’ve loaded up their vans (or in our case, the hearse) and exited the festival grounds. To give our esteemed Chicagoist readers a quick sketch of life deep on the Lollapalooza undercard, I kept a scribbled-note journal... 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 ›

If you're looking to dodge the Taste, there's plenty o’ readings and events going on this weekend to satisfy your literary cravings. We’ll be on hand for the Guild Complex’s B.Y.O.P. (Bring Your Own People) on Saturday. Feel to BYOB and munchies as well. Peter Jones Gallery, 1806 W. Cuyler, 2nd Floor. Saturday, 7 p.m. Free. On Sunday, we plan on getting a tan and enriching our minds at the Beach Poets series, featuring Brad... more ›

The day is finally here! We get to mark up the schedule, fight with our friends over who to see, and determine what time we have to wake up to make it down to Grant Park. The Lollapalooza schedule is finally out. Also, if a three-day pass seemed excessive, the single day tickets are now on sale for $80. Which headliner will make the previously unconvinced head to the festival? Will it be Daft Punk... more ›

Author Ben Tanzer more ›

We were not fans of Howl, the last release from Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (BRMC). The band traded in it's Jesus And Mary Chain-saw guitars for Exile On Main Street Stonesy "rootsiness" and the transformation didn't quite take. BRMC have been revivalists from the get-go, but the new earnestness of Howl did not flatter them the same way their reinterpretations of bratty, shoegazing, walls of sound did in the past. Luckily the band is solidly... more ›

What’s impossible to write about last night’s LCD Soundsystem show at the Metro is just how many influences there are in James Murphy’s songs, let alone an entire night’s setlist. The lyrics from “Losing My Edge” can give us a little insight into just which sounds may be hiding in the mix, even if Murphy’s only being sarcastic. Disco. Industrial. New Wave. Funk. Glam. Punk. more ›

A short work week would usually get us super-excited for all sorts of live music goodness since it should, theoretically, give us more time to catch some kick-ass concerts. Unfortunately, when that four-day weekend is triggered by Thanksgiving that means not only do we generally lose Thursday, most of the week is given up for lost in face of the biggest amateur night of the year. However, if you look closely enough, there is plenty... more ›