MUSICMARAUDERS

Permanent Residencies Sexfist Jerry's, 1938 W. Division, 773-235-1006 No cover, every Tuesday night at around 10:15 ***Chicago's resident Bluegrass destroyers*** Mr. Blotto Reggie's Music Joint, 2105 S. State St, 312-949-0120 $5, show at 9 every Tuesday night, usually 1 opener May 1 The Glitch Mob Double Door, 1572 N. Milwaukee, 773-489-3160 $18, show at 9:00, 3 openers May 6 Shpongle Kinetic Playground, 1113 W Lawrence, 773-769-5483 $25, show at 9:00, 5 openers Brainchild Reggie's Music Joint, 2105 S. State St, 312-949-0120 $7, show at 8:30, 2 openers May 8 30db (Brendan Bayliss and Jeff Austin) Lincoln Hall, 2424 N. Lincoln, 773-525,2501 $25, show at 10:00, 1 opener May 14 Marco Benevento Trio Martyr's, 3855 N. Lincoln Ave, 773-404-9494 $12, show at 9:00, 1 opener (Spare Parts) May 15 Particle Double Door, 1572 N. Milwaukee, 773-489-3160 $20, show at 9:00, no openers listed... I don't believe that ***super shreddy jamtronic explosions*** Alex B Kinetic Playgro

Sexfist switching venues after such a long & successful run at Red Line Tap is something I had to cover. Going out on weeknights is difficult but the gravitational pull of my new favorite bluegrass band was too much to resist. So I snagged a cab and buzzed down to Wicker Park for a few hours of awesome music. When I arrived at Jerry's, I found Chuck Oakton sitting outside, enjoying the crisp night air. We spoke for a minute about Springfest then he told me that we needed go inside to see the opening band, The Ben Miller Band. He didn't tell me much about them, but it didn't take long to realize that he wasn't kidding. I was planning to only drink 2 beers so that getting up at 7am wouldn't be so brutal the next day. However, I was stoked to find that Jerry's had root beer on tap, perfect for a show on a Tuesday. But even if you don't have to go to school at the butt crack of dawn, Jerry's has you covered. They have an extensive beer selection and a wi

I began my evening at a diner in Upstate, NY. The hustle and bustle of the dinner rush was in full effect. The regulars, perched in their usual spots; spoke of the local happenings as I made the final arrangements for the evening. My mind wandered on to the topic of local "jambands" and the crusade to gain a national audience. What is it that elevates music to the next level? What is it that allows some bands the desired access to a national scene? Lastly, does the end result of national attention compensate for the amount of effort, drive and actual work that goes into promoting a band on this level? My initial inclination is to consider; variation, technical ability, energy... But what is to be said for management, promotion, time and place? Take a band like Jimkata (New York) for instance, or Papadosio (Ohio). Are these bands on the rise to the next level within the progression of "jamband" stardom or are they merely milling along the plateau of local mediocrity.

Stanton Moore Live at Fox Theater on December 2, 2005. Set 1: 1) The Switch 2) Live Wire 3) Maple Plank 4) Hung Up 5) Sister Janie # 6) Kicken up Dust # 7) Rattletrap # 8) Adelita # Set 2: 9) When the Levee Breaks 10) Little Ole Money Maker * 11) The Penske 12) Hardware 13) Chicken Lickin' # 14) Twitchie Feet # 15) Black Jack # 16) Nooksack # 17) The Greeny # 18) crowd + banter Encore: 19) Tipitina $ 20) Volcanic Acne # 4 of Us is: Stanton Moore (drums) Robert Walter (keys) Will Bernard (guitar) Robert Mercurio (bass) Guests: # Art Edmaiston (sax) * Al Gamble (keys) $ Henry Butler (keys,vocals)

moe. Live at Radio City Music Hall on December 31, 2007. 1: Recreational Chemistry > Blue Jeans Pizza > Recreational Chemistry 2: Not Coming Down > Wormwood > Wind it Up, So Long > Rebubula 3: Lazarus > New Years Countdown [banter], Raise a Glass, Brent Black > Lazarus > Brent Black, Letter Home, Spine of a Dog > Plane Crash E: New Year's Day > George

After a show in Syracuse, I found myself assisting Jeff Bujak in the "load out" process of taking his equiptment out of the venue and packing it all tightly into his vehicle. Following that interesting task, we had a conversation... J-man: Who are you listening to currently? Bujak: Currently, I’m trying to find a new band. I’m kind of stuck in the middle of twenty different bands. Actually, regional bands. Bands like; Indobox and Jimkata, are just regional rock stars . I love watching bands build. I love watching the marketing sense of different bands. But, those two bands in particular are really good. They’re really climbing the charts, they’re excellent guys, very good, and I look for bands that know business etiquette. They return e-mails, “please” and “thank you”. There are so many managers and bands that forget “please” and “thank you” when they leave a club. Those little things; “please” and “thank you”, to the opener, have respect for the opener. Those guys really

Signal Path Live at The Fez Ballroom on October 28, 2007.

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This review was as inevitable as the very seasons themselves. The genesis of my current musical focus, my current life for that matter, was made into reality by the band Galactic. Simply put, at the admonition of a friend, I went to see Galactic for the first time on the 28th of January, 1999. They were playing in a bar called Ripley's in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, with another new to me act, Keller Williams, and had been heavily recommended to me by a fellow music maven, Milo. I’ll talk about Keller and his mindblowing act some other time, cause at the moment the stage rightly belongs to Galactic. Back then they had a singer who went by the name “Houseman”, Theryl DeClouet was part of the band, and their shows followed a (unknown to me at the time) pattern. The band would come out sans vocalist for about 45 minutes of mind blowing live funk instrumentals, and then would be joined by the Houseman for about 40 some odd minutes of R&B influenced funky groovalistic styling’s. Afte

Like The J-man, I had been looking forward to Wanee kicking off my festy season for quite some time. That is, until I headed to a poorly attended Larry Keel & Natural Bridge show in mid-February. Despite the low turnout, Larry and company hit the lucky few with nearly two hours of their wicked brand of newgrass. Post-show drunken thoughts led me to reminisce about how great last year’s Family Function was and wonder why I hadn’t heard anything about the 2010 version. After a quick chat with Natural Bridge mando-slayer, Mark Schimock; I discovered that the Function would indeed go on this year. I got to go home excited about moving the festival season opener up two weeks. Flash forward to Thursday, April 1st. Around noon, just before my three hour drive to Atlanta, I get a call from J-man confirming my press pass plus one. Having been to the first Keel Family function last spring, I was fully willing and expecting to pay full price for this small, family-friendly festival. None the