The Weekender | Live music and clubbing | December 1–4, 2011

What rock shows, club nights or classical concerts to see this weekend? Here are some of the highlights for each day:

Thursday 1

Watch the Throne: Jay-Z & Kanye West
7:30pm, United Center, sold out (scalp?)
The bulk of this United Center gig draws from the rappers’ unequaled back catalogs, with fortyish hits, from “Big Pimpin’” to “Power.” The two old friends (or at least coworkers) genially play hype men for each other’s songs. The set is broken into thematic blocks, framed in lasers, smoke and fire. An introspective moment sees the two sitting on the stage for the “heavy” numbers, examining the black experience in “Murder to Excellence.” Another act weaves a narrative of girl trouble, linking “Gold Digger” to “99 Problems.” Ironically, the higher the two physically rise, the worse the material. In the opening, on those cubes, encased high on pillars like Hope diamonds, Kanye and Jay-Z swap verses in letdowns like “H.A.M.” and “Otis.” They can still do wonders, when back on earth.


8pm, Symphony Center, Orchestra Hall, $29-$240
Dutch conductor Jaap van Zweden—just named Musical America's Conductor of the Year for 2012—returns to the CSO podium to lead Mahler's First Symphony. The evening kicks off with Stucky's Rhapsodies for Orchestra and Mozart's Bassoon Concerto, featuring CSO principal bassoon David McGill.

8pm, SPACE, $24-$40
Cerebral art-soul troubadour Stew and his creative partner Heidi Rodewald, the forces behind Passing Strange, preview tunes from a forthcoming album, Making It.


9:30pm, Empty Bottle
Louisiana songsmith Dax Riggs—a veteran of Acid Bath and Deadboy & the Elephantmen—plays in support of Say Goodnight to the World, a potent set of brooding goth-blues-metal. Jack White fans, don't miss this one. Opening is the punk (but broadly so) Bully in the Hallway, celebrating its second full-length, Crooks and their Castles.