Tonight is the first of four Andrew Bird performances at the Fourth Presbyterian Church; Bird wraps up the stint Thursday night, and every show is sold out. Fortunately there are other shows to check out in the next few days.
Tonight U.S. Girls open for the Kills at the Vic, and Anna Von Hausswolff and Noveller perform at Schubas. Tomorrow night White/Light’s Face the Strange series returns to the MCA with performances from Peter Speer, Circuit des Yeux, and Jimmy Whispers, and Notes & Bolts’ wraps up its holiday toy drive at Empty Bottle with Sister Crystals, Peekaboos, Coffin Ships, and the Iceberg. On Wednesday you can check out Queens of the Stone Age and Foals at Allstate Arena or Jan Terri at Reggie’s Music Joint.
There are plenty of other concerts around town in the next few days—be sure to check out our Soundboard listings for more shows, and read on for a couple picks from Reader critics.
Tue 12/10: TV Ghost at Schubas
This fall Madison label Kind Turkey released Television Ghost, a seven-inch of the earliest recordings from Indiana postpunk group TV Ghost, whose members banded together as high school students in the late aughts. “Television Ghost could stand on its own as a weirdo-punk masterpiece, but it’s even more interesting alongside TV Ghost’s fourth album, the epic double LP Disconnect (In the Red), which came out the same month,” writes Luca Cimarusti. “The amount of evolution that the band has undergone over the past six years is astounding. Disconnect is airy, spooky, and gothic, trading in the overdriven organ of Television Ghost for somber, icy synth—and the deranged howl of front man Tim Gick has become a desperate, dramatic wail.”
Wed 12/11: Pink Avalanche at Empty Bottle
“Local postpunk crew Pink Avalanche consists of scene fixtures with long resumés who’ve played in staple Chicago bands former and current, including Atombombpocketknife, Poison Arrows, Tight Phantomz, and Brokeback—not a dud in the bunch,” writes Kevin Warwick. “Earlier this year the band dropped its debut full-length, Wraiths (released digitally via Past/Futures Records), which shows off a healthy range: it’s sometimes harsh and distorted (‘Strike Gold’ is practically an Unsane song), sometimes druggy and morose (the first half of ‘Unnamed Blood’ is reminiscent of Queens of the Stone Age, with front man Che Arthur doing his best Josh Homme), and sometimes almost as zany as Les Savy Fav.”