Concerts I've attended recently (more or less).
Bands that I see (or used to see) on a regular basis are only listed once (first show) and the rating is an adjusted average of all the shows I've seen.
| ***** | Changed my life. |
| **** | An excellent show. |
| *** | A nice way to spend an evening. |
| ** | Okay if the beer was good and the ticket cheap... |
| * | Would rather have been doing my laundry. |
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Aragon Ballroom (Chicago, IL, US) (with Elisabeth, Dean, Peggy) | 17 November 2004 | The Pixies ***** Fantastic!
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| Urge Overkill ** Mandel Hall, University of Chicago (Chicago, IL, US) (with Elisabeth) 22 May 2004 Guided By Voices ***** Way too short! Athenaeum (Chicago, IL, US) (with Elisabeth) 3 October 2003 Steve Reich and Musicians: Three Tales **** Schuba's (Chicago, IL, US) (with Elisabeth) 27 August 2003 Samla Mammas Manna ***** Spectacular show! Schuba's (Chicago, IL, US) (with Elisabeth) 16 July 2003 Ruins ***** The most insanely complex music played with mind-boggling perfection. Standouts include new songs "Chittam Irangaayo" and "Tzomborgha", and four medleys: Classical, Progressive Rock, Black Sabbath (Reversible) and Mahavishnu Orchestra. Schuba's (Chicago, IL, US) (with Elisabeth) 6 October 2002 Curlew *** Have to say I'm not crazy about the keyboards in the latest incarnation of Curlew; the guitar effects they're being fed through tend to make them sound too much the same in every song, and since the distortion makes them kind of excessively loud, or rather, dominating, this is a problem. Otherwise, a very enjoyable show, with Fred Chalenor's composition being one of the standouts. 400 Bar (Minneapolis, MN, US) (with Ann) 14 September 2002 Spoon ***** This show should be released as a live album! The songs from Girls Can Tell sounded even better than on the album; the new stuff and songs from A Series of Sneaks were excellent; but where the hell was Telephono?
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| John Vanderslice **** A very fine show featuring most of the songs I wanted to hear.
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| Har Mar Superstar *** Solo vocal accompaniment to hot recorded dance grooves plus a lot of clothing being removed equals quite an opening act! Har Mar sure can sing (no matter what his brother Sean might say). The Abbey Pub (Chicago, IL, US) (with Elisabeth) 12 April 2002 Beulah ***** Incredible show, extremely tight, highest possible energy. They offered a choice of three encores and then did four, including a cover of Blondie's "Hanging on the Telephone".
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| Mazarin *** 60's pop freakout.
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| Happy Supply *** New wave synth/organ and guitar duo: fun. Chicago Cultural Center (Chicago, IL, US) (with Elisabeth) 26 November 2001 ICP Orchestra *** Empty Bottle (Chicago, IL, US) (with Elisabeth, Fawn) 18 October 2001 The Detachment Kit ***
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| The Seconds **** Fans of Pylon, the Stickmen, and Gang of Four rejoice!
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| Liars ** Empty Bottle (Chicago, IL, US) (with Elisabeth) 31 Aug 2001 Unwound ***
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| Drums and Tuba **** Best live-sampled tuba solos I've heard in quite some time. Arts Club of Chicago (Chicago, IL, US) (with Elisabeth) 19 Apr 2001 Terry Riley **** Riley warmed up with two vocal ragas with tanpura and tabla accompaniment, and then performed "The Dream" for solo just-intonation piano -- a wonderful piece that veers from pure tempered tonality to beautifully gnarly out-of-tuneness so effortlessly you almost think the piece is a duet for pianist and piano tuner. The middle section of the one-movement piece has the piano prepared, in real-time, by an assistant with paper, and the resulting buzzing mimics the harmonic buzzing of some of the close intervals. When the paper is removed for the final section the pure sonorities, which by now sound completely natural, soar. Court Theatre (Chicago, IL, US) (with Peggy) 16 Nov 2000 In the Penal Colony: An Opera by Philip Glass *** Double Door (Chicago, IL, US) (with Elisabeth) 20 Oct 2000 Pere Ubu **** While David Thomas was obviously extremely unhappy about the sound -- he sang most of "Final Solution" with his head inside the monitor so he could hear himself -- the band nevertheless gave a great performance.
