Merle Haggard at Mystic Lake Casino on 7/1/08

By: Jen Paulson
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Merle Haggard - Photo courtesy of Myspace.com A stint in the slammer, a pardon from then Governor of California Ronald Reagan—those lines alone could start a good country song. But Merle Haggard lived it. The country legend played Mystic Lake Casino on Tuesday night, and I had been getting overly excited about it since the moment I saw it announcing itself on a giant billboard i...

Hayden with Haley Bonar at Cedar Cultural Center on 6/27/08

By: Bob Longmore
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Hayden - Photo courtesy of myspace.com/hayden One lonely winter, unemployed, spending my days and nights in a cramped basement apartment without much light (literally and metaphorically), I discovered Hayden. The Canadian lo-fi wonder can spin the dourest tales about love and loneliness, as well as wring feeling out of abstract stories like being chased by a bear (“Killbear”), the perils of choking (...

Rock The Garden at Walker Art Center on 6/21/08

By: Jon Behm
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  The Rock the Garden festival at the Walker Sculpture Garden last Saturday had all the trappings of a disaster waiting to happen: Huge lines to get in, huge lines for beer tickets, huge lines for beer, huge lines for the bathroom, etc. etc.  Somehow the Walker and Current sponsored concert defied logic and pulled it off though, making the whole experience less a drag and more the quintessential summer concert experience then circumstances would imply.     ...

Gogol Bordello at Cabooze on 6/12/08

By: Carl Atiya Swanson
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Gogol Bordello - Photo by Carl Atiya Swanson The last time I saw Gogol Bordello was at the Fine Line Music Café, where the show was so packed that I spent a good third of it not touching the ground. This time, the beautiful evening outdoors in The Cabooze’s parking lot mellowed some of the spacing issues, but didn’t stop Gogol from playing for a solid two hours, reel...

Iron Maiden at Allstate Arena on 6/11/08

By: Sean Sauder
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I had been eagerly awaiting this show for months. After their last tour in 2006, when they played their new album, A Matter Of Life And Death, in its entirety, Iron Maiden decided to reward their fans for their patience and loyalty by embarking on the Somewhere Back In Time World Tour in 2008, featuring only the songs from those golden days of yesteryear, 1980 to 1989, and bringing back the classic stage sets from those tours as well. Only a handful of U.S. dates are scheduled, and I was lucky e...

Sea Wolf with The Jealous Girlfriends at 7th Street Entry on 6/6/08

By: Carl Atiya Swanson
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M83 at Triple Rock Social Club on 5/28/08

By: Jon Behm
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Photo by Jon Behm After hearing that longtime M83 collaborators Anthony Gonzalez and Nicolas Fromageau had split, I was curious to see if Gonzalez could continue to pull off the band’s spectacular live shows on his own. In 2005 I witnessed the hurricane of sound that was the band’s performance during the Before the Dawn Heals Us tour, and was curious whether or not it could be topped.  Luckily, ...

Langhorne Slim and the War Eagles at 400 Bar on 5/25/08

By: Alexa Jones
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Langhorne Slim at the 400 Bar - Photo by Alexa Jones "It's freezing up here," Langhorne Slim said from the stage of the sweltering 400 Bar on Sunday night. Through quasi-gritted smiles and seriously sweaty brows, the audience laughed. Though the air was thick and heavy, Langhorne Slim and the War Eagles (upright bassist Paul Defiglia and drummer Malachi DeLore...

White Rabbits at 400 Bar on 5/21/08

By: Carl Atiya Swanson
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White Rabbits - Photo by Stacy Schwartz Up-and-comers White Rabbits bring their layered rock and roll to the 400 Bar White Rabbits have been swinging through the Midwest over the last year in support of the likes of Tokyo Police Club, The Walkmen and Spoon. An impressive feat in itself, White Rabbits landed at the 400 Bar last night, deservedly their own headliner. It has been a big year for the Br...

DeVotchKa at First Avenue on 5/7/08

By: Jon Behm
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Nick Urata - Photo by Jon Behm To describe a DeVotchka show you must examine its components.  Such a spectacle deserves more than blanket descriptions and generalizations. Wednesday night’s First Avenue performance was no exception.   First you have the DeVotchKa Strings – a relatively new addition to the band. They consist of a viola and cellist who, when added to band members Tom Hager...