March Fourth LIVE at Martyrs Circus Pole & Stilts Act Nov 3 2012. Shot by Bonnie Kenaz-Mara for ChiIL Live Shows.
Check out this wild duo on stilts and circus pole HELD by the stilt walker! We adore Portland's March Fourth and catch them every chance we get. We'll be shooting their show this Tuesday at Lincoln Hallwith another favorite of ours, Liquid Soul!
Mutts at Do Division 2012 by ChiIL Live Shows. Tweak settings for HD.
We've got years of great memories of sweaty summer shows at Fireside Bowl from back in the day. We're ready to make some new ones with Chi-Town's Mutts.
They just ran a successful kickstarter campaign and are celebrating their new release tonight, Thursday 8/2. Check it out.
It's been an unbelievable year for Mutts so far - including the college radio and press success of Pray for Rain, playing over 50 shows in 11 states, making new friends and getting inspired by cool bands in each city, recording two new LPs and funding a Kickstarter campaign to put them out (THANK YOU!), playing fun outdoor shows likeDo Division Fest and a 3-Gigs-in-1-Day Marathon, signing with TR Agency for booking, and most recently having tracks from Separation Anxiety previewed on TheChicago Mixtape and the CMJ Mixtape.
All of our this culminates in the new record, and we're excited to unleash it into the wild. It's free to download, and we hope you dig it:
It's the final day of The Shams Band's weekly July Schubas residency. ChiIL Live Shows will be back shooting again. Congrats to our 2 winners this week. Sherry C. and Mary Z. Each has a pair of tickets waiting at the door.
The Shams Band will be celebrating their second full length record, Cold Cityby hosting their own July residency at Schubas Tavern.
Music is supposed to be fun, exciting, thought provoking and daring. On every live performance, The Shams Band makes sure that their audience leaves each concert with a personal feeling of satisfaction. Drawing heavily from their Kinks, Rolling Stones, and Wilco influences, singer/songwriters Biggins/Gulyas create distinct, personal songs. Once completed with unique four-part harmonies, the songs come to life, tell stories, and send audiences singing all the way home.
The Shams Band features music trapezing the line between blues, country, and pop music. They have opened for national acts Drive-By Truckers, Dawes, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes and Grace Potter & The Nocturnals.
The Shams Band is the epitome of a "do-it-yourself" group. They get every audience excited and dancing from their catchy hooks and rock 'n roll atmosphere. It's whiskey-driven. It's a party. It's rock 'n roll with a banjo.
Cold City was released July 9th (the first show of the residency).
The Shams Band will be celebrating their second full length record, Cold City by hosting their own July residency at Schubas Tavern--playing 4 shows, every Monday this month.
When people ask me Cubs or Sox, I always say Blackhawks.
So, even though hockey's on ice (or rather off ice) for the season, my heart still belongs to The Blackhawks. I was surprised and happy to hear the old school Hawks theme song and see their iconic indian head represented on the screens between innings, when I went to see The Cubs play on 5/29 and 6/13.
I even saw Hawks fans proudly showing their true colors among all the Cubbies red white & blue. Maybe these hybrid Hawks/Cubs fans are "hubs", eh? Better than the alternate. Hee hee.
That said, when we were invited to a special Cubs day ON Wrigley Field with other members of the press, bloggers and Mastercard Priceless Cubs Pledge winners, we said an emphatic, YES!
We were invited to:
*bat and catch with the coaches
*take a few swings in the batting cage behind the ivy, then keep a ball and get it signed by the coaches
*dine in style at the Stadium Club
*AND catch a free night game--Cubs V. Tigers
My kids tease me for saying WOO HOO and awesomely awesome......but even as a writer, I can't think of anything else that better sums up our day ON Wrigley Field. It was indeed awesomely awesome!Woo Hoo!!
Check out Du-Jay tossing a few balls and getting some great pointers from the pros!!
Then see him passing along his new found wisdom to little sister...priceless!
