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Ragamala
Ragamala was an epic experience — a 15-hour concert of Indian classical music, stretching from 6 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 9, until 9 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 10, with sitars, tablas, flutes, violins and...
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Hideout 20-Year Reunion
The Hideout, one of my favorite music venues, celebrated its 20th anniversary with a daylong mini-festival on Saturday — billed as a “20-Year Reunion.” In truth, the Hideout is much older than just...
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The Mekons at the Hideout
The Mekons have a new record called Existentialism — a lo-fi live CD of new songs performed into one microphone, with an accompanying book — but the band played just one of those new tunes on Monday,...
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The Handsome Family and Rennie Sparks’ art exhibit
The Handsome Family have a new album called Unseen, which brought them to Chicago for a concert on Sunday night at the Old Town School of Folk Music. Sadly, I missed that show, but I did see the...
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Cropped Out: Day 1
Cropped Out feels like a homemade music festival. The website for the annual event in Louisville, Kentucky, hasn’t been thoroughly updated for a couple of years. Although the site displays pictures of...
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Cropped Out: Day 2
This is my report from Saturday, Sept. 24, the second day of the 2016 Cropped Out music festival in Louisville, Kentucky. To see my report and photos from the first day, click here. Bill Callahan Bill...
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Gonerfest and Memphis
After going to Gonerfest in 2014, I knew that I’d want to come back to this annual Memphis punk and garage-rock shindig. Chicago has its share of lively mosh pits, but the Gonerfest crowd in Memphis...
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Gonerfest 2016 Day 1
My photos from Sept. 29, 2016, the first day of Gonerfest in Memphis, including the opening ceremonies at Cooper Young Gazebo with Nots and the nighttime show at the Hi Tone featuring emcee Jim Dandy,...
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Gonerfest 2016 Day 2: Daytime Party
My photos from the daytime party at Memphis Made Brewing on Sept. 30, 2016, the second day of Gonerfest in Memphis, Memphis Made Brewing, featuring LSDOGS, Kool 100s, Trampoline Team and Pity. LSDOGS...
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Gonerfest 2016 Day 2: Nighttime Show
My photos from the nighttime show at the Hi Tone on Sept. 30, 2016, the second day of Gonerfest in Memphis, featuring Opposite Sex, Aquarian Blood, Power, Buck Biloxi and the Fucks, the Blind Shake and...
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Gonerfest 2016 Day 3: Daytime Party
My photos from the daytime party at Murphy’s on Oct. 1, 2016, at Gonerfest in Memphis, featuring Casual Burn, Bloodbags, Fire Retarded, Archie & The Bunkers, Iron Head, Zerodent, Oh Boland, Bloody...
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Gonerfest 2016 Day 3: Nighttime Show
My photos of the nighttime show at the Hi Tone on Oct. 1, 2016, the third day of Gonerfest in Memphis, featuring emcee Tom Scharpling, Couteau Latex, Sick Thoughts, Bloodshot Bill, Control Freaks,...
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Ardent Studios
Jody Stephens, the drummer for the legendary band Big Star, kindly agreed to let me tag along Sept. 30, 2016, on a private tour he was giving at Ardent Studios — the Memphis recording studio where Big...
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The Rev. Al Green
This is one of those things people tell you do to when you’re in Memphis: Go see the famous soul singer Al Green at the church he founded. On Sunday, Oct. 2, I was heading back home to Chicago after...
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Abraham Levitan + Devin Davis = Teletype
Eleven years ago, Chicago singer-songwriter Devin Davis released one of my favorite records of 2005, Lonely People of the World, Unite! — a one-man studio masterpiece — and I’ve been waiting for...
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Finally… a Record by The Flat Five
The debut album by the Flat Five, It’s a World of Love and Hope, is a strange and wonderful thing. I doubt you’ll hear any other record this year that sounds anything like this. It feels like a...
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Robyn Hitchcock and Emma Swift at City Winery
Many of the songs Robyn Hitchcock played on Thursday, Nov. 17, at City Winery in Chicago had been chosen ahead of time by his fans. “All these songs were democratically elected,” Hitchcock remarked...
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Joshua Abrams’ Hideout residency
The masterful Chicago musician Joshua Abrams played five concerts at the Hideout in November, playing with different collaborators on each Tuesday night. The one constant was the group he calls...
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Poster Children at Schubas
Sadly, I arrived a bit late for the Poster Children’s early concert on Wednesday, Nov. 23, at Schubas. Rather than barging my way to the front of the crowded room during this sold-out show, I stayed in...
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Makoto and Nakatani at the Empty Bottle, plus Spires and Brian Case
Two master musicians from Japan — guitarist Kawabata Makoto, who’s the leader of Acid Mothers Temple, and percussionist Tatsuya Nakatani — created a beautiful instrumental epic onstage at the Empty...
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