Moon King @ BV-SXSW 2013 (more by Sarah Frankie Linder)

As discussed, The Thermals will roll into Chicago tonight (Thursday, May 16) on their North American tour in support of Desperate Ground. They'll be headlining Lincoln Hall with support from Chicago's great Bare Mutants and Toronto duo Moon King (ex-Doldrums). Advance tickets for tonight's show are still available.

Moon King play a couple of shows with The Thermals this week, including Chicago tonight, and then will wrap their month-long North American tour. They'll also play a few shows at North by Northeast in their native Toronto next month.

All known Moon King tour dates and a couple of song streams are below...

Continue reading "Bare Mutants & Moon King opening for The Thermals at Lincoln Hall (tonight!)"

Tickets for The Thermals' May 16 show at Lincoln Hall go on sale today (3/22) at noon CST.

Tickets for Devendra Banhart's May 31 show at Park West go on sale this Saturday (3/23) at 10AM CST.

Tickets for Baths' June 7 show at Metro go on sale today at noon.

Tickets for Atoms for Peace's October 2 show at UIC Pavilion go on sale this Saturday at 10AM. A JAM Productions presale is currently active; the password is amok.

The Thermals @ BV-SXSW 2013 (more by Sarah Frankie Linder)

The Thermals, who played an insanely fun set at a BrooklynVegan SXSW day party last week, have just added a performance at Lincoln Hall on May 16 to their North American tour schedule. Tickets for the Chicago show will go on sale this Friday (3/22) at noon CST. All dates can be found at the bottom of this post.

The trio are also gearing up for the release of their new album, Desperate Ground, which is due out on April 16 via their new home Saddle Creek Records. You may have already heard the album's fire-starting lead single "Born to Kill," but you're welcome to check out their brand new, bloody video for the track along with their full 2013 tour schedule below...

Continue reading "The Thermals add Lincoln Hall show to tour, prepping new LP"

photos by Matt Ziegler, words by Zach Pollack

Hum @ A.V. Fest

Saturday (9/10) afternoon, the A.V. Club's inaugural A.V. Fest kicked off in a block party style setup, steps from Hideout.

I arrived about halfway through Chicago-based band Like Pioneers' set and enjoyed what I heard of their careful mix of indie and roots rock. The small, early crowd was mostly milling about grabbing lunch from the gourmet food trucks inside of the fest, and actively searching for a shady spot to park it. It wasn't until Maritime started to play around 2:30PM, that the festival grounds became hoppin'.

Maritime was formed in 2003 out of the ashes of two beloved bands: The Dismemberment Plan and The Promise Ring, but rather than just repeating their past, the group bring forth some infectious indie pop with a slight dance-y tinge to it. With only six bands on each day, A.V. Fest is able to both stack the lineup full of amazing acts, and give each band a full hour or more on stage. Toting 4LPs and 1EP to their name, Maritime were able to make great use of the large chunk of time they had been given. The crowd grew larger and larger as their set went on, and everyone watching appeared to be very into it (myself included).

Up next was the Clem Snide frontman Eef Barzelay playing a set of mostly Journey covers, fashioned in his own way. To preface this very strange sounding happening, note that Barzelay previously covered Journey's 1983 power ballad "Faithfully" for A.V. Club's 'Undercover' series. Though I can't say I was really interested in the Journey aspect of things, his smooth voice really carried the performance through for me. He played some of his own songs too, all on a ukulele.

In a major turn of mood, genre, and mostly volume, Chicago's Disappears, who also played Lollapalooza this summer, were next (complete with semi-recent addition Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth on drums to help fill out their massive sound). They blend shoegaze and garage rock like no other, featuring the shouting vocal stylings of frontman Brian Case (ex-90 Day Men/The Ponys). Their face-melting, tight-as-could-be set went by so quickly that I didn't even realize an hour or so had passed. The band's most recent LP Guider, came out this past January via Chicago's Kranky Records. Stay tuned for what these guys have in store for the future. They are not a band to miss.

The Thermals

Hutch, Kathy, and Westin, formally known as The Thermals began their knock out set at 7PM last night. They began by playing their awesome 2010 record Personal Life from start to finish, then hitting the crowd with a few b-sides, followed by some older tracks. The power trio cranked out every ounce of energy they had in order to make their set memorable and exciting. The musicianship of all three members really shone through, especially when just about the entire crowd was moving to their songs. Before jumping into their last song of the set, frontman Hutch Harris told the crowd how psyched they were to play right before Hum, and shortly after, that's exactly what we got.

