Rain: A Tribute to the Beatles
They’ve got the sound down, but can wearing a mop top make you The Fab Four? Rain can sing the tunes but it’ll never quite be the same as the original.
Pop/Rock/Folk
Hairspray – Drury Lane Theatre Review
Fun and frisky Hairspray is a camp romp that goes back in time to an era of big hair and a big gal whose innocence and heart is about to make a splash.
Opus 1861 -The Civil War In Symphony
Songs like “When This Cruel War is Over (Weeping Sad and Lonely),” “Shule Agrah (Johnny’s Gone for a Soldier)” and “Follow the Drinking Gourd” were particularly emotionally moving. The Civil War songbook’s rich personal sensitivity toward the angst of war is deeply presented by this group of talented singers. The superb vocals and the honest presentation of the letters home added power to the sacrifice of theses honorable patriots.
Little Shop of Horrors
Come on downtown to Skid Row and visit this little shop. A crowd-pleasing blend of genres, it’s the second performance from Street Tempo and demonstrates their emerging affection for spicy—and twisted—pieces.
Spring Awakening
My feelings about this play are fairly well-documented. To put it succinctly: I’m not a huge fan of the material. That said, this production was far more endearing – and overall successful – than the previous Broadway in Chicago venture. They made the material work better for them than their touring counterparts. And to a surprising degree. This troupe really found the comic moments between the words; they had great timing and used space very well.
Lykke Li – Live at the Vic
She walked onto the stage swathed in sheer black, with matching black drapes hanging from the rafters, drifting through the smoke and light like a raven: cunning, cocksure, alluring. Immediately the deep thundering of bass toms filled the room, as if Glasvegas were playing a rave in Detroit. The sound of electric organ floated through the air and an acoustic guitar brought an earthiness that grounded the otherwise largely electronic aesthetic. Then Lykke Li opened her mouth and it sounded as if Fiona Apple met Joan of Arc on the stake.
Eye Inside: The Rock-n-Roll Allegory of Vance Barrett
Eye Inside is a blatantly great concept. It’s – okay, it kind of sounds chintzy at first glance – it’s about an evil agent who takes uniformly good-spirited and magnanimous actors and turns them into fame-whores and coke-fiends. He is a corrupter of the pure. But, honestly, making a rock opera out of the subject – and I’m selling it short, it’s far trippier than that sound-bite summation – well, it just makes sense.
John Hiatt and The Combo at Ravinia Festival
John Hiatt is a well-known and accomplished songwriter. He’s written songs for just about everyone under the sun, and a number of them have been hits – at least on the country charts.
Lyle Lovett & His Large Band at Ravinia
God damn I like Lyle Lovett. He’s a real craftful songwriter. His songs are funny, bitter, poignant, satirical – sometimes all at once. They are a celebration and satirization of the decadent and depraved segments of our society through joyous absurdity. He’ll cut a record with some of the funniest songs you’ve ever heard, and right next to ‘em will be stuff to make you bawl your eyes out. And live, he’s even better.
Theo Katzman & (((LOVEMASSIVE))) Live at Schubas
The three of them immediately launched into several new songs, presumably on the debut album Theo’s recording right now, each of them very strong and containing what one has come to expect from Theo: good lyrics, nice hooks, excellent chord progressions. Theo writes like he talks, so the colloquial nature of his lyrics make the songs very approachable while remaining catchy and smart.