We received this rant from one of our friends the morning after Lebron’s “Decision.”  Quite prophetic, like the ESPN.com article Hunter Thompson wrote the morning of 9/11. But enough of the heavy talk.  We felt we had to post this, as everything that’s going to be said about Lebron and his new frenemies (for now) has been said.  But here it is, before anyone actually said it, in a format American readers have a hard-on for.  List format.- CBBFestival.com Editor

D. Tello

Let me start his off by saying that my interest in the NBA in a post-Jordan world has been the same as that of college lacrosse: I’ll pay attention if NOTHING else is on, it is the finals, or a tragedy has occurred. Then, as LeBron started this narcissistic venture that made A-Rod and Tiger look self-aware, rational, and humble, I started to tell my friends 2 things: (1) I hope the Bulls do not get Bron-Bron so no attention is diverted from the Blackhawks, and (2) if he does not sign with the Bulls or Cavaliers, I will never watch the NBA again.

I now take the latter back.  I find myself more into the NBA now than I have since the first week of the Jordan-Wizards debacle.  Why? BECAUSE I F*CKING HATE LEBRON JAMES.  LeBron James just went from loved-superstar to villain faster than Kanye West at an award show.  Mark my words: LeBron’s self-raping of his image may end up the best thing that ever happened to the NBA.  Why?

Americans love to hate.  As much as we love our heros, we hate our villains more.

If LeBron lands in Cleveland on “Decision” night, I don’t end up watching the NBA until the next time Kobe’s in the Finals, taking 1 step closer to Jordan as I wipe away tears with my “Repeat the 3-peat” t-shirt.  With LeBron in Miami, I will now follow the Heat like a Tea-Party member follows Obama.

Obviously, this is a terrible thing for LeBron’s brand/marketing/image/children.  If you wear a LeBron jersey, and you do not live in Miami, you are an asshole.  And apparently not afraid of showing it.

On the contrary, here are the top 5 reasons I think this is great for the NBA:

5. LeBron’s suicide has made the NBA’s best player, Kobe, go from a hated, alleged-sexual-predator, to an adored superstar.  Kobe has to be loving this.  I, like many others (especially in Chicago), hated Kobe up until a couple weeks ago.  Now I find myself saying stuff like “Kobe cares about winning, LeBron only cares about image… and he is just as bad at managing his image as he is at winning (ah-oh).”  If Kobe was A-Rod pre-2010 Free Agency, he is now Jeter. He represents what we like from our superstars – caring more about winning than anything else.  So, NBA, rejoice.  Because when the Lakers go on to win their 6th NBA title this year, Kobe will be hailed a hero rather than someone people loathe having to compare to Jordan.

4. Chris Bosh somehow became a superstar without playing any games.  In the NBA, usually one had to win a Championship or at least an MVP to become a superstar. Chris Bosh has not come close to either.  This can only lead me to conclude that the people that surround Chris Bosh are geniuses.  I imagine his agent/publicist had this conversation with Bosh sometime in June, “Chris, when free agency comes along follow around D-Wade and LeBron like you are equals and no matter what sign on the same team as at least one of them.  If you do this, we can pull the Jedi-mind-trick on all of America and have them believe you are a superstar just like them.”  This plan totally worked.  Bosh’s “team” is the anti-Lebron’s “team.”  Seriously, who has actually seen Bosh play a game in the NBA? He was on the Raptors… in Canada.  This dude went from a guy who comes off the bench in an All-Star game to Tim Duncan circa-2005 without playing a game.  Impressive.  NBA, ESPN is still waiting for its gift-basket for manufacturing you a superstar.

3. NBA has tapped into a new fan-base; Reality-TV fans.  This entire process has teetered into that same world that Reality-TV does:  Reality mixed with editing and partial-scripts.  I just can’t wait for LeBron and Wade’s first drunk hook-up…

2. The Miami Heat have become the most hateable sports team in recent memory.  If you multiplied the hate that sports fans have for Duke, Notre Dame, and the Yankees all together, it would equal 1/2 the hate that all non-Miamians now have for the Heat (side note: I think Miami fans have every right and should be incredibly excited about their team).  The good news for the NBA is that hated teams get watched just as much by their loyal-haters as they do by their loyal-fans.  That is why NBC still carries all of Notre Dame’s home games, and ESPN carries more Duke and Yankees games than all other college basketball and MLB teams combined.  Additionally, LeBron has entered the exclusive level of hated superstar that was previously only occupied by Barry Bonds.  And he didn’t need ‘roids, cheating, perjury, or a chick’s voice to get there. Someone check to see if Pedro Gomez is booked to follow LeBron around next season.  (side note: Pedro Gomez is a clone of 2006 American Idol winner, Taylor Hicks).

