Upcoming Shows:
May 29th, 9:00 p.m.
Underground Lounge (Chicago)
(Previous Shows)
News:
Twilight Revival feature in Chicago Sun-Times (1/4/08)
Twilight Revival on Chic-A-Go-Go:
New song "Anyone":
"Anesthetic Christmas" (recorded for WXRT's "Local Anesthetic Holiday Spectacular")
Schuba, Doobie, D'oh! (12/11/07)
We're back and this time we brought goodies. Tidings of joy, if you will, in the form of a costumed, lip-synched TV appearance, a brand new song and the first Twilight Revival Christmas jingle. All are linked above.
The video is from our recent appearance on Chic-A-Go-Go, Chicago's "dance show for kids of all ages."
The new song is called "Anyone". Those of you who were at the Beat Kitchen show last month saw its live debut and reacted so positively we figured we'd put it to (virtual) tape. It's nice to have so many people comment on a song they haven't heard before. We half-expected the Pearl Jam/Strokes comparisons but not really the dude who said it reminded him of Edith Piaf. Once we looked up who Edith Piaf was, we were even more confused. But at least she's one of France's "most beloved" nightclub singers. So, we've got that going for us.
Dontcha wish you could listen to Christmas music all year long? Yeah, us neither, so we kept it brief. Our "Anesthetic Christmas" holiday jingle was written and recorded for Chicago radio station WXRT's "Local Anesthetic Holiday Spectacular." Tune in to 93.1 FM in Chicago or stream at WXRT.com December 16th and 23rd at 9 p.m. CT to hear if we make the cut.
On the live front: We’re honored to be returning to one of our favorite venues, Martyrs' on December 18th. We hope you'll join us for some holiday cheer. To sweeten the pot, we'll have a gift for the first 50 people in attendance. We’re thrilled to be invited to play the legendary Schubas on January 8th. It will be our Schubas debut, so come celebrate with us and we can start breaking those New Year's resolutions in style.
A huge thanks to everyone who has been out to the live shows recently, notably the aforementioned date at Beat Kitchen. It was a great night with a great crowd. Rick caught a toppling mic stand, Eric lost his glasses case, Brian damn-near sang the Star Spangled Banner and John ended up with the tab. Thankfully the glasses case was found.
Soooooo, we hope you'll give the new tunes a listen, check out the insanity that was Chic-a-go-go, and start getting ready for 2008: Year of The Revival . . . . or Edith Piaf.
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Doing the Carlton? (10/18/07)
Wow, what a month . . . loads of new songs, more good press, our first road trip, a date with the Watson Twins, late night bonding with the Fresh Prince and an acid-flash TV appearance for the kids. Appetite whetted?
September saw Twilight Revival's triumphant debut at the legendary Fitzgerald's nightclub supporting Fred Eaglesmith. The dude's as kind and funny as his songs are spectacular. Quite a thrill. Those who were there saw the debut of a couple new songs that we're pretty excited about -- “Singalong” and “Lovefest”.
Next, we hit the road, bringing the rock n' roll show to Cincinnati for their MidPoint Music Fest where we were greeted by these kind words in the local CityBeat magazine: "After barely a year together, Chicago's Twilight Revival has managed to attract a loyal fan base with an infectious blend of indie Rock riffs and rootsy Americana textures. The quartet's self-titled debut EP is likewise an effective combination of blustery Rock volume and Folk Rock subtlety that delights in big hooks and fantastic vocal harmonies. An R.E.M./Replacements keg party with a Wilco/My Morning Jacket hangover."
Though the show was great, the real highlight was being in town as the Cubs clinched the division over the lowly Reds. A few of you were kind enough to alert us to the fact that WGN was televising our drunk conducting of "Go Cubs Go" after the game. It was all downhill from there (for us and the Cubs). Adhering to our band motto to "Always take the advice of a homeless man" we ended up drinking our weight in Jack Daniels and taking over the open mic that night at the esteemed Southgate House in Newport, KY. It is without a doubt the coolest place any of us has ever been and probably the only place in America that not only refrained from kicking us out, but seemed to actually enjoy our misbehavior. Sweet, sweet Kentucky.
