Cirque du Soleil Quidam's Publicist, Jessica-Video Interview With ChiIL Mama & Free Quidam Tickets!

It was our great pleasure to interview Jessica, Publicist for Cirque du Soleil's Quidam.  Quidam is returning to play Hoffman Estates near Chicago February 8-12th only! Jessica tells us about the arena Cirqe shows versus the big top style, how Quidam is family friendly but also great "boyfriend points", and how they get in and out of town "rock and roll" style. Check it out here in our original interview.

**Don't forget to click this link and enter for your shot at 4 free tickets to Quidam!   Entries accepted through midnight 2/2/12.

Cirque Du Soleil's Quidam-Free 4 pack of tickets 

Good for the opening night performance, February 8th at 7:30pm.   Enter through Thursday 2/2 at midnight.

**All our readers are winners!   ChiIL Mama's also got a cool 25% off discount on non-peak performances on all price levels using the promo code “CHILL”.  Non-peak performances are all performances except for those on Friday and Saturday.

Shows are at Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates.   Click here for full show details and a schedule of area pre-show appearances at suburban Whole Foods locations.

 

Win Free Tickets to Badfish & Midwest Hype at House of Blues 2/4/12!

 

Video credit-Badfish/Scotty Don't

ChiIL Mama/ChiIL Live Shows are giving away a pair of FREE tickets (17+) to see Badfish break out the Sublime and Midwest Hype funk it up at House of Blues THIS Saturday.    If you've never seen Badfish and/or Scotty Don't live, you are in for a show!   Enter at the bottom of this post.

 

© 2012 all rights reserved: photo credit Kenaz-Mara ChiILLiveShows.com/ChiILMama.com 

Double click on the slide show for more photo viewing/sharing options from SmugMug.    Non profit reposting with proper attribution is approved.

We just shot local boys, Midwest Hype's sold out CD release party at Schubas on the 5th and it was definitely a party!    They've got a compelling blend of jazz, rock, hip hop and....sweet horns.

Here's the bio off their site:

Midwest Hype defines urban garage jazz. Hip-hop flow, unforgettable vocal melodies, punching horn lines, immaculate jazz improvisation, dance floor mayhem, tight pocketed compositions, a spectrum of all colors, a refreshing youthful breath in today's digital world. A celebration and motivation to create a better life, make the day glow.

Midwest Hype has had a string of successes recently.  Starting with a slot at Summer Camp 2010 they have played the Chicago Bluegrass and Blues Fest, the Indianapolis 500, Green Music Festival, opened for the Wailers and GIRL TALK, and performed at this year's North Coast Music Festival with Thievery Corporation, Wiz Kalifa, David Guetta and more. 


ChiIL Mama/ChiIL Live Shows also had a string of successes recently, scoring press passes to shoot Summer Camp Music Fest, Chicago Bluegrass & Blues Fest and North Coast the past two years (and Lollapalooza/Kidzapalooza).  We plan to be there with camera in hand, again in 2012.   

I don't play an instrument myself, but I love live shows.   I got the writing and photography/art genes instead.  My sister and Grandfather both played sax and of all the genre's I cover, write up and shoot, punk or metal with sax is my hands down fav.   I've always had a soft spot for sax with a hard, fast edge.  Can't wait to see these guys tear it up Saturday.

 

*speaking of killer sax........we have some amazing shots of Yakuza front man, Bruce Lamont, sans sax, as Robert Plant--in LZ2 at House of Blues from earlier this month.  We'll have a full set of show shots and a "best of" up soon.   



We got some sweet crowd shots, too.    The fans even got into the whole 1975 retro vibe and held up lighters, old school style, instead of a sea of cell phones.   Loved it! 







For more about this Saturday's Badfish/Scotty Don't/Full Service/Midwest Hype show, check out the bands' sites or follow them on FB and Twitter.
Badfish 
Midwest Hype 

Check out The House of Blues main site for complete show info.

We highly recommend getting your tickets in advance.   When we shot Led Zeppelin 2's sold out show at HOB earlier this month, there were a lot of people turned away at the door, wishing they hadn't waited on tickets.   

