photos by Cory Dewald

Passion Pit at UIC Pavilion on 2/22/2013

Passion Pit brought their tour with Matt & Kim and Icona Pop through Chicago on Friday night (2/22) for a performance at the UIC Pavilion. Like they did in NYC, Michael Angelakos and co. began their headlining set with "I'll Be Alright" from 2012's Gossamer, and bounced between both of their full-length LPs for the remainder of their 17-song set. Were you there? What did you think?

More pictures from the 2/22 UIC Pavilion show, the setlist, and a few videos are below...

Continue reading "Passion Pit, Matt and Kim & Icona Pop played UIC Pavilion (pics, video, setlist)"

Soundgarden @ NYC's Irving Plaza earlier this week (more by Dana Yavin)

Tickets for The Darkness' January 27 show at the Riv go on sale this Saturday (11/17) at 10AM CST.

Tickets for Soundgarden's two-night stand at the Riv on January 29 & 30 go on sale this Saturday at 10AM.

Tickets for Yo La Tengo's February 1 show at the Vic go on sale this Saturday at 10AM.

Tickets for Passion Pit's February 22 show at UIC Pavilion with Matt & Kim go on sale this Saturday at noon. A JAM presale will be active this Friday (11/16) from 10AM - 10PM; the password is takeawalk.

Tickets for They Might Be Giants' March 16 show at the Vic go on sale this Saturday at 10AM.

Tickets for Sigur Ros' April 2 show at UIC Pavilion go on sale this Saturday at 10AM. A JAM presale will be active this Friday from 10AM - 10PM; the password is brimstone.

Tickets for Jim Gaffigan's April 20 show at The Chicago Theatre go on sale this Saturday at 10AM. A JAM presale will be active this Friday from 10AM - 10PM; the password is bacon.

Tickets for Russell Peters' May 4 show at The Chicago Theatre go on sale this Saturday at noon.

by Chase Turner

Matt & Kim at the Congress Theater on 11.10.2012

Matt and Kim played a nearly sold-out show on Saturday night at the Congress Theater (11/10) with openers Oberhofer as part of a larger US tour together. The sweaty all-ages crowd was made up of mostly teenagers as older attendees stuck to the balcony. Matt and Kim consistently talked about how thrilled they were to be playing at such a large venue. In signature fashion, they bounced around the stage with explosive energy, weaving their material through covers of pop and hip hop tracks.

If you missed the show, Matt & Kim will return to Chicago on February 22 to play UIC Pavilion with tourmates Passion Pit. Tickets for that show go on sale this Saturday (11/17) at noon CST. Stay tuned for presale information.

More pictures from the 11/10 show at the Congress Theater continue below...

Continue reading "Matt & Kim played the Congress with Oberhofer (pics); playing UIC Pavilion with Passion Pit in February"

by Parker Langvardt, photos by James Richards IV

The sun baked the lawns and wide streets of downtown Chicago's Grant Park as Lollapalooza 2012 started off on Friday with bands on all stages minus the two main stages at either end of the park. Aside from the stages, fences, booths, and some Lollapalooza signage, the park remained fairly untransformed for the festival.

I caught the very end of First Aid Kit's set, and at the time entirely forgot the duo's Swedish nationality due to the accent they sang with, closer to a mild Southern US drawl. The softness in their voices gave way to an excited and slightly jarring scream before one of the final choruses. I walked to the south end of the park for The Growlers. Vocalist Brooks Nielsen's nasally twang was the constant as they shifted through relaxed and eclectic styles of rock.

Chiptune quartet Anamanaguci played at the shaded Google Play stage, with a recorded keyboard backing their synthy guitars. Their instrumental electro-punk would make a great soundtrack for a pixelated arcade racing game.

Yellow Ostrich's upbeat indie rock was made slightly more diverse by drummer Michael Tapper's focus on clean drum sounds (no snare buzz) and rattling auxiliary percussion. Alex Schaaf began one song by creating a slightly off-putting guitar loop, which he managed to fit a pleasant vocal melody over before the instruments transitioned into their usual style.

Back at the north end of the park, The Black Angels vamped on heavy southern blues rock as vocalist Alex Maas shook a tambourine and sang with a slight Southern accent and a bit of vibrato. The guitars were dirty when loud, and psychedelic when soft or soloing. They touched on standard blues progressions with choppy, reverb-soaked guitar.

Tame Impala

Tame Impala's floating melodies are vaguely similar to a variety of classic rock and pop bands, but their choice of tone obscures it in a psychedelic haze. They performed their hard swinging new single "Elephant", which twists through strange transitions in what is definitely their most complex and heavy work yet, though it did not sound as thick as the recording. There were some minor technical difficulties - Kevin Parker's guitar seemed to short out and he mentioned that he thought one of his pedals was melting (presumably the electronics inside), though his tone remained similar to their recordings.

Perry's electronic stage, upgraded from it's previous tent status, was packed all day with mainstream electronic offerings. Considering the bass dropped every time I walked by, it was fitting that SBTRKT's set took place at the Google Play stage instead, with their chilled tones - largely created live on keyboards - and varied rhythms, which were often played on drums by producer Aaron Jerome. Sampha contributed vocals throughout the set.

