Results tagged “contest”

We raved about The Heavy last time they landed in Chicago, and our prediction was spot-on. Here's what we said.

Kathy Griffin may claim she's on the D-List, but her fans consider her an A-List talent, and we'd have to agree with that assessment. Seriously, she's vicious, hilarious, and fearless. What more do you want from a comedian?

We have a winner! Congratulations to Jo-Elle, who pulled out a story of a long-departed cat to best all comers. Jo-Elle receives two tickets to the Growing Home Benefit, 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Cultural Center.

Growing Home, the non-profit organization providing job training for homeless and low-income individuals in Chicago through a social enterprise business based on organic agriculture (via their hoop houses on Wood Street in Englewood), is hosting its annual benefit at the Chicago Cultural Center next Thursday, June 11. The benefit will feature passed appetizers and a 3-course dinner with dishes from Charlie Trotter's, Vie, Nia, Monogramme Events and Catering, the Meatloaf Bakery; a silent auction; an open bar; and a keynote address from Rick Bayless.

First of all, let's get this out of the way. We were watching the little video with Perry Farrell below and were thinking he's looking remarkably well preserved for a dude who is 50. Then we thought, "Wait, Perry Farrell is FIFTY?!" We've always though Bowie was well preserved but Farrell is giving that man a run for his money.

Our friends at the Tribune and the University of Chicago Magazine know what Easter is really all about: the candy. The two publications recently held contests revolving around a particular Easter sweet that is near and dear to our hearts: PEEPS®.

Last night's NCAA Championship game wasn't much of a battle, with North Carolina jumping out to an early lead and never looking back. Holding a 55-34 halftime lead, the Tar Heals coasted through the second half to defeat the Michigan St. Spartans 89-72 at Ford Field in Detroit to win the school's fifth title.

Chicago's Numero Group, the record label that brings the lost voices of local soul back to life, is putting on the Eccentric Soul Revue at Park West Saturday night. It would be easy to say that this one-night live event is a stirring tribute to some of the less celebrated originators of Chicago soul, but the fact of the matter is that these old crooners still love to perform. An offshoot of Numero Group's Eccentric Soul: Twinight's Lunar Rotation, which dusted off more than 40 hits off the storied Chicago label, Eccentric Soul Revue is a veritable showcase of Twinight's hit makers, bringing The Notations, Renaldo Domino, Nate Evans, Kaldirons and local legend Syl Johnson together for one night, live on stage, and backed up by JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound.

If you're anything like us, you printed out a half dozen brackets last night after the NCAA selection committee set the field of 65 for this year's tournament as you begin to hone in on just the right mix of sure things and upsets to win bragging rights over friends and co-workers.

College basketball's conference tournaments are in full swing this week, meaning that March Madness is soon upon us! The official brackets for this year's NCAA Tournament will be released Sunday evening, after the last conference champs are determined.

Dan Auerbach's full-time gig is blowing out eardrums with meaty blues licks in the The Black Keys. In his off time though, Auerbach settles back into a more reflective phase in his solo work, as showcased in the recently released Keep It Hid. Don't worry, it's not some namby-pamby folksy record singer-with-a guitar record -- Auerbach knows his primary weapon is buried in the wiring to his distortion pedal -- but it does allow him a bit more breathing room than his day gig usually affords.

If you haven't planned anything for your heartthrob tomorrow night, you may still be able to save the day (and your relationship) with an awesome concert. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is offering a package of prizes to two lucky Chicagoist commenters. Each winner will get:

Company of Thieves celebrate the hometown release of their new album Ordinary Riches with a show at Double Door next week on Thursday, February 19 .... and we've got a pair of tickets to give away along with a signed copy of their new CD!

We fell in love with Denis Leary's vitriol-fueled rants back during his cigarette smoke-spewing days as an MTV station ID man. Back then we considered him to be the result of comedic trend popularized by Dennis Miller ... both had that smart rapid fire delivery to their attacks, only where Miller pounded you over the head with his brains, Leary allowed his intelligence to sucker punch you from behind.

As you may have read (or heard), our Avril Lavigne-loving Editor-in-Chief, Marcus Gilmer, attended the swearing in of President Barack Obama as a full-fledged member of the press (seriously, we haven't heard the end of his babbling on about it). A few days after the inauguration, the following panoramic photo was brought to our attention.

It would be easy to start a review for The Heartless Bastard's new album The Mountain with a metaphor like "with this album, the band scales new heights!" but that simply isn't true. Instead the album finds the band exploring new territory and employing a new sort of balancing act as they continue their development.

As a proud co-sponsor of this year's Tomorrow Never Knows Music Festival at Schubas, we're giving away a whole slew of prizes to a couple lucky Chicagoist readers. We've got tickets, CDs, and T-shirts galore ... and our grand prize includes a 5-day pass for one of you to take in every single night of terrific music including the sold-out Cursive show Friday January 16.

