Items filtered by date: November 2007

The night is cool and the crowd at Northerly Island is ready to heat up. The crowd’s anticipation starts quickly and the press gets ready. Devoted fans and enthusiasts start yelling as 311 appears and opens the show with “Down.” The crowd is pumped. For everyone who became a fan of the band when they released their self-titled album, they’re brought back to 1995 as 311 performs.


The crowd follows the rush that is set by lead singer and rhythm guitarist Nick Hexum. They jump and wave their hands in the air as if they just don’t
care—moving like a sea of humans that even a BP oil spill couldn’t calm.


311 allows each member to shine as they make the crowd feel as though they’re the most important fans on the planet. They show appreciation and
loyalty by talking with the audience and playing songs from their whole repertoire. Covering basics from their first album to their latest releases, 311 isn’t afraid to play anything because they know their fans will support
them with every song they play. 311 performed well at Northerly Island on
June 29th and will always play a great concert that leaves you with a smile
on your face.

 

 

The Down Side of Suicide: A Divine Comedy 

When: Fri 7/16 and Sat 7/31, 9:30 PM,

 Price: $15

When I heard the title of the newest show offered in Wicker Park’s quaint Gorilla Tango Nation Theatre: The Down Side of Suicide, “comedy” was not the first thing that crossed my mind.  This dark humored and at times raunchy show is not for the faint of heart.  Audience members find Abe Hutchins in a deplorable and outlandish act that sends him plummeting through the underworld on his journey to reach his eternal punishment.  Along the way, a few celebrities (some dead and some still living) are met, the ultimate divine spirit and devil cross paths, weird romances are formed, and some sort of message was learned in the end.

The cast of six talented actors carried out the jokes that lacked depth and intellect.  Most jokes fell short not in the delivery, but in the writing.  On the same level of “dead baby jokes”, I found my inner pre-teen self laughing nervously at jokes that I knew I shouldn’t find humorous. 

To sum it up: the actors have potential but the script and direction fall short of higher high school promise.  It was good for a few cheap laughs but not a show you’d want to see time after time.  Remember to keep an open mind if you decide to go and remember that they're just kidding even if they made fun of the son of God.

And if dead baby jokes and outlandish humor are your thing, performances run Wednesdays, June 16-30, 2010, Saturdays, July 3 & 31, 2010, and Fridays, July 9 & 16, 2010, all at 9:30pm at Gorilla Tango Theatre, 1919 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago 60647.  Tickets are $15; to purchase tickets call 773-598-4549 or visit www.gorillatango.com. Special student offer, buy one get one free with valid student ID that are available at the door.

 Here we go! We're scouring the scene looking for the

TOP 5 Things To Do in Chicagoland every week!   

Buzz has always been known for paying attention to cool stuff.

Do you have a TOP 5? Subscribe for free and submit it This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.!

                                  Submit your videos, suggestions, and other inquiries This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

( Interviews, Music Videos, Cartoons, Animations, Feature Presentations, Treats, & more ).

You can get yours on BuzzTV. Chose the appropriate link for submitting.

Register HERE and start setting up your blog and column FREE!

 

                                                                Thank you for Watching BuzzTV.

Gravatar. Get One Here! Its Easy! Then get ready to network.

Copyright ©2010. Buzz Magazine. All Rights Reserved.

I saw Fureza Bruta for the second time last week as part of a special bloggers night and it is one of  the only shows I have  ever seen where I was planning while watching to see it a third time. It is such a thrilling multidimensional performance that makes the audience into one of the cast by literally bringing the whole audience onto the stage the entire show!

 

 Part of the reason I want to see it again and again is because of the fun I have had watching my friends get blown away by the experience as they watch. No one comes away saying -well it was just okay, or they should have done this or that differently. Their mouths just hang open for a while until they are enraptured and enthralled by the experience as much as I was

 

Another neat thing about this show is that they actually allow and even encourage you to take photos ( no flash) and video  during the performance. Just check out these short  video clips I shot  during the show and you’ll get a sneak peek at what all the excitement is about. If you enjoy innovative, sensual modern dance and over the top spectacle with a rip roaring nightclub feel, take my advice and gather some friends or a new love, wear comfy shoes and clothes that you don’t mind getting wet in and get to see Fuerza Bruta while it is still in Chicago. You will want to see it more than once so don’t wait till the end of the run!

