Have you ever been to the Taste of Chicago? All in all it is a fantastic experience, one not to be missed but there are always headaches that go along with attending, ie the heat and humidity, long lines and traffic. Every year even if it is just for a moment you ponder how nice it would be not to have to deal with the headache. This is the best way I can describe the Death Cab for Cutie show at Red Rocks in Morrison, CO on July 14th 2009.

I started off my musical day with two exceptional bands that weren’t on the program. Enchanted Ape and Mountain Standard Time played acoustic sets in the VIP Chill Tent. Enchanted Ape had a guest guitarist join them, a performer who had played with frontman Chris Obrien years before and who added some really nice vocal backups. The regular guitarist will come in Friday just before Enchanted Ape’s slot that day. Chris also added a tenor sax player to this acoustic set.

Chicago's favorite power-pop trio, Baby Teeth, are hitting the road with their brand of arena-ready anthems of suburban dystopia and real-world candor.

SONIC YOUTH, THE JESUS LIZARD,BUILT TO SPILL, THE GOSSIP, DEERHUNTER, BLACK LIPS, THE THERMALS, PELA, THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART, EARTH, MOONDOGGIES, SPINNERETTE, THE DUTCHESS AND THE DUKE, MIKA MIKO, THE BLAKES, SLEEPY EYES OF DEATH, GIRLS, HEY MARSEILLES, THE MALDIVES, TRUCKASAURUS, AKIMBO, PAST LIVES, FUTURE OF THE LEFT, MICACHU & THE SHAPES, JAPANDROIDS, THE LONELY FOREST, FENCES, STARFUCKER, FAUX PUNK, NEW FACES, D.BLACK, HOTELS, FATAL LUCCIAUNO,PICA BEATS, SPACEMAN, FLEXIONS, THE LIVE!, AWESOME COLOR, WILD ORCHID CHILDREN, SGT MAJOR III, AUDACITY, BOW + ARROW, SOL, SING SING

In a precedent-setting move for American music festivals, ALL POINTS WEST MUSIC & ARTS FESTIVAL organizers have just confirmed the U.S. festival debut of JAY-Z.  The hip-hop superstar and pop culture icon will take over the headlining slot for the opening night (Friday, July 31) of the critically acclaimed annual event. 

The last two years for percussionist Jason Hann have been a roller coaster of musical endeavors.  His main project, the wildly popular String Cheese Incident, decided it was time to take an extended hiatus from performing due to some artistic conflicts within the group.  From the break, Hann and fellow Cheese drummer Michael Travis formed a dynamic jam-tronica duo called

The seventh annual 10,000 Lakes Festival opened yesterday to a large crowd that seemed small. This was partly due to the fact that the Main Stage had two acts running against the Saloon Stage (called the Vitamin Water Syn Saloon Stage this year). The Field Stage and Barn Stages were dark until 11:30 pm. This meant that the focus of last night’s audience was on the Main Stage acts: Gomez and Widespread Panic. Unfortunately, this drew some of the crowd away from the acts up the hill at the Saloon.

The group that has for more than 13 years brought you Quixote’s True Blue, Sancho’s Broken Arrow, Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom, Dulcinea’s 100th Monkey and Owsley’s Golden Road, is making their foray into the festival business with Dancin’ In The Streets, which is set for Aug. 7, 8 and 9.