Passion Pit

Though they cancelled a few shows, Passion Pit returned to Chicago to play a club show at House of Blues and a set at Lolla on Friday. Frontman Michael Angelakos appeared in good spirits as he greeted the crowd. They opened with the pulsing drums and bold synth of "Take a Walk," which sounded like a near-reproduction of the recording. I then traversed the festival grounds to catch The Shins, who were in fine form. They took some songs a slower pace than I anticipated. James Mercer embellished some of his vocals when he wasn't accompanied by lead guitarist Jessica Dobson's singing.

Five minutes prior to Black Sabbath's set, Ozzy Osbourne's laugh was heard over the PA, followed by sounds of rain. Unfortunately, what followed were only videos of the band and brief samples of their music. Ozzy was heard once again, and the curtain raised for three-fourths of the original Black Sabbath to play classic doom metal piece "Black Sabbath". It was slightly slower than Ozzy seemed to want to take it, hedging ahead at times. His cries of "Oh no, God, please help me" were convincing enough, though I'm not sure he could ever recreate the terror in his voice that was first heard over 40 years ago, especially in sobriety.

Ozzy played harmonica throughout "The Wizard", and urged the crowd to clap during the time-shifting "Behind the Wall of Sleep," saying, "Come on, you fuckers!" They wrapped up their Black Sabbath portion of the set with "NIB," beginning with Geezer Butler's wah'ed out bass. Tony Iommi played masterfully throughout, leading off the vaguely Latin sludge of "Into The Void" with precision. He used more modern sounding effects on "Electric Funeral", which were paired by Bill Ward replacement Tommy Clufetos' clicky drums. The former Alice Cooper, Ted Nugent, and Rob Zombie drummer was given a drum solo prior to "Iron Man," which he blasted through on his two bass drums. I felt this was kind of a slight to Ward, and totally unnecessary as many drum solos are, but it did hype up the crowd, who weren't loud enough for Ozzy. "I can't fucking hear you!", he screamed more than once. And that was the end of the first of three long, hot days in Chicago.

Check out Black Sabbath's setlist HERE. Check out more pictures from Day One, The Afghan Whigs, Metric, and M83 included, HERE. Pictures from Day Two are HERE. More about the fest, and day three pictures, coming soon.

photos by Sara Pieper

Passion Pit @ the House of Blues on 8/02/2012

On Thursday night (8/2) Passion Pit played a Lollapalooza pre-show at the House of Blues with support from Givers and Kishi Bashi. Were you there? How was it?

Last night's gig was one of the few unaffected by a string of recently canceled tour dates, which were pulled in order to give frontman Michael Angelakos time to improve his mental health. The group play Lollapalooza tonight (8/3) at 6PM on the "Bud Light" stage and are scheduled to DJ at Spy Bar on Saturday night.

More pictures from the House of Blues show can be found at BrooklynVegan.

Continue reading "Passion Pit, Givers & Kishi Bashi played the HoB (pics)"

Alabama Shakes @ Central Park Summerstage in June (more by Chris La Putt)

today in Chicago
* Delta Spirit, Fidlar @ Lincoln Hall
* Bear Hands, Fort Lean, Dozens @ Schubas
* Sioum, Zvoov, Rocket Miner @ Empty Bottle
* Hank, Truck or Dead Horse @ The Burlington
* The Zombies, Chris Connelly @ Mayne Stage
* Merle Haggard, Jamey Johnson @ Congress Theater
* The Catalyst, Cold Lovers, Den, Old Fuck @ Township
* Via Audio, The Daredevil Christopher Wright @ Subterranean
* Alabama Shakes, First Aid Kit, Dry The River, Filligar @ Metro
* Air Raid, They Die Screaming, Manic Scum, Biommic @ Ultra Lounge
* Slim Cessna's Auto Club, The Blind Staggers, The Harrow @ Beat Kitchen

Both Delta Spirit and Alabama Shakes play Lollapalooza-related shows tonight. There are a lot of those this week.

Passion Pit, who are headed to Chicago to play Lollapalooza and some aftershows too, have a new video for "Constant Conversations." Check it out below.

Rapper Angel Haze has a new video for "New York." Watch it below.

Divine Fits played their first-ever show at The Continental in Austin, TX last night (7/31). Check out some footage of the band playing "My Love is Real" last night, below. As mentioned, Divine Fits are set to make their Chicago debut at Schubas on August 5.

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

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Wednesday?"

Passion Pit at Governors Ball in June (more by Amanda Hatfield

The following was posted to Passion Pit's website:

Thanks to everyone for all of their love and support throughout these past couple weeks. While we're excited to see you over the next two weekends at Lollapalooza, Osheaga and Outside Lands, we're sorry to let you know that we need to postpone our upcoming weekday shows in Colorado and Salt Lake City in order for Michael to continue to improve his mental health and complete a procedure that week.