After watching stagehands load massive amps and gear, the reunited Hum took to the stage at 8:30PM. The Champaign band have been pretty quiet for 10 years, but Chicago is spoiled. Hum returned at the beginning of 2009 for a couple of reunion shows at Double Door and then again in 2010 to play a free Memorial Day show in Millennium Park - a big treat for Chicagoians then, and now (let's keep the yearly tradition going!). Formed in 1989, Hum bring 90s alternative rock and post-hardcore to the table and are still good at it. The band sounded full and tight, while the massive crowd ate up every note that poured out of the speakers. No word on if the band will do a full reunion tour like Pavement and Sunday fest headliners Archers of Loaf, (review coming soon), but they did play High Dive one night before A.V Fest, and they'll be playing at Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin in November.

Hum's two Illinois show setlists and more pictures from most of Saturday, below...

Continue reading "A.V. Fest Day 1 in pics & review (Hum, The Thermals, Disappears, Eef Barzelay, Maritime & more)"

"Screw it, we're doing a music festival too" is what appeared across the headline of the A.V. Club's website earlier this evening.

The festival; dubbed simply A.V. Fest will take place on September 10th & 11th in the same outdoor space as the Hideout Block Party (Wabansia Ave. & Elston Ave.).

The two-day festival will feature 12 bands in total, 5 of which are Archers of Loaf, The Thermals, Tokyo Police Club, Eef Barzelay of Clem Snide, and Telekinesis.

If you're capable of basic math, that means there are 7 more acts to be revealed, "...over the next couple of weeks, as well as ticket information (short answer: SUPER cheap)."

Well..you've heard them, stay tuned (preferably right here!) for any and all developments.

photos by Grant MacAllister

Yo La Tengo

Green Music Fest took place over the weekend, featuring headlining sets from Yo La Tengo, The Thermals, and Les Savy Fav.

Surrounding the festival, The Thermals played the Vic with Matt & Kim, Yo La Tengo DJed a taco shop; and followed suit with Les Savy Fav in playing a festival aftershow at Subterranean.

Les Savy Fav pics are forthcoming, but you can check out some shots of The Thermals, and Yo La Tengo at Green Music Fest below..

Continue reading "Yo La Tengo & The Thermals played Green Music Fest (pics)"

FRIDAY
Green Music Fest kicks off in Wicker Park, and lasts through Sunday.

Junior Boys, and Miracle Fortress are playing Metro.

Givers, Pepper Rabbit, and 1,2,3 are playing Schubas.

Chicago's own Chaperone will headline Beat Kitchen, with support from Whisker Music, The Ragtones, and Natalie Grace Alford.

White Mystery, BBU, and Vamos are playing the Viaduct Theatre.

Taste of Chicago kicks off this weekend, with various events happening through July 3rd.

Geoff Farina (of Karate) kicks off his Friday residency at The Whistler.

Avicii, Yolanda Be Cool, and Moguai are playing the Congress Theater.

SATURDAY
Les Savy Fav, and Big Science will play Subterranean.

Puro Instinct, John Maus, and Geneva Jacuzzi will play the Empty Bottle.

Matt & Kim, The Thermals, and Autobot will play the Vic.

Burning Love, Gaza, and All Pigs Must Die are playing a Scion A/V presented show at the Double Door. RSVP (21+) for free entry.

The Whistler presents: L'Orchestre Super Vitesse, Rabble Rabble, and Thin Hymns at the IL Centennial Monument in Logan Square. This is a FREE show; no RSVP necessary.

SUNDAY
Califone, and Bloodiest will play a FREE; 4PM show at the IL Centennial Monument in Logan Square. RSVP (All Ages) for entry. Later on, they'll play the Empty Bottle.

Yo La Tengo will play Subterranean.

Matt & Kim will spend a second night at the Vic, this time with The Hood Internet.

The Chicago Pride Fest Parade starts at noon on Halsted Street, and goes from Belmont Ave. to Fullerton Parkway. Berlin will host the official afterparty.

Distractions play a FREE; 5PM in-store at Reckless Records - Wicker Park.

Group Doueh will play the Old Town School of Folk Music.

Dark Star Orchestra will play Park West.

Matt & Kim @ Webster Hall 10/27/2010 (more by Jessica Amaya)

Tonight, JAM Productions has announced three new shows coming to Chicago that all go on sale this Saturday (March 5th) at 10AM.

There's Matt & Kim/The Thermals at the Vic on June 25th, (they'll also play Terminal 5 in NYC together), KT Tunstall (solo) at Park West on April 17th, and the "IAMDONALD TOUR:" coming to Park West on May 18th, featuring Donald Glover and Childish Gambino.
All tickets can be purchased here.