Echoes of Pompeii

Echoes of Pompeii, a Pink Floyd tribute band performed last saturday night to an older crowd at the Abbey Pub. It was a much more solemn environment than what I was expecting when I walked in the door. The crowd was made up mostly of older people probably averaging the age of 50's and older. Due to average age of the audience I couldn't help but notice how much more higher the high end frequencies were being turned up to compensate for the elderly loss of hearing. This to me resulted in pain and sharpness in my ear when I stood in the center between the 2 speakers. It was so overwhelming to me that I could only stand in this ideal location for a couple songs before my ears began to throb. I watched Breathe and Comfortably Numb from the centered position, which was a thrill to see. Those are two of my favorites by Pink Floyd.

The band itself wasn't bad. The instrumentation was spot on and the parts were all played well especially the back up vocalists Betsy Plant and Melissa Ferrara. These 2 dynamic vocalists blew me away with their solos. They were comparable to two boxers going back and forth with one another. One would sing, do her thing, have the crowd amazed and then the other would have her turn and top what the other had just done and they'd go back and forth like so.

Overall it was a decent show and I'm happy to know that I've seen a Pink Floyd tribute band now because I've had several chances before, but have just never sprung for it, but now I can finally say I've seen Dark Side of the Moon live.

Uncle Zesty's Old Time Bootknockers

It was a special night at the Abbey Pub this past tuesday for the Henhouse Prowlers show. The night began with a short bluegrass set performed by Lake County natives Uncle Zesty's Old Time Bootknockers. Their show was pretty fun and consisted of a male female singing partnership. The Bootknockers played maybe a 40 minute set before breaking to meet the crowd. I particularly enjoyed the woman because she has a nice voice and plays the same instruments as I do including the guitar, harmonica, and Kazoo so I found her especially interesting. The Bootknockers then passed out free stickers and provided an emailing list. The second half of the night brought on the Abbey Pub resident bluegrass band the Henhouse Prowlers who performed a very intimate set to mark the final show of their mandolin player Grant Ziolkowski as he intends to move on to play with another group, but I cannot remember their name. With it being Grant's last show and the quaint size of the crowd the Prowlers took requests for a couple songs and at the closing of the night unplugged and brought their instruments down on the dance floor where the crowd and I were able to circle around and really enjoyed the treat. When the musicians unplugged and came down on the floor to perform their final 2 songs with mandolin player they played Syracuse and I can't remember the other song they played, but it was really awesome. Unfortunetly none of the members from Uncle Zesty's Old Time Bootknockers ever joined up with the prowlers on stage to play a song together. I was kind of hoping for that, but oh well it was still a great night with 2 really good bluegrass bands.

Schuba Schubas

Another small friendly place to catch a show is Lincoln Hall's sister venue Schubas. Located on the north side of Chicago on Belmont and Southport streets. I happened to make it for a solo show of Dastardly's front man Gabe Liebowitz. The opener of the night was Ami Saraiya who also played  a solo show performing with the use of acoustic guitar and accordion. Her set was ok. Nothing special to me. It was neat to see the accordion in action, but her style of playing and overall sound was more mediterranean/ eastern european than Gaelic. I prefer western Europe. She did have a dynamic performance with strong, powerful vocals that were full of passion.
The main act was the solo set of Gabe Liebowitz. I had hoped his band would have been backing him, but to my misfortune no, it was just him doing a solo set. He opened the night fun enough with a traditional country song Lost Highway that I thought he did particularly well, but then continued down a darker path with a number of songs about being lonely. I stepped outside for a drink. When I came back he was still in the same mood.
I was disappointed the band didn't accompany him because they would have brought a lot more energy and I was looking to dance. When he plays with the band they're called Dastardly and they have an upbeat country sound and consist of a jazzy stand up bass, accordion, banjo, and guitars. Gabe as a vocalist is extremely dynamic and can deliver lots of energy from all over the sonic spectrum. He ended up closing the night off singing over a recording of Frank Sinatra's and hit each note. I was surprised. I did not see it coming at all, but it was pretty cool.

The venue itself was quaint and reserved. When I walked into the venue side I was smacked in the face with what I saw. People seated quietly all in rows listening intently to performers. Not a person moved or grooved. The ticket was $5 at the door. I felt kind of bad though because the beer was more expensive than the ticket to the show.

Watch this video.

Tea Leaf Green and Tumbleweed Wanderers

Another great show from saturday night easily topping the Dropkick Murphy's show was Tea Leaf Green at Lincoln Hall.

Tea Leaf Green is a California Jam band that has been playing and touring for nearly two decades. Their show at Lincoln Hall sounded great as the sound was very tight and the band was directly in groove together and the sound engineer had the sound configured perfectly. It sounded like I was listing to a recording the instruments were so clearly placed and distinguishable throughout the stereo field.

Tea Leaf's touring partners The Tumbleweed Wanderers were an awesome opener. The Tumbleweed Wanderers have a very retro 60/70ish sound and dress the part as well with all four wearing curly afros and Spanish leather boots. One of the coolest things was during the middle of Tea Leaf's set the two bands came together acoustically to sing one of my favorite Simon and Garfunkel songs - America. It was awesome.

