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Chicago’s Devin Shaffer channels idiosyncrasies into soundscapes on In My...
Devin Shaffer spent her formative years searching for a sense of belonging as a performer—whether on a stage or in Chicago’s musical zeitgeist. In 2012 she found that elusive sense of communion...
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Source One Band honor their late guitarist Sir Walter Scott with a bustling...
For years, until the pandemic shut everything down, the weekly shows hosted at the Odyssey East by bassist Joe Pratt and his Source One Band made the cozy venue one of the most important remaining...
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The Pine Valley Cosmonauts make Tom Waits’s 1973 debut feel relevant for our...
Led by Jon Langford of the Mekons and the Waco Brothers, Chicago alt-country band the Pine Valley Cosmonauts have covered plenty of ground in their quarter century or so of existence: they’ve made...
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Chicago underground supergroup Canal Irreal create cold, complex punk on...
If you went to a lot of shows at defunct Bridgeport punk house Rancho Huevos, you likely caught the July 2019 debut performance of south-side underground supergroup Canal Irreal. The band, whose name...
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Like a moth to a flame
A solo show by artist Hyun Jung Jun at Goldfinch Gallery in East Garfield Park. The title of Hyun Jung Jun’s exhibition reads like an incantation, as if upon entering the gallery, viewers will be...
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An improvised-music summit offers contrasting experiences of community and...
The double album Houston 2012 captures a two-day encounter in October 2012 between English tabletop guitarist Keith Rowe and the experimental-music community of Houston, Texas. Rowe’s visit came about...
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Chicago indie rockers Izzy True find comfort in Our Beautiful Baby World
Izzy Reidy specializes in the kind of intimate indie rock where you can hear the sound of fingertips squeaking along guitar strings. They launched their band, Izzy True, while living in upstate New...
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Chicago rock stylists Arthhur expand their dance-punk ambitions on Occult...
Chicagoan Mike Fox launched Arthhur a few years ago to explore any musical style he pleased. Multi-instrumentalist Matt Ciani, who plays with Fox in doom four-piece Flesh of the Stars, quickly joined...
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Koeosaeme’s Annulus builds a cohesive world of glossy, blissed-out reveries
Japanese producer Ryu Yoshizawa has a rich career that includes making music for business conglomerates Square Enix and Lotte, spending 17 years and counting in sound artists’ group Office Intenzio,...
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When a statue is more than a statue
Artist Kelly Kristin Jones examines contested monuments and white supremacy with her art A few years ago, in my former neighborhood in Queens, I passed an ornamental column amid the sidewalk trash....
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Henchpeople is a satisfying amuse-bouche for the return of live theater
Ross Compton's Henchpeople is a shaggy and endearing comedy about supervillain support staff. I went to a play a few days ago. In the Before Times, that would have been like saying "I took a shower."…
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Versatile instrumental trio Bitchin Bajas unspool new material at their...
For the past decade, local trio Bitchin Bajas have exemplified the virtues of patience and versatility. All three members play synthesizers, Cooper Crain and Daniel Quinlivan play organ, and Rob Frye...
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Chicago dance-pop duo Drama return to the stage to showcase their...
We’ll never know what might have been for any of us had 2020 turned out a little less soul crushing. But it feels extra bittersweet to imagine the possibilities for Chicago duo Drama, who released...
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A Sea Change for a time of upheaval
Cabinet of Curiosity sets sail with a new live show about mermaids, whales, sharks, seagulls—and climate disaster It begins, as many wonderful things do, with the sea. Enter the outdoor space at...
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Wynonna Judd and Cactus Moser invite you to crash their party
Wynonna Judd’s voice is like chugging diet pop. Her raw, forceful alto sometimes burns a little going down, but the addictive sweetness keeps you coming back for more.…
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On the new 25, Chicago drill star G Herbo proves his skills haven’t suffered...
Chicago rapper Herbert Wright III, better known as G Herbo, has become the kind of public figure whose smallest social media movement is fodder for the content mill. When Herb’s girlfriend, Taina...
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Teatro ZinZanni brings back glitz, kitsch, and the joy of living
Teatro ZinZanni,the dinner circus spectacle, reopens at the Cambria Hotel. The show begins before you enter the theater lobby on the 14th floor of the Cambria Hotel, before the costumed attendants...
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A brighter shade of optimism gilds Modest Mouse’s The Golden Casket
Modest Mouse front man Isaac Brock can perform a breezy, carefree song in a way that suggests you should be concerned for his well-being. And his recent public comments haven’t exactly quieted those...
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Coming through the pandemic storm with The Tempest
A trash island forms the background for Oak Park Festival Theatre's outdoor staging of The Tempest. Choosing The Tempest as their first show to break the enforced theatrical silence of the past 16...
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How do you explain Limp Bizkit to the world?
At the beginning of the pandemic, I became mildly obsessed with a video of Limp Bizkit playing a Moscow venue in February 2020. I wasn’t drawn to the performance so much as to the sight of front man...
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