Category Archives: Previews

December 2, 2012 · 4:33 pm

The Kid Daytona, Mickey Factz, Save Money, The Boy Illinois, Frank Leone @ Canopy Club 12/6 #SaveChampaign

Following an opening slot at the Kids These Days show last week, Kami de Chukwu, Joey Purps, and Preston San hit the Canopy Club in Champaign Thursday night. The Save Money Army brings along The Kid Daytona, Mickey Factz, The Boy Illinois, and Frank Leone along with them, with doors opening at 10:30.

We’ll be giving away 2 free tickets to the show, all you have to do is comment on the acityinthemidwest facebook page with your favorite Save Money track. If you want to assure yourself a ticket, PURCHASE THEM HERE. $7 dollars for this much music is a bargain. Help #SaveChampaign by making sure you’re in attendance Thursday night. Hit the jump for tracks from each of the artists performing. Continue reading →

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Tagged as canopy club, champaign, chicago, december 6, frank leone, free tickets, giveaway, joey purps, kami de chukwu, kids these days, mickey factz, preston san, rap, save money, savechampaign, savemoney, the boy illinois, the kid daytona, the vic, university of illinois

October 2, 2012 · 9:11 am

BRAINSTORM @ The Burlington in Logan Square Tonight

Looking for something to do tonight? We’ve got you covered. Experimental band BRAINSTORM from Portland, Oregon makes their way to Logan Square’s Burlington bar tonight to perform and celebrate the release of their new album Heat Waves. Produced by the legendary Robby Moncrieff (engineer of Dirty Projectors’ Bitte Orca, Youth Lagoon’s 7″, and Ganglians’ Still Living), Heat Waves features a little electric guitar, a little cymbal action and a lot of unique sound. Weaving in African and Colombian rhythms into their songs, BRAINSTORM is your answer if you’re looking for new music. We caught up with drummer/singer Adam Baz from BRAINSTORM to talk about the band’s progression, their best experiences on tour and their favorite spot in Chicago. Check out the full interview after the jump.

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Tagged as a city in the midwest, adam baz, african guitar, barnes, brainstorm, cumbia, heat waves, logan square, new music, patrick phillips, portland music, portland music scene, robby moncrieff, tamara, tamara barnes, the burlington

September 26, 2012 · 1:10 pm

Week that Was: Pygmalion Edition

This week’s “Week that Was” is a special Pygmalion edition, featuring only artists performing at the 3 day festival this weekend in Champaign-Urbana. Although Sleigh Bells withdrew from the lineup due to a Derek Miller injury, local CU heroes HUM step in for a rare performance for the opening night’s main event on Thursday, September 27th at the Canopy Club. Grizzly Bear, Dirty Projectors, Best Coast, and Dinosaur Jr. are still scheduled to perform along with many, many more. The festival should be a blast, and tickets are still available here!

The post doubles as our top picks, so enjoy and let us know what you think!

Hospitality – Friends of Friends

Playing @ Canopy Club on Friday 28th, 9:30 – 10:00 Continue reading →

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Tagged as best coast, best friends, bestfriends, big freedia and the divas, canopy club, champaign, cosmic queries, derek miller, dinosaur jr, dirty projectors, download, downtown urbana, dude love, free, friends of friends, grizzly bear, high dive, high dive outdoor, hospitality, hulkshare, hum, just goodbye, krannert art museum, mediafire, midnight snakes, mike n mollys, music festival, night beds, origins, pygmalion, rar, rock around da clock, santah, september 27th, sharebeast, sleigh bells, springfield, stream, tennis, the dirty feathers, thursday, urbana, wanted_you in august, week that was, who to see at, willis earl beal, zip, zippy

September 13, 2012 · 12:01 am

Pygmalion Music Festival: An Interview With Founder Seth Fein

Although writing about the final festival of the summer season brings me down a bit, just looking at the Pygmalion 2012 lineup makes it all better. Festival founder Seth Fein has jam packed the 3 day festival with the big name likes of Grizzly Bear, Dinosaur Jr, Dirty Projectors, Sleigh Bells, and Best Coast, along with local acts Common Loon, Elsinore, and Santah. 54 bands will make their way to the Champaign-Urbana area overall, and you can catch all of them for the price of $100. To buy a festival pass, click here.