My Dad was born and raised in Rogers Park and has remained a life long Cubs fan since 1938. Here's my dad, Richard Rosene, as a child in the 40's
Even though he lives two states away now, he still fervently follows The Cubs. He also fondly tells stories of taking the el down to games as a child in the 40's. He remembers sitting in the bleacher seats and his dad buying the kids lemonade, but he never saw a game from anywhere but the cheap seats.
His art work from April 1947--entitled "Ballgame"
So, it was especially thrilling for him to see his grandson and granddaughter have a rockin' opportunity like this!
The kids dug being on the flipside of the infamous ivy....
And walking in the footsteps of the pros...
They also enjoyed getting to keep a ball and get it signed by the coaches!
It was a highlight getting photographs in "the circle" and hanging out with old and new blogger and press friends.
Dinner was a huge hit....especially the carry out cups full of gummy bears and M & M's for the game.
Sagezilla even got a chef's hat from the writer of "Reading Between the Vines".
You too can enter to win a priceless experience by submitting your own Cubs pledge & then proof, by clicking the link right here,but do it now. The contest closes on June 24th!!
It can be silly, embarrassing, humanitarian or hard to do.
Be creative.
I pledged to donate 1 bag of kids clothes and toys to a womens' shelter or soup kitchen for every Cubs win to date as of 6/13 (21). We're filling 'em up and sharing our stuff. I figure that good karma's a win win situation. My husband's just thrilled we're clearing the clutter.
My kids are more likely to juggle a ball than hit one with a bat. They're becoming accomplished circus performers with CircEsteem, Chicago's premier youth circus. They offer sliding scale classes in circus arts to kids from all income levels and neighborhoods across Chicago. The team kids have even done circus exchange programs with kids in Africa and Germany, trading off hosting and traveling abroad!
When I asked Sagezilla (9) and Du-Jay (11) what they would pledge to do in support of The Cubs, they eagerly and excitedly planned a few circus tricks to do ON Wrigley Field. That way their kid energy and enthusiasm will infuse the field and linger there, boosting the Cubs players' stamina, flexibility, and enthusiasm!!
Du-Jay (11) pledged to juggle 3 balls 20 times while Sagezilla (9) did back walkovers ON Wrigley Field. See ChiIL Mama's kids fulfill their pledge right here!
*Disclosure: Thanks a million to Mastercard for providing this opportunity for us. The memories we made and the photos and video we shot that day are truly priceless!
Check out our original HD video interview with Nick, owner of Sundance Bikes of South Carolina. He created this rockin' SEVEN FOOT TALL BIKE and he's been ridin' high and makin' friends. Why settle for a fixie when you can DIY up a fun, funky, true original!
Over 100 comedians make Chi-Town funny ha-ha AND funny weird through this Sunday, June 17th. Check out their main site here. We had the great pleasure of checking out Kevin Smith(a not so silent version of Silent Bob) last night at Chicago Theater. It was a pleasure to give away 10 tickets to our readers and to hear him get raunchy and real in a great Q & A.
At ChiIL Mama/ChiIL Live Shows, we've been doing a long running video exploration of How Creatives Parent and How Parents Createwhich you can check out here at our Pinterest Board. I would love to catch up with Kevin Smith for a little one on one convo. about his wife and daughter.
Some great stuff came out at the Chicago Theater about how his family influences and inspires his creative work....from his wife's paranoid pot freak out to his toddler daughter's rocking out to theme music show credits, leading him to seek out a cameo appearance on one of their family favorites, Law and Order in 2000. Smith is married to Jennifer Schwalbach Smith. Their 13 year old daughter, Harley Quinn, was named for the Batman character.
Fan(atics) wait beside The Chicago Theater to get their memorabilia signed by Kevin Smith.
Our favorite TBS promo was the 7
foot tall custom bike! We scored an exclusive video interview with the
rider/bike creator/bike shop owner that we'll have up in the very near future.
Chi-town has character & characters!
Even a street Tina came out to sing and dance with passers by!
TBS Just for Laughs is ubiquitous this week.
We saw their rickshaws and signage over outside of the Cubs game
yesterday and they had a bunch of billboard trucks outside of The
Chicago Theater last night. They also had clever swag dispensers like a
free t-shirt vending machine that works with a Conan code and a human
roulette prize wheel.
