Berklie

A Rocky Mountain High

Berklie — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 01:22:49 +0000

PRB “play” in Boulder, mixed with BCBS “work” in Denver? Done and done. We love it when a plan comes together… especially when we can trawl down Pearl Street on the company’s dime. Cha-ching! Though we made sure to stop by our usual haunts (Juanita’s, Boulder Book Store, and Walnut Brewery), we also made time for the “new” kids on the block (The Kitchen, Tee & Cakes, and Frasca) during our week out west. Regrets? Missing the lingerie show that J and LH walked into at Boulderado’s Catacombs. Grrr… now, why’d we decide to stay at Conor O’Neills instead?

And a big thanks, D, for making us feel right at home at “never to be missed when we’re in town” The Sink. Most favorite place of all time up on The Hill. Quick note to The Hill, though: WTF happened to you? Honestly, if you were a person, you’d be “Strung Out” Yasmine. Can’t believe that we used to call you “home” back in the day. (What’s up, 11th and College!) Get it together… we’ll be back later this year to see how you’re coming along with your rebuilding project. You will be rebuilding, won’t you?

Read the rest of this entry »

Super Tuesday / Studio X Tuesnight

Berklie — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 20:04:47 +0000

Was it home-cooked loyalty, after his fundraising BBQ at Berklie HQ’s building during his senatorial campaign? Nope. Was it “The Speech?” Nope. Was it Obama Girl? ~~Well…~~ Nope. Was it Obey Giant’s kick-ass promo work? Nope. Was it the fact that Barack Obama is actual change we can believe in? Yes. And after having our voices heard at the polling place on Super Tuesday (we didn’t fall for the “magic pen“), we headed on down to Martyrs’ to see a different voice heard.

WXRT handed us some “All Access” passes to attend their taping of Bob Mould’s “Live from Studio X” session. He played tracks from his upcoming release District Line, made us happy with some classic solo and Sugar tunes, told us that we could drop him a line at his blog or at his part-time, and talked about how almost nothing compares to the joy of grilling.

Read the rest of this entry »

Here Come The Hawks

Berklie — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 19:14:23 +0000

…the mighty Bl-a-a-a-ckhawks. Everybody! Any time that you get a chance to watch hockey at the United Center, from the sweet United Airlines suite… you take it. And when it’s a game that you would actually pay to go see anyway, it’s bonus level time! Thanks, Mighty D.R., for the last-minute (oh, who are we kidding… last-second) set of “owner’s box” tix to see the Blackhawks club the Blues. And we mean club. “Red ice!” By the way, was it wrong to get three desserts “to go,” from the Fruit and Dessert Table? Nah, we didn’t think so either.

Read the rest of this entry »

An Office Party At Biograph

Berklie — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 23:05:57 +0000

Chicago Public Radio host Tony Sarabia, of “Radio M,” debuted CPR’s soon-to-be monthly “CPR Presents” event series at the newly-remodeled (read: finally, finally clean and comfortable) Victory Gardens Biograph this past week. Their inaugural engagement? An in-depth historical account of, question/answer session with, and acoustic/electric performance by Chicago’s own Office. “Oh, yes, it was beautiful…”

SKS, RaeRae, TL and I gazed at the works of art that defined Scott Masson’s initial Office offering as an artistic endeavor, and not a band, at its outset in 2000 at Goldsmiths University of London (no joke, TL); took note of personal details shared by the Office staff; listened intently to wicked-good tracks from Office’s first commercial release, A Night at the Ritz; and, finally, wondered quietly “where, oh where, could Alissa be?” Hmm…

Read the rest of this entry »

The Return Of The Mighty Quins

Berklie — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 15:27:38 +0000

Portage Theater? Nope, never had been… but we pretty much follow Tegan and Sara anywhere they play in Chicago. (Twice in 3 months? Nice!) And, honestly, we’re damned glad that we do. Portage Theater turned out to be the most laid-back venue to which we’ve been for a show. Crowd the stage? Take unlimited stills? Record multiple tracks? Check, check, and check… not a problem. We could probably have brought in some of our comfy, old, wave pool lifeguard chairs for an even better view, and it would still have been all good.

Earlier on Thursday; our stylist spies in Wicker Park’s Art + Science told us that Sara had been in for a pre-show touch-up, so we knew that she’d be rocking her killer cut that night, extra special. (Don’t worry though, Claudia [pronounced “Clowdia,” don’t you know], we’re certain that Sara will be coming back to you, flowers in hand, when she’s back at home in Montreal.) And with effort like that, here’s to a successful Juno Awards, ladies… we’ve got The Con down for an almost-certain nomination as being the “Alternative Album of the Year” (you’re our flat-out “Album of the Year, 2007”), eventually beating out whomever you’ll be up against.