The great man that brings all of this to the generally quiet (maybe not quiet anymore) college town is Seth Fein. The Smile Politely founder (Champaign-Urbana’s independent online magazine) and Nicodemus Agency owner is a very busy man, as the titles show. Luckily he answered a couple questions for ACITM, which should help you learn more about the festival and CU’s musical savior himself. Check it out after the jump!

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Tagged as 1985, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2012, absinthe blind, acitm, acityinthemidwest, at champaign urbana, band, best coast, canopy club, champaign, common loon, cut copy, dinosaur jr, dirty projectors, elsinore, explosions in the sky, farm aid, festival, foellinger auditorium, free, giveaway, grizzly bear, headlights, interview, mansions on the moon, midwest, music festival, music scene, nicodemus agency, nonesuch, omnibus, paul westerberg, preview, pyggy crown, pygmalion, santah, seth fein, sleigh bells, slowdive, smile politely, summer, the luyas, tickets, university of illinois, urbana, walt mink, xtc, yeasayer, yo la tengo

August 1, 2012 · 12:30 am

2012 Lolla Must Sees

The best weekend of the summer is rapidly approaching, and we’re here to help make it that much of a better experience. Last year we recommended Local Natives, Black Lips, Kids These Days, The Vaccines, and the Naked and Famous to name a few, and they all delivered. So here we go again; the Lolla Must Sees, outside of the headliners that you already have on your schedule. Think of this as your what to do before 8 PM.

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday must sees after the jump!

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Tagged as 2012, acitm, acityinthemidwest, alabama shakes, ambassadors, baitshop, be mine, black lips, bmi, body bag, bonnaroo, bud light, cant hold us down, casey harris, chacellor warhol, ck one color music lounge, download, drake, fight, free, friday, fridays, givers, google play, grant park, hard rock, heartbreaker, hold on, hotel, hulkshare, invite, kids these days, live music, local natives, lofticries, lolla must sees, lollapalooza, macklemore & ryan lewis, marissa, mediafire, mediaifre, mona, music video, naked and famous, nick brown, noche nada, orlando higginbottom, perry's, pizza party, playlist for edie, rar, remix, ryan, saturday, sbtrkt, seth, shooting the moon, sony, stage, stronger, summer, sunday, surely, teenager, the oc, the rat, the vaccines, the walkmen, totally enormous extinct dinosaurs, trouble, up up up, weight lightness, who to see, who to watch, wildfire, zip, zippy

June 15, 2012 · 7:40 pm

Final Spring Awakening preview!

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Tagged as afrojack, atrak, chicago, diplo, edm, events, festival, preview, skrillex, spring awakening, teaser, video, what to do

May 26, 2012 · 5:15 pm

Soundset 2012 Mix

We’re 17 hours away from the start of a beautiful, music filled day. Remember to get your tickets here! Rhymesayers and Get Cryphy present the Soundset 2012 mix, featuring all of the artists performing at the 5 year anniversary of the Midwest’s biggest Hip Hop festival. Download link available right over there——–>mediafire.

Track list after the jump.

