WHAT: Foghorn Stringband, The Yellow Jacket Stringband
WHERE: The Iron Post ($10)
WHEN: Wednesday, February 13th at 6:30 p.m.
C-U Folk & Roots Festival is presenting this show (fittingly enough) over at Urbana’s Iron Post mid-week. Foghorn Stringband has been around for about a decade now and have a bunch of material. They’ll be joined by another stringband, Yellow Jacket Stringband. You can check out one of Foghorn Stringband’s tracks, “Rueben’s Train,” below for a taste.
[[mp3 foghorn_stringband_ruebens_train]]
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WHAT: Wick-It the Instigator, Archnemesis, The Floozies
WHERE: The Canopy Club ($11)
WHEN: Thursday, February 14th at 9 p.m.
DJ/mashup artist Wick-It the Instigator has grown to be quite the popular act not only around these parts, but all over. He’s played Canopy Club a few times, and most recently within the last few months, so he’s getting another go-round again at a familiar C-U spot. Hear his mashup (I can’t bring myself to post anything else besides this, because it’s that good) of Big Boi & the Black Keys from a few years ago, “You Ain’t No Next DJ” below.
[[mp3 wickit_you_aint_no_dj]]
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WHAT: Deathtram
WHERE: Indi Go Artist Co-Op
WHEN: Friday, February 15th at 8 p.m.
Indi Go is hosting “Sessions,” an art show featuring original photography, painting, and illustrations on display for their opening night. Deathtram is the musical guest to make some great sounds in that awesome space. Definitely recommend checking this out if you’re into music, art, or all of the above. You can hear a track from one of the best records to come out in C-U in 2011, Deathtram’s “Vultures,” below. Seriously, great stuff.
[[mp3 deathtram_vultures]]
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WHAT: Wicked Walls, Lightfoils, Shitzo
WHERE: Mike ‘N Molly’s ($7)
WHEN: Friday, February 15 at 8 p.m.
If you haven’t heard by now, longtime C-U indie rock crew New Ruins is no longer. Wicked Walls is the remnants of New Ruins, minus Elzie Sexton and plus keyboardist Lindsey Barr. It’ll be interesting to see what they can come up with in the upcoming months, but for now you can hear a rough mix of one of their new tracks below and be the judge. Joining are Chicago shoegazers Lightfoils and Hank sideproject Shitzo, who will be releasing an album Friday night.
WHAT: Dre Day
WHERE: Cowboy Monkey ($5)
WHEN: Friday, February 15th at 9 p.m.
Cowboy Monkey is hosting a handful of DJs for Dre Day, celebrating for the 5th year in a row the legacy of Dr. Dre. DJs slated for the bill include DJ Belly, Dr. Dre beat set by Maker. w/ DJs Intel, Trew, Big Once, Pickel, and Kool Hersh. Surely they’ll be mixing their favorites from Dre’s catalog and making it their own in the process. And here’s the kicker — specials include Colt 45 40s & Gin + Juice. Perfect.
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WHAT: The Howl, Street Justice
WHERE: Red Herring ($5)
WHEN: Friday, February 15th at 9 p.m.
Chicago punk/experimental crew The Howl comes through C-U with Street Justice at the Red Herring on Friday. The Howl are kind of a mixed bag, drawing from all types of contemporaries like The Gaslight Anthem to Minus the Bear. Kind of a wide range, yes, but those are a few that came to mind when going through their record 900 Feet Below. Give it a try by streaming “Tapioca” below.
[[mp3 howl_tapioca]]
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WHAT: Midas The Crow, Mike Reeb, Discoverer
WHERE: Mike ‘N Molly’s ($5)
WHEN: Saturday, February 16th at 8 p.m.
Midas The Crow is Justin Larkin’s stage moniker, and he’s headlining this three singer-songwriter bill on Saturday night at Mike ‘N Molly’s. He’s had some tracks in the works early in the year, and is prepping them for some type of release. He’s got a couple of tracks posted on his Bandcamp, one of which you can hear below, “Nowhere is a Place.”
[[mp3 midas_the_crow_nowhere_is_a_place]]
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EDITOR’S PICK: KIRKWOOD WEST, REED RICHARDS, DJ BELLY, RICKY WELLS, DJ DIF-EQ, VADER
The Highdive ($5) — Saturday, February 16th at 9 p.m.
This stacked lineup is ready to make some pretty DEEP sounds at The Highdive this weekend. By the looks of things, they have a full party ready to go for all in attendance. Kirkwood West continues to put out some of the best deep bass sets together in C-U, one of which you can hear over at his Soundcloud page. If I’m not mistaken, it is the show he joined Psychic Twin for at Cafe Luna early last summer. Great stuff to be heard there if you’re interested. If you want to stay here, you can hear his track, “The Secret of the Worm,” below as well. Either way, you win.
For the price of admission and the amount of great DJs on this bill, this is definitely worth the ticket this weekend. DJ Belly has been a solid staple in this town for awhile, not to mention the rest of these guys performing. I could keep going, but you get what I mean at this point.
[[mp3 kirkwood_west_the_secret_of_the_worm]]
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WHAT: Umphrey’s McGee
WHERE: The Canopy Club ($27.50 advance/$30 door)
WHEN: Sunday, February 17th at 9 p.m.
Jamaholics Umphrey’s McGee make their usual stop through Canopy Club again this week in what is becoming an automatic stop on their seemingly nonstop show schedule. Seriously, they don’t seem to take breaks in touring, ever. If you’re a huge Umphrey’s fan, this is probably a no-brainer ticket for you that you’ve had for a while now. If not, you can check out a track from their latest record, Death By Stereo, “The Floor” below.
[[mp3 umphreys_mcgee_the_floor]]