Items filtered by date: November 2007

Arlo Guthrie and the Guthrie family took the stage at the restored Genesee Theater (203 N. Genesee St.) in Waukegan, Illinois singing an eclectic group of songs. As they played the entire audience was transformed from just being Arlo Guthrie fans to fans of the Guthrie family.

Coloradan bluegrass-jam group, Yonder Mountain String Band, played to sold out crowds two nights in a row, October 23^rd and 24^th, at the House of Blues in Chicago. Joining the band were special guests Darol Anger on fiddle and Danny Barnes on banjo.

For those, like me, who have never seen Grand Archives before last Saturday night at Chicago's Schuba’s Tavern there’s one word that probably entered our minds collectively – WOW. On tour for their new release Keep in Mind Frankenstein, Sub Pop’s Seattle based artist, Grand Archives, kept the crowd mesmerized

Hanson? Yes, I did happen to go to a Hanson conert……and oh boy was it an interesting crowd to say the least. Oh yeah, Hellogoodbye played as well, although some might not have known who was a HGb fan in the crowd swimming in a sea of giddy Hanson fans.

Although Cats can no longer claim the title as Broadway's longest-running show (The Phantom of the Opera surpassed Cats in performance number a few years ago), it is still clear why the show still brings in crowds of young and old. It is a strange musical, certainly, with no plot except for that of choosing which cat, of all the many types of cats.

What more can be said other than incredible. Ian Anderson and his band impressed the hell out of a packed house at the Vic Theater. They played some old Jethro Tull standards and real rare gems. A perfect evening with five other musicians in an acoustic setting was a delight to see and hear.

New Millennium Theatre Company’s “Plans 1 Through 8 from Outer Space” is probably the epitome of the word “zany”. Packed with outlandish humor and bizarre characters “Plans 1 Through 8” is the story of an alien race intent on taking over the Earthlings

I’ve never had the pleasure of attending a Van Morrison concert, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect – but during most of the evening (with a few notable exceptions), it seemed like Morrison was just going through the motions and certainly not putting any extra effort into pleasing the audience.

Porcupine Tree came on to a roar from the audience, and immediately launched into “Occam’s Razor”, part 1 of their 55 minute epic from The Incident. I recently picked up the album and gave it a few spins before the show so I was familiar with the material but looking around I did see a few blank faces...

Leave it to U2 to revolutionize the art of the concert. In U2’s 360 Tour the band brings their show to major stadiums, in Chicago’s case Soldier Field, where they play their music on a circular stage below a giant, claw-like “spaceship”, catering to fans in every direction.