Phoenix @ NYC's Apollo Theatre in May (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

Phoenix, who are slated to perform at Lollapalooza 2013, have announced that they'll be using their festival appearance as a jumping-off point for a fall U.S. tour. That tour puts the Parisian outfit back in Chicago for a performance at UIC Pavilion on September 28. The Vaccines, who are also playing Lollapalooza, will act as main support. Tickets go on sale this Saturday (6/15) at 11AM CST. An artist presale begins this Wednesday (6/11) at 10AM.

All Phoenix dates and a couple of videos are below...

Continue reading "Phoenix playing UIC Pavilion on fall U.S. tour (dates)"

photos by Cory Dewald

Sigur Ros at UIC Pavilion on 4.02.2013

On Tuesday night (4/02), Sigur Ros brought their massive North American tour through Chicago for a performance at the UIC Pavilion. As they've been doing lately, the band played a handful of songs from their forthcoming album Kveikur (due out on 6/18) and also touched on almost every release in their catalog. Their headlining performance was heavy on 2005's Takk..., but no complaints there as "Hoppípolla," "Sæglópur," and "Glósóli" garnered ecstatic reactions from the crowd. A set of pictures from the 4/02 show at UIC Pavilion are in this post, along with a couple of videos and the full setlist.

More below...

Continue reading "Sigur Ros & Oneohtrix Point Never played UIC Pavilion ----- (pics, setlist, videos)"

Atoms for Peace @ Le Poisson Rouge last week (more by PSquared Photography)

Atoms for Peace have announced that they'll be embarking on a full-band tour this summer. Though they've got dates all over the globe, the group will kick off a U.S. run this fall. That run includes a performance at the UIC Pavilion on October 2. Tickets go on sale this Saturday (3/23) at 10AM CST. Stay tuned for a JAM Productions presale, and meanwhile, tickets go on sale via W.A.S.T.E. on Thursday (3/21) at 11AM CST.

All dates are listed below...

Continue reading "Atoms for Peace playing UIC Pavilion in October"

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)"

Sigur Ros @ Osheaga Festival 2012 (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

As discussed, Sigur Ros are touring North America throughout March // April of 2013. That tour includes a Chicago show at the UIC Pavilion on April 2. Tickets go on sale to the general public this Saturday (11/17) at 10AM CST. A Sigur Ros fan presale will be active this morning (Wednesday, November 14) at 10AM CST; the password is brennisteinn. Each ticket comes with a three-song digital EP, one of which is "Brennisteinn," of brand new material! That EP will be made available to ticket holders on March 22, 2013, just in time to drill the new material into your head for the Chicago show. In addition to Sigur Ros' fan presale, there may even be a JAM Productions presale later this week, so stay tuned.

Watch the group's new video for the Valtari track "Fjögur Píanó" below...

Continue reading "Sigur Ros tickets going on presale at 10AM CST"

Sigur Ros @ Osheaga Festival 2012 (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

Sigur Ros have announced a North American tour, which is set to take place in March and April of 2013. That tour includes a Chicago stop at the UIC Pavilion on April 2. Tickets go on sale this Saturday (11/17) at 10AM CST. Stay tuned for presale information.

At this year's Iceland Airwaves Festival, the band debuted a new song, called "Brennisteinn." Check out some live footage of that song at the bottom of this post. They've also premiered a video for Valtari's title track today via Nowness. Check out the clip over at BrooklynVegan.

All Sigur Ros tour dates and live footage of "Brennisteinn" are below...

Continue reading "Sigur Ros touring North America in 2013, playing UIC Pavilion"

photos by Ben Rodig, words by Zach Pollack

Friday night (December 9), Bon Iver played their second Chicago show of 2011, this time at the 10,000-person capacity stadium, UIC Pavilion.

English singer-songwriter Lianne La Havas got things started. Her soulful, eclectic voice was accompanied by well-arranged, finger-picked sections on an electric guitar. Song narratives, which she announced before playing each one, dealt with love, hate, and the stupidity of ex-boyfriends. With one EP (Lost & Found; Rough Trade - 2011) to her name, and a full-length in the works, I'm hard-pressed to believe that this is the last you'll be hearing of Lianne.