Saturday 02/04/2012
Doors: 07:00 PM
Show: 08:00 PM
Prices:
$23.00 - GA - Advanced
$25.00 - GA - Day Of
Ages: 17+

House of Blues Chicago
329 N. Dearborn
Chicago, IL 60654
(312) 923-2000

Headlining Artist:

Badfish - A Tribute to Sublime

Other Artists at this Event:

    •    Scotty Don't
    •    Full Service
    •    Midwest Hype

*Wait for Rafflecopter to load up right here (if you've gone through RSS feed or are scrolling down the blog and don't see it, click on the actual page title and it should pop right up).   Entries are easy.   Winning rocks!   

Chicago's F.A.M.E. Benefit at Rockit Ranch Still Seeking Performers Through Feb 15th!

Chicago's F.A.M.E. Benefit at Rockit Ranch is coming up soon on March 8th. The foundation is currently reviewing auditions for a few more performance slots in that show. The link is here : http://fame-chicago.org/3.html.  The event is being promoted by Chicago's Billy Dec & Windy City Live, so it should be an amazing night! FAME has started up to raise money to provide grants and scholarships for Chicago children in the arts.

Steffan, a young Chicago actor, model, and musician was asked to be one of the performers at the Chicago's F.A.M.E. Benefit at Rockit Ranch on March 8th.  He has his roots in musical theatre, but last year he was pulled away a bit from that when he was cast one of only five kids from thousands of auditions from across the country to represent KidzBop. 

We've corresponded with his mom, via e-mail, and plan to do an in depth feature soon.   According to her, KidsBop has been an incredible opportunity for him, but his true dream is to share his original work as a solo artist one day. He is an incredible musician who reads & writes music. He has six original songs in the copyright process right now. Steffan actually plays six instruments -- guitar, piano, cello, french horn, ukulele & percussion.
 
His mom also acknowledged that some of our edgier readers are bound to consider KidzBop "kind of mainstream fluff that sometimes gets a bad wrap." However, she wisely states that those who would bash it are never the people who it's created for. The idea is to take the mainstream music that parents & older teen siblings are listening to, and make a (non-swearing/non-negative) version of those songs that are more appropriate for younger kids. She told us Steffan is really having a blast with it. But, he has more of a personal edge for music. His all time favorite band/singer is Christofer Drew - NeverShoutNever.   You can check him out in action right here.   



Want to learn more?   Here are a bunch of Steffan related links:
http://www.kidzbop.com/my-channel/KBK-Steffan  
http://www.youtube.com/user/SteffanArgus  
http://www.youtube.com/user/dinaargus  
http://www.kidzbop.com/fan-pages/Music---Artist-Band/KIDZCAST/KIDZ-BOP-Kids-Official-Fan-Page/photos  
http://stars2come.com/music/steffan-argus/  
http://tweengirlstylemagazine.com/Home/?p=3257#en  
http://mpaccommunications.wordpress.com/2011/07/08/from-metropolis-to-kidz-bop/  
http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/music/6715919-421/des-plaines-youth-now-with-kidzbop.html

Shows On Our Radar-Empty Bottle Monday & Tuesday

Shows On Our Radar-Empty Bottle Monday & Tuesday

Hit The Empty Bottle this Monday &/or Tuesday.

Monday
Free Show
We haven't seen The Mutt's live but we've been loving their tunes on line!   Check out their main site here and give them a listen.   Some of the best things in life are free........and you can use all that cash you saved for beer and generous tips.   

MON. 1/23/12 (9:00pm, Free)
Wally Dogger
Pinto & The Bean
Mutts
Otter Petter

Here's our prior coverage of Wally Dogger's CD release party last year at Beat Kitchen.   In that signature synchronicity way things have of cropping up, they played out with The Noses, renowned LA play write, Brett Neveu's band.  That week we had just reviewed opening night of Bretts amazing show, Odradeck, at The House Theatre.   And we were just about to check out another of Brett's works, The Earl, at A Red Orchid Theatre.   A year has past and guess what we just saw at A Red Orchid Theatre Friday?!   You guessed it, another Brett Neveu play, Megacosm. 

Pinto & The Bean were part of our Ginormous Holiday Gift Guide & Give Aways.   One of our lucky readers won their CD along with 5 more.   We still have a couple more to give away so check back in like we vote in Chi, IL...early and often.