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| Kentucky Jelly ** Kentucky Jelly gave an appropriately slippery show. HotHouse (Chicago, IL, US) (with Elisabeth, Peggy) 4 Oct 2000 L'Orkestre des pas perdus **** Great WBK-like brass band (with guest Rémi Leclerc on drums); fine, amusing tunes, dynamic and funny stage presence, and brilliant arrangements.
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| Miriodor **** Wonderful show and a rare opportunity. Strong complex music, solid performances. Athenaeum (Chicago, IL, US) (with Peggy) 23 Jul 2000 Chicago Opera Theater: Akhnaten (US) **** Metro (Chicago, IL, US) (with Becky) 17 Jun 2000 Yo La Tengo (US) ***** Great choreography! State Theatre (Kalamazoo, MI, US) (with Ann) 27 May 2000 Todd Rundgren (US) **** Power trio, great show, a nice mix of classics and new stuff. Surprises: "Open My Eyes" (Nazz), "Ikon"; standouts: "Couldn't I Just Tell You", "#1 Lowest Common Denominator", "Love in Action", "I Hate My Freakin' ISP". Double Door (Chicago, IL, US) (with Sarah, Dean) 17 Sep 1999 Magnetic Fields (US) ***** Six older tunes ("Aging Spinsters", "All the Umbrellas in London", "Love Goes Home to Paris in the Spring", "Born on a Train", "Smoke and Mirrors") and the rest, great new stuff from 69 Love Songs.
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| Snakefarm (US/BE) ** Traditional American folk songs on voice and guitar with recorded rhythm beats and synchronized video backdrop: ehh. Great guitar work, cool videos, but just didn't work for me. And Anna's vocals were hard to appreciate through the telephone handset. Empty Bottle (Chicago, IL, US) (with Sarah) 9-9-99 Michael Zerang Special Nonet (US) *** Mandel Hall, University of Chicago (Chicago, IL, US) (with Dean) 17 Apr 1999 Liz Phair (US) **** Liz's birthday!
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| David Mead (US) *** Sophisticated Squeeze-like pop. North Shore Center for the Performing Arts (Skokie, IL, US) (with Peggy) 7 Apr 1999 Steve Reich and Musicians (US) ***** I would have liked to hear all of `Drumming' (rather than just Parts I and II) but it was still great; `Different Trains' was very powerful and moving; and the multimedia `Hindenburg' was brilliant. Goose Island (Chicago, IL, US) (with Sarah) 28 Mar 1999 Chicago Bridge Unit (US) **** Great Dolphy, Monk and Vandermark tunes in the first set, and two amazing free improvs in the second. Lounge Ax (Chicago, IL, US) (with Sarah) 19 Nov 1998 Jad Fair and Yo La Tengo (US) ***** Excellent! So much instrument swapping you needed a scorecard to keep the players straight. Great dual drumming from Georgia and Ira. Lots of new (to me) songs; also, Half Japanese tunes ("Face Rake", "Charmed Life") and to close the show, "Big Day Coming" sung by Jad (kind of a short version for a live show, but the usual unbelievable guitar solo from Ira). First encore featured a lovely, slow version of "Autumn Sweater" with Georgia and Ira on vocals as usual; second encore featured great covers of "Rebel Rebel" and "Route 66"
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| Retsin (US) ** Rather bland; perhaps they just suffered from following Ladybug...
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| Ladybug (TW) **** Great lead guitar; droney meditative noisy instrumentals; punky noisy screamers; great! Lounge Ax (Chicago, IL, US) (with Sarah) 6 Nov 1998 Seam (US) *** |