Chris Catania was just one member of a Chicago crowd awed into silence by the beautiful songs of Sleeping at Last and the Smoking Popes’ Josh Caterer.

Chris Catania saw Sparklehorse transcend nasty weather and nastier flu to deliver a transcendent set of American Gothic. What’s your excuse?

M. Ward’s recent Chicago gig saw the crowd becoming much more active participants in the performance. Chris Catania reports from the frontlines.

Stage blood, punk rock, a group jam on a John Lennon X-mas song, angular sonics, three top-notch Chicago bands - what more could Chris Catania have asked for this holiday season?

Chris Catania takes in a triple bill of bubbling-under indie talent, headlined by the flamboyant pop of Bon Savants , and leaves the Chicago venue mightily impressed.

Chris Catania takes in a Chicago concert by Patrice Pike, contestant on the recent “Rock Star Supernova” show, and he ends up seeing a serious performer, and not a one-trick pony, whose career may have been harmed, rather than helped, by reality television exposure.

The whirlwind electro-pop of Hot Chip, complete with giant glasses and walls of keyboards, makes a convert of our very own Chris Catania. The opening bands weren’t half bad either.