Negative Scanner and Sweet Cobra at Bric-a-Brac
Negative Scanner — one of my favorite rock bands in Chicago these days — played a great free show on Saturday, June …
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds at Detroit’s Masonic Temple
Why did I go to Detroit to see Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, rather than attending their concert next week in …
Arbouretum and Brokeback at Schubas
Arbouretum The Baltimore band Arbouretum has been playing heavy, rootsy guitar rock for about decade now, making several strong records on the …
Jambinai at the Empty Bottle
Jambinai was one of my favorite bands at SXSW in 2014, playing epic music that mixed rock instruments with traditional Korean instruments. …
Erwin Helfer at the Hungry Brain
As he sat down behind the piano at the Hungry Brain on May 16, the 81-year-old Chicago pianist Erwin Helfer introduced himself to the …
Big Ears Festival 2017
(Links to Big Ears Festival photo galleries) The Norwegian composer and violinist Nils Økland summed up the spirit of the Big Ears …
Big Ears: Photos of Nils Økland
(See more Big Ears Festival coverage) Nils Økland Band March 24, 2017, at St. John’s Cathedral Nils Økland and Mats Eilertsen March …
Big Ears: Photos of the Gavin Bryars Ensemble
(See more Big Ears Festival coverage) March 25, 2017, at St. John’s Cathedral Performing Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet on March …
Big Ears: Photos of Wilco
(See more Big Ears Festival coverage) Wilco March 24, 2017, at the Tennessee Theatre Jeff Tweedy with Chikamorachi March 25, 2017, at the …
Big Ears: Photos from Day 4
Photos from Day 4 of the Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, Tennessee, on March 26, 2017. (See more Big Ears Festival coverage) …
Big Ears: Photos from Day 3
Photos from Day 3 of the Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, Tennessee, on March 25, 2017. (See more Big Ears Festival coverage) …
Big Ears: Photos from Day 2
Photos from Day 2 of the Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, Tennessee, on March 24, 2017. (See more Big Ears Festival coverage) …
Big Ears: Photos from Day 1
Photos from Day 1 of the Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, Tennessee, on March 23, 2017. (See more Big Ears Festival coverage) Carla …
Thigh Master at the Hideout
Thigh Master, a rock band from Brisbane, Australia, played on Friday, March 10, at the Hideout — and like so many of …
Robbie Fulks’ Final Hideout Residency Shows: Photo Gallery
My photos of the final three shows in Robbie Fulks’ seven-year-long series of Monday-night concerts at the Hideout. (Read my blog post …
Seven Years of Robbie Fulks at the Hideout on Mondays
In January 2010, Chicago’s Hideout announced that singer-songwriter-guitarist Robbie Fulks was going to play a series of four concerts at this cozy …
Best Films of 2016
1. Moonlight (Barry Jenkins, U.S.) — A masterpiece on many levels, the deeply engaging and empathetic Moonlight has extraordinary writing, acting, directing, cinematography, …
Big Thief at Schubas
The Brooklyn band Big Thief released a great album last year called Masterpiece — and the group, led by singer-songwriter-guitarist Adrianne Lenker, …
Mirror of Nature at the Hungry Brain
I’ve written before about my friend Jason Shanley, who performs guitar and electronic music under the name Cinchel. He is part of …
Favorite Concerts of 2016
1. Bill Callahan Sept. 26 during the Cropped Out festival at the American Turners Club in Louisville. After 7 p.m., as the sun …
Favorite Albums of 2016
1. David Bowie: Blackstar The year began with the sound of David Bowie, sounding as alien and inventive as he ever had. …
Joan Shelley at the Hideout
Joan Shelley’s album Over and Even was my favorite record of 2015, , so of course I’m thrilled to hear that she’s working …
Ultimate Painting at the Hideout
The British duo Ultimate Painting keeps turning out one splendid record after another — three albums in the past three years. James …
Makoto and Nakatani at the Empty Bottle, plus Spires and Brian Case
Two master musicians from Japan — guitarist Kawabata Makoto, who’s the leader of Acid Mothers Temple, and percussionist Tatsuya Nakatani — created a beautiful …
Poster Children at Schubas
