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The CHIRP Blog
Clarence Ewing: The Million Year Trip writesWeekly Voyages: Friday November 1 to Thursday November 7
(Weekly Voyages is CHIRP Radio's listing of concerts in Chicago at select venues. Information about tickets can be obtained from the venues' Web sites. Do you have corrections or updates for this list? Send us an e-mail.)
Friday November 1
Tony, Aaron & Rebecca of The Tossers
Abbey Pub 9:30pm 21+
Ballroom Boxer
Beat Kitchen 9pm, 21+
The 17th Annual Halloween Bash
Double Door 9pm, 21+
The Hoyle Brothers
Empty Bottle 5:30pm 21+
Bear Mountain, The Belle Game, Hawaiian Lion
Empty Bottle 9:30pm, 21+
Summer in Pain Festival
Hideout 21+
The Limousines, Mona, Dresses
Lincoln Hall 9pm, 18+
Kelsey Phillips writesCHIRP Radio Welcomes FIDLAR and The Orwells to Subterranean on Halloween Night!
As if Halloween wasn't a big enough reason to get crazy on a Thursday, FIDLAR and The Orwells are coming to the SubT to make it even crazier. Both bands have been known to get pretty wild, so lord knows what shenanigans they'll bring when they join forces.
L.A. skate-punks FIDLAR rock a young/drunk/broke persona, which translates into songs like "Wake Bake Skate," "Cheap Beer," and "Stoked and Broke," all of which move at the hopped up pace these four guys always seem to move at. After all, FIDLAR is an acronym for "f*** it, dog, life's a risk."
Joining them are hometown up-and-comers The Orwells, who's single "Mallrats (La La La)" blew them from suburban Elmhurst all the way to a Lollapalooza stage and some big US and UK tours. These guys just graduated high school and have already made a big name for themselves in Chicago and beyond, and their songs are becoming more than just teenage battle cries.
This is definitely a show you won't want to miss, so grab a costume and head to the Subterranean on Thursday, October 31st. Doors are at 7 for this all ages show, but tickets will go fast so get on it! Stop by the CHIRP table and try to figure out what we're dressed as.
Mike Bennett writesFriday iPod/MP3 Shuffle—Happy Birthday Minnie Pearl Edition
Today we pay tribute to a country music legend. There has been a long tradition of country comedians that goes on to this day, and none have even come close to the longevity and popularity of Sarah Ophelia Colley Cannon, known throughout the world as the Gal from Grinder’s Switch, Minnie Pearl. Cannon was a theater major in college who developed the Pearl character in 1939, picking up her signature hat in a Nashville department store for $1.98. One year later, she got her first chance on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry and was an instant success, and was regular at the Opry until her stroke in 1991. During those 51 years, she performed with everyone (on the Hank Williams at the Opry disc, Hank does two routines with Minnie) and as the years went on, she not only encourage other comedians, but she mentored artists like Vince Gill, k.d. lang and Chely Wright. Minnie was a breast cancer survivor who campaigned to fight the disease. Rare is the entertainer who can say he or she was a star for a half a century. Minnie Pearl was one of those rare entertainers, who made generations of fans laugh with her traditional homespun humor. Give Minnie a big birthday How-dee!!! by grabbing your iPod or MP3 player, hitting shuffle and sharing the first 10 songs that come up.
Clarence Ewing: The Million Year Trip writesWeekly Voyages: Friday 10/25 to Thursday 10/31
(Weekly Voyages is CHIRP Radio's listing of concerts in Chicago at select venues. Information about tickets can be obtained from the venues' Web sites. (Do you have corrections or updates for this list? Send us an e-mail.)
Friday October 25
Freaky Deaky 5
Aragon Ballroom
She's Alive, Hot Alice, A Photo Finish, On A High Wire, Lights Alive
Beat Kitchen 8:30pm
KMFDM
Bottom Lounge 7pm
The Future Laureates, Vintage Blue, Milktooth, Antony & The Tramps
Double Door 8pm, 21+
Iron Forge, Curb Service, Man On Earth
Elbo Room 8:30pm 21+
The Horse's Ha, Nathan Salsburg
Empty Bottle 5:30pm, 21+
The Life and Times, Bear Claw, As Hell
Empty Bottle 9:30pm, 21+
Josh Friedberg: Music Historian's Corner writesRediscovering Our Record Collections: “Tracy Chapman” by Tracy Chapman
For today's Rediscovering Our Record Collections, I'm examining one of my on-and-off-again favorite singer-songwriter albums, the 1988 self-titled debut by Tracy Chapman.
Chapman came from the coffeehouse scene on the East coast, seemingly out of nowhere, as something of an oddity: an African American female folk rock singer-songwriter at a time when most black female music stars were associated with R&B, pop, and the emerging hip hop scene. Chapman, originating from Ohio, gained a sizable audience with her haunting voice and the acoustic hooks in songs like "Fast Car" and "Talkin' Bout a Revolution." I read in an essay on the album and its success that somewhere Chapman was contrasted with Madonna as "The Anti-Material Girl," which, for the album's lyrics alone (if not always its impact), seems fitting. Chapman was tackling contemporary issues of poverty, domestic violence, and political turmoil at a time when pop music seemed far away from such concerns.