Find an event

Music

But wait, there's more…

Ratio Live
With the HotHouse firmly out of the picture and the recently downsized World Music Festival battling budget cuts, there’s more reason than ever to celebrate international bookings. This new music series presents an ambitious array of Latin acts across town that are guaranteed to keep you warm through the dipping temperatures. Venezuela’s Los Amigos Invisibles (Logan Square Auditorium, Sept 18) and Mexican cross-genre crooner Natalia Lafourcade (Logan Square Auditorium, Nov 13) are just a few of the Spanish-speaking artists whose swank vibe offers an alternative to the routine banda blowouts at the Aragon or Congress Theater. —Areif Sless-Kitain

Riot Fest
October 7–11
In its fifth year, the punk party makes a big splash with a bevy of reunions, topped by Butthole Surfers. It’s like the (Time) Warped Tour for dads who grew up riding comically large skateboards. Screeching Weasel and the Dead Milkmen come out of retirement missing key members (internal beef and death, respectively), but it will hardly matter once they rip into snotty sarcasm anthems like “I Hate Led Zeppelin” and “Bitchin’ Camaro.” Along with Weasel, Naked Raygun, Pegboy, 88 Fingers Louie and Rights of the Accused make this Riot a veritable tour through the fuck-Reagan underground of 1980s Chicago.—Brent DiCrescenzo

Umbrella Music Festival
November 5–8
The Chicago Jazz Fest is right around the corner, but we’re just as amped for the fourth installment of this comparatively modest endeavor hosted by the fellas behind Umbrella Music. It’s a chance to bone up on vintage and contemporary improvisers alike in exclusive configurations. In addition to the Cultural Center, regular Umbrella venues Elastic, Hideout and Hungry Brain host Chicago standbys such as Ken Vandermark and Jeff Parker, along with a broad assortment of performers including free blowers Joe McPhee and Akira Sakata, plus fearless pianist Matthew Shipp. The names might be lower on the marquee, but they’re just as resonant in the annals of jazz history. —Areif Sless-Kitain

Autumn album roundup
Jay-Z once again pairs producer Kanye West with a bizarre fetish for releasing albums on 9/11 with The Blueprint 3 (Sept 11). Pearl Jam lightens up on Backspacer (Sept 22). Sexy French boys Air invite you to Love 2 (Oct 6). Kid Sister finally drops her debut, Ultraviolet (Oct 6). Dreamy indie jam-band Built to Spill mellows out and tightens up on the slick There Is No Enemy (Oct 6). The Flaming Lips wig out on the mind-melting Embryonic (Oct 13). The Roots flash their Late Night–honed funk on How I Got Over (Oct 13). And Weezer thumb its nose at uptight critics with the silly Raditude (Oct 27). The big November holiday rush sees fresh LPs from Carrie Underwood, Robbie Williams, Avril Lavigne, John Mayer and Mary J. Blige. —Brent DiCrescenzo

NEXT>>

Check out the other sections in our 2009 Fall Preview: