On Monday night, the Black Cat hosted the Big Shoulders Ball. We were there. We took pictures. We shot some video of Ted Leo and Andrew Bird. By now, other sites have weighed in. DCist posted its review. So yeah this show has pretty much been blogged about enough. It was a great night–one that I was perhaps too tired to even think about yesterday or immediately following the show! But there were some great performances by Ted Leo, the Waco Brothers, Andrew Bird, and Honeyboy Edwards. What made the night so unique–compared to the other balls–was that it was a) actually fun; b) it felt homemade; 3) you didn’t have to wear a tux (dress was “thrift store formal”; 4) speakers actually mentioned things like healthcare and unions.

I have a few more pictures that I didn’t have time to post the other morning. So here they are.

Read More “Big Shoulders Ball: More Pictures” »

Peter Margasak at our sister paper the Chicago Reader brings the news that the Black Cat will be hosting a pre-Inauguration Day concert on Jan. 19. The Big Shoulders Ball, as the name suggests, is a Chicago-oriented event. It was coordinated by Tim Tuten, co-owner of a great Chicago venue, the Hideout, and the lineup includes some of the city’s best acts: among those on the bill are Tortoise, the Waco Brothers, Eleventh Dream Day, the Mekons’ Jon Langford & Sally Timms, and Ken Vandermark. Tickets are $50, with proceeds going to various charities, including the D.C.-based Future of Music Coalition; they go on sale at 5 p.m. today through the Black Cat’s Web site. (Or at the Hideout if you’re reading this in Chicago—in which case, why aren’t you reading Margasak’s blog?)

According to Margasak’s post, the Hideout is corralling a few charter buses to bring fans to the festivities. Hope they’ve figured out where to park them.