The venue was great over all and the small and friendly the Tumbleweed Wanderers fit right in the environment hanging out at their booth meeting and greeting everyone and signing records after their set. The venue's prices were not as steep as I had predicted either so that was a nice surprise. The security were real chill too. The coolest security I've experienced in the city. The one thing I did not like was their coat check too refused watch bags like the Aaragon, but other than that it was an awesome venue.

Here are two videos. Roll with the Times by the Tumbleweed Wanderers and Nothing Changes by Tea Leaf Green.

The Aaragon

Well the Dropkick Murphys was a pretty fun show last night. Very energetic and wild. I haven't been to a concert like that in a long time. It was fun to jump in and throw some people around. I felt the show was very short though and they only played an hour and a half set. The venue was really pretty as well. The art that covers the wall and ceiling was real cool and I can see where that could really increase the concert experience under different circumstances.

The music itself was loud in your face and the acoustics were not as good as I had hoped. Granted the Murphys are always yelling when they perform so everything is always in overdrive. So I had a really difficult time understanding the lyrics even on the songs I knew. I had a tough time shopping around looking for the best place acoustically to listen too. I started in the back by the soundboard, but from that location it just sounded like a bunch of noise. I took the advice from someone who said the Aaragon never sounds good in the back. He said you have to get up front. So thats where I went.

 The crowd and venue employees produced a real fun, friendly easy going environment. Although I was disappointed in their coat room services. They would check your coat in but not backpacks, which made it a little less fun having to wear, but I guess it probably saved me $5.  I wish they would have played this song Going Out in Style, but they closed with Ship Me Up to Boston, which the place went nuts for.

Catch the Dropkick Murphys

St. Patricks day is upon us right around the coroner and what better way to begin building your tolerance and cheer than catching a few Gaelic driven shows. This weekend brings the routy Quincy Massachusetts born Dropkick Murphys to town at the Aaragon Ballroom, which promises to be a fun show. I am particularly excited to attend because I've never been to the Aaragon, although I've listened to several taped concerts from the venue by O.A.R. and Moe. I think. The taped shows always sound good so I can't wait to see how the theatre sounds live. Not to mention it'll have a fun environment created by the Dropkick Murphys, although I like Flogging Molly more, but I'm excited to see their instrumentation especially. I'm anxious to see Tim Brennan who plays a slew of instruments including the Mandolin, Accordion, tin whistles, and acoustic guitar.
The show begins at 7 pm with two openers Jim Lucky followed by Old Man Kelley. Another couple Celtic shows coming up include a few at the Old Town School of Folk Music off Armitage. The next upcoming show for the Folk town school of music is scheduled for sunday March 3rd with a show by Martin Hayes with Masters of Tradition. This should be a special show as it is advertised as several of the world's traditional Irish music legends are supposed to all join up together on stage to make it a very special show. Another show at the same location will be on friday March 15th with a performance by Sean Cleland and friends playing many classic traditional Irish songs and folk tunes.
Whichever show attracts you this St. Patricks season, it is sure to be full of good cheer and fun.

Trouble Finding Live Music?

This past week I was informed of several great places to go to look for new and upcoming music. Between the 2 introduced in class Reverbnation and Chicago Music Guide there are also several other places to look for upcoming music without having to visit or call a particular venue.

The first one is the free daily edition of the Chicago Reader. The Chicago reader is represented in the picture captions below details the shows coming up for all of the main theaters in the city like the Congress, Riviera, Vic, and several other theaters, venues, and bars with regular performances. As can be seen below there are listings for Martyrs', which is another common music venue although I've never been it is on my list and I mean to make it there eventually. In the Chicago Reader there are also listings of upcoming shows by genre and by date grouped accordingly and conveniently. Especially being free the Chicago Reader is a great resource to look to for upcoming music and live entertainment throughout the city in general.

                             

                                                                                            

Another useful resource worth your time to flip through the pages of is the other free weekday paper RedEye. 

The RedEye commonly lists major upcoming shows that are being put on by Jam productions and the RedEye often has a Soundboard section. The soundboard articles always comment on new album releases, but these album releases are not always Chicago oriented instead the Soundboard contains more leads on national news. 

Also LiveChicagomusic.org is another site you can visit to plan a trip. This site allows you to search the city by date and time, and even genre to help pinpoint the exact kind of show you wish to see.

There are several resources to finding great music to see in Chicago and there always seems to be a ton of it. Wether you sort through the free stuff like Chicago Reader, RedEye, and even music stores have handouts of flyers documenting upcoming shows. Or you can go the electronic route and use search engines like Livechicagomusic.org, Reverbnation, or Chicago Music Guide, but you are more than likely to come across some band you recognize or some genre that sounds appealing and show thats worth seeing. There are plenty of sources. Now just get out there and let me know of any new things you discover. As always have a fun and safe weekend.