Looking for some live music in Chicago this weekend? We’ve got you covered. Check out this weekend’s featured show along with a more extensive weekend list below!
St. Louis’ indie-rockers, Old Lights, started as the passion project of multi-instrumentalist David Beeman. After a ton of turnover, Old Lights has gotten to a place where they consider themselves a “real band.” The group released Like Strangers last year, and the record Every Night Begins the Same in 2009. Check out the video for the ENBTS track “Losing My Mind,” below.
Old Lights will be headlining the Beat Kitchen this Sunday with Stolen Bones, Scuttlebugs, and Little Midnight. The 21+ show kicks off at 8:00 PM, and will only set you back $8.
Chicago’s The Shams Band will be celebrating the release of their sophomore LP, Cold City, all month long, with a residency at Schuba’s Tavern. With a show each Monday this month, the group has put together four impressive line-ups that compliment their blues, county, and rock sensibilities.
Officially released today, Cold City is a perfect companion to the debut full-length, Champagne, and does a great job capturing the party-driven energy of The Shams Band’s live show.
The DIY group has had no trouble making a name for themselves in Chicago and across the county, and has even been able to open for a handful of national acts including Drive-By Truckers, Dawes, and Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes.
Pitchfork Music Festival is just around the corner and eMusic has given us a pair of tickets to give to one of our readers.
Since 2005, Pitchfork Media has been bringing some of the nation’s best indie, alternative rock, hip-hop, and rap to Chicago for a killer summer festival. An amazing line-up across three stages (red, green, and blue) on top of this year’s headliners, Feist, Grimes, and Vampire Weekend, helped the 3-day passes sell out in less than a month.
Make sure to check back in with us throughout the week for all of our Friday, Saturday, and Sunday recommendations. Until then, grab the full 3 day line-up along with details on how you can win a pair of tickets to this incredible festival, below.
Gearing up for the release of their sophomore LP, All Of The Unknown, and wrapping up their nationwide tour with River City Extension, California’s The Drowning Men came through Chicago and Schubas Tavern last Thursday, 6/27.
Recently signed to Flogging Molly’s new Borstal Beat Records label, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Nato Bardeen was nice enough to sit down with TVD before the show to chat about the upcoming record.
Can you talk a little about how you got hooked up with Borstal Beat Records?
Through Flogging Molly. When we did our first tour with them, we found out that they were releasing their newest album on their own label, and they were interested in signing us. So after contracts and meetings and things, we finally decided, let’s do it, let’s go Borstal Beat. They’re a new label too, we’re the first ones. It’s like an adventure that’s new to us and it’s new to them too, so let’s do it together.
Chicago’s A Lull rides the line between electronic and organic, and the quintet’s newest release is no exception. The new EP, released today on Lujo Records, still manages to distinguish itself from the group’s previous efforts.
The five tracks on “Meat Mountain” offer experimentation in both addition and subtraction. The use of open space allows for the development of additional instrumentation including the saxophone, flute, and cymbals. A Lull’s process of writing and recording also left the EP with a fantastic live sound.
Take a listen to “Summer Dress”, the first single off of “Meat Mountain”, and then grab all of the information that you need about the release, below.
Looking for some live music in Chicago this weekend? We’ve got you covered. Check out this weekend’s featured shows along with a more extensive weekend list below!
Summer Girlfriends does vintage sunshine pop right. The all-girl quintet blasts through their new LP, Shockwaves, with warmth, nostalgia, and the occasional hint of garage rock angst. Presented by Saki Records, the release party will kick off tonight at 9:00 PM, with Orca Team and Blizzard Babies.
Out on Addenda Records, 6/5, you can grab a copy of Shockwaves on awesome lavender-colored vinyl for just $12, online, or in person at Saki Records, 3716 W Fullerton Ave.
Chicago’s string of killer releases moves right along with a double vinyl release show to start next week off right. Electronic art-rockers, Chandeliers, and experimental pop outfit, Golden Birthday, will be taking on the Empty Bottle this Monday, 6/25, to celebrate their newest records.
Grab all of the details about the two releases and Monday’s free show, below.
Chicago experimental quartet, Chandeliers, blends analog synths and live percussion into summer inspired electronic art-rock. The danceable tracks ooze with an appreciation for the vintage synthetic styles before them, while moving forward crafting their own sound.
It seems to be a sort of unofficial release week here in Chicago, and the surge of fresh wax coming through the city isn’t showing any signs of letting up — and we couldn’t be happier about it. Today brings us the killer debut LP from chamber pop outfit, The Marble Vanity.
The self-titled effort, released on Chicago’s Slow Fizz Records, would have no issue fitting in alongside the UK and US baroque rock of the 1960’s. With a few well-placed hand claps, The Marble Vanity manage to tap into the vibe of greats like the Mamas & the Papas. For all the proof you’ll need, take a listen to the LP’s lead track, “Autumn Woods”.
Grab the details of the release as well as where you can pick up your vinyl copy of The Marble Vanity, below.
