Chicago's Loyal Divide has shared bills with Crystal Castles and Deadmau5, but its sound is far more rock n' roll than all the electro and dubstep they've played with would suggest. Sure, those elements are there in the quartet's sound, and they certainly won't disappoint anyone looking to dance their asses off.
Chandelier Ballroom w/ Loyal Divide, !Mindparade, Night Moves @ The Bishop Tuesday, October 11 8 p.m. $3 Bloomington acts Chandelier Ballroom and !Mindparade will share a bill Tuesday night with fellow Midwesterners Loyal Divide from Chicago and Night Moves from Minneapolis.
For the week of 10/3-10/09/11: 1. Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Wolfroy Goes to Town (Drag City) 2. Dreamers of the Ghetto, Enemy/Lover (Temporary Residence) 3.
Brett Dennen w/ Blind Pilot @ The Bluebird Tuesday, October 11 8 p.m. $18 21+ After being stuck at a bluegrass festival somewhere in Virginia last weekend, Brett Dennen said he's ready to leave the hippie scene and get to a club like The Bluebird. "It's a certain intimacy," Dennen told Live Buzz.
Mat Kearney is like the artist played after the cliche "taxi-cab" scene in every romantic drama, ever.
BRAIDS w/ Pepper Rabbit & Painted Palms @ The Bishop Friday, October 7 9 p.m. $8 advance/$10 doors BRAIDS, the caps-happy, dreamy art-rockers from Canada, will continue their fall North American tour at The Bishop tomorrow night.
For the week of 9/26-10/02/11: 1. Wilco, The Whole Love (dBPM) 2. Dum Dum Girls, Only in Dreams (Sub Pop) 3.
Merill Garbus doesn't look like a rock star. On a carpet with felt roads designed for toy cars and trains, she plays with an assortment of her own toys and has a hell of a time doing it. Garbus' painted face, bare feet, and pink puffy sleeves atop a black frock make her look more like a kid having a good time than an indie rocker.
tUnE-yArDs w/ Pat Jordache & Sleeping Bag @ Rhino's Wednesday, September 28 8 p.m. $12 Merrill Garbus, facepaint wearing, glass bottle banging, ukulele shredding singer-songwriter of uber-curious indie group tUnE-yArDs, is returning to Bloomington to showcase music off her April breakout album, w h o k i l l.
For the week of 9/19-9/25/11: 1. Tammar, Visits (Suicide Squeeze) 2. Jayhawks, Mockingbird Time (Rounder) 3.
"We've been hearing about this festival a long time," Mavis Staples informed the Buskirk-Chumley Theater towards the opening of her set there on Thursday night.
The walls of the Bishop shook Wednesday night with the all-instrumental thunder of local miscreants You're a Liar, the Weezer-informed indie rock of fellow Bloomington natives The Broderick, and the too-much-rock-for-two-people eruption of Australia's An Horse. You're a Liar kicked off the show by delivering a half hour set of their deviant brand of heavy, proggy instrumental rock.
Tuesday night, I attended a classic sweat-drenched and sold out show at The Bishop. Early in the evening, I detected an absurd synth-rhythm from the bar, and like a lion catching the scent of a gazelle from downwind, I pounced into the venue after my newfound prey.
The 18th annual Lotus World Music & Arts Festival hits town this weekend. It kicks off tonight at 7:30 with an opening concert by Mavis Staples at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater, and concludes there Sunday night too with the World Spirit Concert featuring globe-spanning performers Nawal, Tareq Ransiti, Ali Amr, and Srinivas Krishnan, and Mike & Ruthy.
Toro Y Moi w/ Unknown Mortal Orchestra & Ava Luna @ The Bishop Tuesday, September 20 8 p.m. $15 day of show 18+ This is the second Bloomington show of the year for Chaz Bundicks's increasingly popular chillwave project Toro Y Moi - and we seriously enjoyed his April set at The Bishop.
For the week of 9/12-9/18/11: 1. Girls, Father, Son, Holy Ghost (True Panther) 2. St. Vincent, Strange Mercy (4AD) 3.
A Hawk and a Hacksaw, Dark Dark Dark w/ Pillars & Tongues @ The Bishop Monday, September 19 9 p.m. $10 advance/$12 doors 18+ The last I heard from Albuquerque duo A Hawk and a Hacksaw, they were warming up a sold-out IU Auditorium crowd around Little 500 time in April 2009 with an opening set for Wilco.
Sheer improvisation was the main event Friday night at The Bishop. The lucky few in attendance witnessed real, raw music from Joe McPhee's Survival Unit III.
The fourth annual XRA Fest sets up shop this weekend. Over the course of two nights, local artists signed to Bloomington's Crossroads of America Record label will showcase their talent to the Bloomington faithful.
Joe McPhee's Survival Unit III @ The Bishop Thursday, September 16 9 p.m. $7 18+ Chicago jazz improvisationalist Joe McPhee never picked up a saxophone until the late 60's, sometime around his 30th birthday, but age is just a number.