 

Despite inclement weather and the confusion of trying to find the actual concert, the Bamboozle Roadshow at Soldier Field was a good time, even if it was only had by few people. This concert had a lot going for it. Big-name acts like LMFAO, Third Eye Blind and All Time Low were all on the bill. How many other festivals out there can see such a diverse line-up for a decent price of $50 (including all of the bullshit Ticketmaster charges)? Here’s what they did right: 1.  Provided a great line-up that offered something for all ages. 2. Had lesser-known bands signing autographs and allowed fans to take pictures with them. And, 3. They booked a great venue.



The Bamboozle Roadshow offered a lot of different acts for all ages. They showcased bands like Forever the Sickest Kids, All Time Low and Boys like Girls to appeal toward the younger female crowd. I honestly can’t remember the last time I was the oldest person at a concert by at least 10 years. Bamboozle broadcasted bands from different generations to the masses, but, the order of performances left something to be desired. For example, why would you have Good Charlotte play before All Time Low? While it may have been a ploy to keep the kids out longer, but those there to see All Time Low don’t even know most of Good Charlotte’s songs. When Joel Madden of Good Charlotte comes on the stage and says, “We wrote this song 10 years ago!” I couldn’t help but think if he knew that the average person in the crowd was in first grade at that time. With that being said, the band did a great job of motivating the crowd and getting them psyched for the other performers in the line-up.



Aside from the lack of not preparing a proper performance order, each band gave one hell of a fun show. All Time Low was completely honest about their technical difficulties, shouting to the crowd, “Our shit doesn’t work and it totally fucking sucks! So who’s ready for snack time?” and proceeded to throw popcorn, Twinkies and other snacks out to fans who stuck around despite the rain. Ten minutes later the band was able to get all of their stuff to work and the crowd lit up like a light switch. Was the day a waste? Nope. People were still able to enjoy great music for the money, and the bands definitely got to see fans that appreciated them.

The crowd surrounding the back porch stage at the House of Blues is sweaty and ready.  They have been warmed up from Chico Trujillo and they want to keep dancing.  The Chicago House of Blues has transformed into a Latin American music bar from the heart of downtown Miami.  The stage lights match the feeling of Grupo Fantasma with infatuation and love.  Grupo Fantasma approaches the stage cool and confident.  They aren’t the kind of guys that feel the need to project their voice when they’re able to have their instruments do the talking for them.



This band consists of 10 different members.  The one thing, among many, that set this band far above other multi-member bands is that every member does more than just play their chosen instrument. Vocalists Kino Rodriguez and Jose Galeano are able to play every percussion instrument while singing with a voice that will attract the attention of any woman.  They are able to sing while keeping a rhythm that matches their hands and hips perfectly. Rodriguez and Galeano are able to keep the crowd entertained and happy. Along with Rodriguez and Galeano, guitarists Beto Martinez and Adrian Quesada play to the way of how a couple dances the tango, flowing and filled with natural beauty.


Grupo Fantasma’s performance brings enthusiasm and passion.  Their show will make you dance, even if you don’t know how.  Grupo Fantasma clearly enjoys their music and has the best advertisement money can buy—a great product.

The lights went out and the band took their place on the stage. There was no opening introduction and it wasn’t necessary. The packed house cheered and waited for the band to start. When the stage lights came up, the band immediately jumped in with “Nothing is Easy,” and the crowd went wild. Everyone in the place was grinning from ear to ear as Jethro Tull started up their show. It was a fantastic night for music.

 

Now with over forty years as a successful touring band, performing shows in five different decades, this bluesy progressive rock band has impressed the hell out of millions. Sunday night at Ravinia was no exception what so ever. Five men took the stage with a job to do; to entertain the audience and that is exactly what they did.

