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Sunday, September 2, 2012

ChiIL Live Shows Saturday At North Coast Music Fest #photo filled feature




Check out ChiIL Live Shows Photo Filled Recap of North Coast Music Festival 2012--Saturday







We're rockin' NCMF for the 3rd year.   Of course the people watching is prime.





 

  





We ran into old friends and made a few new ones.   



Predicted thunder storms held off for the most part.   Hope we're as lucky for  Sunday.

   

  The sets we caught were Future Rock, The Rapture,  Atmosphere, Girl Talk and Umphrey's McGhee.


We had another annual Shreddy Shirt Boy (AKA:  Mat with 1 T) Sighting!



Even the Sheeple got in on the action!!

Highlights were The Rapture, who blew away the Coast Stage with sweet sax, cow bell, and rockin' vocals reminiscent of P.I.L.  We really dug them live and would catch them again in a second.  

 




Girl Talk wasn't as stellar as the last time I saw him, but his sets are always a big dance parTAY, and yesterday was no exception.   He hand picks dancers throughout the day, to join in on stage, so there was an enthusiastic, colorful crew of eye candy.



UM played a rockin' fest finale that was the icing on the cake.   We've watched them grow over the years from a semi-interesting, minor jam band to a force to reckon with.   

NCMF hosed us this year, and instead of all access & pit photo passes like the past 2 years, we were stuck with GA.   There have been some management changes behind the scenes at NCMF and they seem to have forgotten who their friends are.   So, we don't have any close headliner shots this year--their loss.   

We do, however, have loads of close pit photos of Umphrey's McGhee from Summer Camp Music Fest 2011 & 2012 we'll work up into an all UM feature and share here, with our readers.   So, if you're an old UM fan or someone new whose mind they blew last night, check back with ChiIL Live Shows like we vote in Chi, IL...early and often.   We'll have more sweet, photo filled features, tour news, free downloads, and reviews for you, in the very near future.

The line for the Groupon Silent Disco was massive.   And we didn't see too many people over doing it on the party favors to the point of needing a police escort or an ambulance ride.   We only saw a few children, less than past years, despite the official party line-- kids welcome-under age 10 free.   

I must say though, the NCMF litter was crazy over the top and we hit a LOT of music festivals.    Despite a recycling nod on the NCMF site and signage, the crowd trashed Union Park and seemed to not use the garbage and recycling cans much at all!    That said, there was a huge lack of garbage cans outside of the VIP lounge and by Groupon, so people were just dropping their empty cups and food trash in piles.

We split the headliners, catching half a set of Girl Talk and half Umphrey's McGhee.   A huge, enthusiastic  crowd was gathered for both.   There were more "toys" at UM--glowing poi balls, hoops, and the ubiquitous glow finger glove wielders.  
 

Seems like even the newbies without spinning talent can now get in people's faces and wiggle their fingers around, and find an appreciative audience.  We got some stellar hoops shots this year.








We'll be back today covering NCMF from Mathien and IndigoSky at 2:30, till the final notes of Pretty Lights fade out at 10pm.   Check out our must see list right here and our sweet Camaro SS loaner from Chevy--NCMF12 Sponsors, right here. See you out there.   And once again, check back like we vote in Chi, IL...early and often.   We'll have loads more NCMF recaps, Riot Fest previews and features, and more.

Saturday, September 1, 2012

ChiIL Live Shows, Camaro SS & North Coast Music Fest--Life Is Good! @northcoastfest #NCMF #chevy #ourtownourheroes




 

Thanks Chevy!  The red-orange Camero SS Convertible ROCKS!!   So stoked I get to drive it for a week.   Thanks to all our readers, friends, & family who voted for me as one of GM's Our Town Our Heroes finalists.   Swing by and see the Chevy street team at North Coast Music Fest and nominate your own hero for a shot at winning a week in a car of your choice for the hero AND the nominator!

CHI, IL LIVE SHOWS ON OUR RADAR: Greensky Bluegrass at Abbey Pub 9/8




Greensky Bluegrass Perform Abbey Pub on 9/8 - Release 192g 2xLP Version of New Album, Handguns

Offer Fans Free Streaming 5-Song EP taken from New Album

3420 W. Grace St. Chicago, IL | www.abbeypub.com | with Sexfist | $15 advance & $18 doors | ages 21+ | 8:00PM | two sets


As a bonus for all, Greensky Bluegrass is giving away half of Handguns for free. This five-song Handguns EP is available on the Greensky Bluegrass website for anyone who wants to listen. 
 

Come check out Greensky Bluegrass rockin' everything from mandolin to dobro, banjo to guitar – all of them are very skilled pickers! (so much so that Sam Bush sat in with them on 2 songs at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in June!).

They're touring in support of their new album, Handguns, which we'll be reviewing here at ChiIL Live Shows in the near future.   (released as a special, 192-gram double-vinyl). 

As their name might suggest, Greensky Bluegrass utilizes traditional bluegrass instruments – dobro, banjo, guitar, upright bass and mandolin. However, the music that they make is anything but reversionary and the new album, Handguns is a brave expression of what separates their original music from the rest of the bluegrass genre.

