Chicago -
First in a three-part series
Celebrating Bob Dylan’s 70th birthday this week with a collection of covers by Chicago artists or by artists performing at Chicago venues over the years.
1. “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright” by the Walter Williams Band, performed at the Wild Hare. Uploaded February 19, 2011; “Walter Williams was a popular country band in Chicago circa 1979.”
Posted on May 24, 2011
By The Beachwood Rock Local Affairs Desk
You shoulda been there.
1. Tommy Stinson at the Double Door on Saturday night.
Posted on May 23, 2011
By The Beachwood Rock Local Affairs Desk
You shoulda been there.
1. The Cars at the Riv on Thursday night.
Posted on May 20, 2011
Two-Night Stand
Paul Simon played at two different venues in Chicago this week, Monday night at the Vic and Tuesday night at the Chicago Theatre. Let’s take a look.
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“In one sense, the two-hour, 24-song performance played like a mini-history of rhythm, spiraling out from the doo-wop of Simon’s native New York to West Africa down the coast to Capetown and then out to the Caribbean, into Brazil, Memphis and New Orleans,” Greg Kot wrote for the Tribune.
“His band of multi-instrumentalists was versatile enough to keep pace with Simon’s game of continental hop-scotch, the singer demonstrating how he synthesized his rhythm journeys into durable pop songs.”
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“[O]ver the course of his two-hour set he made a convincing, sometimes intriguing case for a common thread connecting not just his catalog but from his catalog to the world of music at large,” Joshua Klein wrote for Time Out Chicago.
“A cover of Jimmy Cliff’s ‘Vietnam’ segued into ‘Mother and Child Reunion,’ which was originally recorded back in 1972, in Jamaica, with Jimmy Cliff’s band.
“The accordion-driven zydeco rhythms of ‘That Was Your Mother’ were later echoed in the South African dance groove of ‘Gumboots,’ while one imagined Simon had the street corner doo wop vocals of his youth in mind when he incorporated Zulu a cappella harmonies into his ‘Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes.’
“An earlier rendition of ‘Hearts and Bones’ transitioned into Junior Parker’s ‘Mystery Train,’ slyly a song made famous by another prominent white singer borrowing from black music.”
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1. Sounds of Silence at the Vic.
Posted on May 19, 2011
You Made Us Feel Alright
After 25 years as Chicago’s reggae headquarters, The Wild Hare closed out a two-week celebratory jamboree on Sunday and shut its doors. Let’s take a look, first in words and then in video.
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“Late last Friday night, Chicagoans were streaming into the Wild Hare, a landmark reggae club in Wrigleyville,” Howard Reich wrote for the Tribune last month.
“As the band Flex Crew played its buoyant music, young men and women swayed freely on the dance floor to a joyous beat, the palpable optimism of the sounds inspiring smiles all around.
“But the fun-loving scene at the Wild Hare – which has been presenting reggae on North Clark Street for 25 years – will end May 15. That’s when Ethiopian owner-musician Zeleke Gessesse will close his widely admired club and prepare to open a new one in his homeland.
“In essence, a major chapter in Gessesse’s life – and in reggae music in Chicago – will come to a close.”
Posted on May 18, 2011
Old-Time Rock ‘N’ Roll
Bob in Rosemont on Saturday night ; Elvis at the Chicago Theatre on Sunday night.
1. What’s so funny ’bout Purple Rain?
Posted on May 17, 2011
By The Beachwood Rock Local Affairs Desk
You shoulda been there.
1. Rise Against at the Aragon on Saturday night.
Posted on May 16, 2011
By The Beachwood Rock Local Affairs Desk
You shoulda been there.
1. Rammstein in Rosemont on Tuesday night.
Posted on May 13, 2011
By The Beachwood Rock Local Affairs Desk
“One man, one guitar, one big sound,” veteran rock scribe Greg Kot writes for the Tribune. “Neil Young orchestrated his solo concert Friday – the first of two-sold shows at the Chicago Theatre – for maximum impact. He started slow and quiet and built to a rafter-rattling finale.”
Here are some highlights from both shows.
1. Rust never sleeps.
Posted on May 10, 2011
By The Beachwood Rock Local Affairs Desk
You shoulda been there.
1. Peter Bjorn and John at Lincoln Hall on Saturday night.
Posted on May 9, 2011
