Results tagged “theprairiecartel”

Where Did All My People Go is an apt title for the full length debut from The Prairie Cartel. The band -- Scott Lucas, Blake Smith, and Mike Willison -- is stocked with some of the survivors from the mid-'90s Chicago music scene that never stopped producing new music. The trio comes from a guitar heavy past but their mutual love of electronic music brought them together to synthesize their own take on motivating the denizens of the dance floor.

      

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.

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...

We alluded to it earlier, but this is one hell of a weekend for music in our fair city. One of the upswings of the indiefication of America has been the steadily improving street festival bills, so we can at least enjoy good tunes with our processed meats and flat beer, and this weekend sees two of the best line-ups all summer unfortunately going head to head with each other. The inaugural Switchyard Festival is...

We’re not feeling bad about missing Coachella or Bonnaroo or Virgin or any of the other music festivals going on this year, because Chicago continues to be ground zero for ass-kicking musical fun in the summer sun. Continental, open barely a year and already the all-night hangout for hipsters all over the city (full disclosure: we spin there occasionally) is leveraging some of the goodwill they’ve formed with local DJs and bands to benefit a...

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....

The jaunts will be short this week as most of us get out and enjoy the sunshine. We were walking around this morning and people just seem happier. Which is all the more reason to get out tonight for some good music. We plan on getting intimate with Ambulette and Maura Davis' intensely mesmerizing voice at Schubas, 3159 N. Southport. Davis splits her time between Richmond and Charlotte and comes to Chicago to rehearse with...

For those of us stuck in the Four Star City while all our great bands head to the Lone Star State, the Hideout has the perfect idea — a SXSW-style showcase before the event. It’s the perfect event to remind us of how much fun the Block Party was last year. It also lets us give a little back to those bands that many times travel down to Austin with nothing but hope in their...

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...