The Black Keys at the Aragon 1/1/11

So this concert was super cool for 2 reasons. 1. It was on New Year's Eve day 2. It was at the Aragon. (See the older post where I rave about it and you'll understand!) I love the Black Keys and regret not seeing them when they were at Lolla for like, 3 years in a row on small stages. Of course, I don't notice them until they become successful. Same thing happened with Kings of Leon! Ugh. Anyways, I'm glad that I did see them before they went on to play stadium shows, which was a sellout move in my opinion but hey. Moving on, this concert was AWESOME. From the opening act to the disco ball the entire thing was incredibly stellar. The opening act was the Greenhornes, which includes the bass player and drummer from the Raconteurs. They were great and I can see why Jack White is friends with them. I'm gonna keep one this short and sweet, enjoy the pics and I hope you can see the videos! :)

Karen Elson-Lincoln Hall-June 15th, 2010.

I've come to the realization that not only is Jack White the coolest but Karen Elson is also extremely cool. For those of you that aren't aware, Jack and Karen were married. Karen started off as a model (she's from England) and then traveled towards music, very successfully I might add! Anyways, this show was the day before my 18th birthday which was so cool! Lincoln Hall is a very small, intimate venue so there could never be a bad seat in the house. I can't remember who the opening act was but they were hippies and they were awesome. They played for about 30 minutes before Karen came out and more people slowly started coming in. Karen came out with a very interesting backing band, which included Patty Smith's son (Meg White's husband). All the band members were dressed in Southern/vintage outfits (Karen wore a long vintage dress) and had a country vibe. In fact, a lot of Karen's songs had a country sound and actually reminded me of Jack's music. Anyways, she was so precious and funny! At one point she had a glass of wine onstage and was sipping it during her set. Her accent is also awesome and I'm so jealous haha. She asked the crowd if anyone knew who Donovan was and my Mom shouted "YES!" very loudly/enthusiastically, Karen just looked over and laughed! Too funny. Karen's most well known song, The Ghost that Walks, was a crowd pleaser and gained the most interaction from the audience. I bought her album after the show and "stole" a poster that was hanging on the wall. (So rebellious! haha) We listened to the album on the way home and all of the songs were ones that she had played at the show. I would definitely recommend seeing her live at some point (not sure when she'll be coming on tour again) and definitely going to Lincoln Hall!

Enjoy! :)

Lead singer of the opening act

Karen's drum set-cool bird!

The only pic I used flash with, I felt bad since we were so close to her.

Patty Smith's son!

This is my favorite! It looks so cool with the glow. Notice the glass of wine! Haha

Cool looking bass player.

~Ava

30 Seconds to Mars (30STM). April 18th 2010-Aragon Ballroom

Let me just tell you that I am in love with the Aragon and would live there if I could. Best venue EVER. It literally looks like you just walked into a museum/Disneyworld! The lobby has cool sculptures and beautiful architecture. The inside of the venue is spectacular. The ceiling is a mural of the sky and when the lights go off it changes to twinkling stars. Words can't even describe it so I'm going to add a picture!

(From Google images)

There normally aren't tables, it's usually just a big open space. This picture doesn't even do it justice so you should definitely see it in person! 

Anyways, I could write an entire post about this place and how much I adore it but that would be boring for you so I'll refrain. This concert was the first time I'd ever been to this venue and it was the first time I'd gotten to see 30 Seconds to Mars AKA 30 Seconds to Jared according to me haha. SIDENOTE: For those of you that don't know, Jared Leto is an actor who was in the popular 90's show My So Called Life (he played Jordan Catalano) and in many other films. They had played a few shows before but I was either doing something else or it had sold out really fast. I'm so glad that I got to see them in concert, it was definitely worth the wait! I was a little shocked when Jared came out with a pink mohawk but quickly got used to it haha. He had sunglasses on for most of the show until about half way through when he took them off (Thank God! He has the prettiest blue eyes.) The opening acts were MUTEMATH (the band I met at Lolla in '09) and Neon Trees. I was delighted to see MUTEMATH again and Neon Trees were very entertaining as well. Three bands for $25 is a bargain and they were all great bands! 30STM played fan favorites such as The Kill, Closer to the Edge, Kings and Queens, among new songs from their newest cd. The most exciting part of the show was when I was sitting on a ledge at the back and Jared walks right in front of me! Naturally I ran after him haha security was really tight so I couldn't really get close to him but it was still cool. He also played in the crowd and was about 5 feet away from me at one point! After the concert we got to meet 30STM at a table in the lobby of the venue. It was really rushed so I said one thing to each band member and Jared happened to be the last one. ANOTHER SIDENOTE: Jared apparently took his sunglasses off and waved to my Mom while I was waiting to meet him. AHHHHH! I remembered that he mentioned he was moving to Chicago during the show and asked him if he was serious. The only thing the man does is shake his head up and down. No words, no expression, nothing. I felt like a big goof for asking that but hey, he said it not me! He was even better looking up close, even with the pink mohawk haha. I would definitely recommend seeing this band at least once, they put on a great show and Jared is such an entertainer. Guess what time it is....picture time! Enjoy :)

This is when he was in the audience literally 10 ft away from me. 

