This Weekend In Music: Three To See
By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on Nov 22, 2013 6:40PM
Sky Ferreira plays The Vic on Saturday. Photo by Samantha Abernethy.
Nightmares On Wax at Lincoln Hall
Nightmares On Wax, a.k.a. George Evelyn, hasn't toured the U.S. since 2008 and that's way too long in our opinion. We still remember hearing his super groovy Smoker's Delight LP in the late '90s and immediately thinking that this was a worthy sonic successor to both DJ Shadow and '70s cinematic funk. His latest album, Feelin' Good, mines similar sources for its sound and easily transitions from sleepy-eyed soul to dance friendly tracks that sound as if transmitted by a radio station from a dimension where multiple eras of music genres are occurring all at once. This show should be notable not only due to Evelyn's absence from the U.S. stage, but also because he's bringing along a 6-piece band to bring his catalog to life. Should be a funky good time.
Friday, November 22, at Lincoln Hall, 2424 N Lincoln, 10 p.m., $20, 21+
Sky Ferreira at The Vic
Despite her relatively young age, Sky Ferreira has already been through a number of permutations through her career. We fell in love with her early single "One" a few years ago, but when we saw her perform at this year's Pitchfork Music Festival we realized she had made the turn from bubbly pop to something darker and more genuine. On her debut Night Time, My Time she blends heavier guitars with heartfelt lyrics, but she doesn't forsake the uniquely catchy spine of each song sprung from sonic DNA that is unmistakably hers. The result is what may be the best pop album so far this year, easily beating out recent releases from other performers with greater name recognition than Ferreira. Her live set is an emotional one—she broke into tears a number of times as she was overcome by the positive fan response to songs that were unfamiliar to most at the time—and we're looking forward to how it's progressed in the wake of the release of her full album.
Saturday, November 23, at The Vic, 3145 N Sheffield , 8 p.m., $20, 18+
Metric at UIC Pavilion
We prefer when Metric plays smaller venues, but we've seen them enough times in larger spaces to realize that the band's sound can fill any venue. And the band's show remain transfixing and energetic, which makes sense because they play every room as if it's an arena. Emily Haines recently popped into the larger pop cultural eye for writing what we believe was one of the best eulogies for Lou Reed—he appeared on the band's latest album Synthetica—so hopefully people going to the show for headliner Paramore will arrive early enough to fall in love with Metric.
Sunday, November 24, at UIC Pavilion, 525 S Racine, 7:30 p.m., $37.50-$47.50, all ages