Grace Potter & The Nocturnals--Chicago Bluegrass and Blues Fest 2010

Grace was versatile--playing piano, guitar and even jamming on the drums with her whole band.   But her vocals really brought down the house.

Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros-Chicago Bluegrass and Blues Fest 2010

Barefoot in December....at "a summer festival brought indoors for the Chicago winter".









Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros had the Congress Theatre smokin' hot as headliners at the 3rd annual Chicago Bluegrass and Blues Fest last Saturday night.  It truly felt like an outdoor festival atmosphere, complete with hula hoops and hippie vendors.  I was blown away by the excellent caliber of the musicians and the playful, enthusiastic audience.   

It was funny that the last show I saw at The Congress last month was Clutch, Children of Boden, and Black Label Society.  The burly bouncers had their hands full with all the bodies crowd surfing over the barricades and into the photo pit.


This time, the only things coming toward the stage were daisies and a gifted tambourine that were peacefully offered up to the musicians, not thrown.   The bouncers still got a work out, though, as Edward Sharpe repeatedly waded out into the audience.   At one point, he was the one jumping out to crowd surf.  He even talked everyone into sitting down on the floor for the show closer, then he walked out and joined them!

Check out some past footage of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros and Grace Potter and the Nocturnals performing live!   Edward Sharpe was shirtless and barefoot, and his piano player and Grace Potter, the lead singer who opened for him, kicked off their shoes to play barefoot, as well.

Check out the CBB Website for recaps of the shows and follow them on FB for updates.

    We'd also like to introduce a new ChiIL Mama spin off for 2011--ChiIL Live Shows.    We'll still run recaps here on ChiIL Mama, but all the live music, band interviews and live theatre we shoot will be cross posted on ChiIL LIve Shows, archived and easy to search.   We'll get things started off with CBB and work our way backwards all the way to Summer Camp 2 years ago with a live Jay Goldberg video interview and photos of Les Claypool, Buckethead and more.

Chicago Bluegrass and Blues Fest 2010-Side Stages and Audience Characters

We were amused to see Matt (AKA:   Shreddy Shirt Boy) once again.   He makes his own unique wardrobe and is a fixture in the Chicago concert world.   Word is, he spoke with Grace Potter's guitar player about possibly designing some shred wear for her to perform in.   Grace was recently featured on VH1 Divas:  Salute the Troops.   If you see a shreddy shirt diva out there in the future, remember you heard it from ChiIL Mama first!


Back in September of 2009 we started a thread with a contest:   Spot Shreddy Shirt Boy and Locate Lee (somewhat like an urban Where's Waldo?).   Check it out HERE. 

We've spotted (and photographed) Shreddy Shirt Boy in recent months at The Chicago Bluegrass and Blues Fest, Clutch, The Blackhawks Training Camp Festival and Northcoast Music Fest and Lollapalooza.    It may be time in early 2011 for another shreddy shirt boy photo filled feature!   In the mean time, drop us a comment and/or photo if you spot shreddy shirt boy or Lee Groban.   Chicago has character........and characters.