Emma's News Archive
Bands
'08: In January we went to Otter Petter's CD release gig at Subterranean, where we also saw The Ladies and Gentlemen. Then in April Mike saw Nada Surf (I would like to have gone too, but my baby was due any day!). During the summer we saw U2 tribute band Elevation at our local street festival, Blondie at the zoo, and Stevie Wonder at the Taste. In December we went to an excellent Longwave gig at the Double Door (yet another pic of me and Steve!).
'07: In January we saw Muse (winner of Best Live Act at the Brit Awards) in Singapore. Back in Chicago we saw British bands Bloc Party, The Cinematics (loved them!), Aqualung and Arctic Monkeys. Over the summer we saw several bands at neighbourhood festivals and at Castaways on the beach; Mike saw Otter Petter (Raph from the pool team is a member) at Schuba's and Maximo Park at the Double Door. In September we saw current faves Editors at Park West, and returned there in November for old favourites from our student days The Waterboys. Finally, Mike saw Athlete at Schuba's (I gave away my ticket as I remembered the venue being smoky); the Razorlight gig at Metro for which we had tickets was cancelled, I know not why.
'06: On Good Friday Mike and I went to an acoustic performance by London band South (me with the boys), and the next day we saw them at Double Door (Mike with Joel and Jamie). On Easter Sunday we went to Metro for ex-Stafford Uni boys Editors and New York's 80s-obsessed Stellastarr* (us with both bands!). In June we saw The English Beat and Midwestern bands The Ponys and The Black Keys at a couple of street fests then, in New York, I attended a Mary J. Blige concert in Bryant Park and an in-store performance by the wonderful Keane. At the Taste of Chicago I saw Mat Kearney, Train, Macy Gray, World Party and Liz Phair. Back in NY, Mike and I went to a fantastic gig by The Alarm at Bowery Ballroom (us with the band), saw Sheryl Crow performing live on Today and caught several bands at Coney Island's Siren Music Festival, including Brooklyn's own The Rogers Sisters. In July we saw the Frank Tribes Band and country singer/former CoPo waitress Rebecca Wickens in Wicker Park. Then to round off the summer we saw Rebecca in Roscoe Village, performing with her band for the last time before heading to LA. In October Mike met up again with South at Schuba's, and we thoroughly enjoyed We Are Scientists and Art Brut at Metro. Lastly we saw Lloyd Cole at Park West (Mike with the singer-songwriter).
'05: In January we went to a brilliant Razorlight gig at Double Door; first up were The Features from Tennessee, whose lead singer signed my CD. For Mike's birthday I gave him surprise tickets to Keane, supported by The Zutons from Liverpool and The Redwalls from Chicago. In March we saw The Music, Leicester lads Kasabian (awesome!), Morningwood, the ever-cool Interpol at the Aragon and NYC's Longwave (me and Steve Schiltz again) and The Damnwells. May began with Mike's all-time fave New Order and local band Assassins, followed by The Killers, a superb Doves and Mercury Rev gig, Kasabian again and Leeds' post-punk Kaiser Chiefs, whose two supports included Chicago's own OK Go. Summer began with Queens of the Stone Age, Interpol (for the fifth time!) and Hot Hot Heat at the Q101 Block Party - and continued with Moby, Stereophonics, Blue Merle and Sad Hannah at the Free XRT 4th of July Concert in Grant Park. Then came three more trips to Double Door to see Brit bands Embrace, Long-View, Turin Brakes and Athlete (us with the lead vocalist). At the inaugural Lincoln Park Oktoberfest we danced to 80s ska band The Beat (us with Dave Wakeling & co), and the following week Doves returned to play the Riviera (us with the band). While in England we saw Editors, a new band from Birmingham, with American support We Are Scientists (yep, another band photo!). Next we went to a private Secret Machines concert at Park West.
'04: In January we queued in the snow for cute Dubliners The Thrills (me and the drummer); I was back at the Double Door a few weeks later for London trio South and Canadian indie group Metric. English rockers The Darkness and The Wildhearts put on a spectacular show at the Vic, then on Easter Sunday we saw The Alarm in Boston (us with Mike Peters). Next up were the UK's next-big-thing Keane, NY's melancholy Longwave and the Chicago-based Webb Brothers (me with all three bands!). At various venues and summer festivals I saw the alt-country Waco Brothers, another great gig by The Alarm (me and the band), Welsh 'nu-metallers' Lostprophets (awesome!), more of The Webb Bros., NYC trio Volcano, I'm Still Excited!!, local band The Ponys and New York's French Kicks. In September alone we saw The Killers, Brooklyn's Ambulance LTD, both Keane (us with the drummer) and French Kicks again, Snow Patrol (twice in one day) (me and the gorgeous front man!), Texas quintet Eisley and British bands Franz Ferdinand, Delays and The Futureheads. The last three months of the year brought Hope of the States from Chichester, Inouk, the fabulous Interpol, Secret Machines, a private concert by The Donnas and Kill Hannah, and Q101's Twisted 11 at the Aragon featuring Franz Ferdinand, crazy Swedish band The Hives and Snow Patrol.
'03: We spent a number of evenings listening to live blues, including Mike's favourite The Lindsay Alexander Blues Band. On the pop front we saw Brit bands Supergrass, The Coral, The Vines (OK, they're Australian) and The Music, followed by our band-of-the-year Interpol at the Belmont/Sheffield Music Fest. Mike saw Violent Femmes and The Flaming Lips at a summer block party; I went to a free Sheryl Crow gig in Grant Park and saw the brilliant Blur. Later in the year we saw local band Poi Dog Pondering, Welsh rockers Stereophonics, those cool cats Interpol again, Canada's The Stills, The Broke Revue, Travis and Californian popsters Rooney. Then Christmas came early for Mike when he and Mark saw Mike Scott and (named after a line in a Lou Reed song) at our local venue.
'02: Our initial live blues experience was at the 19th Annual Chicago Blues Fest, which we followed up with regular trips to blues bars, seeing first Charlie Love and the Silky Smooth Band. Local rock band Wicked Garden entertained us at North Avenue Beach over the summer - here's me with the hunky bass-player! Then at various venues and festivals we saw Manchester's Doves (twice) and Elbow, American cult-band Violent Femmes, Oasis, Sweden's The Soundtrack of Our Lives, the excellent Coldplay, Ulster lads Ash, New York City's The Strokes, Aussie band You Am I and Har Mar Superstar.
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