We know that this is disappointing to fans who were planning on coming to these shows, and we want you to know we're doing everything we can to try and make it up to you. In fact, we are happy to announce three rescheduled dates from last week in Charlotte/Nashville/Knoxville-- the shows will take place in September as part of our fall tour. And we'll keep you posted on Colorado/Salt Lake City as soon as we can. Please visit the TOUR PAGE for a list of all current tour dates.

We appreciate everyone's support and patience. We'll see you soon.
PP

They also DJ two shows in Chicago that weekend, including Logan Square Auditorium (8/2) and Spy Bar (8/4).

A list of all remaining dates and the stream of their new album, Gossamer, are below...

Continue reading "Passion Pit cancel more dates (Lollapalooza unaffected)"

Kelly Hogan @ Pritzker Pavilion in May (more by Zach Pollack)

today in Chicago
* Milwaukee Avenue Arts Festival (Day 3)
* Kelly Hogan, Chris Scruggs @ Hideout (Early & Late Shows)
* Mind Over Mirrors, Chris Forsyth, Zelienople @ The Burlington
* Angela James, June Brides, Spitzer Space Telescope @ Township
* Incessant Collapse, Worse Than Death, Internal Empires, Scars of Armageddon @ Ultra Lounge

Happy Sunday!

Kelly Hogan plays both an early and late show at the Hideout tonight with support from Chris Scruggs.

The Milwaukee Avenue Arts Festival finishes off tonight with performances by Al Scorch, Ana Tijoux, In Tall Buildings, and more.

Passion Pit have a great new video for "I'll Be Alright." Check it out below.

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

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Sunday?"

Twin Shadow @ BAM in May (BKLYN) (more by David Andrako)

Here is your formal welcome to festival season in Chicago. Pitchfork Fest just wrapped up, Lollapalooza is just two-weeks away, and after/side party announcements are beginning to pour in. FILTER and the Empty Bottle are taking over the Logan Square Auditorium on August 2 & 3 to host FREE parties with some pretty great lineups.

Twin Shadow (who also plays Lincoln Hall that week), Neon Indian, and Passion Pit DJs (who play a full-band set at the House of Blues) will be performing on August 2. Grimes, The Big Pink (who also play Subterranean), and THENEWN02 will be playing on August 3. Admission is free w/ RSVP (21+ only) and both events stretch until 2AM.

Lollapalooza 2012 has revealed the full schedule for their 3-day festival, set to take place from August 3-5 in Grant Park. Check it out HERE.

A bunch of official aftershows have also been announced, happening from August 1-5. Here's a number of them (more TBA, including unofficial shows):

August 1
Alabama Shakes, First Aid Kit, Dry The River, Filligar @ Metro
Delta Spirit, FIDLAR @ Lincoln Hall

August 2
Passion Pit, GIVERS, Kishi Bashi @ House of Blues
Kids These Days, Overdoz @ Schubas
Dr. Dog, Kevin Devine, The Dunwells @ Lincoln Hall
Zedd, Gus K, DJ Gordo, DJ Torio @ The Mid

August 3
Bear in Heaven, YAWN @ the Empty Bottle
NERO (DJ Set), Die Antwoord, Anamanaguchi @ Congress Theater
Frank Ocean @ Metro
tUnE-yArDs, Washed Out @ House of Blues
The Black Angels, Night Beats @ Double Door
The War on Drugs, Milo Greene @ Schubas
Blind Pilot, Kopecky Family Band @ Lincoln Hall
Porter Robinson, Madeon @ The Mid
The Growlers, JEFF the Brotherhood @ Subterranean
Paper Diamond, Minnesota @ Bottom Lounge

August 4
White Rabbits, Dum Dum Girls, Oberhofer @ Cubby Bear
Doomtree, Naledge of Kidz In The Hall @ the Empty Bottle
Zeds Dead, Big Gigantic, Midnight Conspiracy, Big Chocolate @ Congress Theater
The Afghan Whigs @ Metro
Of Monsters & Men, Yellow Ostrich @ House of Blues
Trampled By Turtles, The Devil Makes Three @ Double Door
Childish Gambino @ the Vic
The Temper Trap, Poliça @ Park West
Gary Clark Jr., LP @ Schubas
Twin Shadow @ Lincoln Hall
Calvin Harris, Nathan Scott @ The Mid
The Big Pink @ Subterranean
Bombay Bicycle Club, Hey Rosetta! @ Bottom Lounge

August 5
Chairlift w/ Alt-J @ the Empty Bottle
The Walkmen @ Lincoln Hall

As seen on BrooklynVegan, this year's Lolla lineup includes everthing hinted on the #LOLLA ads, and much more....

Continue reading "Lollapalooza 2012 lineup announced (Black Sabbath, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Shins, Passion Pit, JC Brooks, much more)"

Studio Paris, the fairly new nightclub located at 59 W. Hubbard Street, will welcome Passion Pit for a DJ set on February 1st. The upscale establishment doesn't have too many big musical performances (resident DJs aside), though Rolling Stone did host a party there during Lollapalooza 2011, which featured sets by The Drums and Delta Spirt.

Passion Pit's DJ set doesn't seem to require a ticket, but you can reserve a table.

Flyer below..

Continue reading "Passion Pit (DJs) are playing Studio Paris"