Filed under: Reviews, Show | Tags: Adam Lazarra, Chicago, Cute Without the E, Eddie Reyes, Existentialism on Prom Night, John Nolan, Mark O'Connell, Matt Fazzi, Matt Rubano, Metro, Shaun Cooper, Straylight Run, Taking Back Sunday, TBS, There's No I in Team, Your Own Disaster
It’s been a revolving door for the members of Taking Back Sunday over the last 11 years, but last night might as well have been 2001… with facial hair. Since guitarist Matt Rubano and bassist Matt Fazzi split a minute ago, the five founding (kind of) gentleman decided to take their now-adult fans back a decade.
The band flawlessly opened with Cute Without the E, as if they had been together all along. John Nolan and Adam Lazarra complimented each other just as well as they ever have, and the very loyal Eddie Reyes bopped along to the demanding beats of Mark O’Connell as Shaun Cooper ran around in suspenders. Twenty-somethings sang along to lyrics they can no longer relate to as TBS’s younger and newer fanbase threw themselves around aimlessly, casting bows while getting lost in their own teen angst.
I must admit, I love Taking Back Sunday. Anyone who grew up to this music feels a sense of loyalty to the band, even if isn’t exactly their genre of choice anymore. This is probably why when Lazarra climbed a speaker stand and hung upside-down by his knees, everyone lost their mind. This is probably why the entire mini-tour was sold out.
Credit: Katie Hovland
Taking Back Sunday covered all of the classics from their earlier albums, as well as a healthy span of their newest, two new songs and even Existentialism on Prom Night by Straylight Run (Shaun Cooper’s band in between TBS runs). They surprised the audience with their encore choice – the very mellow Your Own Disaster, but kicked it up for a second There’s No I in Team.
I went to this show believing it would be the last tour Taking Back Sunday ever did. As it turns out, they are creating a new album. So, for the time being, meet the new – ahem, old - lineup of Taking Back Sunday: Adam Lazzara (vocals), John Nolan (guitar, backup vocals), Shaun Cooper (bass), Eddie Reyes (guitar) and Mark O’Connell (drums).
After what seems like forever of reorganizing my life (changed apartment, changed city, changed jobs, graduated), things are settling down and I will soon have time to make my way to a decent show.
Until then, visit www.Do312.com, Chicago’s new concert & entertainment guide. It’s like Do512 for non-southern huge bug co-existing people.
If you don’t feel like typing in all of the bands you like for your profile, check out the Tastemakers, then follow The Windish Agency. If you like electro music, you’ll like almost everything they list.
Now would be a good time to mention I have recently begun interning at The Windish Agency. Now would also be the time to announce nothing I say or type represents the company, but is solely my opinion. My opinion is that most of their artists are wonderful – check them out too.
Filed under: Reviews, Show | Tags: 3OH3!, Chicago, Cobra Starship, Down With Webster, DWW, East Lansing, Electronic Rock, Gabe Saporta, Gym Class Heroes, Hot Mess, I Fight Dragons, Michigan State, Midtown, Snakes On a Plane, Sparty's Spring Party, Too Fast For Love Tour, Travie McCoy, UAB, University Activities Board, Victoria Asher, While The City Sleeps, Whoa Is Me
Yesterday was Michigan State’s Sparty’s Spring Party, an annual concert put on by the University Activities Board (UAB) at the Aud. This year, the board booked seven-man hip hip band Down With Webster and electro hipsters Cobra Starship.
I need to confess that I got to the show about a half hour late, missing out on almost all of Down With Webster’s set. In fact, I spent the rest of the show and part of today trying to figure out who the hell the opener was. If my roommate didn’t work at the venue, I still wouldn’t know. Horrible promotion for the band, good set (what I saw of it). They had an impossible energy, and the crowd DUG IT, big time. If you want to check out one of their tunes, listen to Whoa Is Me.
Next up was Cobra Starship. I had really mixed feelings about their set and their newest album, so I’m going to step through it using pros and cons.
PRO Electro dance beats
CON Lack of creativity/pretty generic tunes
PRO Energy, entertainment and interaction with crowd
CON Endless talking between songs
PRO Integrating MSU chant into techno song
CON Played only one track from first album
PRO Victoria Asher’s vocals
CON Victoria Asher slinking around a 5-foot area like she was bored all night
PRO Everything about vocalist Gabe Saporta
CON Still not Midtown
In the end, tickets were only $9 a pop and it was a good time. Cobra Starship is carrying on their Too Fast For Love tour with 3OH!3, Travie McCoy (frontman of Gym Class Heroes) and I Fight Dragons. I guarantee if you go, you’ll have plenty to dance to.