 

 Jared's brother Shannon is the drummer!

Jared :)

~Ava 

Stone Temple Pilots-The Riv-March 27th, 2010.

From looking at my favorite bands, you can probably tell that I am a huge fan of grunge music and like almost every grunge band that ever existed, so Stone Temple Pilots are no exception! This concert started off kind of weird, mainly because I didn't know if it was actually starting or not. Scott Weiland came on stage in some kind of straight jacket/cape. Weirdest. Thing. I had no idea what was going on and neither did anyone else. While waiting for the show to start, I met these guys from Iowa, sweetest guys EVER. They were brothers and talked about how they had traveled to Chicago just for this show. They also were nice enough to buy me water! I always love when I find nice people at concerts, makes the experience even better. :) I stood by them for the whole show and they were really cool people to be around. When everyone finally realized that the concert was in fact starting, the crowd went wild! Scott Weiland is one of the oddest performers I've ever seen but he is extremely entertaining. I really love it when artists sound like they do on their recorded albums, which is another thing that I enjoyed about this show. He had a mega-phone for the majority of the show and often sang through it which I thought was hysterical. The backgrounds they used during the show were really cool and trippy. They helped create a certain vibe for each song and added an extra element. They played many of their hits (Interstate Love Song, Big Empty, Wicked Garden, Plush to name a few). Overall, I was really happy with the songs they sang and would see them again in a heart beat! I also encourage anyone that likes a good rock show to go see them. :)

The megaphone! 

Love this picture! 

LOLLA LINEUP!

So I just interrupted my other post by making this one because it's WAY more important. Ok, I know the lineup doesn't officially come out until tomorrow BUT several sources seem to have the lineup already.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/turnitup/chi-lollapalooza-2012-lineup-festival-lineup-announced-20120410,0,2671599.column

IF this is the official lineup, I may end up going more than one day. HELLO JACK WHITE, FLORENCE + THE MACHINE, ALABAMA SHAKES, THE HEAD AND THE HEART + MANY MORE.

Excuse me while I try to wrap my mind around this awesome group of bands that I'll likely be seeing this summer.

Anyone else as excited as I am?! Leave your comments about who you want to see/if you dig this lineup!

~Ava

Comments!

Ok, I know people are reading my posts, which is fantastic, but it would be even more fantastic if readers would comment or even follow this blog! :) There's nothing to be afraid of, I don't bite! Haha. I'd be more than happy if all the people that have been reading this commented so keep that in mind as you're reading.

~Ava :)

Chevelle-Sick Puppies-Janus. The Riviera, February 21 2010.

This concert actually has a great story behind it. Okay, when we ( my Mom and I) got to the venue it was PACKED so we had a hard time getting a good spot but we somehow managed to find one for Janus's set. Janus was an interesting band, I only knew one song (Eyesore) but they were entertaining all the same. The lead singer had his mic stand out to the side, and he kept doing this weird motion with his hands haha it was really weird. The next act were the Sick Puppies, who I really liked. My favorite songs by them are Odd One, All the Same and My World, to name a few. The main reason I went to this concert was that Chevelle and Sick Puppies were playing at the same time and I liked more than a few of their songs. Chevelle are from Grayslake so it was cool to see a local band that gained popularity! Sick Puppies were really good and had great stage presence. They interacted with the crowd and made us laugh too! The lead singer Shimon was absolutely hysterical. The bass player, Emma was really cool too! Both Emma and Shimon are Australian so that automatically makes them cool :) By the time they finished playing, the crowd was REALLY filled in and it was getting harder for me to see. We ended up getting ready to leave after walking around and trying to find a spot to actually see Chevelle.

If you've never been to the Riv, there are small balconies on either side of the stage. Apparently there's also access to these balconies from the ground floor. We were walking to the outer edge of the left side of the stage when we see this guy waving to us from behind a curtain. We were really confused but then saw he was motioning for us to come up. We snuck past the security guard and made our way to the balcony! I still have no idea to this day how we managed to pull that off, but it was the best seat in the house. Here we are looking down at Chevelle with NOTHING in our way when we were just about to leave the concert! CRAZY. The guys we ended up being next to must've been in from London because they all had British accents! We could tell that they were head honchos in the music business because no one can get up to the balcony unless they have ties to the band or something. It's safe to say that will never happen again and we got extremely lucky!

I also got to meet the Sick Puppies after the show which was really cool. I told Shimon that he was hysterical and made me laugh more than once during their set. Love the Australian accent! Emma was very shy and I told her that she was a great bass player. The drummer was also quiet but I told him he put on a great show. I'm sure Shimon has enough energy for the other two combined so I can cut them some slack for being quieter haha. :)

Pete Loeffler of Chevelle

Awesome Q101 car! All my favorites are on it too :)

Lead singer of Janus

Shimon

 Emma