Monday, January 31, 2011

Mellow Yellow Monday--Rubblebucket


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Rubblebucket LIVE at The Double Door, Chicago


Rubblebucket was so much fun, and they absolutely lived up to and exceeded the hype.   We'll have a full set of pix from the show up soon.   For now, here's a yellow infused teaser for Mellow Yellow Monday.


Click below for more fun yellow shots from around the world.


MellowYellowMondayBadge





i ♥ Faces-Best Face January

Rubblebucket LIVE at The Double Door-Chicago 1/15/11


Black Label Society LIVE at The Congress Theater-Photos

Children of Bodom at Congress Theater in November


Double click on the photos for full screen options

Finnish black metal band, Children of Bodom, is named for an unsolved teen triple murder on the shores of Lake Bodom in 1960.    Four friends were camping and only one survived with injuries, later becoming a suspect who was ultimately acquitted.   According to Wikipedia, the band has been together since 1993 and has been labeled, melodic death metal, among other genres.  Despite the "hate crew" hype, black nail polish, and angry lyrics, these tattooed long haired rockers from Finland still manage to come across more hot than horrifying.   Check out their web site for downloads, merch, and tour dates.

Present history via Wikipedia:

Relentless Reckless Forever (2010–present)

The Blooddrunk tour ended and Children of Bodom started recording their new album. During the recording of the drum tracks there was a small tornado and the power was cut out. Consequently the recording was delayed until after their tour with Black Label Society. Children Of Bodom released some information to Metal Hammer magazine about new album tracks. The three track names they released were entitled: "Pussyfoot Miss Suicide," "Ugly," and "Was It Worth It?" [26] [27] They have since returned and recorded all tracks, and they are expecting to release their album in early 2011.[28]
In November the band announced "The Ugly World Tour 2011" which will be from March-May 2011 and will feature dates around Europe. Opening Acts will be EnsiferumMachinae Supremacy and Amon Amarth (UK only). On November 24, it was announced that the title of the album will be "Relentless Reckless Forever". The album will be released on March 8, 2011. A music video for "Was It Worth It?" is in production, a trailer for the video has been released.

Clutch at Congress Theater in November


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Clutch is one of our favorite bands, and it was truly a pleasure to shoot their Congress appearance in November, when they opened for Black Label Society and Children of Bodom.    Check out the shots here and archived on ChiIL Live Shows.   Even better, go see them live.    They'll be back at Congress Theater again in a few short weeks and we'll be covering their show again.   This time they'll open for Motorhead.   Valient Thorr is also on the bill.


February 19th-Motorhead/Clutch/Valient Thorr (all ages)-Congress Theatre-7:00pm


We've seen Clutch play for years and in such diverse venues as Metro, Logan Auditorium, Cubby Bear, and even outdoors at Summer Camp Music Festival.   Last summer in Sweden we even thought we saw Neil Fallon's likeness in a stained glass window in Uppsala.   Check it out HERE and see what you think.   Maybe it's just his signature beard...but there's an uncanny resemblance.


Neil Fallon's growling vocals and insightful lyrics always make for a memorable live show.   Word is, the band bought out their prior label and are re-releasing on their own.    So let's show them some love.    Check out their web site for ticket info, merch and downloads at http://www.pro-rock.com/.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Hello Ella Jenkins-See The First Lady of Children's Folk Music This Sunday at OTSFM


Youth Musicians Open for Veteran Children’s Music Performer

The Young Stracke All-Stars, ages 8-13,  are thrilled to perform on bill with Ella Jenkins whose musical legacy spans 50 years.   ChiIL Mama has known 3 of The Young Stracke All-Stars since their pre-school days--about as long as our own kids have adored Ella Jenkins.   When Sagie was a toddler, she insisted her name was "hello Jenkins" instead of Ella, and was thrilled to hold her hand at Kidzapalooza 2006.   We can't wait to see everyone playing together on Sunday!

Some of the newest musicians on the folk music scene in Chicago will have the opportunity of a lifetime when they open for “The First Lady of Children’s Folk Music,”  Ella Jenkins, on February 6th at 11:00 a.m. at the Old Town School of Folk Music (OTSFM) 

The Young Stracke All-Stars are a band of young people ages 8-13 who are students at the Old Town School of Folk Music and who have shown a dedication to the ideals of the Old Town School community; they are dedicated, curious, passionate and enthusiastic about community music.  The band is named after OTSFM founder Win Stracke, and though they have played at various festivals and venues around town, this gig is very important to them.  