1. The Cleveland Cavaliers have reached that level of underdog lovability that is normally reserved for Cinderella-story teams in the NCAA tournament.  Think Bryce Drew’s ’98 Valpo team, Stephon Curry’s ’08 Davidson team, Gonzaga at the turn of the century, and Butler and N. Iowa this past season.  The Cavs have sorta become the modern-day, professional-sports version of the “Hoosiers” from fictional Hickory, IN and the Cavs awesome owner, Dan Gilbert, is like our very own Gene Hackman (Coach Dale in “Hoosiers”).  Now if the Cavs could just find their very own Jimmy Chitwood, a drunk Dennis Hopper, and their own version of the “picket-fence” play to run against Miami next season…

It’s always a boisterous bunch that attends a Chicago show by The Brian Jonestown Massacre.

This last one at the Metro, on the Sunday night of Memorial Day weekend, was no exception. BJM plays to a niche audience indeed, but within that niche they can reach demigod-like status that surprises those unfamiliar with the group.

For the most part BJM brings to the table – and has for about 15 years – a brand of edgy, yet mostly traditional, psychedelic rock that has its roots in the mind-altered attitude & energy of the 60’s. Yet the following they have received is not “hippy’ish” in anyway, the people at BJM shows come to rock n’ roll, not to celebrate love. There was a heightened enthusiasm in the crowd that was hard not to feed off of. (Luckily that energy didn’t spill over into an intense fight between spectators, which occurred the last time they played Chicago.)

BJM mostly stuck to that which they have become very well known for, actually steering clear of all the music from their last album (more on this later). They opened with “Super Sonic”, letting the crowd get very used to a dreamy drone-like guitar tone produced by Antwon, the lead singer, continually strumming on 3 guitar strings. Then the swift beat, vocals, tambourine, bass and multiple guitars all surface – but the drone does not cease. BJM leaned heavy upon these hallucinatory whirrs, giving their music a heavy surreal base – upon which they gladly build wonderful rock songs. Yet this technique is not one to be suggested to many bands, for it usually results poorly. But like some sort of weird batting stance that you let slide because the guy can hit – BJM is repeatedly successful in this trippy musical technique.

The Massacre played a lot of their material off of “Strung out in Heaven” and “Give it Back.” Those songs showcase BJM’s ability to create music with ever-present wailing guitars that are put aside a strutting rock n’ roll rhythm section, that sometimes emerges from or into hallucinatory effects. They really shinned on their song “Got my Eye on You”, where their energy really hit a crescendo, and the background talking added by tambourine player Joel Gion created for an kick-ass sonic effect which was verified by an immediate spike in the excitement of the audience. “Not if you were the last Dandy on earth” was another quickly paced song in which BJM really seemed to click and delivered the goods like the weathered pros that they are.

One thing that was conspicuously absent from this show was songs off of BJMs latest album, “Who Killed Sgt Pepper?” – which was a detour of sorts in that it is comprised of mostly electronically-influenced, “rave’ier”, pysch music. Yet it was also a stunning album with a number of stirring songs. True, the full band present on stage may not have been involved in all the recordings of that album, but some of them were… Needless to say it was perplexing and disappointing not to hear how those songs, different as they may be for the band, would have been played and sounded this evening at the Metro. It also marks the first time I have witnessed a band disregard their latest material in a large live show. But then again – it is BJM, and I shouldn’t be surprised at being surprised by them, by now.

Notwithstanding that absence of their freshest material, this show was still a triumph of psychedelic rock n’ roll. The Brian Jonestown Massacre has a way of being unpredictably consistent that few bands can pull off. The sincerity of their rock n’ roll aura, the depth of their desire for a mind-altered state, is tangible when you absorb their live show. It’s why they are one of the most-respected and followed bands – that most haven’t heard of.

