UR CHICAGO'S BLOG

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Friday The 13th with Switch & Bald Eagle

Tomorrow is Friday The 13th at Smartbar featuring Switch and me, Bald Eagle. Buy tickets here - $10 / $15 after midnight OR text "Smartbar" to 46786 for $7 admission before MIDNIGHT! Come witness the UK's master producer/DJ, Switch (aka David Taylor aka Solid Groove). Some say he's the "godfather" of a new sound now being labeled "fidget," which is now being heard on record labels such as Chicago's Potty Mouth (Crookers, Santiago & Bushido), UK's Wearhouse (Lee Mortimer, Andy George) and Switch's own label Dubsided (Sinden, Jesse Rose). Expect spacious dance sets full of bumpin' bass, blurpin' twirks and bangin' breaks all under the guise of house, techno, electro and a slight touch of hip-hopness.




XOXO, Bald Eagle

P.S. BOO!

Monday, June 2, 2008

Study: There’s money in Chicago Music. Hood Internet: Chicago Music is money.

A joint effort by the Chicago Music Commission and the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Cultural Policy, found both encouraging and not-so-surprising news about the local music biz. Firstly, Chicago “ranks third among metropolitan areas in the overall size of its music industry” behind, surprise-surprise; Los Angeles and New York. Chicago also had lower total revenue (meaning cheaper ticket prices for us, yay.)

The more-interesting news, fleshed out well by Chicago Innerview, is that Chicago books better bands, more often, for (relatively) cheaper ticket prices than any other American city:
…Researchers looked at the number of performances from Billboard magazine's "Top 100 Artists" and the "Top 100 Artists" from the Village Voice Critics Poll and found that in 2004, Chicago had about 10 more such concerts than New York City. "There’s no other city where those critically acclaimed shows make up a bigger percentage of the total revenue generated," the study's co-author Dan Silver states. "So Chicago is really the center of high critical taste."
A study quantifying the awesomeness of Chicago Music is nice to have, but there’s another way of celebrating the diversity of music in this city, and no, it’s not to re-name streets as Honorable Peter Cetera Parkway, and OkGo Boulevard.

It’s an all-city mashup mixtape of course! Courtesy of The Hood Internet. Though it doesn’t delve too far into the Blues and Gospel history of Chicago, lots of tunes from multiple decades are represented here and pack a serious punch--Twista rhyming over The Sea & Cake, Diverse with Andrew Bird, Dude N Nem N OFFICE, The Cool Kids party-rappin’ over house legend Frankie Knuckles--it's all here. It’s a tight mix. My personal fav has to be the ’85 Bears shuffling alongside Kanye and Wilco. -Brian

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Bush compares Iraq to WWII...no seriously

Just got a text from my mom, who is attending the Air Force Academy graduation that Prez. Bush spent about 15 minutes comparing the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to gulp, WWII. Really? I didn't believe until CNN told me so.

"Our nation is once again contending with an ideology that seeks to sow anger, hatred and despair: the ideology of Islamic extremism," Bush said. "Germany and Japan, once mortal enemies, are now allies of the United States. And people across the world have reaped the benefits from that alliance," he said. "Today, we must do the same in Afghanistan and Iraq. ... We'll lay the foundation of peace for generations to come."

That's pretty sweet. Word is still out on whether or not he compared Sadam to Hitler, but one can only hope. - Kevin

Friday, May 16, 2008

You wish you were this cool



The 2008 US Air Guitar Tour is coming to Chicago!!! June 12, Metro. Get your butt out there to see some sweet air guitar action. The press release describes it best: "Miraculous performances. Death-defying feats of strength. Water into wine. Pageantry that will dazzle the eye and overwhelm the senses. All the things that make rock and roll a spectacle; make rock and roll spectacular. Without the use of a single instrument."



The tour is part of the 6th annual US Air Guitar Championships. Each of the 21 cities will produce one winner, who--along with last year's champion, William Ocean--will compete in the national competition. That winner will then represent the country in August in Finland during the World Championships. This is the real deal, people. -Diana

Camel coming soon



Seeing as how nobody believes that I unintentionally summoned a cougar to the city via my cougar ring tone, I have decided to change my ring tone yet again. Instead of a potentially dangerous creature, I have opted for a more benign animal this time.

Chicagoans, be aware that a wild camel will most likely be spotted at large in either the downtown or Roscoe Village areas in the coming months. This is all your fault. Next time, you'll listen - Rannell

That's gonna sting...



If you don't mind watching a couple of grown men and women playing a childhood sport, I highly recommend coming out to the Ray Meyer Fitness and Recreation Center of Depaul (2235 N. Sheffield) this Saturday, May 17 to catch the 2nd annual National Dodgeball League Championship Tour. It all starts at 9 a.m. so make sure you cash in your Dunkin' Donuts trivia prizes for free donuts and hash browns and head on over. Make sure you also yell nice and loud for my team, yeah? -Lizelle

Donnie Wahlberg becomes fashionable again.



I turned on the television this morning just in time for New Kids on the Block. They performed their new song "Summertime" and also a montage of all their old songs. "Hanging Tough," "Please Don't Go Girl" and "Step by Step" were amongst them with choreography to match. Oh NKOTB. Singing in the rain, in their matching suits, trying to get girls in the crowd to pass out from excitement.



If you are going to sing in the rain and get any kind of reaction from me, you better do it right. And with accents. -Lizelle

Street Fests: All Exciting at First

To paraphrase the late-great Mitch Hedburg, “Street festivals are like pancakes; all exciting at first, but by the end you’re fucking sick of ‘em.”



It’s true. You see all these festival listings lining up for every weekend deep into August, and you think about how great it will be to hang around outside. You look forward to not paying the “optional” cover charge, grabbing a drink, eating something off of a cob or a stick and just CHILLING. It never ends up that way. After a few, you come to realize that beer lines (and beer tickets) suck, hoards of people suck, and usually the bands suck.

So, here’s some fests coming up that I would ACTUALLY recommend going to:

-Brian Howe Battle

Thursday, May 15, 2008

$40 for an Hour Massage? Yup -- it's true!



Our friends at the Wellness Studio have just welcomed a new massage therapist (Sasha Hanning) and first-time massage clients can get a 60-minute massage for just $40 (regularly $80). This limited-time offer is a great deal and if I know how things operate at the Wellness Studio, you will leave feeling refreshed and like a new person. And if your back issues are more severe, talk to owner Kristin Argo about setting up a chiropractic appointment. Print out this massage offer -- you'll need to bring it with you to the appointment.