For Independent Venue Week, the Reader has rounded up some favorite stories about Chicago music venues past and present.
Tag: Exit
Huntsmen bassist Marc Stranger-Najjar on a spoken-word poet with a beautiful brain
Current musical obsessions of Huntsmen bassist Marc Stranger-Najjar, musician and producer Sanford Parker, and Reader associate editor Jamie Ludwig
The saga of Punkin’ Donuts
How a doughnut-shop parking lot became a confluence of Chicago youth subcultures—and what killed it off
New York R&B singer Samoht searches for pop music’s unknown paths
New York R&B singer Samoht knows how to draw listeners in by draping his luxurious voice all over lava-lamp instrumentals. Keeping them engaged is the challenge. A few too many tracks on Samoht’s 2019 album, Exit (Mxxn Wave), sluggishly disintegrate into the ether, no matter how captivating his vocal twists and turns get. But when […]
Chicago riff machines Bible of the Devil celebrate 20 years with album seven
Chicago riff machines Bible of the Devil celebrate 20 years with album number seven, local rapper Boys vs. Girls hosts “The Pride Takeover” at Gallery Cabaret, and more.
A look back at a punk club doorman and his buffet of food offerings
Everybody on Wells Street knew Steve, and they knew how he liked his burritos.
Chicago footwork producers Boylan and Pranas drop a transcendent track to hype Boylan’s imminent birthday bash
Boylan and Pranas’s “Pick It Up” samples the latest smash single from lightning-rod Chicago rapper Famous Dex.
The Third Coming of the Jesus Lizard
On the eve of their latest return home, the Jesus Lizard talk about why they chose Chicago—and how they became its most beautiful noise-rock monsters.
Evanston new wavers the Front Lines exemplify the richness of the overlooked midwestern scene
Formed at Northwestern in 1979, the Front Lines played diverse and ambitious tunes—but they split after just a few years, done in by drummer turnover.
Postpunk oddballs the Bonemen of Barumba played ‘barbecue music from hell’
Early-80s weirdos the Bonemen of Barumba attacked pigs’ heads with axes onstage and shared a label with Big Black and the Dead Milkmen.
Beat Kitchen hosts a panel to confront sexual harassment in music
Beat Kitchen hosts a panel to confront sexual harassment in music, 606 Records books 24 hours of DJs to benefit Lumpen Radio, and more.
Best Excuse to Get Painted Up Like a Neon Freak Show
Featuring clubbers clutching neon glowsticks and PBR tallboys
My favorite albums of 2013, numbers 40 through 31
A belated countdown of my 40 favorite albums of the year
Gossip Wolf: Oozing Wound discharges its first album
Oozing Wound discharges its first album, Teen Witch throws a sexy alien party, and more.