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Tagged as danny brown, who to see, lupe fiasco, remix, download, kendrick lamar, a city in the midwest, 2012, music, grynch, featuring, raekwon, zip, mediafire, hulkshare, action bronson, zippy, ghostface killah, aesop rock, p.o.s., grieves, budo, big k.r.i.t., evidence, dj premier, i self devine, astronautalis, bambu, j-zone, medusa, chief kamachi, chuuwee, paten locke, willie evans jr, villa rosa, audio perm, long doe, big wiz, mike the martyr, tomorrow genius, bdotcroc, dj kool akiem, superbrush427, divinci, brother ali, festival, dr. dre, soundset, zero dark thirty, victory lap, rhymesayers, get cryphy, official mix, cat factory, disco ho, instrumental, prof, karma, hold on, buck k.a.c., chuck d, oh my, edit, batman, outta here, pitch black arc, last word & mally, breakfast for dinnera, tmosphere, cuts, plain ole bill, the old style, wizdom, got ya numb, d-sane, daytona 500, nautilus, interlude, pac blood, learn how to fall, lazerbeak, macklemore & ryan lewis, the crown don't make, bottle after bottle, auddio braggon, reign of fire, going out blasting, make sure, fittin in, this kid named miles, new definition, kid cut upw, allys and pringles, drop it on the one, nola bounce mix, savion glover, jimmy2times blend, not a day goes by, the tribe & big cats, blow it up with fire, the river, the woods, mr. slow flow, fudge, xxlt, ony bones, aquafresh, what you rep, muslim wedding, let 'em through, i got this here, the recipe

May 19, 2012 · 9:49 am

2012 Soundset Festival Must Sees

You’re going to see Lupe Fiasco perform hits off his upcoming album, probably some time late Sunday night. And why would you miss Atmosphere… probably closing the festival down as the last act in their home state. This preview isn’t for the acts you’re going to see, but for the less talked about acts you can’t miss! Soundset is Sunday May 27th, at Canterbury Park in Shakopee, MN. Purchase your tickets fast before the price goes up here.

7 can’t miss acts after the jump!

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May 16, 2012 · 10:14 am

Netherfriends @ Empty Bottle 5/28 (Interview)

Netherfriends is unlike anything you’ve heard before, in a good way. The Columbia grad, Shawn Rosenblatt, is a touring machine, who recently finished something he calls the 50 States, 50 Songs project. He wrote and recorded 1 song in every state… yes, that’s Alaska and Hawaii included. The project led to the release of an album called “Middle America,” where every song is named after a city and features a narration of his trip across the country. If you haven’t seen his solo performance with loop pedal and sampler yet, you’ll be amazed by his ability to quickly make a song from nothing and get you dancing.

Luckily for you, Netherfriends will be playing the Empty Bottle free Monday, May 28th, on Memorial Day. What better way to finish a weekend of BBQ’n, cold beer, and fireworks, than with a night of psych pop from Chicago’s very own.

Check out after the jump for an interview with Shawn about the 50 states project, his future, and his favorite spot in Chicago.

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Tagged as 5/28, 50 songs, 50 states, baraka, bird aviary, chicago, columbia college, empty bottle, feature, free, interview, may 28, memorial day, middle america, netherfriends, planetarium, preview, shawn rosenblatt, tickets

May 13, 2012 · 11:00 pm

Spring Awakening Festival After Parties

The big weekend is inching closer and closer… and we have more news for you! If you find a time conflict and have to miss one of your favorite artists, you can always catch them at an after party! Check out all the information below, with links to buy tickets. Official after parties are reserved for festival ticket holders for a limited time, so make sure you purchase your festival tickets here!

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Tagged as <3, 2 day pass, 312 urban wheat ale, a-trak, after parties, benny benassi, burnin' up, carl cox, chicago, claude vonstroke, congress theater, dakota, dawn, derrick carter, designer drugs, dillon francis, diplo, dj contest, dj jammin jake, dj sensei shunn, download, enoptix, ferry corsten, free, freed, gabriel & dresden, haul pass, hooters yacht party, house of blues, hulkshare, joachim garraud, june 16, june 17, kanan cruises, kill the noise, laidback luke, lumen, mario florek, may 16, midnight conspiracy, morgan page, music festival, navy pier, nobody beats the drum, official spring awakening mix, paul universe, reduxx, road to soldier field, shadow the machine angel, skrillex, soldier field, soundbar, spring awakening, spybar, the mid, the robot dentist, thinking about you, tickets, trick digital, vision nightclub, wednesday, willy joy, zip, zippy