By Sean Brna

Sean.brna@OurVinyl.com

*this true yarn has been republished, and originally appeared as part of National Lampoon/Rivalfish’s official coverage of Bonnaroo ‘06

by Tello Real

In June 2006, Rivalfish traveled to the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival to explore the connection between music and sports — from the perspectives of both fans and performers. Our findings are dedicated to Hunter S. Thompson aka Dr. Gonzo aka Raul Duke, who never passed on an opportunity to cover sports, music, or social change, especially when they all landed in the same story.

Major League Baseball’s Access to the Show competition at MLB’s Authentic Collection batting cages was going to be a real hoot, as we say in the world of Subterranean Homesick Sports Journalism. A bunch of atrophied musicians taking their crack at fifteen dirty yellow cage balls flung their way at a brisk 55 mph in the pleasantly branded batting cages MLB plopped backstage. I’d seen more graceful casket-droppings than I was sure to see with this legion of people who are actually cool enough in the eyes of the opposite sex to never have to worry about being good at sports.

Nonetheless, these artists were tasked with picking up a bat in the sweltering Tennessee heat and swinging away for another obnoxious promotion their manager annoyed them into attending. No line drives, shots to the gap, or even hard grounders were expected to occur in these Authentic Collection cages any time soon.

But MLB knew this. That’s why they decided to score the contest on mere ball/bat contact. How-many-times-my-bat-hit-the-ball/How-many-times-the-machine-flung-the-ball-sortafast-at-my-bat. Easy math.

In the end, an expected-but-still-hilarious stat emerge.  0-for-15 for every one of those endomorphic Bonnaroo-performing hippies and hipsters, with the exception of the only three real men of the rotten group: Phil Pollard of Band of Humans, Vince Amico of Moe, and Jeremy Plog of Jackie Greene. I could have told you from Day 1 that those three would either foul off or make good contact with all fifteen of those heaters. And they sure as hell did.

But that story was flatter than my seventh grade girlfriend’s brother. I needed to use my Access to the Show to answer a much bigger question: Why are there so few Jews in Major League Baseball and why are Jews unanimously viewed to be the least athletic of the world’s Believers? Who better to ask than Bonnaroo’s authority on All Things Jewish: Lewis “You Remember Me From The Daily Show” Black.

As I should have expected, Lewis Black further perpetuated the terrible stereotype that Jews couldn’t hit, pich, or punt themselves out of mandatory military service if their lives depended on it. I had asked him the eternal question backstage at Bonnaroo’s comedy tent, and he had bluntly responded, “You already know the answer, you’re a Jew. Jews aren’t good at anything.”

A simple “no” would have sufficed, but why was it? Did the ego-deflating generalization stem from some kind of evidence showing Jews lack the physiological or mental wiring to compete at the highest level of athletics? Or maybe their athletic ineptitude stems from the fact that Jewish families traditionally push academics, rather than athletics, to their little Iras, Aris, and Sols?

“But I won’t get on the Prom Court or ever have a girl like me,” their little mensches must surely wail, Wall-style.

“But you’ll be dating a supermodel when you’re President of Talent Development at MGM after you’ve gotten your MBA at Dartmouth and your Law degree at Stanford by the age of 26,” Mr. and Mrs. Hinklestein surely must reply.

But whatever the root of the unathletic stereotype, we can’t blame Mr. Black. My question was ridiculous. He had to counter with a laugher. He has a career to further and a family to feed. He’s trained in the art of being the funniest in the conversation at all times. However, a large part of me wishes he didn’t have to go publicly set back his own people further than anyone without a side-part and a thing for tall blondes in the past hundred years.

To be honest, I had given up on my quest to answer this age old debate after my encounter with that Bigot Black. But then this gem below arrived in my inbox. Though I had been there to cover it, I had apparently missed the moment of Chosen Person Vindication while “covering” my lungs with a helping of cash crop or a set of hand-painted hippie boobs with my eyes. Look and you will see…….

This is not a doctored photograph. This photograph was taken by the esteemed Brad Hodge of the Nashville City Paper at the aforementioned MLB Authentic Collection batting cages.

