Tom Schraeder and Do312 Present: Ultra Violet Petting Zoo THIS Sun. 7.1

Tom Schraeder put his money where his mouth is in organizing the music for The Ultra Violet Petting Zoo, a fundraising festival for the Neighborhood Boys and Girls Club of Chicago. Now here is a cause we can all agree on. So keep the cause mindful when you pass through the doors (suggested donation is $5 and they are taking stuffed animal donations to hang). This is a family friendly event that has a petting zoo, rides and a boatload of great bands. Tom will be debuting his electronic project, ALLOUT SHELTER. Also notable is the sub-two-minute-song punk stylings of Vortis kicking off the music lineup at 2:15. I have seen them before and I highly recommend you catch their set. I have also seen Brighton MA, Sleepy Kitty (St. Louis), and White Mystery and all played really good sets. The fest will be held at 2501 W Irving, just west of Western.

From the official festival release, "A one-day music festival featuring some of Chicago's finest bands giving back to the city we love. 'The Neighborhood Boys and Girls Club Carnival' celebrates its 65th year as the cities largest and longest running carnival. With 28 carnival rides, 12 bands and a petting zoo - the Ultra Violet Petting Zoo was created to transcend genre and to make a difference in our future. Last year 'Chicago Mixtape' and I helped raise enough money to keep 1500 kids off the streets. This year, Do312 will be curating the event with me and we're expecting, with your help, to break last years record. Our city's youth programs are being phased out and together we can all make a difference!"

Band list:

2:00 -   2:15 - Vortis
3:00 -   3:30 - Give Back
3:45 -   4:15 - Stoop Goodnoise
4:25 -   5:05 - Sleepy Kitty
5:10 -   5:30 - Microphone Misfits
5:35 -   5:55 - The Zips
6:05 -   6:50 - Brighton, MA
7:00 -   7:25 - Natureal
7:40 -   8:15 - Mazes
8:30 -   9:15 - White Mystery
9:30 - 10:00 - Allout Shelter

Hemmingbirds Beat Kitchen Show and 'Perpetuator' Video

Hemmingbirds invited me out to their show at Beat Kitchen on June 14th. They played quite a few new songs including the 'Perpetuator', which has an infectious guitar hook. Some of these new songs have some huge crunching guitars and I am excited to hear them on the album the guys are tracking now! It's fun to see a band perform over a course of years and see them just get tighter and tighter knit like these guys have. Thanks to the guys for the invite! See them play live.  I also enjoyed the set by Champaign band Dirty Feathers a nice psych pop/progressive/soul mash up, and also Brooklyn indie rockers Shake The Baron.

Here is Hemmingbirds  video for 'Perpetuator' with a straight ahead but effective story line.  The lights are a nice touch.

Pretty Little Empire at KDHX Twangfest (Blueberry Hill Thur June 8 2012)

Our family scheduled our St. Louis vacation around seeing the guys in  Pretty Little Empire play again. This time I saw them at KDHX Twangfest at Blueberry Hill's Duck Room. I hadn't been there before and it was a cool place to see a show with excellent sound. They played some new songs. (Below is a pic of Wade's set list).  They played as a five piece for a few songs as their producer extraordinaire, David Beeman (Native Sound) joined them playing a few different instruments. The guys said that David has the pulse of what the band wants to do with their sound and are looking forward to finishing up recording with David. This new sound is a more textured sound with influences of early 80's post rock as well as Latin rhythms. The guys never disappoint live, so run (don't walk!) to see them play. They always have a great turnout of enthusiastic fans that acts as a bit of an extended family. I always enjoy talking with these people.

I also caught the set by Wussy who played an early 90's quirky indie rock that really cooked when they were jamming. They had an ease on stage with one another that only comes from a band playing together for a long time. Check out both Pretty Little Empire and Wussy videos from this show below courtesy of KDHX.  Thanks to them for the great show and the video.