Live Pics: Clinic @ Empty Bottle 5/12/08 (early show)

Tokyo Police Club @ Metro 5/5/08

Tokyo Police Club, in support of their most recent release Elephant Shell, must have raced thru every 2 minute song in their catalog to fill the hour or so set in front of a packed Metro crowd that didn't appear to sit still for a single second of it. 

Download: Tokyo Police Club - "Juno"

More Best of 2007: Pics

Wow...I remember thinking this was a great pic before, but after a solid week of seeing nothing but grey outside, it looks heavenly. Anyway, if you're in serious need of more bright, sunny colors like this, head on over to Kirstie's flickr page where she's compiled her favorite concert shots of 2007.

Live Pics: Prefuse 73 @ Empty Bottle 12/1/07

The abominable weather Saturday night seems like it would have been enough to keep anyone indoors but they still managed to pack them in to the Empty Bottle for Scott Herren, a.k.a. Prefuse 73 in support of his recent release Preparations.

Download: Prefuse 73 - "Class of 73 Bells" (featuring School of Seven Bells)

My Brightest Diamond @ Lakeshore Theater 11/11/07

Playing to an audience that was under capacity earlier this month did little to dull the spirit that propels My Brightest Diamond.   

Live Pics: Múm @ Logan Square Auditorium 11/1/07

Download: Múm - "Dancing Behind My Eyelids"

Live Pics: Reefer Duberland (aka Interpol+Liars+Deerhunter) @ Empty Bottle 10/11/07

Boris/Damon & Naomi @ Empty Bottle 9/30/07 (Wire AIMM Fest)

I unfortunately missed the first few nights of this festival, there was just to much good music going on in Chicago. So while Gruff trumped Hair Police and the Lucksmiths won out over Pere Ubu, nothing was going to keep me from missing this final night of the Wire Adventures in Modern Music (AIMM) festival. The line up was interesting, as is the magazine’s prerogative, with heavy Japanese rock trio Boris and soft and spacey Galaxie 500 spin off Damon & Naomi on the same bill. Besides being on tour together (the fest was the first date) the guitarist of “Ghost”:, Michio Kurihara, whom both bands have made records with, joined each set.

Download: Boris - "Narrador Da Espaonave"

Download: Damon & Naomi - "Within These Walls"

Editors @ Park West 9/11/07

Download: Editors - "Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors"

Early Returns From The Hideout

Full reviews to come...for now check out a gluttony of pics from the weekend courtesy of Kirstie and Jeremy.

Starf*ckng at Lolla

Jeremy will have his recap of Day 2 and 3 at Lolla up tonight, but in the meantime you can check out some of the media tent hijinks courtesy of friend Erin S. Benson. Also, stay close to the Pfork news section as they wrap up their coverage, featuring our very own Kirstie on chief photog duty.

I Spy Hyperliterate Orchestral Prog-Rock

So, how many people got stuck in the rain trying to bike home from this thing?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/thedecembrists/

I Spy P4k Pics

Already tons of pics flooding into flickr from this weekend's festival:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/pitchforkmusicfestival/

Live Pics: Os Mutantes @ Metro 7/11/07

A year after their performance at Pitchfork, Os Mutantes once again graced Chicago with their tropicalia style and flair.

Photo Essay: Robbers On High Street @ Belmont Arts & Music Festival

I usually take solace in the anonymity of a crowd. I feel as though I can gawk at my leisure and be rest assured that no one in the band will notice me out of all of the other people around. This was not possible at this performance and there are more than a few photos of different members of the band looking directly at me befuddled mid-song...probably trying to process why I, one of only 2 people in the audience, was taking so many photos.

Download: Robbers On High Street - "Crown Victoria"

Ummm...seriously?

On July 2, a single will be released on CD and 7" in the UK, both containing the exclusive b-side "Death From Above". Both covers have a black-and-white photo of Paris Hilton holding a BlackBerry with the Zeitgeist album cover on the screen.

(via Stereogum)

Ouch. I didn't think Billy could top his lame full-page Tribune ad stunt from a couple years back, but I stand corrected.

Live Pics: Mary Timony Band @ Schubas 6/8/07

Click here for the complete photoset

Live Pics: Peter Bjorn and John @ Empty Bottle 4/8/07 (early show)

We'll have more complete coverage on RFC later, but for any who are dying to know...Yes, they did indeed bring the rawk, they did play "Young Folks" (twice, both early and late accompanied by one of the singers from early show opener Au Revoir Simone) and while the Empty Bottle could have stood to be about 60 degrees cooler it was still worth it. More pics from the early show after the jump.

Bandwidth Pics - 5/5/07

Thanks to the all the artists and fans who came out Saturday night to help us raise awareness for the fight over Internet Radio Equality. If you signed up for the SaveNetRadio.org mailing list, be on the lookout soon for more information on what you can do as the Bill makes its way into Senate.

Click here for more pics from the night

Live Pics: Bandwidth VI/Karaoke Post Party

Kirstie has yet another fine batch of pics from Saturday's Baby Teeth CD release party. but most importantly, she also snapped a lot of the karaoke action at the upstairs post-party as well. Karaoke pics of Tim Tuten, Bobby Conn and Kelly Hogan follow after the jump.

Early Dispatches from Austin

A very brief sampling of SXSW day party pics from Thurs and Fri here to start things off...

Download: Grant Lee Buffalo - "Lone Star Song" 

TNK '07 Pics, Part 2

More highlights after the jump...click on the links to view the complete day 3 and day 4 photos.

