Concert Review - Empty Bottle Winter Block Party, March 1, 2014

Courtesy of Matt Conzen's phone.

At this point, all we can do in Chicago is lean into the winter. I mean, it's made it clear that it's not going anywhere so all we can do is wear our #Chiberia hashtags like a badge of pride. Besides, harsh winters have always been a part of Chicago's DNA. Even as it's become "international city", Chicago has never been a gathering place for celebrities either entertainment (LA), literary/business (NYC) or political (DC) and it's easy to see why - for at least five months of the year, you to have some starch in your shirt and iron in your spine to enjoy life in the city by the lake ice cube.

So a block party in the snow seemed like the perfect way to close out (or at least begin to close out) this 3rd coldest winter in our city's recorded history. The wonderful people at the Empty Bottle were behind this endeavor, which could not have been more fitting. Their scruffy, eclectic but still-discerning approach to music was note-perfect (if you will) for this kind of patently ridiculous celebration. In fact, the perfect distillation of the event's spirit came earlier in the afternoon when an Empty Bottle employee asked everyone in the crowd to look up towards a second floor window where the owner was snapping photos of the crowd. Per their instructions we all looked up, smiled and gave the camera the traditional one-finger salute.

On Warmer Music's 30 Favorite Songs Of 2013 (30-21)

In the "it's not the number of times you fall down but the number of times you get up"-spirit, I'm deciding not to let my late-year slowdown stop me from my 2013 lists. I spent too much time listening to too much good music last year, despite it all and I'm gonna say something about it, goddamit!

I appreciate all those out there still listening and apologize for a lack of mp3s this year. I am including one for songs unavailable streaming or on YouTube but I found that there were so few downloads that few would probably miss them. Don't worry though, I'll still be posting mp3 mixes and other goodies, when appropriate. So, with no further adieu, here's some pretty good music!