Camera Obscura and Laura Cantrell at Thalia Hall
When Laura Cantrell opened on Friday (July 25) for Camera Obscura at Thalia Hall, it was her first Chicago performance in nine years. …
Robbie Fulks and Michael Shannon at the Hideout
Robbie Fulks’ Monday-night shows at the Hideout are never the same, covering a huge variety of music and guest-starring all sorts of …
2014 Pitchfork Music Festival Recap
This year’s Pitchfork Music Festival — which took place July 18-20 in the usual spot, Union Park — had its share of …
More photos from Pitchfork Day 3
Read my recap of the 2014 Pitchfork Music Festival. DAY 1 PHOTOS: Neneh Cherry / Sharon Van Etten / Giorgio Moroder / Beck / More photos from Day 1 (Hundred …
More Photos from Pitchfork Day 2
Read my recap of the 2014 Pitchfork Music Festival. DAY 1 PHOTOS: Neneh Cherry / Sharon Van Etten / Giorgio Moroder / Beck / More photos from Day 1 (Hundred Waters, …
More photos from Pitchfork Day 1
Read my recap of the 2014 Pitchfork Music Festival. DAY 1 PHOTOS: Neneh Cherry / Sharon Van Etten / Giorgio Moroder / Beck / More photos from Day 1 (Hundred Waters, …
Real Estate at Pitchfork
My photos of Real Estate’s performance on Sunday, July 20, in Union Park during the third day of the Pitchfork Music Festival. …
Diiv at Pitchfork
My photos of Diiv’s performance on Sunday, July 20, in Union Park during the third day of the Pitchfork Music Festival. Read …
Dum Dum Girls at Pitchfork
My photos of Dum Dum Girls’ performance on Sunday, July 20, during the third day of the Pitchfork Music Festival. Read my …
Speedy Ortiz at Pitchfork
My photos of Speedy Ortiz’s performance on Sunday, July 20, in Union Park during the third day of the Pitchfork Music Festival. …
Kendrick Lamar at Pitchfork
My photos of Kendrick Lamar’s performance on Sunday, July 20, in Union Park during the third day of the Pitchfork Music Festival. …
Deafheaven at Pitchfork
My photos of Deafheaven’s performance on Sunday, July 20, in Union Park during the third day of the 2014 Pitchfork Music Festival. …
Grimes at Pitchfork
My photos of Grimes’ performance on Sunday, July 20, in Union Park during the third day of the 2014 Pitchfork Music Festival. …
Kelela at Pitchfork
My photos of Kelela’s performance on Saturday, July 19, in Union Park during the second day of the 2014 Pitchfork Music Festival. …
Twin Peaks at Pitchfork
My photos of the Chicago band Twin Peaks’ performance on Saturday, July 19, in Union Park during the second day of the …
Giorgio Moroder at Pitchfork
My photos of Giorgio Moroder’s DJ set on Friday, July 18, in Union Park on the first day of the 2014 Pitchfork …
Slowdive at Pitchfork
My photos of Slowdive’s great performance on Sunday, July 20, in Union Park during the third day of the 2014 Pitchfork Music …
Perfect Pussy at Pitchfork
My photos of Perfect Pussy’s performance on Sunday, July 20, in Union Park, during the third day of the 2014 Pitchfork Music …
St. Vincent at Pitchfork
My photos of St. Vincent from her performance on July 19 in Union Park, the second day of the 2014 Pitchfork Music …
Sharon Van Etten at Pitchfork
Photos of Sharon Van Etten performing July 18 in Union Park on the first day of the 2014 Pitchfork Music Festival. I …
Beck at the Pitchfork Music Festival
It’s hard to believe I’d never seen Beck in concert until last night, when he headlined the first night of the Pitchfork …
Neneh Cherry at the Pitchfork Music Festival
My photos of Neneh Cherry performing her second U.S. concert (and her first in this country since 1992) — on Friday (July …
Tweedy on Sound Opinions at Lincoln Hall
Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy is releasing his first solo album — or rather, an album called Sukierae under the moniker “Tweedy” — …
Langford, Timms and Fulks at the Hideout
Two of the Mekons — Jon Langford and Sally Timms — are preparing to tour Scotland in August, along with another member …
Death at the Empty Bottle
Death returned Friday (June 12) to the Empty Bottle, sounding stronger and more confident than the group was back in 2009 at …
The Flat Five at Square Roots Fest
The Flat Five are always one of my favorite local groups to see, and so I couldn’t resist the chance to hear their …