“I’m very excited that we get to open up for one of my favorite artists,” says band member Zelda Zerkel-Morris, age 8.  Jason McInnes is a teacher at OTSFM and convenes the band.  “This is such a great opportunity for the band to learn from being on the same stage with such an amazing performer who has contributed so much to the history of the music they are playing,” says McInnes.

Ella Jenkins, winner of the 2004 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, has been recording and playing Children’s and Folk music around the world since the 1950’s.  Generations of children in the Chicago area have grown up on the music of Ms. Jenkins, a long-time Chicago resident who performs regularly around the area.

Tickets to the show are available by calling the OTSFM box office at 773.728.6000.  $15 General Public/$13 Old Town School Members/$15 Seniors & Children.

Who:    The Young Stracke All-Stars/ Ella Jenkins
What:    Folk/ Community Music
When:    February 6, 11:00 a.m.
Where:    The Old Town School of Folk Music, 4544 N. Lincoln Ave.



February Favorites--Upcoming Events

January flew by, and we're still recapping all the excellent music, theatre, and hockey we saw.   February is just 2 days away.    Here's what we're looking forward to covering this coming month:

February 
2nd-Disney on Ice Toy Story 3-(check out their site for videos, fun games and more)-Chicago shows are running now through Feb. 13th.  We've already chosen our family 4 pack ticket winner, but discount tickets are still available.  Click HERE for the code and details about our Toy Story 3 comment contest.   We'll be seeing the show ourselves on the 2nd and we'll post a full review. 

3rd-Phil Angotti and Friends (21+)-People and Places CD release at Park West.   I met this Chicago based musician/dad at The Webstirs show and look forward to checking out his music.   For downloads and more info, check out his site HERE.   We'll be doing an interview with him in the near future.





5th-Keller Williams (kids by day/18+ at night)-*enter HERE through Monday 1/31 midnight for a family 4 pack of tickets to Keller's No Kidding! Kids' Show, at 3:30pm at Park West, Susan Salidor at Schubas and Lindsay and The Shimmys at Beat Kitchen!   3 winners chosen.   


Enter through Tuesday midnight to win Keller Williams' kindie CD, Kids.   3 winners chosen!


*Doors open at 2:30--join a pre show drum circle.   $30 SUPER FREEK pass gets you 1 ticket to the kids show/1 to the adult show and a laminate that admits you to a meet n greet with Keller.   Check the Park West site for tickets and details.



  • 5th-Susan Salidor (kids)-Schubas-10:30am
 





6th-The Young Stracke All-Stars, ages 8-13, open for Ella Jenkinswhose musical legacy spans 50 years-The Old Town School of Folk Music (OTSFM)-11:00am.   ChiIL Mama's known 3 of The Young Stracke All-Stars since they were in pre-school, and is excited to see them perform.   

We've also been huge fans of Ella Jenkins since our kids' pre-school days.    Sagezilla got to hold her hand at Kidzapalooza 2006, during Ella's birthday celebration, and she used to adamantly insist her name was "Hello Jenkins", instead of Ella.   Somehow, I don't think Ella would mind.

We'd highly recommend this unique experience to see some of the newest folk musicians playing with one of their inspirations, the first lady of children's folk music herself.   ChiIL Mama will be covering the show and posting interviews.


11th-Monster Jam-Allstate Arena *Win a family 4 pack HERE!  Enter through Monday 2/31 midnight.   We'll be there the 11th and will be posting a full review.



  • 11th-Laura Doherty (kids) -Schubas-11:00am-*ChiIL Mama will be giving away her latest CD, Kids in The City & A Family 4 Pack of tickets, as well as running reviews, footage and an interview








  • 11th-Mindy Hester & The Time Outs (kids)-Beat Kitchen-noon *ChiIL Mama will be giving away A Family 4 Pack of tickets


    12th-Tortoise (21+)-Empty Bottle-2 shows 7:00pm and 10:00pm
    Tortoise is well known and loved in Chicago and internationally.   Come see accomplished, cutting edge musicians, who also happen to be somebody's parents.   We've known Jeff Parker (guitar/bass), and John Herndon (drums) since their kids were toddlers.


