This article by Robert Loerzel originally appeared in Illinois Issues magazine’s November 2008 issue. Ever since the Founding Fathers wrote the Second Amendment, Americans have been arguing about what it means. Does it give every citizen the right to own guns? Or is it just about the need for a militia? Illinois has often been… Continue reading Showdown over guns
Blog
Nick Cave: 2008 concert review
This article by Robert Loerzel originally appeared in The Daily Southtown on September 30, 2008. Performing Monday night at Chicago’s Riviera Theatre, Nick Cave repeatedly leaned into the crowd, pointing his finger and intoning his lyrics like some mad preacher. Cave, an Australian-born singer-songwriter with some 20 albums, is not the only rock musician who… Continue reading Nick Cave: 2008 concert review
Interview with DJ Clark Weber
This article by Robert Loerzel originally appeared in Pioneer Press on September 4, 2008. Clark Weber has a million stories: He kicked the Monkees out of a radio station when they tore up some drapes. He saw Phil Spector carrying a .38 revolver. He had lunch with the Beatles. And an 8-year-old kid named Michael… Continue reading Interview with DJ Clark Weber
Record review: Evangelicals, ‘The Evening Descends’
This review by Robert Loerzel originally appeared in Signal to Noise magazine’s spring 2008 issue. Evangelicals The Evening Descends So Gone, the terrific 2006 debut album by Evangelicals, received little of the attention it deserved, perhaps because this oddball outfit from Norman, Oklahoma, did not fit easily into the any current indie-rock category. Evangelicals continue… Continue reading Record review: Evangelicals, ‘The Evening Descends’
Book review: ‘I Shot a Man in Reno’
This review by Robert Loerzel originally appeared in Signal to Noise magazine’s fall 2008 issue. I Shot a Man in Reno By Graeme Thomson (Continuum) A few years ago, the Mekons’ Jon Langford told me about his fascination with old-time folk and country songs about death. He lamented the dearth of death songs on today’s charts. “And… Continue reading Book review: ‘I Shot a Man in Reno’
General Dawes’ War
This article by Robert Loerzel was originally published in the September 2008 issue of North Shore Magazine. GAZING AROUND THE NEIGHBORHOOD today, it’s hard to imagine that as many as 50,000 people once gathered on this 19th-century mansion’s lawn and nearby streets, spilling into the park, pulling boats up along the lake shore, just to… Continue reading General Dawes’ War
Was Jane Addams a lesbian?
A Conservatory, a Zoo, and 12,000 Corpses
Chicago Reader, May 15, 2008 — One day in the 1970s, when Pamela Bannos was a teenager, she was riding in the back of her father’s car as he turned off Lake Shore Drive onto LaSalle Street. Looking out the window, she noticed an old stone structure standing in Lincoln Park. Surrounded by a chain-link fence… Continue reading A Conservatory, a Zoo, and 12,000 Corpses
F. Lee Bailey Q&A
This article by Robert Loerzel originally appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times on April 6, 2008. Husbands suspected of killing their wives seem to be in the news almost constantly these days. A new book by defense lawyer F. Lee Bailey and Kenosha journalist Jean Rabe compiles some of the most famous spousal murder cases into… Continue reading F. Lee Bailey Q&A
Record review: Portishead, ‘Third’
This review by Robert Loerzel originally appeared in Pioneer Press on March 2, 2008. Portishead Third ***½ The two albums that Portishead released in 1994 and 1997 still sound otherworldly, no matter how many times we’ve heard then. After a long hiatus, the British trio has returned, sounding stranger than ever. As forlorn and heartbroken… Continue reading Record review: Portishead, ‘Third’