And it's That Time

It's just about that time folks. I'm winding down my stay here in Chicago, and in a little less than two weeks I'll be heading back to my little academic corner of the Midwest. As usual, I've been keeping myself busy and making these last few weeks count. 'How?' you might ask—but probably don't. Like it or not, I'm about to tell you.

The week before last I went to the midnight screening of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World at the theater down the road. I really enjoyed the movie, despite how much of the story was exorcised in order to fit into a two hour run-time. It captured the feel of the books pretty well, the music was spot-on and the editing and sound cues were transcendent. Nothing can top the books, but the film is an admirable distillation of what makes them so fun and unique.

The next night I made my first trip to the Metro to see Boris and Russian Circles. The latter opened the night with 45 minutes of uninterrupted heavy instrumentals, creating a huge sound that defied the mere three people on-stage. Boris' set was equally impressive, finding the band weaving through their expansive back catalog and delivering beefed-up versions of tracks I was both familiar and unfamiliar with. I did a review of the show for the TOC blog, and you can see some more of my photos there as well.

Over the weekend, I had the pleasure of helping out on a video-shoot for my friend's band Percolator. We filmed for about half a day in the backroom of an insanely cool video rental store called Odd Obsession. They had a huge stack of pre-millennial VHS porn laying around back there, so naturally we arranged it around the band, incorporating it into the video. I've seen the final cut, and it turned out beautifully, thanks largely to the work of the incomparable Brian Wiebe. The band is going to be premiering it on their website next week, and I'll be doing a piece on the TOC blog about it, so keep your eyes out.

Last Tuesday, I had the extremely strange experience of seeing a band from my adopted hometown of Athens here in Chicago. Ambient-drone-experimental duo Weedghost were on a short Midwest tour and stopped through Logan Square to do an extremely intimate set in the Wiebe living room. These guys opened for Man Man at the Nelsonville Music Festival this past year, and I've seen them in various venues around town throughout my three years as a student, but never did I think I would be witnessing them in a Chicago living room. I really enjoyed their sets—both of them—and I look forward to another year of Weedghost in Athens.

This past weekend, my good friend Aaron made another trip from Ohio to join me at Wizard World Chicago Comic Con. I did some photography and light coverage of the event for Time Out, but mainly I was just there to nab some good deals and see what it was like to go to such a big Con. Wizard World is an odd beast; it's not really a comic book convention—although that is definitely the main ware being sold—as much as it's a pop culture celebration. There wasn't much in the way of comic book-related guests, but there were plenty of TV and movie stars, including William Shatner, Patrick Stewart and Jake Lloyd. Oh, and former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich also showed up for pictures and autographs. I had a pretty good time taking in the cool costumes and thumbing through discounted trades and back-issues, but I missed the panels and actual comic talent that come with some of the larger Cons. I think I may be making my way back to Chicago for C2E2 this coming Spring to get my fix...

This will likely be my penultimate post before leaving this neck of the woods for a while. In the meantime, I'm planning on seeing Lou Barlow, White Mystery and Telekinesis before head back east. Bring your tissues next time, things could get a little heavy.

Live Review: Saturday @ Lollapalooza 2010

I've decided to split my review of Lollapalooza into parts, mainly because of the epic post-length that would have resulted had I not (and no one wants to read something that daunting). I think you'll enjoy my ramblings and recollections much more thoroughly in smaller, more succinct doses. If not, feel free to start from Friday's review and work your way through all three in one marathon sitting (or choose your own adventure and mix and match—there are no rules!)

Saturday morning started off with a set from Mimicking Birds, who got the dreaded inaugural slot of the day and the small crowd of groggy attendees that comes with it. I was reminded of last year's performance by Low Anthem, who played the exact same stage at the exact same time. Thankfully, the band's spirits didn't seem to be dampened and they profoundly thanked all in attendance before launching into a set culled predominantly from their debut self-titled release. I still can't get over how much lead singer Nate Lacy sounds like Issac Brock—who produced and released Mimicking Birds first record on his Glacial Pace imprint. Even the band's songs sound a bit like old Modest Mouse tracks, which is nice seeing as Brock's current output shies away from his former sound. "Burning Stars" and an encore performance of "Pixels" were the sets shining moments, providing a subdued start to another full day of music.

Next I caught the majority of Rogue Wave's set, a band that—to be honest—I've never really gotten into. Even so, I definitely prefer their older records to their latest, Permalight, which tries really hard to change up the group's formula with the addition of some electronic flourishes, but ends up failing miserably. Unfortunately for me, much of the set was drawn from that album. We did get the obligatory rendition of "Lake Michigan," a song which must have been in a car commercial at some point, because whenever I hear it I picture a minivan driving down a winding road. Then again, maybe I'm just crazy.

While I was in the press area later that afternoon I was subjected to a good part of Blues Traveler's set. They opened with "Runaround." I don't even know why they were invited to play Lollapalooza—I'm pretty sure they lost all cultural relevance many, many years ago. And there's really only so much you can take of those constant harmonica solos. Oh, and to cap it all off, they did a god-awful cover of Radiohead's "Creep." On the plus side, Ice Cream Man was backstage handing out his usual selection of free, frozen treats.

When I descended back into the festival, I made my way over to Gogol Bordello's set for a little taste of his high energy gypsy punk. I can't say I'm a big listener of his records, but his live shows are in a category all of their own. People get really into the whole vibe of it, meaning plenty of crowd surfing and moshing. And where else do you get to see a guy seriously rock out on an accordion?

