photos by Sara Pieper

Wilco // Lee Fields // Wye Oak

A.V. Fest / Hideout Block Party finished off on Saturday night (9/15) with performances by Wilco, Lee Fields & The Expressions, Wye Oak, Wild Belle, The Corin Tucker Band, Kelly Hogan, The Waco Brothers with Paul Burch, and The Lawrence Peters Outfit.

Wilco closed out the festival with a 27-song headlining set featuring "Heavy Metal Drummer," "Impossible Germany," "Outtasite (Outta Mind)," and many others. More pictures from Day 2 of A.V. Fest / Hideout Block Party (Day 1 HERE) and Wilco's full setlist are below...

Continue reading "A.V. Fest / Hideout Block Party in pictures: day 2 (Wilco, Lee Fields & The Expressions, Wye Oak & more)"

photos by Zach Pollack

Kelly Hogan / Scott Lucas & the Married Men @ Pritzker Pavilion on 5/28/2012

On Monday night (5/28) Kelly Hogan and Scott Lucas & the Married Men kicked off the 2012 edition of Downtown Sound at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion. A full set of pictures are in this post.

As mentioned, Scott Lucas & the Married Men are set to release their new LP, Blood Half Moon, on June 5 via The End Records. Check out their brand new video for the album's lead single "Blood Half Moons" at the bottom of this post. You can catch Lucas and co. at the Logan Square Farmers Market on Sunday (6/3), where they'll be performing an unplugged set at 12:30PM. They'll also be supporting Deer Tick at Metro on June 6.

More pictures from the Pritzker show and the Married Men's new video below...

Continue reading "Kelly Hogan, Scott Lucas & the Married Men @ Pritzker (pics); a new Married Men video (premiere)"

DOWNLOAD: Scott Lucas & the Married Men - "Blood Half Moons" (MP3)

Kelly Hogan @ the Vic in March (more by Chase Turner)

The A.V. Club: What was the origin of this album?

Kelly Hogan: Andy Kaulkin is the honcho at Anti- records, and I've known him for quite some time now through Neko. ... I was at Amoeba Records. We were doing an in-store with Neko, and I was shopping in the jazz section and Andy walked up. "I gotta talk to you." I thought I was late for bus call. I was like, "I'm sorry I'm late!" He said, "No, no, no. I want you to make a record for Anti-." I thought I was being punked. I was like, "Really?" It all goes back to Andy. The label's fantastic. It all goes back to the dude who's running it, because Andy just loves music so much.

The A.V. Club: So he had the concept of putting this band together and having all these people write songs for you?

Kelly Hogan: Yeah. He suggested from the get-go that I should call in favors, because I'd sung with so many different people. Last February, he said, "What do you think about coming to L.A.? And we invest our money in the band?" And I was like, "Okay, who are you thinking?" And he said, "I'm thinking Booker T." And I'm like, "Tell me more." He mentioned James Gadson on drums, and I'd just seen that Still Bill documentary the night before, the Bill Withers documentary. It's so great. James Gadson was Bill Withers' drummer. Have you seen the footage of Bill Withers on "The Old Grey Whistle Test"? You've got to Google that, man. It pans over to James Gadson and he's got this awesome Afro and this cool suit and a gold tooth and he's just smiling this gorgeous "Everything is all right and it's gonna be all right" smile. He still does that. That's his playing face. You know how when most people are concentrating on playing, they look like they're pooping?

Local H frontman Scott Lucas and his project the Married Men will act as main support on Monday night's show. Their new album, Blood Half Moon, is due out on June 5 via The End Records. Download the album's lead single "Blood Half Moons" at the top of this post. The band, who describe themselves as "country-ish alt-rock for people who like metal," will also be doing some touring with Deer Tick next month, and are included on the bill of the band's Chicago show at Metro on June 9. Tickets are still available.

All dates for both Kelly Hogan and Scott Lucas are listed below.

Continue reading "Kelly Hogan discussed 'I Like to Keep Myself in Pain,' playing Jay Pritzker w/ Scott Lucas & the Married Men on Monday"

Kelly Hogan @ the Vic in March (more by Chase Turner)

We previously posted the partial lineup of Millennium Park's Downtown Sound series and now the full schedule has been released. The park have also unveiled all other free events that are taking place at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion throughout the summer. Check out the full schedule below...

Continue reading "Millennium Park's full summer lineup (Downtown Sound & more)"

photos by Chase Turner, words by Zach Pollack

The Magnetic Fields @ the Vic

Tuesday night (3/28), the Magnetic Fields polished off their two-night affair at the Vic with opener, Chicago songstress Kelly Hogan. Bachelorette opened on Monday (pictures and review from night one are HERE).

Kelly Hogan, backed by Scott Ligon and Casey McDonough, took the stage around 8PM and jumped straight into "Dusty Groove" off of her forthcoming LP, I Like to Keep Myself in Pain, a song written by Catherine Erwin of Freakwater. Concertgoers unfamiliar with Hogan's vocal stylings were definitely in for a surprise treat as her powerful yet inviting voice wafted throughout the theatre. She went on to play most of her new record, including offerings from Andrew Bird ("We Can't Have Nice Things"), Robin Hitchcock ("I Like to Keep Myself in Pain"), and the late Vic Chesnutt ("Ways of This World"). Her highly skilled backing band also contributed to vocal duties, helping to create gorgeous three-part harmonies throughout the 45-minute set. Before exiting the stage, Hogan and co. pulled out a cover of the Magnetic Fields' "Papa Was A Rodeo" off of the seminal LP 69 Love Songs. I Like to Keep Myself in Pain hits stores on July 5 via Anti- Records.