FETCH is a band that believes in the single. Not the “what song are you going to promote the most off your record?” single, but the real deal. In what the Chicago five piece is calling “The Matchbook Series,” FETCH is giving power back to the 45.
Over the course of 2012, the group plans to release four 7” singles of original FETCH music through Pravda Records. What makes the impressive undertaking even more noteworthy is how obvious it seems. FETCH’s Americana tinged punk rock begs to be heard through the crackle of a needle, and drags you back to a day when the single was king.
The second 7” in the series, “Don’t Tell Me” b/w “The Game,” will be released tomorrow, 6/19, in a limited edition of 300, hand-numbered, green vinyl. Check out the first release as well as details on this week’s record release show, below.
Looking for some live music in Chicago this weekend? We’ve got you covered. Check out this weekend’s featured show along with a more extensive weekend list below!
Located in one of the city’s most famous restaurant strips, The Taste of Randolph entertains its 100,000 plus attendees with two stages packed with killer local and national music. The three day fest will feature headliners Los Campesinos!, Chris Robinson Brotherhood, and The Hold Steady, among others.
One of the bands that you’re going to want to catch are Chicago’s own indie rockers, Empires. Check out the video for “BANG” above, pick up Empires 7”, “Darko”, and grab the full Taste of Randolph lineup below.
Returning for the fourth year, Chicago’s free concert series, Downtown Sound, will be bringing local indie-folk quintet Judson Claiborne to the Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park this Monday, 6/18.
Led by vocalist/guitarist, Chris Salveter, something that Judson Claiborne could never be accused of is shallow songwriting. With themes like “the transformation of the human psyche by way of life’s companions and mysterious pathways,” there is absolutely no shortage of depth to the material.
Formed in 2007, and gearing up for their third record, Judson Claiborne has crafted a sound with its roots in country and folk music, but a lyrical voice all of its own.
Chicago indie-rock quartet Hemmingbirds have been making a name for themselves since their 2010 debut, thanks to the album’s consistently infectious hooks and dreamy atmosphere.
The album, Death Wave, has been rightfully recognized by publications from Chicago Metromix to The Deli Magazine, and today, Hemmingbirds released the music video for the album’s final single, “Perpetuator.”
Hemmingbirds will be celebrating the video release with a headlining show at the Beat Kitchen tomorrow, 6/14. Grab all of the details you need, below.
If you’ve been following TVD-CHI in the last few months, you may have noticed that Mutts have quickly become one of our favorite local bands for their explosive energy and unmatched originality. Within the last year, they have been recognized in publications like The Huffington Post and Alternative Press magazine, and are now working on their most ambitious project to date.
Mutts has recorded a double LP called Separation Anxiety & Object Permanence. Both running 10 tracks, Separation Anxiety is the plugged-in, heavy record you’d expect from the group as a follow-up to the incredible Pray For Rain. Object Permanence, on the other hand, gives an unplugged, emotional, and raw performance.
Having already paid for the recording, mixing, and partial mastering, Mutts is looking for help to cover the costs of the final mastering, and production of CDs and vinyl. Shooting for just under half of the total $20,000 expense, Mutts is hoping to raise $9,999 by 6/17.
Looking for some live music in Chicago this weekend? We’ve got you covered. Check out this weekend’s featured show along with a more extensive weekend list below!
Chicago’s six-piece indie-pop outfit, Inspector Owl, came from a simple beginning. What started as a computer based solo project almost 10 years ago, has managed to evolve into a full blown rock band. Tonight, at the Beat Kitchen, Inspector Owl will be releasing their first full-length record. Check out the official video for the self-titled LPs closing track, “Mousey”, below.
You can pick up a copy of the new LP on 180g white vinyl for just $15 tonight at the show, or online through Inspector Owl’s webstore.
Chicago’s Mucca Pazza is a difficult band to introduce. At over 30 members, they could easily be classified as a marching band, but only by appearance. With rock sensibilities and a wide array of instrumentation, there aren’t enough hyphens in the world to connect the eclectic genres mixed into any given piece.
Mucca Pazza will be releasing their new full length LP, Safety Fifth, on 12” vinyl through Electric Cowbell Records this Tuesday, 6/12. We’ve got your chance to win a copy right here, and in anticipation of the release, we were able to chat with guitarist Jeff Thomas about the new record, vinyl, and the intricacies of a 30+ member band.
Where did the marching band idea come from?
It is kind of an evolution of thoughts. In some form or another, we have all played with each other in different theatrical groups. Some of us participated in an anti-war march, where our band director, Mark Messing, put together an All-American anti-war marching band, as he called it. That idea started around the same time, and we thought that this is an interesting format for a rock and roll venue. Let’s see what we can do with a marching band performing in spaces that a marching band shouldn’t normally be performing in or that nobody has ever seen perform in before. That’s kind of how it came about.
Now the marching band format is starting to pop up in a lot of different cities. There are a lot of strange marching bands starting to come out and I don’t know if it is because of us band nerds who have never really been able to express ourselves in a 3, 4, or 5 piece rock group.
Looking for some live music in Chicago this weekend? We’ve got you covered. Check out this weekend’s featured show along with a more extensive weekend list below!