After a short set changeover, the 9-piece Bon Iver took the stage, launching directly into their 2011 self-titled album's percussive opener, "Perth." An ambient interlude brought the gentlemen directly into "Minnesota, WI," exactly as the record does. Frontman Justin Vernon then gripped the mic and calmly said to the massive crowd, "Hello, everyone." He said this was their first basketball stadium before introducing "Towers," which is apparently about college basketball (Was this taken into account while booking the gig?)

Even under these massive conditions, the extremely talented band were able to pull off bone-chilling renditions of their recorded material. For me, this manifested most in "Michicant." There's a certain airy, hushed feel on the track - you can almost feel Vernon's breath between lines and they were able to make that happen live.

On separate occasions, we received spotlight solos from two of the band's most prolific members; violinist Rob Moose and avant-saxophonist Colin Stetson. Original (4-piece) Bon Iver-member Sean Carey (who just played a sold out, solo show at Schubas) sang on most songs from behind his drumset. At first glace, the lineup size seems excessive, but each musician brings something specific and worthy to the proverbial table. No song was played verbatim to its studio version (nor should they have been). Tracks like the already-thickly layered "Creature Fear," saw waves of searing guitars and pounding percussion.

Vernon, now on stage by himself, played For Emma, Forever Ago's final track, "re: stacks." The full band then returned for "Calgary," "Beth / Rest," and "The Wolves (Act I and II)." After a quick exit, and a few minutes of cheering from thousands of people, a three song encore of "Flume," "Skinny Love," and finally "For Emma," which Vernon said was for "all his old-time peeps in the audience," was had.

It's pretty clear that the now-Grammy nominated Vernon has been grappling with fame lately, but he hasn't lost one ounce of his charm: still just the same guy from Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

More pictures of Bon Iver's set (none of the opener unfortunately), some videos, and the setlist, below..

Continue reading "Bon Iver & Lianne La Havas @ UIC Pavilion (pics/video/setlist)"

Bon Iver @ The Long Center in Austin, TX (more by Tim Griffin)

Bon Iver are set to unveil a deluxe version of their 2011 self-titled LP tomorrow (11/29), via iTunes. With video accompaniment for each track by Dan Huiting, Isaac Gale, David Jensen, JoLynn Garnes, Ryan Thompson, Andre Durand, and Justin Vernon himself, the visual components breathe new life into the music behind it. As Jagjaguwar points out, you can purchase just the short films, or the entire deluxe version. Preview two clips below.

As previously announced, Bon Iver plays the UIC Pavilion on December 9th with support from Lianne La Havas. Tickets are still available.

Head below for all 2011/12 tour dates..

Continue reading "Bon Iver to release a deluxe version of their self-titled LP ------- (tix still on sale for UIC Pavilion show)"

Bon Iver @ Chicago Theatre in July (more by Grant MacAllister)

Just this morning, Bon Iver have announced that they'll hit the road once again, for a short December tour. Included in the four night run will be a December 9th performance at the UIC Pavilion.

Pre-sale tickets will be available from 10AM to 10PM tomorrow (Friday, 10/7).
Password: calgary
Tickets go on sale to the general public this Saturday (10/8), at 10AM CST.

All dates can be found below.

Continue reading "Bon Iver playing UIC Pavilion on short December tour (dates)"

words by Holly Grey

Ben Gibbard @ UIC Pavilion - 8/25/2011 (photo by vladkomp)

Frightened Rabbit opened the evening at UIC Pavilion last night (8/25), playing to an astonishingly huge crowd. They played an energetic set, heavy on selections from 2008's The Midnight Organ Fight and highlighting a few songs from their latest release The Winter of Mixed Drinks from last year. Their harmonies were solid, instrumentations lush, and they charmed the crowd with Scottish inflected stories between songs. By the end of their set, they had the crowd singing and clapping along with them as they closed out their portion of the evening.

Death Cab For Cutie took the stage to the deafening cheers of the crowd, and immediately launched into the long form version of "I Will Possess Your Heart," the stage dark and the members bathed in red. The set was filled with old favorites, the band even reached back to 2000's We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes to play the two-part "Company Calls" and "Company Calls Epilogue". The newer songs were played with enthusiasm, and the clean sound of the recordings on this year's Codes and Keys was reflected in the performance. After years of playing in Chicago, (their club shows to much smaller crowds) it was a relief to find that rather than falling flat in the huge room, they rose magnificently to the occasion and filled the space with a huge sound. They wound their way through the songs, leaving very little time for talking. Ben Gibbard spoke briefly of his sore throat, explaining the small bottle of olive oil that was perched on his speaker cabinet, and which he sipped intermittently throughout the evening.

