News Stories

Setlist: Umphrey's McGee @ North Coast Festival, Chicago, IL 9/1/12

Umphrey's McGee played the first of two Labor Day weekend shows in front of the home town crowd. Here's the list via The Bort.Umphrey's McGeeNorth Coast Music Festival, Union Park, Chicago, ILSeptember 1st, 2012Gurgle> Ocean Billy >Big Jam > Ocean Billy, Miami Virtue> Heavy Jam (unfinished), Mantis Ghetts > Crucial Taunt,...

Help A Farmer: The Last Drought Benefit Features Mr. Blotto @ The Metro on 8/23

Bob Borchardt makes documentary films and has featured the music of Chicago band Mr. Blotto in a few of them. His other passion is farming; he owns a certified organic vegetable farm in Southwest Wisconsin, Harvest Moon Farms, with a mission to provide the best fresh produce to retail and restaurants.Unfortunately, his crop has...

Setlist: Jack White @ Lollapalooza, Grant Park, Chicago, IL 8/5/12

Jack White dipped into the catalogs of his "other" bands and played much Blunderbuss material at Chicago's biggest rock festival. Los Buzzardos was an all-male backing band, while The Peacocks were all female. Here's the setlist (via BVChicago):Jack White Setlist at Lollapalooza 2012With Los BuzzardosSixteen SaltinesBlack Math (The White Stripes song)Missing PiecesDead Leaves...

Setlist: Tedeschi Trucks Band @ Ravinia Festival, Highland Park, IL 7/18/12

Derek & Susan took their family roadshow to the Ravinia Festival in Highland Park last night. Heavy storms and rain flooded the area, but those that managed to stay dry were in for a treat.Here's the setlist (via @subtle_sounds)Tedeschi Trucks BandWednesday, July 18, 2012Ravinia FestivalHighland Park, ILSet: Everybodys Talkin, Dont Let me Slide,...

Mr Blotto Rounds Out Lineup & Schedule For The Moved 2012 Blottopia Festival

Update 7/26: Schedule Info Added!Expect a mix of the familiar with some out-of-leftfield choices for supporting artists at the 2012 installment of Blottopia.Bluegrass is keyword for daytime portion of the festival. As previously reported, Grateful String Band will provide Saturday entertainment, and they will be joined by the exciting Chicago jamgrass band Leadfoot and more...

The Jim Pollock Chicago 94 Skyline Lithograph Poster

November 25, 1994 was my first Phish show, so when I heard that a recording of that night was being packaged with its 94 UIC brother (6/18/94) as a six CD box set, I was pretty satisfied.But I've moved beyond CD's -- I figured I'd get to enjoy this Fred Kevorkian remix of the soundboard recording via the...

North Coast Festival Leaning Towards Jams In 2012 With Umphrey's, Strange Arrangement and More

North Coast Music Festival, the Labor Day weekend event entering its third year in Chicago's Union Park has staked its reputation on eclectic lineups and an outside-the-mainstream sensibility. But while the inaugural festival in 2010 seemed to carve out a spot for edgier and crossover jambands, last year's lineup seemed heavily tilted towards EDM. It seemed...

Chicago Rock, Jazz and Acoustic Musicians Collaborate On 45 Minute Dark Star

Doug Hagman combines the Bobby guitar role with Jerry-like vocals in his Terrapin Flyer project, but lately he's been taking on some Leshian tendencies, inviting unlikely groups of friends to come together to see what kind of musical magic they can make.This was the case last Friday at The Alley in Highwood when he...

Whippersnap Changes Locations, Adds Two More Headliners: Greensky Bluegrass & Digital Tape Machine

Stonehouse Park came under quite a bit of fire regarding noise and crowds in the festival off-season. While the Dekalb county park will see the addition of Camp Terrapin come, Barefoot Fred Productions think they've found an even better location for their mid-July Whippersnap Music and Arts Festival.For 2012, Whippersnap moves to Lyran Park in...

Setlist: Beach Boys @ Chicago Theater, 5/21/12

Rock music exists in a land where senior citizens can still be called boys, and the Beach Boys brought their nostalgia-laden show to Chicago Theater last night, complete with a 10 piece backing band. Their two sets were a mix of the big radio hits, tracks from their most critically acclaimed albums and some covers of...