Back home, we were honored to play one of our best shows to date with the fabulous Watson Twins at Empty Bottle. Their beauty was rivaled only by the new ultra deluxe super patriot drum stool John unveiled for the show (after losing his much less ultra-deluxe stool at a previous engagement). The Twins sounded fantastic and handled our gushing quite gracefully. Next, to top it all off, we were invited to play dress-up on the Halloween edition of the celebrated Chic-a-go-go kids show. Previous guests include Sonic Youth, Spoon, Little Steven, Neko Case and a ton of people way cooler and more famous than us.
Next up, we'll be playing Beat Kitchen with The Drams on November 2nd. It's a Friday and the Drams are one helluva rock n' roll band. Make sure you're there to witness history . . . or at least to have a look at the ultra deluxe drum stool. Either way, it'll be a blast.
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Ride Along, Shout `Em Out (8/30/07)
Reviews keep rolling in for the debut EP and they keep getting better. Check out the new Press Page to see what people are saying -- including a raving 5-star review from PropCulture.com.
We've been laying low on the live scene recently to work on some new songs that we're really excited about. Fortunately, we've got a couple great shows coming up where we can try them out. We're honored to be invited to showcase at MidPoint Music Festival in Cincinnati at the end of September, then to open up for the amazing Watson Twins at the Empty Bottle back home in Chicago.
Keep an eye on this page for additional shows to be added soon. And if the Geek Squad ever fixes our computer machines, we'll try to post some new songs here shortly.
Thanks for checking in.
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Blitzkrieg Bop (7/18/07)
Huge thanks to everyone who made last month’s Release Party at Abbey Pub such a success. If you didn’t make it out, or didn’t pick up the CD, you’re in luck. You can download the EP in its entirety here (zip file – 22mb).
Next up, we’re thrilled to be headlining a show at Martyrs’ Friday, July 27th. This may be the band’s biggest show to date, so we’d certainly appreciate if you made it out (and brought some friends). See details in the "Shows' section above.
The new CD has already made its commercial radio debut with airplay on Chicago ’s WXRT along with a number of college and indie stations.
BreakThru Radio in New York even invited the band to serve as "guest bloggers" recently. Check out Brian and Rick's contributions here, here and here.
And the media blitz continued with this glowing review from PopMatters:
“There are plenty of young bands drawing inspiration from Wilco these days, but few of the Tweedyphiles out there are doing it with as much verve and songwriting skill as Chicago ’s Twilight Revival. By dipping into the rich musical palette of 1980s college rock, the foursome add an enticing dimension to today’s Americana sound on their confident debut EP. Bright, shimmering lead guitar fills shed some welcome light on the more downbeat numbers, first on the dark, ambling shuffle of “Intelligence Man”, and then on “Drive-By”, while “Killers” is a Rickenbacker away from a dead-on Paisley Underground homage. Better yet, the first two thirds of “Dark as Sin” draws inspiration from Reckoning-era R.E.M. before throwing a curveball with its rousing, Replacements-style coda, and the gorgeous “So Far Away” embraces its own self-loathing, climaxing in a sumptuous solo run, fading out as twilight gives way to darkness.” – Adrien Bergrand
Onward and upward. Thanks for listening.
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Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes (5/9/07)
That’s right Bowie lovers, Twilight Revival has emerged from a month-long
hiatus as a fully androgynous Ziggy Stardust tribute band.
Not buying it? Good.
But there is some real change afoot. Paul is no longer with the band and after a series of intense interviews and piss tests, we’re almost ready to welcome Rick Guistolise (of lemonsmile) as the newest member of Twilight Revival. We say “almost” cause it’s not quite official yet. We’re seeing each other but not going steady. We’ll all consider a more permanent commitment after a couple shows together.