PS – I Fight Dragons is a Chicago-based band that plays using Nintendo controllers! Support Chicago talent and rage with 90s gaming artists, winwin!
Here’s a low-quality vid I managed to get of Cobra Starship performing Snakes On a Plane. Heads up: at 1:45, they grab some girls from the crowd to rap.
Filed under: Feature, Reviews | Tags: A Place To Bury Strangers, Alarm, art, Chicago, Music, Myopic Books, Quimby's, Wittner, zine
A couple weeks ago a puppy wearing Wittner boots approached me carrying a twenty dollar bill in its mouth. Not really. But something almost as awesome happened – I stumbled upon a free copy of Chicago’s quarterly zine, Alarm.
Ranging from self-taught photographers to the loudest band in New York (that’s A Place To Bury Strangers, in case you were wondering), this zine covers underground art in a thorough, wide-ranged, must-have-more kind of way.
Claiming to do one thing, very well, Alarm publishes the “best new music and art.” But I’ll let an excerpt from their website explain it -
ALARM’s pages are filled with an eclectic range of musicians (Brooklyn rappers, Polish folk bands, Japanese pop singers, Chinese punk bands), visual artists (California graffiti artists, train-hopping hobo craftsmen, Hopi katsina artists), and underground fashion, books, toys, and electronic media.
Our readers are as diverse as our editorial staff, from college students, urban hipsters, new and seasoned artists alike, indie record label owners, CEOs, museum curators, and on and on. If you haven’t been reading ALARM, you’re missing one of the best music & art magazines in the country.
Do your ever-indie-seeking mind a favor and check it out. Having a 225 page book filled with artists of your time is something you can keep forever, making it worth the $18/issue ($5/issue with a two year subscription). It also makes for an interesting little coffee table book.
You can subscribe to Alarm online, or peruse its content at your local book store (in Chicago, see: Myopic Books or Quimby’s).
Filed under: Reviews, Show | Tags: Baria Quereshi, Chicago, Grant Park, Hot Chip, Infinity, Jam Productions, Jam USA, Lollapalooza, Oliver Sim, Over and Over, The Riviera, The xx, Wandsworth
Being in East Lansing means being around very few live music acts. So when Jam Productions (@jamusa on Twitter) gave me two free tickets to the Hot Chip/The xx show at the Riviera in Chicago yesterday, I was all over it.
Hot Chip‘s Wandsworth high school friends, The xx, opened – skipping the usual “local talent” opener tradition. This time instead of a four-piece, they performed as a trio, having recently lost guitarist Baria Quereshi. The vocals were flawless, their demeanor was trance-like, and the crowd, though not very active, could not get enough. The xx ended their 40-minute set with Infinity. Instead of their album version fade-out though, it ended with bassist Oliver Sim dramatically beating the living hell out of a drum. It was awesome. Take a look -
After waiting 30 minutes for set-up and an escalating chant of “WE JUST WANT TO DANCE,” from the crowd, Hot Chip started their set. They opened with Over and Over, and immediately, I was in the middle of an all-out hipster dance party. Since the show was sold out, the wall-to-wall mass seemed to vibe together, jumping and throwing fists in a strobe-light of dancing fury.
I must admit, I went mostly for The xx. Turns out, Hot Chip, though good through stereo, was meant to be heard live. The energy and volume was magnetic. If you haven’t gotten a chance to check them out live yet, do it. They’ll be at Lollapalooza this summer (August 6-8) in Grant Park. Don’t forget to wear your neon!
*For a video of The xx’s Shelter, click here.
Filed under: Reviews, Show | Tags: Basic Space, Chicago, Heart Skipped A Beat, Last.fm, Lincoln Hall, Shelter, Stars, The xx
Back in February I mentioned my crush on the band The xx. It’s two months later, and after looking at my stats on Last.fm, I think this crush has developed into a ‘love-of-my-life’ kind of thing. I mean look at this. This is since Monday.
Anyway, this is all very timely since they are playing in Chicago at Lincoln Hall tomorrow at 6:00. Since I will not be able to attend, I demand all of you go. To prep you, here are some songs you need to know:
My belief is that this is a “moment of aw” band. Meaning, it is possible to listen to their album all the way through without losing your mind over their talent, but somewhere along the way, as you’re listening to them, you wonder [insert dramatics]: How have I gone all my life without them?
This moment of aw may come when you least expect it, but do expect it. When it happens, you will stop judging me for having listened to them 131 times in two days.
Enjoy the show!
