Lotus are about to break ground in a way that no other rock band has done prior - they are plotting a tour this fall that truly allows their legion of fans to pay-what-they-want for tickets. The Pay-What-You-Want-Tour featuring Lotus is an eight night run of shows in western U.S. states, sponsored by Ticketweb, that lets the fans decide how much their show ticket will cost.

As I went off to bed Friday night, the weather turned very chilly and was beginning to settle in my head, foreshadowing a good  head cold.  And later in the night, our fellow campers had a fire pit going, whose some for some reason just that night seemed to sweep underneath our tent fly and fill my sinuses. I woke up achy and feeling like crap. As I stumbled toward my morning coffee, the sky was cloudy and threatened to rain. I talked with one of the recycling people and he said that though rain wasn't forecast, it wouldn't get warm, just up to the late 60s by dinner time.

After last night's rain, it dawned sunny and warm with a few clouds. The humidity was greatly reduced, too, promising to be a great day for music.

I saw my first Phish show at the Hampton Coliseum in 1995 when I was 16 years old.  I had such a great time that I lied to my parents in order to go see them again at Hershey Park a few days later.  At the time, I knew nothing about Phish; I didn’t know any of its songs, any of its members names, or that the drummer wore a dress and played a vacuum.  I just knew that when I saw that first show at the Spaceship in ‘95 it was filled with so much positive energy, I wanted to co

Trombonist/Composer Clifton Anderson brings his Quintet into the Iridium on Tuesday, August 4th in support of his new Doxy Records release, Decade.   A February gig at Dizzy’s Coca Cola introduced the CD and debuted his new group, which features Eric Wyatt on tenor, Stephen Scott on piano, Russel Blake on bass, and Steve Williams on drums, in addition to Anderson’s vibrant trombone.

There have been very few bands that have impressed me lately in the musical landscape. In an effort to avoid sounding like a music snob, I partly blame myself. My styles have changed and I am not as obsessed with music as I once was. Still, there is a side of me that blames the artists, media and record labels for stealing a little bit of thunder from something I once cherished.

Have you ever been to the Taste of Chicago? All in all it is a fantastic experience, one not to be missed but there are always headaches that go along with attending, ie the heat and humidity, long lines and traffic. Every year even if it is just for a moment you ponder how nice it would be not to have to deal with the headache. This is the best way I can describe the Death Cab for Cutie show at Red Rocks in Morrison, CO on July 14th 2009.

I started off my musical day with two exceptional bands that weren’t on the program. Enchanted Ape and Mountain Standard Time played acoustic sets in the VIP Chill Tent. Enchanted Ape had a guest guitarist join them, a performer who had played with frontman Chris Obrien years before and who added some really nice vocal backups. The regular guitarist will come in Friday just before Enchanted Ape’s slot that day. Chris also added a tenor sax player to this acoustic set.

Chicago's favorite power-pop trio, Baby Teeth, are hitting the road with their brand of arena-ready anthems of suburban dystopia and real-world candor.

The seventh annual 10,000 Lakes Festival opened yesterday to a large crowd that seemed small. This was partly due to the fact that the Main Stage had two acts running against the Saloon Stage (called the Vitamin Water Syn Saloon Stage this year). The Field Stage and Barn Stages were dark until 11:30 pm. This meant that the focus of last night’s audience was on the Main Stage acts: Gomez and Widespread Panic. Unfortunately, this drew some of the crowd away from the acts up the hill at the Saloon.