Sadly, I arrived a bit late for the Poster Children’s early concert on Wednesday, Nov. 23, at Schubas. Rather than barging my …
Joshua Abrams’ Hideout residency
The masterful Chicago musician Joshua Abrams played five concerts at the Hideout in November, playing with different collaborators on each Tuesday night. …
Robyn Hitchcock and Emma Swift at City Winery
Many of the songs Robyn Hitchcock played on Thursday, Nov. 17, at City Winery in Chicago had been chosen ahead of time …
Finally… a Record by The Flat Five
The debut album by the Flat Five, It’s a World of Love and Hope, is a strange and wonderful thing. I doubt you’ll hear …
Abraham Levitan + Devin Davis = Teletype
Eleven years ago, Chicago singer-songwriter Devin Davis released one of my favorite records of 2005, Lonely People of the World, Unite! — …
The Rev. Al Green
This is one of those things people tell you do to when you’re in Memphis: Go see the famous soul singer Al …
Ardent Studios
Jody Stephens, the drummer for the legendary band Big Star, kindly agreed to let me tag along Sept. 30, 2016, on a …
Gonerfest 2016 Day 3: Nighttime Show
My photos of the nighttime show at the Hi Tone on Oct. 1, 2016, the third day of Gonerfest in Memphis, featuring …
Gonerfest 2016 Day 3: Daytime Party
My photos from the daytime party at Murphy’s on Oct. 1, 2016, at Gonerfest in Memphis, featuring Casual Burn, Bloodbags, Fire Retarded, …
Gonerfest 2016 Day 2: Nighttime Show
My photos from the nighttime show at the Hi Tone on Sept. 30, 2016, the second day of Gonerfest in Memphis, featuring …
Gonerfest 2016 Day 2: Daytime Party
My photos from the daytime party at Memphis Made Brewing on Sept. 30, 2016, the second day of Gonerfest in Memphis, Memphis …
Gonerfest 2016 Day 1
My photos from Sept. 29, 2016, the first day of Gonerfest in Memphis, including the opening ceremonies at Cooper Young Gazebo with Nots …
Gonerfest and Memphis
After going to Gonerfest in 2014, I knew that I’d want to come back to this annual Memphis punk and garage-rock shindig. …
Cropped Out: Day 2
This is my report from Saturday, Sept. 24, the second day of the 2016 Cropped Out music festival in Louisville, Kentucky. To …
Cropped Out: Day 1
Cropped Out feels like a homemade music festival. The website for the annual event in Louisville, Kentucky, hasn’t been thoroughly updated for …
The Handsome Family and Rennie Sparks’ art exhibit
The Handsome Family have a new album called Unseen, which brought them to Chicago for a concert on Sunday night at the …
The Mekons at the Hideout
The Mekons have a new record called Existentialism — a lo-fi live CD of new songs performed into one microphone, with an …
Hideout 20-Year Reunion
The Hideout, one of my favorite music venues, celebrated its 20th anniversary with a daylong mini-festival on Saturday — billed as a “20-Year …
Ragamala
Ragamala was an epic experience — a 15-hour concert of Indian classical music, stretching from 6 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 9, until 9 a.m. …
The Flat Five at the Green Mill
The Flat Five — that wonderful Chicago group I’ve photographed and written about many times before — played three sets on Saturday, Aug. 27, …
BÖC, Rob Mazurek & Emmett Kelly and Horse Lords
Friday, Aug. 26, was another two-concert night for me. Talk about strange juxtapositions. I started out the evening by driving to Skokie …
Tortoise and Ryley Walker concerts, in one night
Aug. 25 felt like a quintessential night of live Chicago music: seeing Tortoise at Millennium Park, followed by Ryley Walker’s late concert at the …
The Rizdales at the Hideout
The Rizdales — a country band from London, Ontario — played Aug. 20 at the Hideout, apparently playing in Chicago for the …
Comm to Black and Cinchel at the Comfort Station Fundraiser
I always love seeing concerts at Logan Square’s Illinois Centennial Monument — that tall column with the eagle on top — but these …
Mbongwana Star at Millennium Park
The African band Mbongwana Star got the audience dancing on Aug. 11 at Millennium Park’s Jay Pritzker Pavilion, playing wildly infectious beats …
LCD Soundsystem at Lollapalooza
One of the main reasons to attend Lollapalooza this year was the reunion of LCD Soundsystem, and the band did not disappoint. …