Empty Out Your Wallets
By Marcus Gilmer in Arts & Entertainment on Apr 25, 2008 6:10PM
This summer-like weather we've been enjoying all week? It's going to disappear this weekend. But our brief respite from Spring won't get us down. We mentioned the upcoming Rock The Bells fest is coming to Chicago this year and that reminds us of one thing: summer music to look forward to. Hey, it's not always about Lollapalooza.
While there will be no advanced ticket sales, The Cool Kids will be playing the Abbey Pub on May 21 for a Darfur Now benefit. They'll be joined by fellow hip hop act All Natural. Tickets will be available at the door for a donation (yet to be determined). Keep your eyes on the Abbey Pub website for more details.
May 21, Doors at 8 p.m., Show at 9 p.m., 18+
We've talked about Uncle Earl, and now our favorite g'Earl is coming back to town for some more bluegrass action. The Sparrow Quartet featuring Abigail Washburn (pictured at right) visit the Old Town School of Folk Music on June 7. The Sparrow Quartet also consists of Casey Driessen, Ben Sollee, and bluegrass bad-ass Bela Fleck.
June 7, 7 p.m. & 10 p.m., $28, 7 p.m. show tickets available at the box office only, 10 p.m. available at Tix.com
If you're into the sleepy stylings of Clem Snide, we highly recommend front man Eef Barzelay's excellent live show. He'll be promoting his new solo record, "Losing Big." We caught him at Schuba's last time he was in town and came away smiling.
June 24, 9 p.m., $12, 21+, Tickets via the Schuba's website
You already know Pitchfork has added Spoon and Les Savy Fav to their Music Fest bill, so why haven't you bought your tickets yet? Union Park will be rocking with dudes sweating their asses off in skinny black jeans this July.
July 18 - 20, $30 for one day pass, $50 for Sat-Sun pass, $65 for 3-day pass, Tickets via TicketWeb
John Mellencamp is coming to the Charter One Pavilion at Northerly Island (to rally for his fellow cougar?) and while we don't really care and really don't want to here that annoying "This is Our Country" song for the millionth time, one of our all-time favorite cowgirls, Lucinda Williams, is opening which makes it almost worth it to go and leave before Mellencamp comes on. Almost.
July 22, 7:30 p.m., $36 - $121, Tickets on sale April 26 at 12 p.m. via Ticketmaster
Chicago's hometown indie hero Andrew Bird will follow in the footsteps of The Decemberists and play a free show at the Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park on Wednesday, September 3rd. Since it's free you don't have to worry about tickets, but you may want to go ahead and line up this weekend for a decent spot. Occidental Brothers Dance Band International open.
September 3, 6:30 p.m., Pritzker Pavilion, Free
Image of The Sparrow Quartet from Abigail Washburn's MySpace Page