All the stories of Jewish athletic success in the world weren’t going to answer my question and certainly weren’t going to change the existing stereotype. We needed a picture to act as a symbol. A symbol comprised of two smaller symbols: An Hasidic Jewish man with traditional facial hair symbolizing “utmost devotion to the Jewish religion,” and an attempt to hit a round ball with a rounded surface, symbolizing “the hardest thing to do in sports.”

While papers and novels and essays get skimmed, paintings and pictures get remembered. Take The Bible, for instance. I hear it’s got a lot of good stuff for people of many religions, but I bet neither you nor I can quote much of it from memory, or give me a list of the Books in order. But I bet you can picture, draw, and label DaVinci’s Last Supper with your eyes closed and whiskey on your breath. My grandma made up this saying once, “a picture’s worth a thousand words.” Well this picture of Matthew “Matisyahu”(Hebrew for gift of God) Miller with the Prayer Strings of his Tzizit-Tallit Katan dangling from beneath his traditional white tennis polo is worth thousands of years of redemption from Religious persecution. And you better f*cking believe there’s a Kippah under that snazzy helmet as his peyot sway with every swing.

Not since the photograph of Rosa Parks sitting on the front of the bus, as a white man sits behind her and tries oh so hard to look unaffected as he peers beyond the horizon, has a photograph so utterly represented profound social change. Now, when people think Jewish Athleticism, they’ll forever conjure this picture of Matis. And it’s hard to argue that Matisyahu’s emblematic swing would bring anything short of an opposite-field two-bagger on the field of play. Jewish children will no longer feel like they have to become really rich to make up for their lack of field-savvy, looks, or machismo. The stereotype is soon to be dead forever. Thank you, Matisyahu. Transforming a Societal Ill with one swing of the aluminum is more noteworthy than any on-field accomplishment by anyone not-named Jackie Robinson.

And for that, he should get laid. I know girlsl. Matisyahu will surely shun the advances of any converted athlete-groupie, no longer a slave to the excess he enjoyed while traveling the country as a middle-class suburban dreadheaded Phish Phan. Thanks to his conversion to the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic community, he is now a clean and sober and happily married man, supposedly unmoved by even the best set of Emo, Hippie, or Jersey-Chaser Cans. Therefore, he’ll do something for you Chasers that you’ve needed done for a long time: He’ll help you rediscover your faith. He’ll pick you up off your knees, wipe off your chin, and bring you home to Mommy and Step-Daddy. He may even do for your what a Hasidic Rabbi in Washington Square Park once did for him, and bring you over to the Chosen Side.  We can only hope. L’Chaim!

Crowds formed early last night at a sold-out Metro for male/female duo, Sleigh Bells, who opened for fellow Brooklyn-ites and highly anticipated headliner, Yeasayer.

The lights went down as Sleigh Bells’ Derek Miller took the stage hardly visible in dark pants and a hoodie. The sound of church bells clanged and echoed throughout the venue before lead singer, Alexis Krauss, emphatically made her presence known. They opened with the new single off their debut album Treats (due out in May), “Tell ‘Em”, packed with screeching guitar riffs and thundering beats that mimic heavy artillery being launched, offset by soft vocals. “Beach Girls” followed with a hip-hop hook, while “Infinity Guitars” provided crunchy chords and nonsense lyric shouted almost angrily at the audience. This similar style continued with “A/B Machines”, comparable to a glitch hop club banger, complete with distorted drums, siren guitars, and a loudly exclaimed mantra: “Got my A machines on the table! Got my B machines in the drawer!” Alexis’ in-your-face performance failed to disappoint. While their music vibrated chest-deep, she seduced the crowd, daring all of us to look away, twirling and flailing around violently on stage. If the crowd wasn’t convinced at this point, she shocked them into submission as she about climbed on the speakers and let out shrill banshee-like shrieks over ripping guitar chords and an ever-present thumping. Their set concluded with the more popular, “Crown on the Ground”, recognizable by its epic loudness and its deliberate push to speaker-blowing audio extremes. The song helped solidify the duo’s performance and their unfaltering energy, bringing the crowd’s enthusiasm to a crescendo during this final number. Minor technical difficulties aside, the outlook for Sleigh Bells is more than promising and I think it’s safe to say we can expect great things from them.