A few weeks back, we looked at the 2009 Speaker Series that will bring a set of political talks to the Chicago Theater. Full of intriguing pairings, we were most enthused about the debut set of Ann Coulter and Bill Maher. Now, in the midst of all kinds of economic turmoil, we're happy to report we have a pair of tickets to give away to the March 11 event featuring Coulter and Maher. They'll either kill each other or wind up making love on stage. Either way, it's going to be a fun night so enter after the jump for your chance at a pair of tickets. We'll be accepting entries through the end of the day.

Since releasing its self-titled full length last year on Bloodshot Records, Scotland Yard Gospel Choir has tirelessly drummed up business and collected fans here and abroad through exhaustive touring. Lucky for us, they've come home for the holidays.

There are a jillion ways to ring in the new year around Chicago, from small parties with close friends to inhumanly posh ballroom galas, but the hippest route in this town will undeniably be the Justice show at The Congress Theater on New year's Eve.

Photo from the band's MySpace by Rumi Sakuraeda

Manchester Orchestra creates music that's is plaintive yet rejoicing, and we find the mixture alluring. The band borrows the nasal whine of glam rock and injects it into a bed firmly rooted in the indie rock that rules the CMJ college set. This creates songs that often feel like they're tripping over themselves with a sense of urgency as they try to convey their own inner truths and emotions through nothing more than a couple musical instruments. This is music that is earnest but never cloying.

Tomorrow's show at Metro with Kid Sister, Flosstradamus, and The Hood Internet should provide a cap on a pretty wild year for all three groups. High profile gigs and buzz have followed this crew internationally and the anticipation for both Kid Sister and Flosstradamus' debuts has steadily built to nigh ridiculous levels. This bill is basically constrcuted from the kings and queen's of Chicago's feel-good party scene, so we expect Metro to be a madhouse. The fact that it's happening on Blackout Wednesday (which precedes Black Friday every year) should only add to the chaos.

Matt and Kim play Subterranean tomorrow, and we have a pair of tickets for a lucky Chicagoist reader for the show. When we walked past the club yesterday one of our friends saw the marquee and asked if Matt and Kim were from Chicago, since they always seemed to be playing here. They're not, but Chicago does seem to have become the ridiculously energetic duo's second home, and they attract massive crowd of dance-happy listeners to all their area appearances. The band's super simple mixture of singer Matt Johnson's adenoidal vocals and pumping organ chords and drummer Kim Schifino's wide eyed smiling drum thumps ensnares any within earshot. We would say their enthusiasm in infectious, but that would be understating the vibe they throw off from onstage. No one leaves a Matt & Kim show in a dry t-shirt or without a smile.

The fine folks at North Shore Distillery (by the way, their Distiller's Gin No. 11, the second highest-rated American made gin— their Distiller's No. 6 is the highest rated) are looking for some good local artists to help them design some artwork for future advertising campaigns. To that end, they've decided to hold a contest to choose a winning design and want local artists to enter their best submissions.

The first time you hear them, Dengue Fever is one of those bands that will most likely cause you to do a spit-take. Um, psychedelic Cambodian go-go music anyone?

The F Yeah tour hits The Mansion (2408 N Kedzie) tomorrow night with Matt & Kim, Monotonix, Team Robespierre, Mannequin Men, and Crystal Antlers. (Yes, Matt & Kim are also playing Hideout earlier in the evening, and this set was supposed to be a secret, but their label let the cat out of the bag, so there you go.)

North Carolinian experimental indie kids Annuals are on nature kick as they tour in support of their major label debut EP, Wet Zoo (Sony/Canvasback). The youngsters' catchy brand of loud-soft, organic-synthetic exuberance made them blog darlings in the Internet-fruitful musical year of 2006, and Annuals' exploration of the weird trappings of youth through a blend of rural-ish folk-pop and symphonic studio bombast continues on Wet Zoo.

Sure, it seems like Adam Green's ex-bandmate Kimya Dawson is getting all the accolades for last year's Juno soundtrack, which is funny since he co-wrote the biggest hit on that record, but folks should be directing their focus on Green's new cabaret leanings, leaving his old anti-folk tunes in the dust. His latest album, Sixes & Sevens, mixes Lee Hazelwood's cinematic sonic styling with a sly sexiness that would do Serge Gainsbourg proud. The 20 songs on the album leap all over the place stylistically, covering everything from Memphis driven soul to quirky half-tunes better suited to a carnival calliope. Through it all Green displays an astonishing range and derring-do that skirts the edge of complication only to be reined in by solid songcraft.

You still have some time to win some of the 2-CD Best Of Radiohead sets, or the Radiohead DVD video collections we're giving away. Unfortunately we had some technical problems with our entry form yesterday, so if you couldn't enter earlier yesterday you should be able to enter now.