Results tagged “thevic”

          

In our own humble opinion, They Might Be Giant's album Lincoln was the highlight of their career, but we seem to be in the minority since thousands of fans of the band crammed into The Vic Saturday night to hear the band recreate their commercial break-through Flood. Many mainstream fans may deride the band as nerd-rock, but that's a flawed view of a band whose catalog includes a dizzying amount of musical diversity that demands a high level of skill to recreate in a live setting. So yes, there were songs about dead presidents, existential birdhouses and shoe horns with teeth (sung by a duo of sock puppets, The Avatars), but the playful and ofttimes ridiculous lyrics were delivered by an amazingly tight band unafraid to change musical direction, sometimes mid-song. We entered the show somewhat stunned by the extreme dedication of the band's fans, but we left the venue understanding why those folks fell so in love with the talented duo of Johns Flansburgh and Linnell. Sure they're nerd-rock, but they are really kick-ass nerd-rock.

Sonic Youth is the picture of consistently. They're been releasing fine albums of music that could only be attributed to them for so long it's easy to lose sight of what an unfailingly excellent band they are. The group has spanned decades and continually releasing stuff that indicates their instruments still have plenty of noise to wring out and bleed all over the stage. It's remarkable.

Looking for something to get you over your hump day and on that nice downhill towards the weekend? Head over to the Brew & View tonight at the Vic for some beer, movies, and even your chance at a Snuggie. WGN DJ Nick Digilio will be hosting the festivities, which get under way at 7 p.m. when the doors open. Besides the snuggie giveaways, there will also be some Lou Malnati's giveaways as well. The best part? The films themselves. It's a fun doubleheader that starts off with Hot Fuzz at 8 p.m. and concludes with Die Hard at 10 p.m. And all this for only $5, which just goes to show you it's still possible to have fun in town on the cheap.

If you've followed the hot jams and buttery heartbreak of the reissues Chicago's Numero Group has been releasing for he last few years, then you know the sweet sound and fascinating stories of some of our city's best, if little known, R&B talent.

Exhibits

             

Last Friday's show was easily the best we've ever seen The Dandy Warhols play. In the past their shows could be incredibly self-indulgent, but that vibe was completely absent Friday night. The whole band seemed honestly appreciative to be performing in front of a sold-out crowd and all four members were obviously enjoying themselves. Even the usually stand-offish frontman Courtney Taylor-Taylor was downright chatty with the crowd. Maybe now that they're on their own, and completely free of Major Label-land, they no longer feel like serfs being sent out to perform their master's bidding, and instead are honestly happy to be in front of their fans.

It's utterly appropriate that Darker My Love is opening for The Dandy Warhols at The Vic tonight. Both bands share a love for all thing psychedelic and '60s, and both groups are handy at transforming drone into hooks. Darker My Love isn't as experimental as The Dandys, and they tend to stick within a single genre of music, but we don't mind that at all since it plays to their strengths.

Just a quick note, Liz Phair has announced that on June 24 she'll perform her classic album -- and we don't mean that phrase to be taken lightly -- Exile In Guyville at The Vic. Tickets go on sale this Saturday.

Ah, late February in Chicago. Cubs tickets go on sale today, there's a forecast for a high temperature above 35 degrees next week, and thousands of indie rock kids around Chicago will soon be shedding their parkas for high-priced hoodies bought from Wicker Park boutiques (tip: ours cost us $12 at Target!) for several worthwhile shows around the Chicago area. Lots of tickets go on sale this weekend. So, despite this crappy weather, there is, in the words of Spoon, "something to look forward to."

What's coming up? Let's see. 2007 has been quite a year for the Cold War Kids, whose twangy indie rock has worked its way into the hearts of festival attendees across the world, playing everywhere from Lollapallooza to the Glastonbury Festival. If you’d rather see them up close and personal instead of surrounded by shirtless dudes holding plastic cups of beer, now’s your chance. Metro, Dec. 7, 6:30 p.m., $15, all ages. On sale at...

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...

If we were one of the poor souls to pay a couple hundred bucks for a ticket to last night's Amy Winehouse show, we imagine we would be pretty fucking pissed off right now. It's never a good sign when a performer's pre-show prep includes stumbling in the street in search of non-existent paparazzi, dinner at Subway, and a trip to Walgreens for sweets (that you will later use to pad your set as giveaways...

If you were one of those folks who paid beaucoup bucks to see Amy Winehouse at either of the super sold-out Schubas shows she was scheduled to play May 3, our hearts go out to you. Why? Well, they've moved her show from the cozy confines of Schubas' back room to the much roomier space of The Vic. The good news? Lots more folks will get a chance to see her now! The bad news?...