Handguns was recorded in between tours this winter as the band holed up in a studio in their home state of Michigan, committing the songs straight-to-tape on the exact recording console that originally birthed Lynyrd Skynyrd’s infamous track "Free Bird” decades earlier. Matching the warmth of the analog sound, vintage microphones were utilized alongside state-of-the-art studio equipment to create a truly blended and artful sonic experience.

Greensky has continued to gain national momentum since they won the Telluride Bluegrass Festival’s coveted Band Competition in 2006 and have been invited to play at last summer’s Northwest String Summit, Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival and NPR’s Mountain Stage, while also playing at Bonnaroo, Bumbershoot and Hardly Strictly Bluegrass. As these diverse festivals would suggest, they’re a bluegrass band but they’re not. Bluegrass doesn’t have distortion, or horns for that matter. Greensky does.

Of course, none of this happened overnight or without sacrifice. Greensky is just as much a grit of the asphalt band as they are a salt of the earth band, having played over 160 shows nationwide, every year, for the last six years.  It was by winning over folks on the band’s never-ending tour that got them where they are today – not by a label, syndicated radio play or being on the shelves at big box stores.

The motive? To be heard.  For musicians, the model has changed with satellite radio where the F word flies free and name-your-own-price record releases. One thing remains true, however: when the music is great, people will listen.

Greensky Bluegrass is Anders Beck (dobro), Michael Arlen Bont (banjo), Dave Bruzza (guitar), Mike Devol (upright bass) and Paul Hoffman (mandolin).

Act Out: Reduced Gold Star Tickets To Highly Recommended Sweet and Sad and Susan Swayne and the Bewildered Bride

We caught both of these excellent productions on their opening nights and highly recommend checking them out.   Read our recap of Susan Swayne and the Bewildered Bride right here.    

Explore the Ever-Changing State of the Nation in Sweet and Sad

Profiles Theatre (Chicago, IL)
Full Price:$35.00 - $40.00
LEARN MORE
Our Price:$17.50 - $20.00
Experience Swashbuckling Susan Swayne and the Bewildered Bride
Lincoln Square Theatre (Chicago, IL)
Full Price:$20.00
LEARN MORE
Our Price:$10.00

ChiIL Live Shows Streaming California Wives Art History HERE In Entirety #tour dates #album release Lincoln Hall 9/12




Check out Chicago's own new-wave quartet California Wives, upcoming debut full length Art History, arriving on September 4 via Vagrant.  Working with producer Claudius Mittendorfer (Interpol, Neon Indian, Wild Nothing), Art History is eleven tracks presenting a cohesive gallery of modern-day pop portraits framed with a retro '80s fit.



Art History tracklisting: 
1. Blood Red Youth 
2. Tokyo 
3. Marianne 
4. The Fisher King 
5. Los Angeles 
6. Photolights 
7. Purple 
8. Better Home 
9. Twenty Three 
10. The New Process 
11. Light Year 



Their album release party is 9/12 at Lincoln Hall, the guys will support the LP on a nationwide tour with STARS and Diamond Rings this September and October.

California Wives on tour:
9/20 - Portland, ME - Port City Music Hall
9/21 - Boston, MA - Paradise
9/22 - New York, NY - Webster Hall
9/23 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
9/25 - Charlottesville, VA - Jefferson Theater
9/26 - Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle
9/27 - Charlotte, NC - Visulite Theatre
9/28 - Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse
9/29 - Nashville, TN - Mercy Lounge
10/2 - Louisville, KY - Headliners Music Hall
10/3 - Cincinnati, OH - 20th Century Theatre
10/4 - Indianapolis, IN - Deluxe @ Old National Centre
10/5 - St. Louis, MO - Plush
10/6 - Columbia, MO - The Blue Note
10/9 - Lawrence, KS - The Bottleneck
10/10 - Tulsa, OK - Cain's Ballroom
10/11 - Little Rock, AR - Revolution Music Room
10/12 - Houston, TX - Fitzgerald's Upstairs
10/13 - Dallas, TX - Granada Theatre
10/17 - San Diego, CA - House of Blues
10/18 - Los Angeles, CA - Mayan Theater
10/19 - Santa Cruz, CA - Rio Theatre
10/20 - San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore



*All dates with Stars and Diamond Rings 










Wed.SEP122012
Wednesday, September 12 2012 8:00 PM
18+ $10.00

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“I felt like I was asleep for years,” says California Wives’ lead vocalist / keyboardist Jayson Kramer of his decision in 2009 to leave behind a promising career in medicine for a professional go at music. Jayson's first experience with music began at age 6, playing classical piano up until he was 16. Along the way he started writing songs as hobby, taking influence from bands like The Smashing Pumpkins and Oasis, and later electronic music such as Autechre and Aphex Twin. The hobby continued through his undergrad years at Boston University as a pre-med student until, "a weird thing happened when I finished my MCAT and all the studying stopped. I was completely honest with myself for the first time in my life and recognized that I had no desire to go on to medical school. This is when I took a more serious turn toward music, which is something I realized I should have been doing all along." Around this time he moved back to his hometown of Chicago where he was introduced to drummer Joe O'Connor and bassist Dan Zima, who had be playing together since high school. 
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