Yeasayer’s performance was undeniably electrifying. The three core members, Chris Keating, Anand Wilder and Ira Wolf Tuton, appeared on stage in clashing wardrobes, with Wilder in what appeared to be a patterned robe, Keating in a classic preppy ensemble and Tuton in loose-fitting tank. Offbeat threads, however, couldn’t distract the audience from their hypnotic three-part harmony. Spacey synths and 80s pop drums, layered over added electronic chatter, flowed together seamlessly throughout the group’s falsetto-heavy songs. But it’s too difficult to simplify the band’s sound – a far cry from their fellow indie rockers. The bands repertoire included songs like “O.N.E.”, taking on a more jam band-y feel and “Strange Reunions”, utilizing global influences; to more lulling and almost misty numbers, “Love Me Girl” and “Madder Red”. Watching these principle members, standing atop illuminated platforms, contributing varying vocals and instrumentals to the band’s set wasn’t dissimilar to a Blue Man Group performance – delectable to both the eyes and ears. Fan favorite, “Ambling Alp” – an upbeat number complete with tween pop-like lyrics – proved to be a fitting wrap to their eclectic set. The performance could be described as colorful in every sense of the word, but most prominent overall was this dynamic group’s ability to flawlessly blend all of their sounds that emanated from the stage that night into what could only be recounted as a dreamy, emotive swell.

Review By: Alison Lato

Yeasayer- www.yeasayer.net

Sleigh Bells – www.myspace.com/sleighbellsmusic

1) We are giving away 2 tickets and giving away 2 tickets at ½ price to the SHPONGLE @ Kinetic Playground and night show  comin’ up Thursday May, 6^th. If you haven’t heard about Friday’s show yet, here’s the link:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=271344477683&ref=ts

2) 05/06 – Shpongle featuring VJ Zebbler & ArcheDream for Humankind w/ HEYOKA, The Earsmiths, Dojo vs. Twitch & The Ancient Astronaut.
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=271344477683&ref=ts

Anyway, here’s how the contest works. Make sure you read the entire message before jumping the gun on anything!

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Here is the way to enter the contest::::

Invite as many of your friends as you can to join the CULTURE FREQUENCY PAGE:http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/The-Culture-Frequency/101473149895561?ref=ts

AND

Invite as many of your friends as you can to join the Chicago Bluegrass  & Blues Festival Fan Page
http://www.facebook.com/#!/cbbfestival?ref=ts

*********IMPORTANT********
After selecting all of your friends, but BEFORE you actually click “invite” you must take a screenshot of the window that you are selecting your friends in. In the top right corner of this box there is a number that indicates how many friends you have selected. This is vital for us to know that you actually did the invites and how many you are sending out.

You must take this screenshot image and e-mail it to shayna.gladstone@gmail.com Wednesday  May 5th by 5pm!

If you are unfamiliar with screenshots, here’s a quick and easy tutorial on how to do them:

WINDOWS: http://graphicssoft.about.com/cs/general/ht/winscreenshot.htm
MAC:
http://graphicssoft.about.com/od/screencapturemac/ht/macscreenshot.htm

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THE 2 PEOPLE TO INVITE THE MOST FRIENDS TO BOTH PAGES EACH GET A FREE TICKET. THE 2 SECOND RUNNERS UP WILL GET ½ OFF TO THE SHOW!

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Now I know this sounds confusing and like a lot of work, but it really isn’t that difficult and only takes a little bit of your time. We will also continue to use this screenshot contest for future events, so it’s a good thing to learn!

Plus there are good prizes on the table

Please e-mail me if you have any questions.

Good luck to all of you who choose to participate!!

Peace & Love

Shayna Gladstone

“Rusko!…Rusko!…Rusko!” – the audience simultaneously chants. On Sat, April 10th, The Metro was jam-packed with dub-step lovers from Chicago. Rusko is a high energy, fun dub-step Dj who’s music has been sampled by renowned artists like Diplo and Caspa. You could feel the suspense as the bass-hungry people impatiently waited for Rusko to drop that beat. At last, Rusko opens up the night and is pumpin’ out beats. A mix of high frequency melodies above BB Gun could be heard. There were lazer sounding beats that went along quite well with Rusko’s high intensity jumping, thrusting, flailing – as he is pointing his hand-gun gesture towards the crowd and shooting it with every punch. The griminess of the womp was leveled out by some pop-female-trance vocals that were faded in and out. Finally, Rusko resorts back to the familiar by remixing Kid Cudi’s “Day N’ Night and Skreams’ Dutch Flowers.”