 

The up scaled outdoor theater was a great setting for Tull to perform some of their great hits as “Thick as a Brick,” and “Aqualung” that everyone would expect to hear in their concert. They also dug down deep and pulled out some “B” side material that impressed the true fans. One of the big surprises of the evening was “Farm on the Freeway.” It was a very nice piece from the album Crest of the Knave.

 

Ian Anderson throughout the show played tough flute pieces as he danced around the stage. He performed his signature step for brief moments, standing on one leg, kicking through the air with his unique version of an Irish jig. His playing as a flautist has changed over the years from his beginning comical days into a highly sophisticated musician. His runs have become fluent as they flow so wonderfully within every piece of music. He kept the crowd’s attention as he hammed it up on stage doing his best to gain the award of entertainer of the year. Most of the fans that attended would gladly present him with a trophy.

 

Martin “Lancelot” Barre is still one of the most under-rated guitarists to ever pick up a six string. His ability during the entire show was mighty powerful from every note that he played. His solo capabilities are far past what most other guitar players can do and he has the ability to play rhythms that most musicians can only dream about. The intricate display on stage was superb and scary that someone could become so much a part of his musical instrument. For the guitarist who has influenced so many players over the years, hats off to you. 

 

Doane Perry kept the meter going during the concert never missing a beat. This rock band would not be the same without this man behind the drum kit. His triumphant displays come across so effortlessly showing his talent within everything that he plays. His precise engagement with percussion instruments is a delight to see and hear. His drum fills at this show were so amazing, in sync, and to the point. The dynamic range of Doane is unbelievable for the fan and by your average four-four timing drummer. His elevated playing skills have far passed what other drummers have done in Tull and live he has been doing it for over twenty-five years.

 

John O’Hara had a solid keyboard performance during the show on each and every song. One of most important parts of Jethro Tull music had become their keyboard player even though they didn’t even have one when they first started out. They have gone through so many keyboardists over the years and this guy had to duplicate what so many competent musicians have done before him. He pulled off everything without even appearing to sweat. His musical knowledge was apparent as he pulled off the classical runs during the opening to “Locomotive Breathe” and the middle jam in “Thick as a Brick.” He proved that he is more than capable of doing his job as a member of this band and he fits in well.

 

David Goodier provided the low tones that were felt deep down within your body and soul. Approximately a half dozen bass players have taken the stage with this band since 1968 and none of the previous ones may be in the same league. The master of the low end showed his skills during “Bouree” as he displayed sweet bass parts. His quick and finesse like attack kept everyone supplied with the most pristine bass lines within a live setting that anyone could possibly ever imagine. He was sporting a monster of a six string bass that sounded as good as it looked.

 

The night consisted of songs being played such as “Beggar’s Farm” and “A New Day Yesterday.” The sound mix of the group, as always, was just a clear and perfect presentation of music. For the awesome display the band played their fingers to the bone. Ian presented the audience with two giant balloons that he balanaced on his head during “Locomotive Breathe” before throwing them into the crowd. The balloons were knocked around above the crowd like a giant beach ball. Their final song played and Tull put on another tremendous show that could go down in the record books. One of the balloons popped as the fans grabbed for a piece of the souvenir and two small children got the other one to take home. Their final song played and Tull put on another tremendous show that could go down in the record books. Ian and the rest of the band said, “Bye – bye! Bye – bye!” The lights came up and “What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong played through the theater giving everyone their walking music.

 

Ravinia was an excellent setting for this concert to take place. Jethro Tull had a beautiful setting to display their music. The band as always played some of the most difficult music done by any band that ever existed. They came, they played, and they conquered their fans. They brewed the songs of love and hatred as the crowd hummed along and kept on going. It was truly a magical evening.

When I was younger, I thought that plays were these boring events that boring adults went to when they felt like socializing with other boring adults.

As I’ve grown older (and wiser?) I have come to learn that sometimes this premise is not too far off from the truth.. but in the case of Killer Joe, “boring” could not possibly describe one second of this masterpiece written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tracy Letts.

