the flames will burn higher

March 20, 2020

I’ve slowly been getting emails from venues and bands, cancelling or rescheduling future concert dates. The show from Murder By Death at Thalia Hall this past (???) weekend (????) was one of the first to get postponed, and was one of the first to announce new dates. (Who wants to bet all these shows I had plans to go to over March/April/May get scheduled right on top of each other over the summer?)

Anyway, despite the aggressive name, MBD (named after the 1976 comedy/mystery film) originate from not-too-far-away Bloomington, Indiana and play a very solid blend of indie rock and alt-country/folk. There is a cello! You can hear it! It doesn’t get buried in all the other sounds of a rock band!

I’ve enjoyed their music for years but only finally got around to seeing them live over the summer at the Square Roots Festival here in Chicago — right in my neighborhood, so no excuse! — and they are as good live as I’d expected. An energetic show, passionate fans — did I mention a cello?! They manage to both rock and be extremely melancholy at the same time, which is exactly my jam. Their most recent album, The Other Shore — a track of which is below — was described as “a space-western about a ravaged Earth, its fleeing populace, and a relationship in jeopardy” which is also exactly my jam.

(Don’t forget, Bandcamp is passing their cut of profits on to artists today for every purchase made on the site.)

The folks in the band also run a restaurant in Louisville called Pizza Lupo, so they’re doubly hurting right now.

Some other links of interest:

  • Shut In & Sing: Nightly concerts from artists, some familiar, some new faces, leaning more towards folk/acoustic/singer-songwriter

  • SPACE in Evanston has a listing of livestreams of artists who have previously performed at their venue.

  • NPR has a running listing of artists doing livestreams.

  • Chicago’s Bloodshot Records is having a live streamed performance today, starting at 2pm Central, featuring artists who should have been performing at their SXSW showcase.

  • Chicago Service Relief: Collecting links to fundraisers for folks in the service industry in Chicago

  • Leveler: Pass a couple bucks (or more) to folks in the service industry who are struggling. Nationwide, not just Chicago-focused. (And if you are one of those people, you can add your name to their list.) You get a list of 10 people to Venmo/Paypal/whatever money to. I’ve been taking the “would have spent this $20 on junk” part of my budget lately and putting it at things like this.

  • Oh You Pretty Things: Filmmaker Gary Hustwit is streaming his documentaries for free, one each week

  • CorePower Yoga: Free Yoga class videos to stream, good for any level of yoga practice

  • I’m trying to keep things virus-lite here but this article in the Atlantic is a good summary behind the science of what’s happening, understandable to even non-science-types like me.

This isn’t a song but it has brought me joy:

Thank you to every zoo, aquarium, museum, or other public educational institution doing the world to bring fun content to us.

Recommended Twitter follows include: the Oregon Zoo, the Shedd Aquarium, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Georgia Aquarium, and the Cincinnati Zoo.

Honorable mention to the Field Museum: