Thursday, April 16
Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Dub Trio, Cheer-Accident @ Bottom Lounge (Chicago)
What a great way to celebrate the passage of Tax Day. First, indefinable prog collective Cheer-Accident opens for its hometown with a mix of rock, pop, chamber music, and noise.
Second, dub-metal instrumentalists Dub Trio rework their own punishing riffs and grooves for live variations, channeling dancehall sentiment through dropped-D rock.
After that, “rock against rock” avant-gardists Sleepytime Gorilla Museum close the night with an adventurous combination of metal, theatricality, homemade instruments, and philosophical themes.
Congrats to ALARM reader J.D. Romero, the winner of two free tickets to this show.
Friday, April 17
The Bad Plus @ Old Town School of Folk Music (Chicago)
Jazz trio The Bad Plus has made a career out of going against the grain. Genre purists have derided the band’s infusion of rock structures, which helps create a hard-hitting jazz sound around a lineup of piano, bass, and drums.
Along the way, the group has built the reputation for deconstructing covers and reappropriating them into unique forms. Now The Bad Plus tours in support of For All I Care, its first all-covers album that includes a guest vocalist and a few classical covers.
Kid Koala @ Zentra (Chicago)
Loaded with samples that span the 20th century, DJ/turntablist Kid Koala employs a cross-genre sound that’s impossible to pin down. For this stop through Chicago, he performs a DJ set at a local nightclub that may or may not hold a large contingent of bros.
Saturday, April 18
Qwel @ Reggie’s (Chicago)
Chicago rapper Qwel lays unpausing flow and societal topics over melancholy production. Here he gets opening support from Galapagos4 labelmate Robust, who also opens at Reggie’s the night before for Kool Keith and Kutmasta Kurt. Doomtree rap-collective member Dessa — a guest on the great new album by P.O.S. — also opens.