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.

    

Motorbiscuit

Well my weekend music turned out a bit different than what I had originally hinted. Instead of seeing a popular band like Moe. or American English I took a trip and went and saw a free show a little lower in the state. Motorbiscuit was the 6 person group who played the Cherry Street Bar in Galesburg IL. Motorbiscuit has many classic hard rock elements to their music and are led from the front by the lead guitar player who can really shred, (just check out around 5:30 minute mark of the song; if the dumb broad would move out the way. The mans a beast.)

But the group Motorbiscuit tours around down state and I believe their originally from the Kewanee area. I was anxious to talk to them on their set break, which was also a plus because Cherry Street is a fairly small bar so I was easily able to. Met these guys   ---->

They played a few original songs, but mostly cover songs with the best one definitely being Lynyrd Skynyrd's classic Free Bird. The song someone always calls for no matter what live show your at. Motorbiscuit did an awesome job with it and I thought it was the coolest song I heard from their entire set.

The venue itself has a greater potential it could fulfill than the current owners care to invest or are maybe aware of. The acoustics need addressing in the place because where I stood was the best place in the house to stand and I still found it hard to understand the vocals. The problems include the room being overly live and reflective. The room was all brick, but it didn't have any acoustic treatment, panel absorbers, or even tapestries. It was also rectangular in shape, which is good for the long low wavelengths, but they didn't have any diffusors at the opposite end and the sound guy didn't sit towards the rear of the room either. Instead he was sitting parallel to the left of the point of the video being shot snug up against the wall. So everything in the back behind the reference point of the video was a very poor listening area due to masking/blending, too much sound energy, and poor acoustics.

It was a lively bar though and had two separate rooms, which allowed to get away from the music if you wished. Plus it was also free.

Vlog Interview

Shows of Saturday Feb. 9th

Well, here we go again. Another night and another list of bands all worth seeing. Moe at the Riviera Theatre is the main show to see this weekend in my opinion. Their warm guitar riffs and floating tones create a musical journey and that to me is the meaning of a live show. Although if if you can't make it to Moe you could consider going to the end of the Blue line to Fitgerald's Night Club to catch the Beatles cover band American English. I have seen these guys once or twice before and they do sound exactly like the classic Beatles and even look like them too. The show I seen of them before was at the U.S. Cellular Colloseum in Bloomington Illinois, but it was a number of years ago now. American English put on a great two set show covering many of the classic main stream favorites of the Beatles.

It's neat though the way they perform. The first set is always classic 1961-1965 suit and tie boy band Beatles and the second set is 1966-1971 post Dylan influenced Sgt. Pepper Beatles. So it is really a lot of fun to see and hear this spectacle of the past and they're covering is nearly as good as the Dark Star Orchestra who cover the Grateful Dead and played an amazing show here in Chicago just last week.

Another show that features a talented vocalist is happening at Martyrs. The Lauren Wolf band starts around 9:30 P.M. I don't really know too much about this band in particular, but Lauren Wolf has a strong voice and can be referenced to jazzy-soul blues singers like Janis Joplin and Joss Stone. The band as a whole sounds a jazzy rock influence. The band is on the up and coming still, but they are gaining headway after finishing 3rd in a 600 band battle to be the opener for Bruce Springsteen's 2012 concert in London. So they should deliver a fairly decent live show.

Hopefully you can catch one of these shows for your saturday night and if none of these catch your interest try searching  http://www.chicagomusic.org/   for something more up your alley. Thank you for reading and have fun at the shows.

Attention All Moe.rons!

There are a number of people growing in excitement around the city for a highly anticipated Chicago weekend. Kicking off the weekend on friday night the Abbey Pub promises another night of passionate music and fun and dancing. The show to see for me is the Holy Hour House Band who are playing at the The Abbey pub at 8 P.M. with a free admission. The Holy Hour House Band is a Chicago Irish Rock band that writes their own originals and of course covers the traditional Irish classic folk tunes with all the pipes, penny whistles, and lyrical humor you could desire. Holy Hour House Band is sure to deliver a very high energy and danceable performance.

Following an Irish friday, saturday hosts the main attraction for the weekend. Saturday is scheduled for the arrival of Summer Camp's favorite, Moe. A trip to the Riviera Theatre will be a great way to spend your saturday night this weekend. The venue opens at 8 P.M. with music probably starting around 8:30 P.M.