Speaking of shows, lots of news on that front. Some really big dates lined up in May including our first Double Door show and a return to The House Café in DeKalb. Great local bands share both bills – Big Drag @ The House and Butterfly Assassins (formerly What Four) @ Double Door. See the “Shows” section at the top of this page for specifics.
Best of all, we’re hugely hyped to announce our CD Release Party at Abbey Pub Saturday, June 16th. This will be your first chance to get a copy of the brand new EP as part of a dual Release Party with the great Sleeper Car. Mark your calendars, it's gonna be a blowout.
A few months ago we wrote how your support at our first few gigs would be a big factor in eventually landing shows at places like Abbey Pub and Double Door. Well, we never thought it would happen this fast but here we are. We owe you all a big hug. Or a beer maybe. Up to you.
Thanks for the support. See ya out there.
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Not so simply . . . the best (2/11/07)
Twilight Revival is a finalist in Suburban NiteLife’s “2006 Best of the Burbs” Reader’s Poll for Best Original Band.
We’re not really sure how it happened, but now that we’re in the finals it’d be cool to win. Readers can vote once a day from now through March 11th.
Unfortunately, their web site’s a little, uh, messy. So, here’s an attempt to simplify the registration and voting process if you want to help. Don’t worry, it’s easier than it looks . . .
1) Go to http://www.nitelife.org/
2) Register with your basic information in the gray box on the left
3) Wait to receive a confirmation e-mail
4) Click the link in the e-mail confirmation
5) Enter your e-mail address and password in the “My NiteLife Login” section on the right half of the page
6) On the blue banner at the top of the page, click “Special Stuff” then “Best of the Burbs”
7) Select “Bands” from the Category list
8) Scroll down to the section titled “BANDS – Best Original Band”
9) Select “Twilight Revival”
10) Scroll to the bottom of the page and click “Submit”.
Once you’ve registered the first time, you can return to the link in Step 1 and vote once a day until March 11th. Thanks in advance to anyone who does.
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Movin on Up (1/19/07)
Well alright. We’ve got the first few gigs under our belt and have already survived a whole tour’s worth of stumblers – broken guitars, exploding amps, can’t-be-bothered sound guys (Harvey?! Harvey, you there?!!). Hell, John even had surgery the day of a show and still pounded the skins like a madman.
So, it’s onward and upward . . . . a couple cool shows coming up these next few weeks at Clearwater Theater in the burbs and a Friday at Sylvie’s. It means a lot to us that people are coming out for this first round of shows. We’re not in much of a position yet to demand weekend dates, but the fact that people have come out on a Wednesday night will help with that.
Work continues on the debut EP which we’re hoping to finish in March. Funny thing about recording –- you take a couple months to prep and record a batch of songs and by the time it’s done you’ve got new songs written that you like even better. But until we gather enough cash to record all the new stuff, you’ll just have to settle for hearing it at the shows.
Thanks for checking in. Hope to see you soon.
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Look Who Got a Web Site (12/10/06)
Welcome. This site is the source for all things Twilight
Revival - be it news, reviews, dates or downloads. We'll be adding stuff
all the time so check back often.
A big thanks to everyone who came out and made our debut show at Gunther Murphy's such a great outing. Special thanks to friends What Four and Collectors for sharing the bill. We found out after the show that Gunther's is closing down next month. It sucks to see places like that close their doors when they've done so much to support local music. Let's just hope Gary the sound guy lands on his skinny little feet - the dude's one of the best in the business.
Michael from Collectors was kind enough to record our set that night. It's got all the warts you'd expect in a first show but if you're into that sorta thing, you can download it here.
We'll be in the studio over the next couple months to get an official recording done then booking more shows in the new year. Sign up for the Mailing List and we'll let you know where. Much more to come . . . we're glad to have you on for the ride.