I made my way across the fest (next year I suggest installing moving walkways) to catch the last half of Grizzly Bear's set. They sounded alright, but I really think they're a far better band to see indoors. Their music really needs a space to reverberate in and bounce off of for the full effect. That being said, I did really enjoy the version of "While You Wait For the Others" that they played. After they were finished, I turned around 180 degrees to see a little bit of Metric's performance. They opened with their Scott Pilgrim vs. The World track "Black Sheep," so for a couple of minutes I got to pretended I was at a Clash at Demonhead show—it was awesome.

I actually had quite a bit of work to do the rest of the day, although I did step out into the crowd for about 20 minutes of Green Day's set. Those 20 minutes were pretty enjoyable, but then reality set in and I realized I was at a modern Green Day show. To their credit, I think they played every song worth hearing, although they did have a two hour and 15 minute set to fill. They had a little kid do a stage dive over a 15 foot photographer's pit—that was pretty great. I'm sure my middle-school self would have loved to have stayed for the entire show, but the Zach of the Present was more interested in getting over to Phoenix.

How did the Frenchmen fare? Pretty damn well, judging by both the audience's reaction and the grin on my face. Most people (myself included) only got into Phoenix thanks to their breakout record Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, so it stood to reason that their set was mainly derived from that album. I particularly enjoyed the combo of "Countdown" and "Rome" towards the end of their main set. When the band came back out on-stage, they launched into a short cover of Air's "Playground Love," before delivering the night's final blow. When the opening strains of "1901" started playing, the crowd erupted. I witness two people climbing the scaffolding on the sound booth in front of me, one of them waving a French flag. The lighting for the song replicated some of that weird interlaced scanning-lines stuff from their cool music video. I know for sure that this song was in a car commercial. I don't even care if that's why everyone recognized it, it was still a damn good way for these guys to end the night.

Behold The Man

This past week started out with a BANG at the Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour release party at Challengers Comics in Bucktown. I mingled with the costumed attendees (I like to think my plaid attire and scruffy facial hair was a respectable attempt at a Stephen Stills get-up) and sipped on a soda that gave +1 to Will. At midnight, the books went on sale and I nabbed a copy and headed home to read. I have to say, O'Malley really outdid himself with this one. The ending was pretty perfect; so much so that I hear Edgar Wright re-shot the ending of the upcoming movie to match it. It's sad that it's over, but it's nice that it went out on such a high note. The launch at Challengers got covered by Bleeding Cool (check out my shoulder in the fourth pic down!) and the TOC blog (and I didn't even have to write it!)

Over the weekend I braved the flood waters (we got something like 7 inches of rain here in Chicago) and ventured out to Pullman to check out the Backyard Film and Music Festival. I think the weather scared quite a few people off, as the whole event wasn't nearly as well attended as it should have been. Dosh was the reason I showed up, and he did not disappoint. This was actually the first time I've seen him perform completely solo, and the experience was quite different. He strayed away from much of his newer material (most of which relies heavily on the talented Mike Lewis) in favor of older tracks such as "Steve the Cat" and "The Lost Take." Much of the set was made up of tracks that I didn't entirely recognize, including one really interesting song that featured a very cool choral loop. It seemed off the cuff, although I suppose these might be new tracks that Dosh is still fiddling with, seeing as this appearance was a one-off gig. Regardless, it was a real treat to see him for my third time this year (with a fourth on the way... he's touring with Baths this fall and they're hitting Cleveland and Cinci). Oh, you can check out more pictures and thoughts in my TOC blog post.

The following day I made my way down the road I live on for the aptly named Milwaukee Avenue Arts Festival. I checked out some galleries, but the real allure of the event was an appearance by Detholz! in Logan Square. I haven't seen these guys since they opened at the first Wilco show I ever attended, but I've kept tabs on them over the years, and their Who Are The Detholz!? LP is still a favorite of mine. Unfortunately, they didn't play any songs I knew ("Sunburned in the Sun" would have been so appropriate!), but the tracks they did play were pretty great. Once highlight of the set was a tune called "Catherine Zeta Jones" which was an ode to T-Mobile. I was surprised to hear that the band actually started out and is still based in the Logan Square area (I knew I moved here for a reason). It was a nostalgic trip down memory lane, and I only hope that I'll cross paths with a Dethole again sometime soon.

But that's not where the reminders of good-times past ended! Alex White, formerly of Miss Alex White and Her Red Orchestra (a Detroit-based group that opened many a Columbus show in the days of my youth), was also playing the fest as part of a brother-sister duo called White Mystery. They're alot like the White Stripes, except they're actually brother and sister, and the gender-to-instrument roles are reversed. It's the same kind of hard-hitting garage-soul-rock that Miss White has always delivered, and it definitely took me back. They're out on tour right now, so catch them if you can before they come back to Chicago at the end of August to ease the suffering that the prospect of leaving this town is going to inflict upon me.

Well, I've said entirely too much. In just a few hours, my good friend Danny Clay is coming to visit my humble abode for a few days. We're going to be seeing Tortoise at Millennium Park on Thursday and checking out the madness of Wicker Park fest this weekend. Oh, and I'm going to use his visit as an excuse to visit Hot Doug's one more time before Doug goes on vacation for the majority of August. Until next time...