TNK 2007 Pics, Part 1

Here's the first batch of pics from night 1 and 2 of this year's Tomorrow Never Knows festival courtesy of Rory. Stay tuned for more...

RFC 2006: The Year in Pictures (Dec)

If December was lacking somewhat in quantity of live pics as the year drew to a close, it certainly wasn't lacking in quality overall. Kirstie and Rory once again affirmed my theory that DeVotchKa are the most photogenic band on the circuit today...then I saw the Gogol Bordello pics from their live show at Metro. Certainly photogetic on a completely different level (DeVotchKa=well-dressed and suave; Gogol=batshit crazy), Gogol may have provided the year's best set of live pics.

RFC 2006: The Year in Pictures (Nov)

Time flies when you're having fun, eh? All these pics from November seem like they were taken two or three months ago, but most are really just barely over a month old. That being said, these may be some of the best of the year, outside of the endless festival photo-ops this summer. Don't hesitate to click on the jump for pics of such icons as Thurston Moore, Robyn Hitchcock (with REM's Peter Buck) and Bert Jansch; newbies like Hot Chip and Voxtrot, and plenty of local favs including Canasta and Andrew Bird.

RFC: The Year in Pictures 2006 (Oct)

In October, we finally went live with the new and improved RadioFreeChicago.org and also kicked off our monthly live concert series, Bandwidth.

RFC 2006: The Year in Pictures (Aug-Sept)

August brought the return of the new and improved Chicago-centric version of Lollapalooza, which boasted a whopping 9 stages and 130 bands spread out over 3 days. Of course, there where still more festivals to come, including the high profile Touch & Go 25th Anniversary at The Hideout and the always strong Wire (magazine) Fest at The Empty Bottle in September.

RFC 2006: The Year in Pictures (July)

As much as I personally enjoyed the line-up at Intonation, it was impossible to ignore the vast drawing power of Pitchfork and the shear amount of bands they lined up in their first solo attempt as a festival organizer. The following week, there was the odd incident where Ryan Schreiber personally wrote to RFC to ask for permission to use some of the photos Rory took at the event. We were flattered at first, though it did seem a bit odd that that Pitchfork, with all their staff and resources, would need to commission outside coverage of their own festival. It became even more odd when the pictures ran on Pitchfork, and they didn't even bother to give RFC a credit or at least a quick thanks at the bottom of the piece. When I followed up about this and Schreiber didn't even bother to reply my message, it provided some amusing "open letter" fodder, inspired in part by the Steely Dan tiff with Luke Wilson and the producers of My Cousin Dupree that had transpired a couple of weeks earlier.

RFC 2006: The Year in Pictures (June)

Indeed, the ticket booth was a common sight this summer in Chicago, as the festival circuit blew up to previously unheard of proportions. Kicking things off in June was the second edition of the Intonation Festival, which featured arguably the most diverse and well-rounded of any of the outdoor festivals that would follow the rest of the year.

RFC 2006: The Year in Pictures (Jan-May)

Yes, here it is...RFC's very own gratuitous end of year feature, "2006: The Year in Pictures." We kick things off today with the best pics from last January through May.

Live Pics: Bandwidth III @ SubT 12/8/06

Check out Rory's full set of pics here from the third installment of Bandwidth earlier this month at SubT. Keep your eyes peeled here for details on Bandwidth IV next month, curated by our friends over at Future Perfect Radio.

Also, speaking of pics, stay tuned for RFC's first ever "Year in Pictures" feature (coming soon).

RFC Loves You

Thanks to everyone who came out and everyone who played last Friday at the second installment of Bandwidth. Check out Rory's pictures from the night here, stay tuned for the return of Bandwidth in January.

Mouse on Mars @ Empty Bottle 11/7/06

More From CMJ

RFC Chief CMJ Correspondent Dan McSwain is back in town and has posted a photoblog review of the festival's hijinks from last Friday.

CMJ Pics

RFC Chief CMJ Correspondent Dan McSwain checked in today with his first round of pics of the festival. Pictured above is New York band O'Death, click here for more pics from the likes of Pattern is Movement, Fog and Get Him Eat Him. (The latter is a sammich-loving new band from Rhode Island who first called themselves Grimble Grumble until Chicago's very own Grimble Grumble introduced themselves and said, "ahem...?")

Live Pics: Islands @ Metro 10/27/06

RFC Senior Chief Indie Rock Photoblog Correspondent Nicole Chavas was at last Friday's Islands show at Metro and she reports:

...While the bizarre, crazy antics of the Unicorns seem to have gone by the wayside in favor of a more mature stage show, Islands still put on a good time for all.

Live Pics: Bandwidth @ Kinetic Playground 10/6/06

Huge thanks to everyone who played and to everyone who came out to our (re)launch party with Future Perfect Radio last week. Here's a collection of pics of the night from Rory, Nicole, Kirstie and Carlo. 

Live Pics: Thunderbirds Are Now! @ Beat Kitchen 9/29/06

I caught an early show with Thunderbirds Are Now! Friday night and caught a few pics for the photoblog. The Beat Kitchen has become a pretty impressive venue- great sound and a very well-lit stage that makes it incredibly easy to take good pictures without flash! (Thax's crusade should be about better lighting, not flash cameras!) The only difficulty this time was getting the band to stand still long enough to snap a non-blurry photo- TAN! is about as high-energy as it gets. They played a lot of older favorites like "Eat This City" and "This World Is Made of Paper," as well as debuted some new tunes from their forthcoming album, Make History. A good time, as always.

-Nicole Chavas