Reviews Archives
May 15, 2008
Coachella 2008 | Sunday Review
From time to time, we get emails here at LMB that can serve as their own blog post if I would just get around to posting some of them. Some are so good that they just immediately grab me as......
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May 14, 2008
Cut Copy, The Black Kids @ Abbey Pub, Chicago 05/07/08
Last Wednesday night the Abbey Pub packed the house with eager and energetic fans ready for one thing and one thing only: a dance party. While I cannot be absolutely sure, the crowd was there heavily to see Cut......
Toubab Krewe @ Satellite Ballroom, Charlottesville, VA, 5/9/08
Although I was really hoping to be in Chicago this past weekend to catch the Police with Elvis Costello, I did get one benefit of having to stick around Charlottesville for the weekend: I caught another fantastic Toubab Krewe......
May 8, 2008
Jammys Quick Highlights
The 7th Jammy Awards hit the WaMu Theater last night where everyone in attendance was treated to a Phish reunion. That reunion did not include music, however. All four members stood together to receive the Lifetime Achievement Jammy for......
May 6, 2008
Tokyo Police Club @ Metro, Chicago 5/5/08
Poster by Nemo Design I was a bit skeptical heading into the Metro last night to see Tokyo Police Club. The show wasn't sold out, so I didn't think the room would be full. The band has toured consistently......
May 4, 2008
Spoon @ Revolution, Ft. Lauderdale 4/16/08
Our man down in Florida, Drew Gerlach, is back with another review from a Spoon show he saw last month. Drop him some comments if you agree or disagree with his assessments -- Spoon live tends to be a topic......
May 2, 2008
Widespread Panic @ Landmark Theatre, Richmond, VA 4/27/08
Last Sunday, I ventured down to Richmond for two sets of Southern rock 'n' roll with Widespread Panic at the Landmark Theatre. Two things about this venue: 1) it's a beautiful place, with ornate tiles and that old-school theater......
Apr 30, 2008
Road Recovery 10th Anniversary @ Nokia Theatre, NYC 4/17/08
When push comes to shove, I am a child of the 90's. Sure, I was born in the early 80's, but I think that was a decade of music that completely passed me by. For me, my musical enlightenment began......
Apr 29, 2008
Tea Leaf Green @ Highline Ballroom, NYC 4/18/08
As part of last weekend's Green Apple Music Festival, Tea Leaf Green played two sold-out shows at the relatively new Highline Ballroom in the Meatpacking District.......
Apr 28, 2008
Atmosphere @ Metro, Chicago 4/22/08
Last Tuesday, backpack hip-hop duo Atmosphere kicked off their tour in support of When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint that Shit Gold. The album dropped the same day that producer Anthony "Ant" Davis and MC Sean "Slug" Daley......
Apr 23, 2008
The Infamous Stringdusters 4/6/08 | Old Town Folk Music School, Chicago
Photo by Simon Tacchi A few years back, I was lucky to have been present more than a handful of times at the Cantab Lounge's Bluegrass Pickin' Party in Cambridge, MA. The weekly jam session featured some really solid......
Apr 21, 2008
Widespread Panic | Auditorium Theater, Chicago - 04/13/08
The other weekend was definitely a "Georgia" themed few days; I watched almost the entirety of the Masters and caught the final night of Widespread Panic's three night run at the Auditorium Theater in Chicago. The only things missing......
Tea Leaf Green 4.17.08 | Beer, Sweat, and Rock'n'Roll
Tea Leaf Green cruised through Charlottesville last Thursday night and tore threw two sets of loud, sweaty, guitar-driven rock'n'roll. I hadn't seen TLG for at least three or four years, so it was cool to re-connect and see how......
Apr 9, 2008
Widespread Panic | Live in NYC April 4-5, 2008
This past weekend, Widespread Panic rolled into northern Manhattan -- Washington Heights to be exact -- for two shows at the United Palace. Panic weekend in NYC is always one of the highlights of the concert calendar, and I had......
Apr 7, 2008
Dirty Projectors & No Kids | Subterranean, Chicago, 4/3/08
Dirty Projectors When a band can leave all of its pretentiousness aside and play a really humble show, it pulls down a wall between the crowd and the band. When two bands do it in the same night, you......
Apr 2, 2008
Team Band | Beat Kitchen, Chicago 3.27.08
Team Band - Team Band Anthem (Live) [mp3] Seeing a Team Band show is a participatory experience that is both a pep rally and a book club discussion. It’s as if Team Band is the new Mystery Science Theater......
Apr 1, 2008
Explosions in the Sky | Live in St. Louis 3.29.08
I am always hesitant to venture out to those medium-size concert venues with a bar in the back -- like Metro, Aragon, Riv, Vic, etc. -- while in Chicago, if only because it seems like a production to me.......
Mar 31, 2008
Drive-By Truckers @ Terminal 5, New York 3/26/08
The last Drive-by Truckers show I saw was their stellar Dirt Underneath performance at Bowery Ballroom (photos here). I was stationed front and center for one of the best concerts I saw all year. They were more powerful, unplugged,......
Mar 27, 2008
SXSW 2008 | Day Two Recap and Photos
After the first day at the South by Southwest music fest and seeing 15 bands or so the day before, I was pretty tired and ready to hunker down for Thursday's music lineup. I knew it was going to......
Mar 26, 2008
SXSW 2008 | South By Southwest's Most Valuable Player
Photo © Rachel Taylor Before heading down to Austin, I had no idea what to expect from South By Southwest. I've been to a few festivals, but from everything I had heard, SXSW was an entirely different animal. Bonnaroo......
