Summer in Chicago, usually means a trip to Ravinia in north Suburban Highland Park. A Ravinia-favorite is The BoDeans. The Milwaukee-born band plays there tomorrow fresh off the release of their new album "Indigo Dreams", which was released this week. Tickets are still available for Friday (7/29) concert. They range from $33 for lawn seats to $55 for the pavilion.
Purchase tickets at www.ravinia.org
THE BODEANS (release from the band)
The saga of the BoDeans, one of the premier American roots-rock bands, began when Kurt Neumann and Sammy Llanas forged a signature sound based on heartfelt lyrics, passionate harmonies and ringing guitars. The sound first surfaced on the group's critically acclaimed 1986 debut album produced by T Bone Burnett, Love and Hope and Sex and Dreams. The album propelled the band into the national spotlight as it broke into Billboard's Top 100, aided by a touring slot with U2, an appearance on Robbie Robertson's eponymous debut solo album and being named "Best New Band" by Rolling Stone magazine. In 1987 the band released Outside Looking In and continued touring. 1989 saw the release of Home, the band's third record in four years. They followed up with the release of Black And White in 1991. Go Slow Down (1993), also produced by T Bone Burnett, included the Party of Five theme song "Closer to Free." In 1996 "Closer to Free" made it onto Billboard's Top 10 and earned an ASCAP award for being one of the most-played songs on the radio that year. In 2004 the band released Resolution on Rounder Records, yielding the song "If It Makes You," which quickly made it into the top ten on the charts and resided there for several weeks. This was followed in 2005 with Homebrewed: Live from the Pabst, a live double CD and DVD on Back Porch Records. Neumann and Llanas spent the better part of 2005 and 2006 writing and recording and later returned to the studio with T Bone Burnett. Tonight marks The BoDeans' ninth performance at Ravinia Festival, where they first appeared in 2000.