None of the members played a back seat in the performance. As Ben Gibbard's crisp vocals danced over the familiar melodies, Chris Walla worked a veritable instrument station creating soundscapes and beautiful supplementation to the music alongside his gorgeously crafted harmonies. Nick Harmer, on bass, was dynamic and engaging to watch, his bass lines reverberating through the room. Jason McGerr was on top form all night, the highlight of his performance coming toward the end of the evening when he and Gibbard drummed simultaneously in what was easily the most engaging drum jam I have ever heard.

The set, overall, was a perfect blend of old and new. The newer songs were elevated to a new place in this context where you could truly see how they fit into the overarching career of this band. The songs from Codes and Keys felt mature and progressive for them, but never felt out of place or inorganic. A set crafted, clearly, by a band that knows what it means to pull together a decade's worth of material together into one.

After a nearly hour and a half long set, the band returned to close out the evening with a bone-rattling version of "Transatlanticism," and left the stage with guitars still ringing in our ears.

Head below to view Death Cab's 22-song setlist..

Continue reading "Death Cab For Cutie, & Frightened Rabbit played UIC Pavilion (review, setlist)"

STREAM: Death Cab For Cutie - "Home Is A Fire" (MP3)

Death Cab For Cutie have a lot to keep up with lately; so we'll start from the beginning...

First thing's first, their seventh LP Codes and Keys comes out on May 31st via Atlantic Records. In support of the LP, they'll hit the road for a string of club dates dubbed, the Underplay Tour.

This coming Friday, the indie rock-mainstays will spend their second night of tour at the way sold-out Metro. As per much of these club dates, The Lonely Forest will open.

Following the Underplay Tour, is a larger set of North American dates with the likes of Frightened Rabbit. Initially lacking a Chicago date, they've just announced that they'll make a stop at the UIC Pavilion (who recently hosted Arcade Fire / The National) on August 25th. Tickets for the show go on sale Saturday, May 21st at 10AM CST.

Stream the album track, "Home Is A Fire" at the top of this post, then head below to view its music video plus all 2011 tour dates.

Continue reading "Death Cab For Cutie announced UIC Pavilion date w/ Frightened Rabbit, playing Metro this Friday"

photos by Josh Darr

On Sunday night (4/24) Arcade Fire, and The National played their second of three UIC Pavilion shows.

The National started the night off with as always, a passionate, and engaging set. Arcade Fire's Richard Reed Perry joined the band for "Afraid Of Everyone" and "Conversation 16". He, and Aaron Dessner recently worked together on Little Scream's debut LP The Golden Record. Touching on tracks from their expansive catalog, not just their latest release High Violet, The National slid in comfortably to round out the bill.

On the heels of their extraordinary headlining set at Coachella, Arcade Fire took the stage at UIC Pavilion to face a sold-out, Chicago crowd. Kicking off their set with the powerful "Month of May", the GRAMMY-toting group quickly commanded the crowd's full attention. Digging back to 2007's Funeral, the canucks then whipped out the classic "Rebellion (Lies)", complemented by Win Butler's introductory jaunt into the audience. With much recent practice to speak of, Arcade Fire have truly perfected their stadium show.

Head below to view more pictures, and the 4/24 setlist(s).

Continue reading "Arcade Fire, and The National played UIC Pavilion (Night 2 pics & setlist)"

The National @ Milk during NYC's Fashion Week 2011 (more by Chris Gersbeck)

The National are at it again. This morning they have premiered their new video for the epic "Conversation 16", off of last year's much celebrated High Violet LP. You can view the new video below. As far as upcoming Chicago dates, they'll play three sold out shows at the UIC Pavilion April 22nd, 24th, and 25th supporting Arcade Fire.

Continue reading "The National premier video for "Conversation 16""

OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD. Thank you EVERYONE. - arcadefire

Arcade Fire Grammy Awards ad

Arcade Fire just won "Album of The Year" at the Grammys. STRANGE.

The Black Keys also took home a Grammy (to Akron, OH) for best alt-album.

Arcade Fire & The National play the UIC Pavilion April 22, 24, and 25. The 24th and 25th are now SOLD OUT. Tickets are still available for the 22nd, get them asap it will sell out.