Category: Weekend Music Spotlight

A weekly look at live music happenings throughout the city and suburbs

Concert Preview: Local H (Saturday, September 7 with Purple Apple at Metro - A Farewell to Brian St. Clair)

Concert Preview: Local H (Saturday, September 7 with Purple Apple at Metro - A Farewell to Brian St. Clair)
Continuing a busy year that has seen them tour in support of their seventh studio album as well as a recent EP, local alt-rock duo Local H returns home to Chicago for a special show Saturday night at Metro to recognize the forthcoming departure of longtime drummer Brian St. Clair...
By Jim Ryan,
September 6, 2013 at 5:21 pm • 

Concert Preview and Jim Beam Ticket Giveaway: Kid Rock's "$20 Best Night Ever" - Friday, August 30 at First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre in Tinley Park

Concert Preview and Jim Beam Ticket Giveaway: Kid Rock's "$20 Best Night Ever" - Friday, August 30 at First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre in Tinley Park
In an effort to revolutionize the concert industry, Kid Rock has launched one of the most interesting tours in recent memory, one that pairs him with corporate sponsors like Jim Beam and artists like Uncle Cracker and ZZ Top when the tour hits Chicagoland Friday night at the sold out First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre in Tinley Park.  What follows is the story of Kid Rock's ambitious efforts and the opportunity to win three tickets to Friday night's sold out show... ...
By Jim Ryan,
August 28, 2013 at 8:35 pm • 

Interview: John 5 (A Rob Zombie/Rockstar Mayhem Festival Concert Preview - Saturday, July 27 at First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre)

Interview: John 5 (A Rob Zombie/Rockstar Mayhem Festival Concert Preview - Saturday, July 27 at First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre)
In town this weekend as a member of Rob Zombie's touring band, and part of the 2013 Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival, I chatted with guitarist John 5 about his role in  the new Rob Zombie album Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor, his most recent solo project God Told me To, playing guitar as a member of both Marilyn Manson and the David Lee Roth Band, buying t-shirts at Strange Cargo in Lakeview and more... ...
By Jim Ryan,
July 27, 2013 at 2:07 am • 
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Mind Your Manners: Why Pearl Jam Fans at Wrigley Field Deserved Better

Mind Your Manners: Why Pearl Jam Fans at Wrigley Field Deserved Better
On Friday evening, July 19th, Pearl Jam went on "rain delay" during a scheduled concert appearance at Wrigley Field... and their fans deserved better...
By Jim Ryan,
July 20, 2013 at 1:19 am • 

Concert Preview: 2013 Pitchfork Music Festival (July 19 - 21 in Union Park)

Concert Preview: 2013 Pitchfork Music Festival (July 19 - 21 in Union Park)
This weekend, nearly fifty artists and fifty thousand people converge upon Union Park on Chicago's west side as the 2013 Pitchfork Music Festival gets underway... ...
By Jim Ryan,
July 19, 2013 at 3:21 pm • 

Concert Preview: 2013 Wavefront Music Festival (July 5-7 at Montrose Beach)

Concert Preview: 2013 Wavefront Music Festival (July 5-7 at Montrose Beach)
With more than one hundred artists performing on four stages, the Wavefront Music Festival returns to scenic Montrose Beach on the city of Chicago's far north side featuring three days worth of electronic music and performances by artists like Fatboy Slim, Rusko, LCD Soundsystem's James Murphy, Cedric Gervais, Diplo and more... ...
By Jim Ryan,
July 3, 2013 at 9:10 am • 
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Chicagoland Weekend Music Spotlight: City and Suburban Live Music Highlights - Friday, June 28 - Sunday, June 30

Chicagoland Weekend Music Spotlight: City and Suburban Live Music Highlights - Friday, June 28 - Sunday, June 30
This is your guide to catching the best live music in Chicago both in the city and throughout the suburbs.  This weekend, the 29th annual World's Largest Block Party features Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, Vintage Blue, Phil Vassar, Gretchen Wilson and more.  Plus area appearances by Jimmy Buffett, O.A.R., She & Him, Darius Rucker, Rush, Melissa Etheridge, The B-52's, The Go-Go's, The Zombies and Toby Keith allow for the opportunity to keep the Stanley Cup party going!  All of this plus much more...
By Jim Ryan,
June 28, 2013 at 8:06 am • 

Concert Preview: The 2013 World's Largest Block Party (Friday, June 28 and Saturday, June 29 at Old St. Pat's)

Concert Preview: The 2013 World's Largest Block Party (Friday, June 28 and Saturday, June 29 at Old St. Pat's)
Looking for a way to keep celebrating the Blackhawks Stanley Cup win this weekend?  Join nearly twenty thousand Chicagoans and head downtown for the 29th annual "World's Largest Block Party" at Old St. Pat's (featuring performances by Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, Phil Vassar, Gretchen Wilson and more).  Earlier this week, I talked with Old St. Pat's pastor, Father Tom Hurley and Vintage Blue frontman, Ben Bassett in an effort to figure out what it is exactly that makes the block party an annual stand out in an increasingly crowded Chicago summer festival landscape... ...
By Jim Ryan,
June 27, 2013 at 1:46 pm • 

Chicagoland Weekend Music Spotlight: City and Suburban Live Music Highlights - Friday, June 14 - Sunday, June 16

Chicagoland Weekend Music Spotlight: City and Suburban Live Music Highlights - Friday, June 14 - Sunday, June 16
This is your guide to catching the best live music in Chicago both in the city and throughout the suburbs.  This weekend, lots of festival choices as Moby, Bassnectar, Flosstradamus, Paul Oakenfold, Calvin Harris and more headline the "Spring Awakening" Music Festival at Soldier Field... The Joy Formidable, Divine Fits and JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound perform all weekend at "Taste of Randolph..."  "Blues on the Fox" in Aurora features Buddy Guy, Dr. John and J.J. Grey & Mofro... Plus area appearances by Fleetwood Mac, The Lonely Island, Daniel Lanois, The Reverend Horton Heat, JD McPherson, Eleventh Dream Day and comics like Bob Newhart and Artie Lange.  All of this plus much more...
By Jim Ryan,
June 14, 2013 at 10:45 am • 
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An Interview With Jim Heath - A Reverend Horton Heat Concert Preview (Mods Vs. Rockers Live at the Aragon Ballroom - Saturday, June 15)

An Interview With Jim Heath - A Reverend Horton Heat Concert Preview (Mods Vs. Rockers Live at the Aragon Ballroom - Saturday, June 15)
Returning to Chicago as part of the "Mods vs. Rockers 2013 Rockabilly Rumble" extravaganza Saturday at the Aragon Ballroom alongside JD McPherson, The Supersuckers and more, I spoke with the Reverend Horton Heat himself about the band's recent signing with Chicago based indie label Victory Records, a return to an edgier sound on their forthcoming fall release, growing up amidst Texas blues and much more... ...
By Jim Ryan,
June 13, 2013 at 7:34 pm •