    19th-Motorhead/Clutch/Valient Thorr (all ages)-Congress Theater-7:00pm




    19th-Little Miss Ann Band-Dress Wacky Dance Party-Beat Kitchen-noon *ChiIL Mama will be giving away her CD, Music For Tots & A Family 4 Pack of tickets, as well as running reviews, footage and an interview

    20th-Super Stolie (kids)-Beat Kitchen-noon  *ChiIL Mama will be giving away her CD, When I Grow Up & A Family 4 Pack of tickets, as well as running reviews, footage and an interview 



    26th-Dropkick Murphys/Naked Raygun (all ages)-Congress Theater(Naked Raygun brought all their kids out on stage at Riot Fest, a few years back, in tot sized Naked Raygun T's.)





    27th-Dropkick Murphys/Against Me (all ages)-Congress Theater
     

    • 27th-Karen 4 Kids (kids)-Beat Kitchen-noon *ChiIL Mama will be giving away A Family 4 Pack of tickets


    ONGOING:







    Winter Farmers Market-Every Sunday 10-2-November through March




    Heads Up For March:


    Congress Theater (all ages)










    March 11th & 12th






    Dreamworks Madagascar Liveat Rosemont Theatre- March 16-20th *ChiIL Mama will be giving away a family 4 pack of tickets and reviewing the show.   Details coming soon.











    Saturday, January 29, 2011

    Everything is coming to a grinding halt...


    It's flu season, ya know.    Sometimes you just have to be resigned to taking a few sick days, slowing way down, and sitting by the fire, cuddling a sick child.   So we're taking a que from the 3 dogs and taking a resting day.   We'll be back out and around reviewing in no time.        

    Friday, January 28, 2011

    Saturday-Free Monthly Punk Parents Nite Out

    Winner Reminders: Winter Fest at Beat Kitchen

    Every weekend, the booster seats go on the bar stools and the way under agers invade the Beat Kitchen for the afternoon.   Their food is good and kids of all ages will get a kick out of the menus encased in album covers.   Give your littles a rock education on the record.   Come on out of the cold and enjoy a family friendly, music and art filled afternoon.

    Winterfest will rock your socks off!   We hope to see you tomorrow. One last reminder, ChiIL Mama's family 4 pack ticket winner to Winter Fest is Moe F. and daughter, Lilly, who like to rock out to Justin Roberts.

    Check out ChiIL Mama every week for free tickets to local kids and adult shows (free ticket Tuesdays), free books and CDs (Win A Disc Wednesdays-enter nationwide), live concert footage, band interviews, theatre, book, and music reviews, Chicago events and more.

    Wednesday, January 26, 2011

    Play Locally-Chicago Weekend Fun

    She's crafty--she gets around.   Get crafty at Beat Kitchen's Winter Fest Sat at noon

    Disney on Ice Toy Story 3 is Here!   January 26th-30th at Allstate Arena and February 2-13th at the United Center.   Use this link for discount tickets http://www.ticketmaster.com/search?tm_link=tm_homeA_header_search&q=disney+on+ice+chicago
    with the code MOM.  ChiIL Mama can't wait to check it out. 


    We also can't wait to go to Monster Jam at Allstate Arena on opening night, Friday, February 11th!   Use this link for discount tickets http://www.ticketmaster.com/search?tm_link=tm_header_search&q=monster+jam+allstate+arena  

    **Creative challenge.   If you could bring one of your toys to life, like the Toy Story characters, which one would it be, and who in Toy Story 3 would they most likely hang out with?
       
    OR


    Name and design/describe your own monster truck.


    Parents can dictate kids' words and enter below.   Contest ends February 13th, when the Ice Show leaves town.   2 entries if you answer BOTH questions and an extra entry for each documented social media share.


    Our favorite entry will win a free download card for Muddy Water Beaver Dam Band, the award winning kindie CD by Mr. Singer & The Sharp Cookies.





    Thursday:   The Shams (Chicago's original rock folk group)-We've said it before, but we'll say it once again-highly recommended parents night out.   We've already given away our pair of tickets, but we'll have a review of their latest CD, and some disc give aways still coming up.  We'll also have a photo filled show recap up for you soon.

    Chicago Roots Collective & Chicago Bluegrass & Blues Festival Present: The CRC Showcase One Year Anniversary

    Thursday, January 27 2011 8:00 PM
    18+ $8.00   





    After opening for Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros at the 2010 Chicago Bluegrass and Blues Festival, The Shams Band looks to develop their own nitche in the Chicago music scene. These young garage rockers bring energy, passion and captivating harmony to every live performance.
    “The Shams Band scene was reminiscent of a southern dance hall upturned by bad-boy rockers. If it weren’t for their mid-western look, a body almost forgot she was in Chicago. With tinges of Wilco, Chuck Berry, and Sly and the Family Stone wrapped up in a rootsy twang package, the energy of The Shams Band is contagious.” -Erin Keane [Via Chicago]
    Follow | @TheShamsBand | @DNelsonMusic 


    Saturday: 
    Beat Kitchen Winter Fest 



    Winter Fest extravaganza Saturday, January 29!
    Little Miss Ann Band, Boogers, Mary Macaroni & more, 11:30am-5pm
    Next Saturday, January 29th Concerts for Kids is throwing a HUGE party. With a rocking main stage, facepainting, punk rock hair styling, crafts and lots of fun.

