Friday: Icy Demons, Chandeliers @ Hideout

Icy Demons MySpace Page
Chandeliers MySpace Page

Video: Neko Case - "Hold On, Hold On" (Live at the Hideout Block Party 2008)

This video misses the first verse of Neko Case's classic "Hold On, Hold On" from 2006's still stellar Fox Confessor Brings The Flood, but you only have to hear most of it to still get chills down your spine. Her set Saturday night was one of many highlights from this year's Block Party, including the awesomely psychotic breaking-of-the-fourth-wall performance from Monotonix (i.e. three dudes looking like Borat and playing music that sounds like Vol. 4-era Black Sabbath as filtered through The Stooges); the never-ending Michael Jackson tribute on Sunday, which started with insurgent country artist Robbie Fulks doing some Jackson 5 hits, before the performance culminated with "Thriller" and the Hideout dance doing the zombie dance from the video for said song; Rhymefest performing tracks from his criminally overlooked online mixtape Man In The Mirror; The New Pornographers running through one power-pop great after another, with Case making a rare appearance with the group; and RATATAT, who make the block party into a giant dance party, all the while displaying an impressive array of head banging.

I'll post more videos as I find them, but in the meantime, check out Case at the top of the post.

(Jonathan Graef)

This Weekend: 12th Annual Hideout Block Party

Tonight: Brilliant Pebbles at the Hideout

Taken directly from the Brilliant Pebbles MySpace Page:

Monday 18 August
8 PM, $5
Hideout
1354 W.
Wabansia

Art School Band
Brilliant Pebbles

On August 12 our bassist's first novel came out on Random House. His name is James Kennedy, the book is called "The Order of Odd-Fish," and they are both a great deal of fun, though of course in different ways. This show is a dual release party for "Odd-Fish" and "boring boring boring boring boring boring boring," Zach Plague's hybrid typo/graphic novel on Featherproof Books.


Here is the order of events:
- Zach Plague will read from "boring"
- James will read from "Odd-Fish"
- Bella, an improv troupe from the Playground Theater, will present five-minute improvisations based on excerpts randomly chosen from the books
- Brilliant Pebbles will play (I'm guessing 9:30 PM or so)
- Art School Band (formerly "Punk Band"), a somewhat ad hoc group that will doubtless include a couple Hideout employees, will play its first (and allegedly last) set

Jonathan Messinger, head honcho of Featherproof, will host.


If you want to learn more about "The Order of Odd-Fish," you may consult this lovely recent feature from Time Out Chicago