Read the rest of this entry »

Twin High-Maintenance Machines

Berklie — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 05:31:36 +0000

“We broke free on a Thursday evening, we put the pedal to the floor. Headed south on Western Avenue, and listened to the engine roar…” Last night our sights were set on dinner at Bite; to be immediately followed by the evening’s much-anticipated, special event at The Empty Bottle: The Mountain Goats were back in Chicago to play this tour’s last stop. Hello and goodbye.

Between albums at the moment, Heretic Pride will be released Feb. 19, 2008, the setlist was completely up for grabs and ended up spanning the entire catalog. (Three encores help make that happen.) John and Peter brought out a big gun this tour, borrowing muscle from Superchunk’s ~~Philly Boy Roy~~ Jon Wurster. As a result, in spite of The Empty Bottle’s “acoustics,” TMG commandeered the local airwaves.

Read the rest of this entry »

Our Fave Stablemates Run Metro

Berklie — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 02:14:07 +0000

Band of Horses (heretofore simply Horses) was playing a “sold out” show at Metro last night, and we had no tickets? Please. We know people. Sometimes they don’t call us back (WTF?!), but we know people. And this time… they came through with last-minute tix. “You never know who you’ll run into.” Ta!

Their one-month-old release, Cease to Begin (7.7/10 by Pitchfork), was “sparkling” to hear in person. And with how hot and humid Metro was, it almost felt like actually being in BoH’s transplanted-native South Carolina, catching “Garish Fever”… slow-moving ceiling fans and everything. Memo to BoH: we’ll forgive y’all for touring “on the road with Zune®” this one time. (They still sell those relics?)

Read the rest of this entry »

Zhong Guo Beijing, Shui Ni Hao

Berklie — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 23:57:32 +0000

It was time to “get the hell out of Dodge” and head to… dart, please… Beijing, China (though some would still say “Peking,” but they’d be o-o-o-ld). Gathering up Mighty D.R. and a couple of United First tickets; we were off. However… nobody told us that the entire city was, even this late in the game for 2008’s global party, still under construction. Chicagoans, though, have experienced this kind of disappointment before. Just ask the Griswolds (thanks, Marty Moose!). And the Olympic venues? Let’s just say that if they were webpages… they’d look like this. Get crackin’, boys!

Thankfully, there are a few things that have been finished for, oh, 2,000 years or so. We’re going to let others debate whether or not the Great Wall can be seen from space with the naked eye (at least until our Virgin Galactic tix are printed “as early as 2009,” that is)… but we can personally say that it’s fully-deserving of its “New 7 Wonders” status. The wall-building techniques lovingly showcased on South Park a few years back are really nothing short of astonishing when seen up close (and, no, we’re not talking about the true fact that “peasants who died working were buried inside the wall”). Sprinkle in visits to the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, and Wangfujing… and you’ve got yourself a worth-while visit.

Read the rest of this entry »

A House Call With Ted Leo At Metro

Berklie — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 00:02:16 +0000

The M.O. had some “all access” passes for Ted Leo and the Pharmacists at Metro, so why not make the time? We missed Ted’s set at Lollapalooza (when he cut his hand but still managed to spin at The Hideout afterwards, where we caught up with him), so it was most excellent seeing him back in full force. And… we went “retro”: relying on the Berkphone® for all photos, etc. (Berkcam® requested the night off in preparation for our big trip to Beijing, China next week.)

Proving he meant it when he told us that Daft Punk had the set of the night at Lollapalooza back in August, Ted broke out a sweet rendition of “One More Time” at the Metro show. Ugh… where are you Berkcam®? Afterwards, the remainder of the crew headed to The Mutiny to catch The Mekons. Rest assured that nobody drove through Taco Bell en route, to collect on Ted’s $500 in free food.

Read the rest of this entry »

Dancin’ When The Evening Fell

Berklie — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 03:46:33 +0000

Grabbing our plaid shirts and cowboy boots, we headed-on-down to The Chicago Theatre this past Saturday night: Ryan Adams was back in town. (Well, more like hoodies and dresses, really… it wasn’t Whiskeytown, after all.) Going in, nobody knew exactly what would be in store, given some past shows this tour where RA’s quest for aural excellence came up short and ended things prematurely (Minneapolis and Louisville come to mind). Luckily for us though, this weekend’s excellent set actually lasted an enjoyably long time and sounded terrific the entire way through.

Well, we thought so anyway: the show’s only perceived hiccup was uncovered by the extremely short, but authoritative and loud, pounding the piano took from RA’s fist when its levels weren’t up to his expectations during “Sylvia Plath” (hear me now, sound guy?!). Other than that, dare I say, RA really seemed to be having a swell time. Bonus level! Afterwards, and after visiting some usual Lakeview haunts, this evening’s “alternative country” funnin’ got us in the mood to hit-up Carol’s Pub til close… 5:00 AM never looked so ~~perfect~~ ~~great~~ ~~good~~ adequate! Snapshots and three Berksclusive® videos ensue.

Read the rest of this entry »