    Concerts for Kids Main Stage
    noon: Boogers
    1:00: Mary Macaroni Magic Show followed by Balloon Animals
    2:30: AmeriKid Idol with Andy Moy*
    3:30: Little Miss Ann Band
    Special thanks to Beat KitchenPsychobaby,ChicagoKids.comUnicoi Art Studio and Sitters Studio for making the fun possible.

    *Note: If your child would like to perform in AmeriKid Idol, our open mic show, please email Julie Dickinson.
    Buy tickets here. Beat Kitchen is located at 2100 W. Belmont


    To keep up to date with Concerts for Kids, become our Facebook friend atwww.facebook.com/kidsshowschicago.
    Tuesday:  


    “Cinderella Ate My Daughter!”





    Bestselling Author Peggy Orenstein Explores the Effects of Princess-Mania at Women & Children First Bookstore

    When journalist Peggy Orenstein published an essay in The New York Times Magazine about the “princess-mania” that has overtaken a new generation of little girls, she was not prepared for a firestorm. But “What’s Wrong with Cinderella” swiftly shot to the top of the Times’ websites “most emailed” list and elicited hundreds of reader responses. Now Orenstein has expanded her study in to the book Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches from the Frontlines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture (Harper, January 25, 2011), which she will be reading from and discussing on Tuesday, February 1, at 7:00 p.m. at Women & Children First Bookstore, 5233 N. Clark St. in Chicago. Call 773-769-9299 for more information.

    Orenstein, who had already garnered a reputation as a “girl expert” with her groundbreaking bestseller, Schoolgirls: Young Women, Self-Esteem, and the Confidence Gap, thought she was simply musing on her own observations and reactions to her young daughter’s obsession with Disney princesses and predilection for the color pink. Clearly, though, she had touched a cultural nerve: many parents, she discovered, shared her concerns about the significance of this seemingly-retro trend toward the ultra-feminine, and the role the ubiquitous marketing machine plays in packaging it and promoting it.

    With the keen perceptions of the seasoned journalist, the emotional investment of a mother, and a wittiness all her own, Orenstein ventures to the lands of Disney and American Girl, visits the toy industry’s largest trade show, and even braves a Hannah Montana concert. She returns to the original fairy tales, seeks out girls’ virtual presence online, and ponders the meaning of child beauty pageants. In the process, she faces her own confusion as a mother and woman about issues that rearing a girl raise about her own femininity.

    Orenstein is the author of the best-selling memoir Waiting for Daisy. A contributing writer to The New York Times Magazine, her work has appeared in the Los Angeles TimesUSA TodayVogueElleParentingO: The Oprah MagazineSalon, and The New Yorker, and she contributes commentaries to NPR’s “All Things Considered.”

    This event is free and open to the public.

    Women & Children First is an independent, feminist bookstore celebrating 30 years serving Chicago’s literary and progressive communities.



    Give Something Back:

    Adventure Stage is one of our favorite local theatres for family friendly fare.   
    Come out and eat, drink and be merry for a good cause.

    Join us for some fun at Small Bar this Monday!

    Monday, January 31st
    7:00-10:00pm
    Small Bar, 1415 W Fullerton
     
    $25 Will Get You
    FOOD!
    Hearty appetizer spread
    DRINKS!
    Two drink tickets
    MUSIC!
    Live music by the lounge band Miss Honey and the Combs (featuring ASC Staff and Ensemble Members Brandon Campbell 
    and Jana Liles)
    LAUGHS!
    Episodes from Factory Theater's The New Adventures of Popeye (featuring ASC Ensemble Member Sarah Rose Graber)
    A KINDLE!
    Possibly! We will be raffling off a Kindle!
     
    Cash only, at the door.
     
    This event will be hosted by the vivacious Dani Bryant. (ASC Ensemble Member). All proceeds go to support our spring production of Sinbad; The Untold Tale

    Hope to see you there!  


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