The Weekender | September 22-25, 2011

Andrew Bird

Looking to catch some music this weekend? There's certainly no shortage of options, starting tomorrow.

Thursday 22


7:30pm, Apostolic Church of God, FREE!
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra opens its season with a free concert in Woodlawn. Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony is the highlight in a program that includes Verdi and Ibert. Commentary about the pieces on the program is integrated into the performance, to keep concertgoers in the loop.


7:30pm, Vic Theatre, $25 advance/$27 day-of, all ages
Whether you think it's overindulgent or superexpressive, indie folksters Okkervil River's new album, I Am Very Far, is their grandest yet; recording sessions featured two drummers, two pianists, two bassists and seven guitarists, all playing together in one studio, plus a choir, orchestral arrangements and various pieces of furniture being flung around the room. As a result, the record is juicy, odd, lyrically grotesque in places and enormously satisfying. Expect to be similarly enthralled by this blowout live show.


9pm, Lincoln Hall, $15, 18 and up
Intense, radiantly lovely young English neofolksinger Laura Marling plays behind her latest, A Creature I Don't Know, an album that's already been hailed as a modern classic. It's not that it sounds old, though certainly the spirits of Joni Mitchell, Julie London, PJ Harvey and Fairport Convention loom large—more that you can imagine it being played in 20 years' time, and still sounding crisp and affecting.


10pm, Smart Bar, $8 ($5 before midnight)
Two of the U.K.'s top movers in dubstep and bass music, Toddla T and Roska embody the constantly evolving state of this music. The youthful Toddla T has just dropped Watch Me Dance, an album brimming with island influences spun into contemporary workouts that encompass dancehall, dubstep, big beat and indie dance, and threaten to cross over into the pop sphere. Similarly, Roska, the frontrunner on the U.K. funky scene, injects the dubstep framework with up-tempo island rhythms and enough of a pop sensibility to land himself on the charts. Mold breakers from Chicago, DJs C and Chris Widman open.

Friday's music highlights are on the next page...