Ghost Media

Pearl Jam Playing The Vic Next Week

As a warmup for the headlining appearance at Lollapalooza, Pearl Jam will be playing a more intimate gig on Thursday August 2nd for members of their fan club.  Tickets will run $150 per pair, and are available at the band's website at 11am today.

Slow Ghost Update: apparently this was yesterday, and tickets immediately sold out.

Worthwhile Read: Greg Kot Talks to Eric Clapton

The Chicago Tribune's Greg Kot has an in depth interview with Eric Clapton .  In this age of bland, predictable interviews this one is an exception, with Clapton opening up about his connection with Chicago and even admitting "I think I deliberately sold out a couple of times. I picked the songs that I thought would do well in the marketplace, even though I didn't really love the song." 

Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival takes place this Saturday at Toyota Park, featuring Clapton, Robbie Robertson, Sonny Landreth, BB King, Steve Winwood and ......uh....Bill Murray?

Snoop Roasts Flav

Dr. Dog Opening for Wilco at Millennium Park

If you haven't checked out the cool psychedelic-tinged pop of Dr. Dog now you have a good excuse....the band is playing a string of opening slots with Wilco including the Millennium Park show on 9/12.

Wilco at Millennium Park September 12th: Ticket Information

Here's the lowdown on tickets for the Wilco show on September 12th at Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park:  Pavilion tickets are $45 and lawn seats are $10.  They go on sale at 11am this Saturday 7/28 through Ticketmaster, and will be also available at The Vic box office with no service charge. There's a limit of 4 pavilion tickets or 6 lawn tickets.

Ticketmaster's site also lists an "internet presale" that goes on sale Friday at 10am through the band's official website.

Oddly, the powers that be apparently aren't down with the urban Ravinia that has evolved at the park, as they are explicitly banning people from bringing alcohol.  No word as to whether they'll be selling refreshing malt beverages on premises.

Jeff Tweedy Doesn't Like the Way Grizzly Bear Smiles

Wilco's Jeff Tweedy tells the New York Times about the bands he's listening to these days, including Dr. Dog, and Battles. He also admits that he didn't listen to Grizzly Bear at first because he didn't like their "snide expressions" in a magazine.   Read the whole article here.

Download Festival Moved to Charter One Pavizzle

The Download Festival , a one-day extravaganza featuring The Shins, Band of Horses and Wolf Parade among others has been moved from Alpine Valley to Charter One Pavilion here in Chicago.  It's still taking place on September 2nd.  In one of the oddest booking moves (or, if you're cynical, the most obvious ploy to sell tickets to a different audience) they have also added Snoop Dogg to the bill.  They're selling tickets at a "Four Pack" which gets you four tickets for $75.

Bjork is From Iceland, and Iceland is Cool

(More of the peculiar musings of Dr. DVJ)

Bjork's new album, Volta, is underrated by many of her longtime fans. The other day I was in a coffee shop in near Lincoln Park and the girl behind the counter was listening to Bjork's Debut, which is a fucking awesome record. I asked her if she'd heard Volta and she said, more or less, that Bjork hadn't done anything good since Vespertine. Basically, she was saying that Medulla sucked. Of course, Medulla did suck.

However, Bjork's back with Volta. Don't misread: she didn't go to the OG dance style of Debut. Instead she produced a record that's closer to Vespertine, which is one of the most beautiful records around. If you were a fan of Bjork before the weirdness of Medulla and you have yet to check out Volta, I think you should give it a try. Particularly, listen to "I See Who You Are".

Caveat: Bjork is still weird. Volta has some weird shit on it. But it's worth it.

Listen to I See Who You Are by Bjork (mp3)

Confirmed: Wilco Playing Milennium Park on September 12

After the massively overcrowded Decemberists show at Millennium Park the other night, I was a bit nervous about the anarchy that would ensue when Wilco played there in September.  To that end, I was glad to hear that the Wilco show will be a ticketed event.  It'll cost you a little cash, but at least there will be slight semblance of order.  Greg Kot is reporting that the pavilion seats will be "under $50" and another 7000 tickets on the lawn will be $10.  No word as to whether Craigslist will be upgrading their servers in anticipation of the forthcoming scalper orgy.

Pitchfork Music Festival 2007: We're Working On It