Filed under: Notes From the Industry | Tags: Animal Collective, Billboard, Billions Corporation, Booking Agency Directory, Boutique Booking Agency, Chicago, Girl Talk, Matt & Kim, New York City, Social Mention, The Windish Agency, Tom Windish, Twendz
Currently listening to: Crystal Castles – Vanished
In the ever-revising music industry, it is becoming increasingly difficult for musicians to find a promotion powerhouse with artist-focused motives. The Windish Agency, a Chicago-based booking company, is the exception. With a roster of over 200 artists over a span of seven countries, this inventive team makes professional relationships and clients’ success their priority. Tom Windish, the owner of the agency, started his endeavor with the intentions of signing only indie bands, and only those that had music that caught his ear for talent in addition to having personable managers and publicists. It is this innovative thinking that earned The Windish Agency the number one place on Billboard’s The Indie Issue: The Visionaries and nominated for the Boutique Booking Agency of the Year in 2008.
With artists like Girl Talk, Animal Collective and Matt & Kim gaining popularity, as well as a laundry list of over-seas acts dying to play shows in the Big Apple, it only makes sense that The Windish Agency make a home for themselves there. That is why in January, Tom Windish announced the early February opening of their second branch, located in New York City.
So, how is the media reacting? Industry friends such as Billboard, No Door Agency, The Rock Garden and IOU Music are eager to spread the word. To what extent? Take a look at this:
In just a week’s time, the agency has achieved a 6% reach throughout the social media world. One can assume this is because Windish, who started with a lawn mowing company in high school, graduated to an agent at Billions Corporation, then began The Windish Agency in his apartment in 2004, is a man with endless experience, connections and drive. And while his goal is not to take over record labels’ territory, he does sense room for growth in the agency’s role:
“These days I think agencies are fulfilling a lot of roles that used to be handled by record labels or managers” said Windish in his 2010 interview with the Booking Agency Directory.
Bold. And it is this type of break from tradition that provides propellant to my ongoing inquisition: what will be the future model of the music industry?
Filed under: Reviews | Tags: Chicago, Dark Wave Disco, Darkroom Demons, New Years Eve, Team Bayside High
Currently listening to: Alkaline Trio – This Addiction
So, after hearing much about Team Bayside High, a Chicago-based deejay duo, I finally got to check them out. Sort of. Below are a couple pictures taken by the Darkroom Demons crew from the Dark Wave Disco / Team Bayside High afterparty.
I’d give you a link to give them a listen, but maybe you should just check it out in person. (Yea, you’re right, I couldn’t find a link…)
Filed under: John Doe | Tags: Angels & Kings, Ben Clarke, Bobby Bare Jr., Chicago, Congress, Crobar, Dark Wave Disco, Darkroom, David Vandervelde, Debonair, Disappears, DJ Kamar, DJ Qbot, Double Door, Elbo Room, Electric Six, Enclave, Evil Olive, Girl Talk, Glitterguts, Local H, Margot and the Nuclear So and So's, Metro, Model Stranger, Neo, New Years Eve, Rehab, Salud Tequila Lounge, Schuba's, Subterranean, The Apartment, The Jesus Lizard, White Mystery
Currently listening to: Pure Reason Revolution – Les Malheurs
We’re approaching the end of the year, and with New Year’s resolutions halfway out the window already, it’s time to focus on what we’ll be doing when the clock hits midnight. Since I have yet to determine what I’ll be doing in the windy city, I thought I’d compile a list of possibilities, shows and the not.
If you know something I don’t, comment and I’ll meet ya there
Evil Olive: $60 premium open bar 9-1
Salud Tequila Lounge: $85 premium open bar 9-2, food buffet
Metro: $61 The Jesus Lizard, Disappears
Elbo Room: $61 Model Stranger
Darkroom: $15 Rehab vs. Dark Wave Disco
Congress: Girl Talk [SOLD OUT]
Crobar: $50 open bar 8-whenever it’s time for you to leave…
Debonair: $66 open bar 8-2
Schuba’s: $20 Bobby Bare Jr, David Vandervelde, Ben Clarke
Enclave: $100 9-1:30 Alice in Wonderland themed, paparazzi
Angels & Kings: $85 open bar 9-2, snack bar
SubT: $40 Margot & the Nuclear So & So’s, ball drop, champagne toast
The Apartment: $69 8-12, buffet 8-10
Neo: $20 Atomic New Wave Dance Party w/ DJs Qbot + Kamar, champagne toast, Glitterguts photography
Double Door: $65 Local H, Electric Six, White Mystery. Open bar includes draft beer, well drinks, wine, water and soda
The Other Side: $50 open bar 9-2 (different package options)
Party hard and don’t forget your camera!