Major Lazer foam hands are bobbing up and down in the audience before flashes of multicolored lasers skim the heads in the audience. Major Lazer is Diplo and Switch’s side project with a Jamaican commando hype-man. Unexpectedly, two big bootied’, half naked women appear on stage shaking their bodies like mashed potato’s as one wild white-mo-hawked man yells random obscenities into the microphone. Apparently, the respected Diplo and Switch were mixing in the background, yet all of this pretend screwing on stage, and mow-hawk mans’ dropping his pants the floor became a bit of a distraction to the music. Diplo was mixing such an eclectic underground and versatile mix of music that included almost every track from ”Guns Don’t Kill People Lazers Do”. What really got the audience excited though, was when he hit us with “All That She Wants” – from the now-antiquated Ace of Base. Major Lazer’s entire performance undoubtedly had shock value and wasn’t your typical DJ set, however, it could have been accomplished in a bit more classy manner. Overall, the night was pumped full of high energy with blends of different music styles, new & old, that really gave it a provocative touch in the end.

What do you get when you mix a high intensity, heavy bass dubstep legion with an entertaining sing-along act and a backing powerhouse DJ? The crowd at the local Chicago venue, The Metro, can answer just as well as anyone, so why don’t you ask them? With the UK dubstep act, Rusko opening for the highly entertaining electro/hip hop act, Major Lazer, the anticipation was exciting. It was a sold out show and a line stretched halfway down the block. The crowd was in good spirits, awaiting what was sure to be a night to remember.
With patrons pouring in from every doorway and hallway, a full venue it became; and just when it seemed impossible to accommodate another person, the show began. The crowd was constantly pushing for the opportunity to get close enough to see the sweat on Ruskos face and the jump in his step. The energy charged DJ sent the crowd into a dubstep coma of fist pumping and head banging to the heavy bass style of music known as dubstep. There were buildups that gave the crowd just as much energy as the UK DJ did himself, as he is known for his high energy and fast-paced touring schedule. His track choices and transitions left both Rusko lovers and the faint of heart content, and all that remained was the smiles on their faces as they awaited the sexually charged Major Lazer debut.
Major Lazers world wide touring DJ, Diplo, approached the turntables with confidence and ease as he prepared his equipment and the crowd with what was sure to be a show just as energetic as the previous. Major Lazer himself, followed by his two female companions, approached the stage to the mixed sounds of high-pitched screaming and loud roars of excitement. It was their first Chicago appearance since August. They are known for mixing multiple genres that appeal to the diverse crowds looking to dance. Whether your among the crowd that enjoys or despises the generalization of what once used to be an underground genre, and is now taking the shape of big label acts trying to fill arenas, its hard not to bob your head and move your feet to the rhythm. If you’re skeptical, it’s not all bad. With some quality mixes and a well-known DJ backing up the act, there is anything but the lack of talent and energy in this duo.
Whether you’re the electronic/hip hop type, or a heavy bass driven personality, the show was truly a great mix that satisfied both crowds, and their hunger for music. Chicago, drawing inspiration from both the east and west coasts and luring talent from all over the globe, is truly the Mecca of all things music, adding a flavor of its own. Welcome to the true, Taste of Chicago.

Story by, Chris Hemstreet

For more info about the artists playing at the April 10th Metro showcase, check out their MySpace’s for exclusive tracks and future touring dates.