Moe is an awesome Jam band whose shows are always very high energy with 2 amazing guitarists who will take you to space and back. Their following too is full of really kind, fun-loving people who help create the awesome environment that fits suitably to Moe's musical style and makes their shows so much fun. At Moe shows you can have just as much fun bouncing around the crowd meeting and joking with new people as you can dancing to the music. The Riviera should aslo be a fun place to see Moe as well. Although I've never been so I cannot say for certain, but it is a pretty little theatre.

I hope everyone can make it to at least one of the shows this weekend. There is fun to be had if you act. If you do make it to a show let me know how it goes and what you thought. Thank you all very much, have a fun and safe weekend.

Sexfist Live

The Canes at Double Door

Hello Once again. Tonight, for my saturday I will be covering another local Chicago band's concert. I will be attending 'The Canes' at the Double Doors in Wicker Park. The Canes are an Alternative Rock group who released their debut album Cupid and the Atomic Bomb in August 2012 and are now currently preparing for their spring tour. The Canes are to have a strong local following already and I am excited to see the turn out for their show tonight.
  The show at the Double Doors tonight costs $8 and there is something special about The Canes that I can't help but mention. One of their members studies audio production at the Illinois Institute of Art Chicago; the same as myself and so knowing him I feel a little more of a draw to show my support.
  The Show begins at 9 P.M. and is scheduled to include performances by 3 other local acts: Simpleton and Cityfolk, The Van Goghs, and The Blue Sky Mind with The Canes topping off the night.

If you are not so interested in heavier rock for your evening the Dark Star Orchestra, which is an amazing Grateful Dead cover band is also performing at the Vic Theatre tonight and they promise to deliver an outstanding show. Unfortunately their concert is a bit more expensive to get into. It costs around $30 to see them, but they sound and look exactly like the Grateful Dead. So if it is a nostalgic journey back in time to the Grateful Dead ENvironment the Vic promises to deliver it.

The Abbey Pub - Fall Down

On tuesday I was able to witness a new bluegrassy/ country rock band on the rise in the Chicago area called Fall Down. They played an intense high energy set and thoroughly warmed the crowd for the headlining Henhouse Prowlers. Fall Down who were recently featured on Chicago's WXRT Local Anesthetic show on January 18th to promote their debut album, which was released in November 2012 is a 5 person group. The musicians play a number of instruments between themselves. On tuesday the crowd was treated to Guitar, Steel Pedal Guitar, Violin, Bass, and drums. They also have a dynamic range of vocals with Female singer Liza Day and her alternating counterparts Jared Rabin and Pat Lyons. 

The most memorable part of their set would have to be their final song, which turned in to an extreme 10 minute jam that climaxed with sudden halt or release of intensity which signaled their name. I was in the middle of ascending on the intense instrumentation when they hit climatic note in which the entire band seamlessly ended and cut the sound and left everyone stunned and wondering is it over? This was amazing to experience the sudden release of sonic tension. It left the audience feeling like they just fell down from octaves above. 

Fall Down's next show is scheduled for Saturday March 23rd at Matyrs with Daphne Willis.

The venue itself and the experience as a a whole is always great at The Abbey. They have extremely friendly people and amazing musicians that grace the little pub on Grace St. The sound is also very good and is managed by the house sound man Hatim Hassim and being the house engineer he really knows the venues acoustics and always gets a really good sound.

https://soundcloud.com/colethefriel/sexfist-live

http://soundcloud.com/colethefriel/sexfist-live

Sexfist Live Music Tuesdays

Hello everyone. I hope you are prepared to dosey doe and grab a partner and spin around because I don't think you will be able to help yourself much when this band kicks off their set. If you don't believe me take a listen to the amazing Sexfist and they'll have you spitting in a tin cup before its all over.

<iframe width="100%" height="166" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F77281691"></iframe>

          

                                                                                                                             https://soundcloud.com/colethefriel/sexfist-live                                                                                                                                   

                                                                        

                                                                     http://soundcloud.com/colethefriel/

sexfist-live

Saturday Update

Hello everyone once again. Tonight I am busy trying to find some music to go and see. A few hot spots of mine are hosting hip hop tonight so I probably won't go to those. Instead I'm giving a good look into livechicagomusic.org in search of a show of potential quality. Also I hoped to find an open mic, but the few places I've been told about are no longer hosting open mics on saturdays so I wish they would update their information on the internet. So hopefully I'll find something as I continue my search. Also I intend to catch a traditional Irish session tomorrow at the Abbey so we'll have to wait and see how that goes. 

