When good bands generate some great publicity, it’s win-win for the bands, fans and especially bloggers like me.  Two Chicago bands, making waves in the alt-acoustic scene, The Shams Band and Dastardly cooked up a good old-fashioned feud to create awareness for show at Subterranean that featured both bands on the bill. It began with [...]

As an Umphrey’s McGee fan, Chicagoan, and blogger, I knew I had to get a post out about the head scratcher of a tune that they were commissioned to write and record to bolster the city’s tourism industry.  Hilariously deemed a “tourist anthem” or city theme song, it basically plays to none of Umphreys’ strengths [...]

UPDATE (4/26):  A word from the band about why this has not been highly publicized.  Keep it civil tonight, you guys. An error in the ticketing system inadvertently released more tickets than the total Park West capacity (approximately 150). It is unfortunate but it is what it is and we are going to do our [...]

Rock history is sprinkled with big stars coming together to raise awareness and money for their personal favorite charity or overlooked causes.  It’s nice to know that this spirit also carries over to the local level — on Sunday, April 29th, a host of local bands will take the stage at Cubby Bear North in [...]

Chicago jam stalwarts Mr. Blotto are headed back to Scandanavian Park/Vasa Park in Elgin for 13th installment of their Blottopia festival on the weekend of July 27th & 28th.   Or, for Roman numeral inclined: Blottopia XIII. This will be the twelfth installment of the festival in this location.  Complete lineup will be released in the [...]

The Whippersnap Festival is back this year with some quality headliners, an action-packed undercard and a few more surprises in store. This year’s festival will be held July 19th, 20th & 21st at Stonehouse Park in Earlville, IL.  Bass legend George Porter Jr. and the funky Meters will topline the three day festival with the [...]

Second leg starts tonight.  Here’s some interesting stas from the March swing to get you prepped. View Spring Tour Visual Setlists – Spring Tour Rotation 15 shows played 242 songs played – 148 different songs Biggest bustouts: Thunderstruck 3/11 (181 shows), Time 3/25 (119), A Fifth Of Beethoven 3/18 (104) Moog Jam (3/10) has not [...]

After a 2011 event that had Deadheads coast-to-coast smiling and taking in a beautifully restored print of the Grateful Dead Movie (plus some classic bonus interview footage), the Dead Meetup at the movies is back for a 2012 round. On April 19th, they lead with never before seen footage from Alpine Valley Music Theatre on [...]

My favorite post-Grateful Dead project, Furthur, returns to Chicago on July 17th, playing at the Charter One Pavillion at Northerly Island.  There are still four months to go until this rolls around, but I’m super-excited about this prospect of this band/venue pairing and am offering 10 reasons why you should be, too. 1.  First and [...]

After bypassing both of these Midwest sheds last summer, Phish will make it up to fans in Chicago (and surrounding areas) this summer with four shows total at two venues featured prominently in Phish history.  Yes, Deer Creek is now known as Klipsch Music Center, but I’ll never call it by a corporate sponsor’s name. [...]