WHAT: Robyn, Diamond Rings, Natalia Kills
WHERE: Canopy Club ($25)
WHEN: Tuesday, February 15 at 7:30 p.m.
Robyn’s various Bodytalk EPs and eventual full-length album were some of the most buzzed about releases of 2010. And while I still don’t get what all the excitement about fairly typical Euro-dance-pop is, I was blown away by the energy and presence Robyn brought to the stage in the mid-afternoon at Pitchfork last summer. I have to imagine indoors at night, the live show is exponentially better. Should be one to remember.
WHAT: Hathaways, Village, That’s No Moon
WHERE: The Cowboy Monkey ($5)
WHEN: Friday, February 18 at 9:00 p.m.
This is the full band debut of Hathaways playing original material, following their appearance at The Cover Up where they played as The Everly Brothers. New additions include John Hoeffleur on guitar (The Beauty Shop), Brendan Gamble on drums (The Poster Children, Moon Seven Times) and Rory Grennan (Sick Day, Mad Mardigan) on bass. Locals That’s No Moon are about to release a new 7 song EP, so this should be a great chance to catch those tunes in the live setting. Village is a Chicago band — that’s all I got.
WHAT: Night Music: John the Revelator with Lionheart and ETHEL
WHERE: Krannert (various prices)
WHEN: Saturday, February 19 at 9:00 p.m.
In this piece by composer Phil Kline, Gregorian chants mix with words by David Shapiro, Samuel Beckett and the Old Testament to perform a Latin mass based on a song by Son House. Whoa, that sounds just crazy enough to be awesome! Lionheart is a six-man chorus, while ETHEL is a string quartet.
WHAT: The Funky Butt Drum Club
WHERE: Cowboy Monkey ($7)
WHEN: Saturday, February 19 at 10:00 p.m.
There was a time in 90s when the world was engulfed in funk madness, and the lord hath bestowed upon C-U one of the funkiest bands around. Champaign had a funky butt. Urbana had a funky butt. I had a funky butt. He had a funky butt. She had a funky butt. Lon Kruger had a funky butt. You had a funky butt. This Saturday, we can all have a funky butt. Again and forever. Amen.
WHAT: Yonder Mountain String Band
WHERE: Cowboy Monkey ($7)
WHEN: Sunday, February 20 at 10:00 p.m.
Speaking of the 90s, there used to be a little bluegrass band that played around here called the Bluegrassholes. I remember seeing them and being impressed by their spirit. Then they moved to Colorado and got a lot more famous in their new incarnation, Yonder Mountain String Band. Now they’re coming back for one of their frequent stops in the great flat land where it all started.