House of Blues

Well, I made it to the Railroad Earth show at the House of Blues on friday. It was a good show, the band was definitely in the groove and on the same page as one another. Railroad Earth has a Jam Grassy style and play lots of strings, pipes and flutes. The venue sounded pretty good overall. I bounced around all over between the different levels searching for the best place to capture some film of the show.

 It was a good show, although I felt they had a larger, more commercial following than what they had a year ago at this time. Which is kind of sad in a way to me because when a band's following becomes more commercial it seems the crowd begins to contain more pompous frat-like kids there more to be deranged rather than attending out of the love of the music. So a much more crowded venue than what I remember last year and a more aggressive vibe than I've felt  at a Railroad show before. Its always irritating getting pushed in the back all night whilst you try to enjoy yourself.That being said there were some really great and friendly people there as well.

But I knew what to expect. Especially playing House of Blues in River North where everything is expensive. Which leads to the area normally being full of inconsiderate snobby people. Half of the staff seemed to enjoy their job and the other half were rotten. One staff worker named Joy was complaining to me about the band going over in time and playing until 1:04 A.M.   Whaaaa! "They're supposed to be done at 1:00 A.M," is what she cried to me. I couldn't believe it. Joy was not a Joy to be around and I kept a movin'.
Overall Railroad Earth delivered an A show, but to a C- environment.

Entry to the Underground

Have you ever wanted to hear live music, but thought you didn't know where to go or were you concerned about the price? Well follow my blog and I'll tell of some great places where the music is played every night and where you can catch a free show or often very cheap. I have been scouring the city of Chicago since my arrival to find the best places to hear great music and I wish to offer my opinion in consideration of the venue's sound quality, musicians, and the environment created by the crowd and employees. This has resulted as a time consuming yet very exciting and rewarding venture considering there are literally hundreds of bars, night clubs, and venues in the area and most of those are quiet neighborhood hangouts that only the locals seem to know.
I've spent much of my time seeking out live music because I am an audio production student and my greatest interest is in live sound production. I think it would be great to see and engineer a live show every night. So I have been to several great places worth mentioning and I seem to be discovering new places all the time.
As a proper introduction to the underground scene I would like to mention Lonnie Walker's Underground Wonder Bar where the music is played 365 days a year until 4 a.m. and admission is free before 10 p.m. Once the admission does kick in it is $5 for weeknights. The Underground Wonder Bar has 3 stages, 2 underground and the main stage on the ground floor. The music that can be heard falls among a danceable, jazzy, reggae, rockish, soul influence and has weekly performances by the owner Lonnie Walker's Big Ass Company Band. I seen Smokin' Joe Thomas play the walking' bass last monday with a jazzy drummer and a fella pounding on the piano. The Underground had a great sound for the fat bass lines of Smokin Joe, which were accentuated further by the clubs long rectangular shape and by diffusors that hung on the wall opposite the band. The people at the Underground were very friendly and positive as well. They invite you to more shows and welcome you back as I hope many of you will visit back to my blog and even offer a comment or two. Thank you all for your time.

Halsted Harp

If you are looking for free live music and new talent on a thursday evening try the Halsted Harp. Thursdays are their day of open mic and live entertainment. The small, friendly, Irish bar creates a great atmosphere whether you wish to relax and watch the performers or if want to perform yourself. They have cheery staff and all are welcome resulting in interesting and diverse musical styles. This past thursday saw several talented performers take the stage ranging in styles and genres from electric blues, traditional Irish Folk, American Folk, an Indie performance, and even a nostalgic Buddy Holly impersonator dropped in and sang a couple classic songs.

The Halsted Harp's open mic night is ran by Michael 'Fingers' Maloney and he can certainly express himself on the guitar. He has a fairly simple set up, but it allows him to layer his guitar licks in real time so he can subsequently build a song up before your ears by overdubbing. He accomplishes this to great effect. Michael creates a really big, thick, warm sound that he is able to manipulate, which really adds quality to his one man set up. He can really get a full sound out of his system and if you didn't know it was a solo act you may think he had a full band backing him up. 

For a truly fun place to visit with quality musicians and with no shortage of colorful characters to talk to; try the Halsted Harp.