After a brief intermission, Stephin Merritt's Magnetic Fields began their set with "I Die" from 2004's i. As Rachel mentioned, they definitely have a schtick, validated further by their next song, "A Chicken with Its Head Cut Off." Speaking of decapitated animals, while Monday night's stage banter focused a lot on dead things, as pianist Claudia Gonson pointed out from the stage, Tuesday was strictly centered around bunnies and unicorns (so she wouldn't have bad dreams). Of course, Stephin found a way to make this somewhat violent (unicorns impaling bunnies with their horns) and totally hilarious throughout their set.

The packed crowd seemed satisfied-though-subdued and didn't really express much enthusiasm until the band played "Reno Dakota." The group focused heavily on 69 Love Songs, opting to play tracks like "Come Back from San Francisco," "Roses," "Love Is Like Jazz," and "Grand Canyon" from the album while also featuring tracks from their most recently released album, Love at the Bottom of the Sea. Before playing its lead single "Andrew in Drag", Stephin dryly said, "This is the soundtrack to our video." "Quick!" came next with the added anecdote, "This is the soundtrack to our next video."

Like the previous night, the Magnetic Fields finished off the show with the two song encore of "Tar-Heel Boy" and "Forever and a Day." Check out the full setlist below.

They continue to tour throughout North America until mid-April, hopping the pond to begin a European tour in the UK.

More pictures and the setlist from the 2nd of two Chicago shows, below...

Continue reading "The Magnetic Fields & Kelly Hogan @ the Vic (night 2 pics, review, setlist)"

Iron & Wine @ Jay Pritzker for Downtown Sound in June (more by Louie Abellera)

Downtown Sound - FREE new music Monday's at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion - is set to return for a 2012 edition of the series. Beginning on Memorial Day (May 28) with a performance by Chicago's own Kelly Hogan, Downtown Sound will take place each Monday at 6:30PM through July.

Other performers include Jonathan Richman on June 4, Chico Trujillo on June 25, and "The Original Black Swan" Charles Bradley on July 16.

Stay tuned for the full schedule.

The Wedding Present @ Hotel Vegan (BV-SXSW 2012) (more by Amanda Hatfield)

today in Chicago
* Rusted Root @ Cubby Bear
* Digital Freshness @ Reggie's
* Write Club @ Hideout (Early Show)
* Oberhofer, Pond, Yawn @ Lincoln Hall
* El Ten Eleven, In Tall Buildings @ SPACE
* Barehand Dixieland @ Hideout (Late Show)
* The Magnetic Fields, Kelly Hogan @ the Vic
* feedtime, Nones, Relay Beken @ Empty Bottle
* K. Serra, Milano, Sirens, Oil Fields @ Subterranean
* Rhyton, Turn to Crime, Solar Fox @ The Burlington
* Birdhand, The Swayback, Dinosaur Party @ Schubas
* The Flabby Hoffman Jamboree @ Stage Bar (Free Show)
* Yukon Blonde, Library Voices, Champions @ Beat Kitchen
* The Wedding Present, The Jet Age, Pinky Piglets @ Double Door
* Black Dahlia Murder, Nile, Skeletonwitch, House Of Penance @ Bottom Lounge

The Wedding Present play their Steve Albini-recorded LP Seamonsters in-full at the Double Door tonight.

Digital Freshness is happening at Reggie's.

The Magnetic Fields play their second show at the Vic, this time with Kelly Hogan.

Reunited Australian post-punk outfit feedtime hit the bottle tonight.

Oberhofer and Pond, who played Hotel Vegan, play Lincoln Hall with locals Yawn.

Swervedriver played Fallon last night. Check out the footage below.

Follow @bvChicago on Twitter, "Like" us on Facebook.

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Tuesday?"

Bachelorette @ Cameo Gallery earlier this month (NYC) (more by Amanda Hatfield)

As mentioned, the Magnetic Fields hit Chicago next week for a two-night run at the Vic Theatre (March 26 & 27). Tickets are still available for both nights. Night one will feature an opening set from Bachelorette, while Kelly Hogan will kick things off on night two.

Bachelorette (aka Annabel Alpers, formally of Hawaii Five-O and Hiss Explosion) released her third and self-titled album under the moniker in May of 2011 via Drag City. Alpers, who used to operate the project with a backing band, has been performing solo for a while now using loop pedals, keyboards, and a guitar to create her ethereal pop. Check out some music videos and a live session she filmed in Sydney at the bottom of this post.

Kelly Hogan

Singer-songwriter Kelly Hogan, who is both a solo artist and a collaborator of many including Neko Case, Drive-By Truckers, and Jakob Dylan, is set to release her new LP, I Like To Keep Myself In Pain, on July 5 via Anti-. An A-list cast of musicians (Andrew Bird, M. Ward, the late Vic Chesnutt, Jon Langford, the Magnetic Fields, and more) wrote songs for Hogan which all appear on the forthcoming LP. On I Like To Keep Myself In Pain she is backed by the all-star band of Booker T. Jones, James Gadson, Gabe Roth (of the Dap-Kings), and Scott Ligon. Stream the album track "We Can't Have Nice Things," co-written by Andrew Bird and author Jack Pendarvis at the bottom of this post. Hogan has a few upcoming Midwest dates, including a June 8 record release show at SPACE.

All known 2012 Kelly Hogan tour dates and the song stream, below..

Continue reading "Bachelorette and Kelly Hogan to open for the Magnetic Fields @ the Vic next week"