WHAT: Roberta Sparrow, Bent Left, Midstress
WHERE: Highdive ($2)
WHEN: Tuesday, September 6th at 9:30 p.m.
This weekend, Roberta Sparrow guitarist Justin Scofield revealed a bummer of a tidbit: Roberta Sparrow are (apparently) breaking up, as lead vocalist/drummer Greg Jaeger is moving out of town. By far the longest running punk band in Champaign-Urbana, this will be your second to last chance to catch them.
WHAT: Ellnora Guitar Festival
WHERE: Krannert Center (price varies)
WHEN: Thursday, September 8th thru Saturday, September 10th
Look at this fucking schedule. That’s a lot of stuff to do. Even if you’re the most broke college student in the world, you can still see Adrian Belew, Chris Thile and Noveller for free. Or, if you can find five dollars worth of change on the sidewalk, you can check out Daniel Lanois or Lee Ranaldo instead. So yes, this is probably where you should be spending a good chunk of your weekend.
WHAT: Hathaways, Cameron McGill
WHERE: Cowboy Monkey ($5)
WHEN: Thursday, September 8th at 10:00 p.m.
The newly-electrified Hathaways are deserving of your attention, especially if you wrote them off during their days as a purely acoustic group. Opener Cameron McGill is a familiar name on marquees in town, and he continues to draw crowds in town for one reason: his songs are really, really good.
WHAT: Hum, Dibiase
WHERE: Highdive ($10 advance)
WHEN: Friday, September 9th at 9:00 p.m.
The sleeping giant rears its head once again. Much has been written about Hum and their influence on Champaign-Urbana, and anyone wanting to understand how music in this town came to the point it’s at right now owes it to themselves to get to this (also: the Braid show on the 24th). And despite a capacity-doubling move to the Highdive, I’m guessing that advance tickets (or at the very least, showing up early) might not be a bad idea. Also, check Wednesday’s cover for an interview with Matt Talbott.