Sunday, November 29, 2009

The Jesus Lizard, Metro, 11/28/09

The Jesus Lizard

Last night we went to see The Jesus Lizard at Metro. This show was different than most of the other shows I've been to over the past few years. First, the crowd was older. I mainly remember the Jesus Lizard being around in the late-80s and early-90s, as opposed to most of the bands I see now who have only been around a few years. Usually I'm one of the oldest people at a show. Last night I was on the young end.

The Jesus Lizard

Second, the music is a bit harder than most of the shows I go to these days. It was sort of refreshing, to hear hard rock that is good, as most of the new hard rock I hear these days turns me off.

The Jesus Lizard

This band still rocks. I wondered why David Yow was sitting on a stool for parts of the show. It wasn't until this morning that I learned that he hit the floor hard while crowd surfing the night before (they did two shows at Metro, I went to the second one), so maybe that explains it. I don't know if he sat on a stool the first night.

Jim DeRogatis' review of the first show is here.

The Jesus Lizard

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Chicago Blackhawks vs. Toronto Maple Leafs, 11/13/09

Ottawa Sucks

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Zebras

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Queue up Chelsea Dagger

Fight

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Wednesday, November 11, 2009

The House of the Devil

We went to the 45th Annual Chicago International Film Festival last month. I planned to write a long post about the films we saw, but I never got around to it and now it just seems like it was too long ago for something like that. However, one of the films we saw is opening in Chicago on Friday, so that gives me an excuse to talk about one of the films I saw.

The House of the Devil is the sort of horror movie I like. It isn't about showing as much blood or violence as possible, though there is some of both. It's a throwback to the horror films I used to like when I was younger. It takes place during the Satanic Panic of the early '80s. I was sitting closer and closer to the edge of my seat as the film went on, which doesn't often happen when I watch horror films. I'm not going to get too detailed about the plot because I'm sure there are plenty of sites that have done that already. Just know I had a lot of fun watching it. It will be at the Music Box on Friday.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Crocodiles and The Horrors, DoubleDoor, 10/11/09

Crocodiles

Crocodiles

Crocodiles

It's always a nice bonus when I buy tickets to see a band I really like, and I know and like the opening act as well.

Crocodiles

Prior to the show Sunday night, I had listened to the Crocodiles album twice, and I liked what I heard.

Crocodiles

I really enjoyed their set. It was very, I don't know, "me". I'm sorry, that's the best I got.

Crocodiles

The Horrors

The Horrors

I had seen The Horrors once before, a few months ago when they opened for The Kills.

The Horrors

Although I thought they were great then, I was a bit disappointed by the set because it had no songs from their first album. I love both albums, and I don't necessarily think one is better than the other. While I was working on writing and defending my dissertation there were several songs on the first album that really helped me get through the process, particularly "Gloves".

The Horrors

I was hoping that, during a full set as a headliner, they would play some songs from the first album. So, I have to admit, I was a bit disappointed when I looked at the set list on the stage (one of which I took home) and again there were no songs from the first album on it. There was no apparent encore on the set list, so I held out hope that it wasn't complete.

The Horrors

Sure enough, they played a few songs off the first album during the encore, with "Gloves" closing out the set. I was very happy!

The Horrors

By the way, the set list said "St. Paul, MN" on it, which was crossed out with marker. Oops!

Monday, October 12, 2009

Chicago Wolves vs. Milwaukee Admirals, 10/3/09

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My mom, boyfriend and I went to the Wolves home opener. Our seats were great. We were in the third row of the balcony behind the net that the Wolves shot at twice.

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Unfortunately, the Wolves lost that game, but we had a great time.

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Friday, October 09, 2009

See #12?

Looking

He's the newest Blackhawk. Well, I guess at this point he is the newest IceHog because he was assigned to the minors.

Thursday, October 08, 2009

Another musical regret

I went to the Moby concert at The Vic back on September 30. It was such a great set. Moby's catalog is pretty broad, and I was curious as to how he would make all of the various styles work live with a band. Somehow he pulled it all off. Techno. Rock. Slow sweet ballads. It all sounded great. He had great musicians and singers with him, which helped. The set was a nice overview of his catalog, a little bit of everything.