Noura Mint Seymali at Square Roots Fest
Noura Mint Seymali, one of Mauritania’s musical stars, came to Chicago for two concerts over the past week: June 11 at the …
Liam Finn at Laurie’s Planet of Sound and Square Roots Fest
New Zealand musician Liam Finn played Friday (July 11) at the Square Roots Fest in Lincoln Square, a few hours after playing at …
Alarm Will Sound at Millennium Park
The New York-based ensemble Alarm Will Sound plays acoustic arrangements and orchestral scores of music that was originally created by electronic artists such …
Veruca Salt at Lincoln Hall
Back in the 1990s, when the Chicago rock music scene started to attract some attention, Veruca Salt was one of the local …
Bob Mould at Millennium Park
Last year, Bob Mould celebrated the 25th anniversary of his debut solo album, Workbook. But when he played Monday night (June 23) …
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds at the Milwaukee Theatre
Nick Cave was wearing a remarkable shirt. Dozens of hands pawed and pulled at its shiny gold fabric, twisting and tugging at …
eighth blackbird and Michael Ward-Bergeman at Millennium Park
The Loops and Variations concert series at Millennium Park usually features a contemporary classical act as well as another artist playing electronic …
Richard Thompson at Millennium Park and Space
It’s no revelation to me that Richard Thompson is one of the best living guitarists, if not the best. And yet, it …
Wussy at Red Line Tap
The Cincinnati rock band Wussy is fairly obscure in the grand scheme of the music business, but people who know this group …
Elvis Costello at the Copernicus Center
Elvis Costello played solo for close to 2 1/2 hours tonight at the Copernicus Center, an old movie palace in Chicago’s Jefferson …
Omar Souleyman at Millennium Park
Syrian singer Omar Souleyman cast a strange spell as he performed Monday night on the Jay Pritzker Pavilion stage in Millennium Park. …
Joshua Abrams + Natural Information Society in Millennium Park
Millennium Park’s series of free summer concerts at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, always one of the highlights of the year in Chicago, …
Centro-matic at the Beat Kitchen
The Denton, Texas, rock band Centro-matic just released its first record in three years, Take Pride by Your Long Odds, as well as a reissue …
Brötzmann, Drake & Parker at Constellation
The Peter Brötzmann, Hamid Drake & William Parker Trio played Friday night at Constellation — one of the first concerts this improvisational …
Chad VanGaalen, Cousins and Bry Webb at the Empty Bottle
The lineup at the Empty Bottle on Thursday, May 22, was a musical version of the Trans-Canada Highway: three Canadian artists, each …
Nazoranai at the Empty Bottle
At 11:34 p.m. May 20, I tweeted: This Nazoranai show at @theemptybottle is so loud it might cause a rupture in the …
Blackout Fest 2014
Blackout Fest was back this past weekend at the Empty Bottle, and once again, Chicago’s HoZac Records delivered a fun package of …
A Sneak Peek Inside Thalia Hall
Thalia Hall, a major addition to Chicago’s roster of live music venues, opens Wednesday with its first public concert: a show by …
Flamin’ Groovies, Lemons and Peekaboos at House of Blues
I’ve wanted to see the Flamin’ Groovies for years, and last night (May 9), a reunited version of the terrific ’70s band …
CIMM Fest
The Chicago International Movies & Music Festival, or CIMM Fest, ran April 30-May 1 at several venues around the city, featuring movies about …
Protomartyr at Reckless
The Detroit post-punk band Protomartyr was in Chicago last week to play as the opening act for Cloud Nothings in a sold-out …
Skull Defekts at the Empty Bottle
“We’re keeping it unreal,” one of the Skull Defekts declared during the Swedish rock band’s concert Tuesday night (April 30) at the …
Waxahatchee at the Empty Bottle
Waxahatchee — which is either a band or singer-songwriter Katie Crutchfield, depending on how you define these things — released an outstanding …
Record Store Day at Laurie’s Planet of Sound
A lot of record stores around Chicago had fun festivities planned on Record Store Day, which was April 19, but I ended …