The Smiths hire “Killer” Joe Cooper (Darrell W. Cox), a detective who moonlights as a hitman, in order to cash in on a scheme hatched by the troubled son, Chris (Kevin Bigley). Chris gets himself into a situation where he owes some money to a group of local thugs, and to get out of it he persuades his father Ansel (Howie Johnson) to hire Killer Joe Cooper for the murder his biological mother (whom Ansel has long since divorced). The insurance policy is set to go to Dottie (Claire Wellin), Chris’s mentally unbalanced sister. Sharla (Somer Benson), Ansel’s new wife, is also in on the deal – and the Smiths tentatively agree to split the money.



Of course, everything does not quite go according to plan – and this results in a lot of pain and suffering for everyone involved. The Royal George Theater is not admitting guests under 17 for this performance, and for good reason – nudity, graphic violence, and adult language abound in this production. But that’s not to say that they are without reason.. in fact, these scenes are absolutely necessary in order to believe that this family exists in a real space – because every moment of what happens on stage is incredibly real.

The best aspects of theater were in play here: broad swings of emotion, twists and turns, comedy, tragedy, staging, lighting, effects, etc. In fact, the players in this production were so talented that I find myself unable to pick out individual moments of the piece to talk about.

What I will say is that the use of the set and props in Killer Joe was head and shoulders above any other production I’ve seen in recent memory. The actors brewed real coffee, smoked real cigarettes, ate real chicken, and watched real television (this and other aspects of the direction were surely the work of the brilliant Rick Snyder). For me, this took the play an extra step towards reality.. and wow, reality can be a scary place.

This is a play about a family. Sure, it’s a dysfunctional family living in a dilapidated trailer and hiding quite a few skeletons and more than one bag of dirty laundry.. but a family nonetheless. Plenty of attention is paid to the character development here, and that really shines through. Anyone and everyone who appreciates good theater should find their way to the Royal George Theater and see Killer Joe.

There’s good theater and then there’s good attempts at theater. But there are also those rare occasions that a good theater makes a good attempt at a plain bad production; a good example of this is Sex Marks the Spot, a new political comedy by Charles Grippo.

The play attempts to delve into the seedy world of political sex scandals and, based upon an interview with Grippo, illuminate the rarely seen point-of-view of the politician’s wife. Unfortunately for this play, it fails to even cast a flicker of light on either point, and lacks the character development, humor, and plot that would have made the 2 hour play bearable.

Sex Marks the Spot opens up on the incumbent Senator Clooney on the eve of a debate against his challenger, a notorious porn star named Desiree Le Bonque. But to our surprise, or lack thereof, Miss Le Bonque is the Senator’s mistress and threatens to reveal their affair on national television if the Senator does not agree to marry her. The Senator drugs the porn star, a recurring theme throughout the play, and attempts to hide the evidence from his loyal band of idiot supporters. From the nervous, and profusely sweaty campaign manager, to the secretly beautiful yet-disguised-as-frumpy press secretary, these characters are a dime a dozen and lack any real emotional development that would make this play seem realistic.

The play goes downhill from there as the audience is subjected to witless one-liners and commonplace dialogue that a young playwright typically learns to avoid in eighth grade journalism. While the play is supposed to “investigate what goes on ‘behind the scenes’” in the world of political scandals and lascivious affaires, the playwright fails to touch on any of these issues. The characters never come face to face with one another, ironically missing one another by the opening and closing of a door. The characters are horribly stereotyped to the point of boredom; from an overweight hotel security guard eating donuts and lacking any brain power to the nosy journalist trying to get his next big scoop.

And what is severely lacking is Grippo’s so-called focal point of the play, wanting to illuminate the thoughts and feelings of the spouse of the adulterer. The Senator’s wife has approximately ten minutes of stage time in which she rarely expresses any real thought of emotion and is stumbling about it a drug-induced stupor, hardly leaving her any room to develop emotionally.