6 CDs:    Soul-R&B-Blues-Rock including,  Fitz and The Tantrums,  How Far To Austin,  The Shams Band, Zach Heckendorf, Pinto & The Bean & The Future Laureates (over $70)

*We have loads of live videos, pit photos, band video interviews and CD reviews.   Check out the archives at the bottom of the page or use the search bar to the right.   We post upcoming shows, introduce new music, and give you breaking music news for alt-rock-metal-punk-funk-blues/bluegrass-and more, including bands for adults & kids.   All are posted at ChiIL Mama.com and archived at our sister site, ChiIL Live Shows.com.

• Fitz and The Tantrums--2 video interviews/live footage)
• How Far to Austin-video interview & live show stills from HOB & Mayne Stage
• The Shams Band-live show stills from Lincoln Hall, The Whistler & Do Division Fest.

In fact, you can check out two more of these bands at weekend 2 of The Chicago Blue Grass & Blues Festival this Saturday at The Congress Theater.    In fact, we just saw Donnie Biggins of The Shams Band back stage at CBB Fest at The Auditorium Theatre last night!   We'll have some sweet photos up very soon.    


Tuesday
This one'll cost ya, but only $15, and they're world renowned musicians and well worth it.  We're hoping to set up a video interview soon with Jeff Parker and his partner who have a baby boy.   She's a filmmaker and college professor out in California.   Jeff also has an older, elementary age daughter we've known since Sagezilla was in a playgroup with her at age 2!   

The son of the drummer for Tortoise was also in playgroup with our girls, along with a virtual whose who of chicago theatre and music peeps progeny.   We'd love to interview Jeff and Johnny Herndon and their partners, for our ongoing series on how creatives parent and how parents create.   Check out our Pinterest Board of that name, How Do Creatives Parent and How Do Parents Create, to find most of the interviews together.   We have the rest of the interviews in our Vimeo links in the sidebar at ChiIL Mama.   Pinterest doesn't see Vimeo for some odd reason.   The interviews include Brett Neveu and various Noses, mentioned above, as well as touring musicians from metal band Red Fang, Fitz & The Tantrums, Keller Williams, Danbert Nobacon (Chumbawamba), various CEOs, and a number of theatre personalities.

TUE. 1/24/12 (9:30pm, $15 buy)
Tortoise
Dent-de-Lion
DJ Ryan Weinstein

For loads of music news, free downloads, upcoming Chi-town shows, and original stills, videos, reviews, and video interviews, check out our brand new Facebook Page for ChiIL Live Shows.  You can "like" us and/or follow the feed. 

Paper Thick Walls Live at Schubas 1-16-12 (photos)

Here's our original Paper Thick Walls show shots from Schubas last Monday.

They put on a pretty hot live show, that'll warm your frozen toes and have you back to dancing in no time.  You can see them live at Chicago Bluegrass and Blues Fest at 6pm on January 28th, along with 30+ rockin' bands at The Congress.   We are giving away a pair of passed to one lucky reader and there's still time to enter.   *(all ages/kids under 12 admitted free with paying adult to The Congress Theater Shows!)

You can also still win a pair of tickets to the next two Monday nights at Schubas. (18+).   So what are you waiting for?!   

 

Click here for the entry form.

Free Tickets to 2 Clip Art Mondays at Schubas & Bluegrass and Blues Fest! (photos from 1-16-12)

Clip Art on Monday 1/16
Check out ChiIL Mama & ChiIL Live Shows for our photos of their openers, Paper Thick Walls, playing at 6pm on the 28th at Chicago Bluegrass & Blues Fest!

We have a special, ongoing treat to thaw your January urge to hibernate.   We have 2 free tickets to Clip Art's month of Mondays, residency at Schubas. 

All shows are 8PM/$6/18+

1/23 - w/ Briar Rabbit + The Sometimes Family
1/30 - w/ Baby Teeth + Jennifer Hall

*Wait for Rafflecopter to load up right here (if you've gone through RSS feed or are scrolling down the blog and don't see it, click on the actual page title and it should pop right up).

Any Kind Live at Schubas 1-9-12 (photos)

Any Kind--opening for Clip Art at Schubas 1/9/12-ChiIL Live Shows original photos-click here for more live show shots, videos, band interviews.