Rusko: Myspace.com/Rusko

Major Lazer: Myspace.com/MajorLazer

It was a wet spring evening in Chicago, one of many in the early months of the spring season. Chicago has extremely unpredictable weather, and gruesome winter months as well. It would be an understatement to say that April 5th was any exception. With even the gloomy weather in account, this did not stop the Swedish three piece, Miike Snow, and their endless amount of supporters from lining up in the rain for what was to be the second day in a sold out visit to Chicago’s Metro.
Some bands have a hard time filling a single venue, while others, as in the case of more recent showcase, sold out 2 back-to-back days of the Swedish group’s most recent and arguably most successful tour to date. With the up and coming group, Delorean starting out the night with a bang, the lineup was an obvious reason for the tours success. “Amazing”, “epic”, “visually spectacular” were just some of the responses to the group’s live show that left spectators wanting more. With multiple live instrumentations and the overall performance mixed with what seemed like an absurd amount of lighting, their live show had a unique feel that is rarely seen in, “smaller scale” venues and more so in arena style performances.
It began with the entrance of each individual band member in white artisan masks that showed anything but any sort of expression. The blank emotions on each of the band member’s faces started the show off with a theatrical bang. Heading up the rear was front man Andrew Wyatt, shoeless, and ready to get down to business, the musically talented singer/song writer/pianist/guitarist wasn’t going to settle for a mediocre show. Seeing him singing his heart filled lines into the microphone like it was the first time playing in front of a live audience was a refreshing change of pace compared to mass touring bands that lose interest and emotion after performing the same songs night after night.
With a talented drummer, and multi faceted dj, their night didn’t end with the end of the show at the Metro as they went on to play a late night DJ set at The Metro’s adjacent nightclub, Smart Bar. This gave the unfortunate Miike Snow fans that were unable to purchase tickets to the sold out show, as well as die hard fans, an epic encore to end the night on. Never leaving the fans feeling as if they didn’t get their moneys worth, yet still leaving them wanting more was the perfect combination for any music fan. Its fairly obvious to see why the group has formed such a strong bond between fan and performer, drawing the line much closer than you would think as they drew off energy from the crowd to fuel their seemingly never ending supply of vigor and the drive to create something musically unique.

Story by, Chris Hemstreet

For a list of shows, and touring schedule and a peek at their tunes, check out the artists MySpace’s:

Miike Snow: MySpace.com/MiikeSnow
Delorean: MySpace.com/DeloreanDanz

Train Company was the first act of three, behind 28 North and Blues Traveler, this past Thursday night at Chicago’s House Of Blues. Many artists might not like it when they are the ones chosen to be the first band on the bill – not Train Company. As their lead signer John Zozarro explained, they “sincerely appreciate the opportunity (and task), of setting the mood for the night, of lifting the tone.”

Well, mission accomplished, set the mood they did. Train Company played a brand of rock that is highly influenced by the blues and jazz. That is a vague description at best, and is one that could be applied to many bands. Yet Train Company’s uniqueness lies in how they amalgamate these genres into their style of rock in such a seamless manner.

Train Company is comprised of 5 Chicagoans, containing one keyboardist and one saxophonist. The additions of these instruments allows them the ability to have the aforesaid blues and jazz undertones present in their music (more times blues than jazz, they are from Chicago), without ever overtly stepping into blues or jazz. On stage it was apparent that as a band, they can really ‘walk together in step’. They are emotionally in sync, all the subtle ebbs and flows are executed in synchronization. This can be accomplished through relentless practicing, sure, but their musical-emotion-congruity came off as a natural occurrence – a product of the musicians really enjoying their music and playing with each other.

On this night it was the songs Leaving and Change in which one could really hear them at their best. Leaving had a fantastic sauntering bass line that was placed within what is a highly energetic blues-rock song; it created for a song with a rock n’ roll drive –yet with a bluesy philosophy. It was also deceptively dynamic as towards the end it even took on a slight jam band groove. Change had more of a funky, slightly R & B flavor to its blues-rock base. There were ear-catching harmonies and a classy, well-executed crescendo.

For this author though, their talent shone through best on their song, Conquistador, which is a smooth and subdued blues number with great sax highlights. And while the rhythm was simple and all 5 musicians were playing, it still held onto a pleasant minimalist sound. And then near the end as the energy picked up momentarily a Hendrix blues riff was discreetly brought into the song, played with briefly, and let go before most people could notice it. It felt like a short-lived inside joke that only the most thorough of rock fans in the audience perceived, and undoubtedly enjoyed.

In their own words Train Company’s philosophy is to play a “new kind of old,” they “like to play the same story, but told a different way.” But there in lies the art of skillfully playing blues-rock; it’s not about being revolutionary, it’s about infusing your unique emotions, outlook or story into established musical frameworks. This is what Train Company understands, and in doing so they definitely set the right mood for the evening, just as they wanted to.

By Sean Brna

Seanbrna@gmail.com