Sex Marks the Spot was neither funny nor witty, the audience hardly laughed once, making this a far cry from a farce or a comedy. It relied far too heavily on stereotypes and endless run-on jokes and the ham actors did nothing to enhance the enjoyment or the entertainment of this play. Overall, the play lacks the humor and cleverness to be a farce, and the real world familiarity to be a satire.

Sex Marks the Spot runs until July 25^th, at the Theater Building Chicago at 1225 W Belmont, but in a city where great theater can be found around every corner I would suggest saving your money and following your maps to a wittier destination.

The Drury Lane’s production of ‘Sugar’ can be easily summed up as the musical version of the legendary gender bender film ‘Some Like It Hot.’ The show is a revival of the 1972 Broadway musical with book by Peter Stone, music by Jule Styne and lyrics by Bob Merrill with some variations.  In this version, the show is set on Studio 24 where it quickly becomes clear, thanks to clever direction from Jim Corti, the musical is being presented as if it were a movie in the process of being made.  

 

The action begins and the audience is instantly dazzled by a musical number from Sweet Sue Syncopation Orchestra. Moments into the number, Sweet Sue (Tammy Mader) informs the audience her all-girl band is about to leave Chicago for a gig in Miami. The audience also becomes aware Sweet Sue is in big trouble because her sax and cello players just left the band and she needs them replaced immediately. Across town, Jerry (Alan Schmuckler) and Joe (Rod Thomas) are down on their luck musicians trying to find work like everyone else during The Great Depression. After not being able to land a gig and with no money in their pockets, they try to make a buck working as delivery men. Their luck takes yet another turn for the worse when they haplessly witness the St. Valentine’s Day massacre.  With the mob on their tails, Jerry and Joe need to get out of Chicago as quickly as possible.

 

 

As one might guess, in order to hide from the mob, Jerry and Joe end up joining Sweet Sue’s band. They have both the right and wrong instruments for the gig but thanks to drag they were able to transform into Daphne and Josephine respectively without anyone being the wiser. Their plan was to ditch the band as soon as they were out of harms way. However, that game plan swiftly goes awry when both Jerry and Joe become enamored with Sugar Kane (Jennifer Knox), the singer/ ukulele player of the band who has a history of falling for all the wrong guys.

 

When the “girls” reach the sunny shores of Florida, Joe picks up another persona to try and woo Sugar. This time he is a millionaire named Junior who is the heir to Shell Oil.  Jerry also finds himself being wooed by an old, philandering millionaire (Joe D. Lauck). This love caper comes complete with genuine laughs while still paying homage to Billy Wilder’s original masterpiece.

 

Perhaps the biggest pitfall of any stage version of an iconic film is that it will never be able to escape the endless comparison to its precursor. In that sense, the actors in ‘Sugar’ will have to grow a thick skin to survive being judged against heavy hitters like Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis and Marilyn Monroe. That being said, the only cast member who was able to peek out from behind the shadow of his predecessor was Alan Schmuckler. Schmuckler has remarkable stage presence along with brilliant comedic timing which would have made Jack Lemmon proud of his portrayal of Jerry/Daphne.

 

My biggest complaint with the casting falls squarely on Sugar herself.  Although Jennifer Knox is quite a talent, she falls short of filling the visual va-va-voom embodied by Marilyn Monroe. Her portrayal of Sugar came off as sweet and vulnerable but was definitely lacking the undeniable sex appeal exuded by Ms. Monroe. I also found she didn’t have enough oomph for her, “The People in My Life,” number which is letdown.

 

As sweet as this show is, it could benefit from some more heat. Overall, the stage cast did the production justice but were not able to outshine the star power of the film’s original cast.   

 

Regardless, fans of ‘Some Like it Hot,’ will not leave the Drury Lane feeling like they got the fuzzy end of the lollipop. Frankly it’s a nice throw back to yesteryear which is accompanied by good music. ‘Sugar’ makes for an entertaining evening but in the immortal words of Osgood Fielding III, “… nobody’s perfect.”

 

The show runs until August 1^st with tickets ranging from $31-45.

For more information, check out the Drury Lane’s website (http://www.drurylaneoakbrook.com/live_theatre/tickets.shtml).