Riot Fest Chicago is set to take place from September 13-15 this year in Humboldt Park. Their initial lineup includes Rocket From The Crypt, The Dismemberment Plan, Guided By Voices, Motorhead, Blondie, Public Enemy, FLAG, Bad Religion, Dinosaur Jr., Bob Mould, Screeching Weasel, Mission of Burma, GWAR, Quicksand, and many more acts. Three-day passes are on-sale now, and single-day tickets will be available soon.

Check out the initial Riot Fest Chicago 2013 lineup below...

Continue reading "Riot Fest Chicago announce 2013 lineup (Rocket From The Crypt, The Dismemberment Plan, GBV & more), tix on-sale now"

photos by James Richards IV

Guided by Voices @ Metro on 8.11.2012

On Saturday night (8/11) Guided by Voices visited Chicago to play a one-off show at Metro with support from Radar Eyes. A full set of pictures and some video footage from the show can be found below. As you might remember, GBV played their final show at the Wrigleyville club on New Year's Eve in 2004. The show was documented on the DVD The Electrifying Conclusion. The band reunited for Matador's 21st birthday fest in 2010 and have released two records so far this year, with a third rumored to drop in November. Were you there on Saturday night? How was it?

More pictures and some video footage from the 8/11 Metro show can be found below...

Continue reading "Guided by Voices and Radar Eyes played Metro (pics, video)"

Guided by Voices @ Central Park earlier this month (NYC) (more by Chris La Putt)

Guided by Voices self-released their second album of 2012, Class Clown Spots a UFO, in mid-June. They are also rumored to be releasing ANOTHER album in November called Bears for Lunch. You go, Robert Pollard, show Ty Segall how it's done. Stream Class Clown Spots a UFO in its entirety below.

GBV are heading out on tour in the U.S. in September, though before that happens, they'll be playing two more one-off shows this summer. One of those dates is an August 11 performance at Metro with support from locals Radar Eyes. Tickets go on sale this Saturday (7/21) at noon CST.

All Guided by Voices dates are listed below, with a stream of Class Clown Spots a UFO.

Continue reading "Guided by Voices released a new LP, playing Metro w/ Radar Eyes "

The Association of Writers & Writing Programs, a national, nonprofit literary organization for teachers and writers, will kick off the 2012 edition of their annual Chicago conference on Wednesday, February 29.

Presentations, readings, lectures, panel discussions, forums, and more will take place at both The Hilton and Palmer House hotels. Registration is officially sold out.

There are also a number of off-site, open to the public events happening at places like the Empty Bottle, The Hideout, Lincoln Hall, the Stop Smiling storefront, and the Double Door.

The Empty Bottle have FREE (with RSVP) events on both Wednesday and Thursday night. One in particular we'd like to highlight is the venue's Wednesday night late show, which features a reading and musical performance by James Greer (ex-Guided By Voices) and a set by the Mutts.

The Hideout have both an early and late reading on Friday night.

The Double Door have a reading on Friday night.

Lincoln Hall are hosting a literature party on Friday night, featuring author/musician Tim Kinsella.

Stop Smiling and Melville House Publishing are having a party at the Stop Smiling storefront (1371 N. Milwaukee Ave.) on Friday night. The event boasts a number of readings and will also have music from The-Drum (who just played our Vita Hill show), Supreme Cuts, and DJ Pariguayo.

"As previously announced, the 2011 Pitchfork Music Festival will be taking place on Friday, July 15th through Sunday, July 17th at Chicago's Union Park! Tickets went on sale on March 4th, and sold out in a record time of 24 hours! That being said, single-day passes can still be picked up at the rate of $45 per day.

Friday will see the addition of Guided By Voices and Neko Case; Saturday's lineup will feature No Age, Gang Gang Dance, G-Side, and Chrissy Murderbot; Sunday's stellar lineup now includes The Fresh & Onlys, Radio Dept., HEALTH, Shabazz Palaces, Baths, How To Dress Well, Kurt Vile, and Twin Sister. Stay tuned for more bands still to be announced in the coming weeks!"

Head below to view the full lineup by day...

Continue reading "2011 Pitchfork Festival expands initial lineup"