Mar 23, 2008
Concert Reviews @ 30,000 Feet: The Last Five Bands I've Seen But Never Wrote About
Happy Easter, folks. I thought I'd publish something today that could be worth a read; I think it's probably the longest thing I've ever written on this site. I started writing it on my flight to Austin for SXSW and......
Mar 19, 2008
SXSW 2008 | Day One Recap and Photos
By the time the music portion of the South by Southwest conference began, I was really excited for what I knew the week ahead of me would include. I had already started to plot out the ultimate schedule in......
Mar 16, 2008
Live from SXSW 2008 | I'm Still Alive but My Liver Isn't
I fully intended on staying caught-up on the blog and planned on writing from Austin while attending SXSW 2008, but the truth is that I found it incredibly hard to stay on vacation and attend great concerts while also......
Mar 12, 2008
The New Deal | 3/7/08 at Logan Square Aud. in Chicago
After a bit of a touring hiatus, the New Deal made their return to Chicago last Friday night. It had been almost two years since they played Chicago’s Logan Square Auditorium and the last time was a throw-down, from......
Live from SXSW 2008: White Denim @ Purevolume.com Ranch, 3.8.08
Let the music begin! The past couple days at SXSW 2008 have been geekfest central, complete with a horrible keynote interview featuring Facebook's quasi-demigod of a CEO named Zuckerberg and a shitload of panels dedicated to building (killer) web......
Mar 7, 2008
TAB the Band with Joe Perry - Hard Rock Cafe, NYC
When I hear about a band made up of the children of rock stars I’m often skeptical, wondering if they would be getting the notice they are without their lineage. With TAB the Band, I have no such concerns. Their......
Mar 3, 2008
The Cornelius Band @ Metro, Chicago, IL - 1/28/08
I wake up every morning and sigh when the realization sets in about how late this review is. Procrastination has become my mistress and I'm starting to feel guilty. This all started back around 2000 when I saw Cornelius......
Crystal Castles, HEALTH | Abbey Pub, Chicago - 2.27.08
Two relatively new and definitely up-and-coming bands played Chicago’s Abbey Pub last Wednesday night to a raucous crowd. I was one of the lucky souls to have attended the musical mayhem that ranged from unrelenting noise-rock to poppy house.......
Feb 27, 2008
The National @ BAM, Brooklyn 2.22.08
Usually before I go to a concert I like to get extra familiar with the music I'm about to see performed. I'll read a bit about the band, listen to their albums a few times, and prepare for what I'm......
Feb 26, 2008
Mannequin Men @ Ronny's, Chicago 2.23.08
I heard the Mannequin Men were a very drunk and very loud band that liked to drink and play their instruments loud. I also heard the band’s live show described as drunk and loud. For everyone who is as......
Feb 25, 2008
Jason Isbell @ Bowery Ballroom, NYC
When Jason Isbell announced that he was leaving Drive-by Truckers to work on his own material, I was looking forward to seeing what would come next. I am a huge fan of the Truckers and his songs are some of......
Feb 23, 2008
Foo Fighters Rock the Garden
So I went to MSG the other night to see Foo Fighters - their first ever show at the storied venue, surprisingly enough. The first half of the show was heavy with tunes from their latest album. For me, the......
Feb 19, 2008
Yeasayer and MGMT @ Schubas, 2/8/08
I'm a chronic procrastinator in many more ways than I should be, especially when it comes to writing up show reviews. I think the way I process some live music can best be captured when writing up my thoughts......
Feb 9, 2008
Lotus Live in C-Ville | Sweaty SatelliteThrowdown
Lotus charged through Charlottesville last night and threw down a hot and sweaty dance party at the Satellite Ballroom…a perfect show for getting a little silly for my birthday. As a result of that b-day silliness, I'm not feeling......
Feb 8, 2008
One Final Thursday: Marco Benevento, Reed Mathis Andrew and Brad Barr at Sullivan Hall
Photo © Nicholas Tolson I haven't read the book but thanks to Oprah Winfrey I've been led to believe that sportswriter Mitch Albom used to spend Tuesdays with his ailing mentor Morrie. This past January in New York, Sullivan......
Feb 6, 2008
STS9 at Congress Theater, Chicago 2.1.08
STS9 blew into Chicago last Friday night on the tail of the city's biggest storm of the winter and at the end of their own tour that crossed northwestern two thirds of the country. Chicago was definitely the biggest......
Feb 5, 2008
Chandeliers @ Subterranean, Chicago 1.31.08
When I spoke with Dianogah a couple of weeks ago, they mentioned they had little to do with the Chicago music scene. Although they recorded in Chicago, it was more of a necessity due to where they lay their......
Feb 4, 2008
Ahnald! | Dan Deacon's Ultimate Reality
Last Friday night I took a short walk down the street from my apartment to the cozy Lakeshore Theater so as to pay homage to one of the most amazing figures of my generation. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger raised me up......
Jan 29, 2008
Dianogah @ The Empty Bottle 1.26.08
The three Chicagoans that make up Dianogah were joined onstage by their wives for the opening song, making up a brass and woodwinds section and exemplifying both Dianogah’s new approach at the studio and their direction as a band.......
Jan 21, 2008
Tomorrow Never Knows | Bon Iver @ Schuba's
It took a Wisconsinite to make me feel back at home this weekend, but for as much time I spent in the Dairyland, there's no place like Chicago. After seeing Bon Iver as a one-man band at Madison Pop Fest......
Jan 8, 2008
John Prine At Carnegie Hall
John Prine is one of those musicians that has a good deal of name recognition but not a whole lot of music recognition. I would wager that the majority of people who aren't intimately familiar with Prine know him as......