About

Live Music Blog is a blog dedicated to live music, concerts, and music festivals. We tend to like bands that really know how to put on a killer live show.

For advertising inquiries, email us at vibes@livemusicblog.com or use the contact form. Either or, we're rather flexible when it comes to that kind of stuff...

The Crew

Justin Ward, Editor | Chicago, IL
After getting out of college and doing accounting for two years, Justin went nuts and started a music blog (on Independence Day, 2004 of all days). Ever since, he's tried like hell to not quit his job (and stop bathing regularly) to do the site full time (although that did happen late 2005 thanks to some gracious Fight Club-like corporate sponsorship). Thankfully, he's now gainfully employed by a market-leading web services company called FeedBurner and he's no longer compelled to quit the grind to music festival hop around the country...

When he's not working full-time or working on the site, he's living in Chicago with his wife and cat. He enjoys Linux, building campfires, and trying to avoid crowds at all costs.

Marcus WHITperson (aka Marc Whitman) | Charlottesville, VA
WHITperson is a reluctant "music journalist" with a penchant for long-winded posts and constant musical conversation. He's been interested in the cultural and commercial realms of the live music experience for years as an avid live music fanatic and musical 'sponge.' In 2004-2005, he even went so far as to devote his Master's Thesis to 'tape-trading' and live music fandom as a graduate student at the University of Chicago.

Upon realization that this area of "expertise" might not jive with the high-level academics of ethnomusicology departments, he re-gained his grip on reality and set his sights on the digital music and concert industries. Now, when he's not writing posts or creating podcasts for LMB, WHITperson is following the muse as a Client Manager at Musictoday/UltraStar (as a part of the new Live Nation Artists Division).

Mitchell Bandur | Chicago, IL
I recently graduated from UW-Madison with a degree in Film, but most of my time was spent running a small indie mag called Emmie Magazine. I also contributed to Muzzle of Bees and WSUM 91.7FM Madison. Then, in my final semester, I co-organized Madison Pop Festival with some great people in Madison.

My favorite bands and the ages associated with them are as follows:
Pre-Junior High: Smashing Pumpkins, Green Day, Offspring and Kris Kross
7th grade: Silverchair and Bush
8th grade: Cash Money Millionaires
High School: Weezer, White Stripes, Tenacious D
College: Pixies, Pavement, Neutral Milk Hotel, Dizzie Rascal
Post-college: My Morning Jacket (nothing compares)

I currently live in the area known as Chicagoland, but on the weekends I am a vagabond, bouncing around friends couches from Little Italy to Lakeview and most everything in between. On LMB, I post concert reviews and the weekly column entitled “The Union Forever,” which conjoins my two favorite things, film and music into one union…forever. The title also is a reference to song by one of my high school favorites that cleverly joins the two media.

My favorite music-related movies:
1. Dead Man – Directed by Jim Jarmusch and scored by Neil Young
2. Belly – Directed by Hype Williams with music and acting by Nas, Method Man, DMX, etc. Also some amazing insights into life. Seriously.
3. Don’t Look Back – Directed by D.A. Pennebaker and featuring Bob Dylan
4. DiG! – Documentary on Brian Jonestown Massacre and The Dandy Warhols
5. The Virgin Suicides – Directed by Sofia Coppola and scored by Air

---Mitchell Bandur

Andrew McMahon | Chicago, IL
Andrew was born and raised Washington, DC and spent four years at Boston College. After two years of teaching in DC after college, it seemed he was in need of some more schooling himself. Currently a graduate student at the University of Chicago, he is studying international affairs and economic development.

Andrew has surrounded his life in music from a young age and like a few of us fell in love with live music because of Phish. More fan than critic, he listens to anything and everything that falls under the umbrella of good music. The live music medium has driven his likes and dislikes for a long time and he finds it difficult to support any band that can't pull off the same sound and energy on stage that may come out in the studio. Some of the more recent acts that have caught his ears are Wolf Parade, Menomena, Cold War Kids, Simian Mobile Disco, Crystal Castles, Chromeo, and TV on the Radio. He has also gained a few favorite bands over the years: The Band, Steely Dan, Phish, and STS9 to name a few.

Outside of the music industry, Andrew tries not to fail out of school, lives and dies for any team from DC, and takes advantage of living in one of America's greatest cities...

Paul Kanterman | New York, NY
I have been attending shows for almost 25 years, beginning in 1983 when I saw Duran Duran on the Seven and the Ragged Tiger tour. I knew I was destined to demand more from my live music experience when, at my second concert (Foreigner, with Joe Walsh opening), I left disappointed because everything they played sounded just like the album. Joe Walsh rocked, however, as I recall. Since then, I have always expected a live show to be just that - live; not a recreation of a recording.

Not surprisingly, the bands that I tend to be most passionate about are those that are known for their live shows - Phish, The Allman Brothers Band, Gov't Mule, Metallica, Drive-By Truckers, The Hold Steady, and Tea Leaf Green come to mind. Although, and please don't tell anyone, I have seen Neil Diamond twice and can report that the man puts on a hell of a show.

I live in New York City where, luckily, the dilemma is what show to see and not the act of trying to find one. I am married to a wonderful woman who, while not as obsessive about it as I am, shares my love of music and concerts, someone who understands why a person would take a week off from work to follow Phish around the Northeast.

I have been shooting bands since I first got into music and still have the shots from my first concert, the aforementioned Duran Duran show. I look forward to covering the New York music scene for the LMB.

---Paul