It's way too nice outside to be sitting there staring at a computer screen, so let's get this done quickly, all right? Tonight's Klaxons show at Schubas is super-duper sold-out. Even those of us lucky enough to score a spot on the guest list stand a good chance of being left outside crying, so we hope everyone got a chance to see them play yesterday (and if you did, how was it?). Even if you...

Another Friday, another snowstorm, another installment of Empty Out Your Wallet. This week we’re not so inclined to whip out the credit card as we have been in past weeks, but here we go. We honestly didn’t know these guys were still around writing songs for the Adult Contemporary crowd. Apparently, they are still popular enough to fill up the Vic. Five for Fighting is best known for "Superman (It's Not Easy)," which was the...

You can't throw a stone amongst a bunch of hipsters in the Wicker Park / Humboldt area without a decent chance of accidentally hitting Plastic Crimewave's carefully managed — and now more tightly clipped — 'fro. Long a staple of the local psych rock scene, at least as a prodigious historian and record-keeper with a killer collection (some of which saw airtime on a recent Market Frenzy podcast), Crimewave is assembling what he calls his...

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...

We hope you’ve been saving your money, because the shows we’re looking at this week are a bit pricey. We’ll be scanning Craigslist for someone looking to offload their tix cheap. Why, oh why, isn’t there a Hot Tix for shows? Now removed from the avalanche of hype that surrounded their last shows here, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah returns to town for a pair of shows at The Vic. Expect fewer people who “heard...

Well, Lupe might not make it onstage tonight, but Isis ain't letting anything keep them at home. Apparently, due to a last-minute cancellation on the Tool tour they've been opening, they will be appearing at Beat Kitchen tonight! Opening for them are Beaten Awake and Yakuza. The mere thought of Isis' glacial sheets of metal pushing out at the walls of Beat Kitchen is enough to make us totally pee our pants with glee. If...

This week marks the return of Adventures in Modern Music at the Empty Bottle. Arriving on the heels of the World Music Festival, the five-day event celebrates experimental music like the mash-up dance rock of Brazil’s Tetine, blessed-out head trips of France’s Colleen and Trapist’s space rock. A full lineup is available at the Bottle’s website, but don’t forget to see You’re Gonna Miss Me, a documentary at the Siskel Film Center on the fall...

Yup, it’s another Friday, lots of shows go on sale tomorrow, and we know you want our hints as to which ones to plunk your hard-earned change in favor of and which you should avoid. As always, we aim to serve your interests and keep you ahead of the general unwashed masses. Or something like that. Duran Duran Oct. 26, Sears Centre, 8 p.m., $35-$75, All Ages The Sears Center will never replace Poplar Creek...

You’d think that with five full-length albums to Tosca’s credit and with both of its members having achieved a measure of fame as artists in their own right, we’d have heard of them before their most recent album, J.A.C. But to be fair, the band has spent most of their time in Europe, specifically their home base of Vienna, and has never before toured the U.S. Perhaps seeking to raise their profile here in the...

Chicagoist remembers when The Sisters Of Mercy came through town in the early ‘90s and we were totally psyched. We weren’t exactly what you’d call Goth kids – we showed up to the show in shorts and a Keith Haring T-shirt since we reckoned it would get mighty warm in The Riv that night – and we weren’t exactly prepared for the massive amount of Goth kids in miles of lave and velvet that were...

Chicagoist would like to make a few recommendations (and offer one warning) for ways to spend your weekend if you’re not going to be partying in expectation of a particular sporting event. Tonight you can either choose to dance your ass off or you can decide to zone out on waves of feedback but we think either way you swing you can’t go wrong. LCD Soundsystem is bringing their (well, technically we should say “his”...

There aren’t too many big names in town this weekend. Mike (nee M.) Doughty will be at Park West after a free in-store at Borders on Michigan and Son Volt will prevent several people from accidentally seeing the atrocity known as The Fantastic Four by performing at The Vic on Saturday night. (Chicagoist thanks them for this gift to humanity). Anyway, we’re giving full vent to our indie leanings this weekend. Thanks, in part, to...

Friday night the free concert event of the evening was Pete Yorn at the Vic brought to us by Fusion Flash Concerts. Chicagoist missed the actual indoctrination (sorry, advertising) part of the night regarding the new Ford Fusion, but still rocked out to Yorn. The Vic was not full to capacity, which created an even more intimate show for those who got in (by the way we haven't seen that many passes handed out since...

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...

Last evening at The Vic, Wired kicked off Next Fest with a show curated by Jeff Tweedy featuring The Handsome Family and Joanna Newsom. The stage was stark with only a white backdrop and a chair holding a computer that pumped the sound of crickets throughout the room. Chris Anderson, Editor-In-Chief of Wired Magazine, started off the evening with a few words explaining Next Fest's history. Jeff Tweedy saunters on stage wearing the shirt...