In early February, I published a piece introducing a new Illinois music festival and doing some speculation on some of the talent that was To Be Announced.Now that the Phase Two lineup has been revealed, let's see how I did... Actually, not bad. but also room for improvement.I suggested that two of...

That thing we pretty much knew about since last year? It's been announced now.Phish will return to FirstMerit Bank Pavillion on Northerly Island for three shows on July 18-20, just about one year to the day of their debut at the venue.Once again, Phish will offer tickets both up front (GA/Reserved) and...

Photos: Mike Kaiz PhotojournalismAs both Bob and Phil have conspired to avoid Chicago for nearly two years, it was great to see Grateful Dead family rally around Bobby at Friday night's sold out Ratdog gig.But Steve Kimock was the pope of this gig -- stealing the spotlight again and again, a considerable task, as...

Words / Photo / Video: @WeirScrewedOn a cold and sunny Sunday afternoon following a spectacular Hard Working Americans show, Todd Snider fans packed the City Winery to watch the documentary East Nashville Tonight, directed by Todd Barnes and his brother Brad. In addition to screening the film, fans were enticed with a Q&A with Snider...

Then they opened the second set with 27 minutes worth of "Der Bluten Kat", that had me alternately enthralled and confused. There was plenty of great sound to sink my teeth into, but I still left grasping for that passage that I wanted to take away and listen to again and again.I might attribute it...

City Winery has made a habit of pairing their excellent wines with musical tributes to some of their favorite artists.When it came time to paying tribute to Phish, beverage director RachelDriver Speckan decided to leave the wine in the casks and introduce fans to the hand crafted brews of Ale Syndicate.Chicago's finest Phish...

Billy Corgan, former Zwan frontman, teahouse entrepreneur and outspoken Clark The Cub supporter, refuses to stop creating.With a Highland Park teashop-cum-performance-pace (Madame ZuZu's) at his disposal, apparently there is no stopping his ability to share his creations with the world. As eager audience members lined-up and were ushered in throughout the day on Friday,...

Words: @WeirScrewedPhotos: Tom HarmonTodd Snider and the Hard Working Americans wrapped up their first ever tour Saturday night at the Park West. From the opening notes of "Blackland Farmer", the band extended most of the tunes from their self-titled debut into lush jammy landscapes. After exploring "Farmer" a bit, the band settled into a "New...

Words / Photos: Alex WoodLucius has everything it takes to be a hip indie band: matching outfits, two female singers, percussion instruments scattered on stage before a mod, faux-psychedelic backdrop, and plenty of wordless sing-along melodies.Yet despite the carefully planned approach, the bands music proved to be anything but formulaic.Part of the Free Sample...

Great bands play in great bars and clubs every weekend -- hell, every day -- in Chicago. What has always intrigued me is how you take such a routine occurrence and and turn it into an EVENT.Old Shoe has succeeded in doing just that. Saturday, February 15th at the Volcano Room at Bottom Lounge...