Before the show I found out that Moby would be doing a DJ set at SmartBar after the show. Seeing Moby DJ has always been a dream of mine. I asked my family to write Oprah before I got a PhD to see if she could pull off getting Moby to DJ my graduation party. That didn't happen. They didn't write Oprah, and I chose not to have a party.

Here was my chance. Instead of walking up Clark, we got on the train platform. Before the train arrived we debated getting off the platform and walking over to SmartBar. But it was late, and I had to work the next day. Next time, I thought. Then I read a review of the DJ set a couple of days later.

I should have been there.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

The Hotel Across the Water 2

The Hotel Across the Water 2

Taken 9/9/09 in Sarasota, Florida

Saturday, September 12, 2009

The Polkaholics, 8-22-09

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We saw The Polkaholics at the Glenwood Ave. Arts Fest last month. They were awesome, and very funny.

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There music was a combination of rock and polka. For those of us raised on polka music, it is an awesome combination.

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Tuesday, September 08, 2009

It's finally here: Lollapalooza Day 3

I've been lazy. Finally, here's Day 3.

Sam Roberts Band

We arrived at the beginning of the day, again, and checked out a bit of the Sam Roberts Band's set, before we crossed the field and listened while sitting and waiting for Friendly Fires. Friendly Fires were great. It was really upbeat and fun. I really wanted to dance along, but it was really, really hot.

Next we planned to get food and take it back to listen to Portugal. The Man, but that was thwarted when we saw an open picnic table in the shade. A man sat down in an empty seat at our table, and we struck up a conversation. He was from Iowa, and took a train in to attend Lolla for one day, just to see Silversun Pickups. That's some dedication. We talked about music. He asked about other bands we saw, and other bands we liked. He was impressed the Leonard Cohen had toured again, and we told him about how we saw him at Coachella. It was a nice conversation, but we soon had to go across the park to see The Airborne Toxic Event. I hope he enjoyed Silversun Pickups.

The Airborne Toxic Event

We made our way over to the South field, and, ugh, the stench!!! It was disgusting. We had been warned by a friend it was bad over there, but I started smelling it before we even got to the field. Now, that field smelled pretty bad on Saturday, but I thought that had to do with the mud. But this was gross. While we were watching The Airborne Toxic Event there were times when there was no gross odor. Then the wind would shift. Ick. The Airborne Toxic Event were great, though. I loved their set. Even though it was hot, and I'd been to pre-shows and after-shows and 2.5 days in Grant Park, I was able to dance to their set. I had officially defeated Live Music.

The Raveonettes

We crossed the park again to catch The Raveonettes. We stayed up front for a song or two, but it was hot, so we hid in the trees and listened instead. It was a nice setting, chilling out and listening to The Raveonettes in the shade.

Cooling the crowd

After that we listened to a few songs by Vampire Weekend while waiting for Passion Pit. I didn't really like the Passion Pit's album when I listened to it because I thought the lead singer's voice was annoying. Whatever bothered me about it didn't seem to bother me live because I really enjoyed listening to them. I stress "listening" because, again, we sat in the trees and chilled and just listened.

Lou Reed

Next we went back to the North field and found a spot for Lou Reed, which was tough because it was already packed. We couldn't even sit on the field. There was no room for our butts. Lou Reed was late coming onto the stage, so we had to stand there even longer. But once he started I was happy. I wanted to be blown away, but even though I wasn't, I still enjoyed his set. I saw one of his concerts on Fuse or Ovation or something, and I had a sense of what his performance would be like. He doesn't really play up to the audience. But his songs sounded great, with maybe the exception of that really long drone section.

Finally, we wimped out. We left after Lou Reed's set, and went to an air conditioned bar and restaurant to visit with dear friends from out of town. Yes, I wanted to finally see Silversun Pickups and The Killers and Jane's Addiction, but I just had to leave, and I don't regret that decision at all. I had lots of fun with my friends.