Opening with some fan favorites like “Despite What You’ve Been Told,” it took Two Gallants no time to get the newly shoulder-to-shoulder crowd singing along. It also took no time for lead singer Adam Stephens to drop to his knees for an instrumental solo – we were about a minute and a half into the first song. What first seemed a bit cliché quickly became part of the immense charm of their show. Stephens’s obvious passion for his music first comes across in his being “moved by the spirit,” if you will, but the song writing and musicianship are quick to follow.

Sadly, there was no kiddie pool at this show. It was also January in Chicago, so more depressing all around.

On their third tune, they broke out a newer song, “Lady” and then “Right Away” two songs later. The audience, though unfazed by the material they didn’t have memorized line for line (yet), did take these inclusions as a sign that maybe the band wasn’t quite sure what songs they ought to be playing. The next few between song breaks brought prompt recommendations shouted from the audience – more than this girl has heard since high school when it was still funny to yell “Free Bird” at every show.

This was never funny.

Thankfully, Two Gallants basically ignored them.

Between the two man band, music was thoroughly covered, with Stephens on guitar and Tyson Vogel on drums. But it took until the end of the set for the harmonica to get into the action, after spending 11 songs sitting sadly next to the microphone. On its first appearance, the harmonica joined in the beautiful tune, “Broken Eyes.”

Like most of the rest of the songs, it’s a melancholy sort of beautiful. A beautiful that’s best appreciated with good friends telling long stories when no one pulls out their iPhone. Two Gallants specialize in the kind of songs that suck you in and make you say “that reminds me of this one time…” Or make you cry, like we got in the encore with “Seems Like Home to Me.” Luckily, everyone was too mesmerized by the band to notice the few tears I lost… or at least that’s what I’m telling myself.

Cemetery Playground! Not surprising that these guys are a bit morbid…

*By Jesy, who swears she isn’t as emotionally unstable as these reviews would have you believe.

With a voice that is as refreshing, light-toned and captivating as her personality, Mika is setting her path as an artist. The young singer/songwriter moved to Nashville Tennessee, like many others, hoping to peruse and live her dreams. Along the way the Kentucky native has found herself on a slightly unconventional road such as appearing on CBS’ The Amazing Race among other adventures. Mika recently started writing and recording music with a new producer, re-launched a new Facebook page and is getting ready for a busy new year.

You’re from a small  town called Hazard, Kentucky; how long have you been living Nashville and how did you make the move?

Mika: I’ve been in Nashville for about four years now and I actually moved here on a television show. Hazard is a very small town in Kentucky, I am a coal miners daughter, and when you’re from one of those towns that no one ever leaves and you have big dreams of getting out in the world, you face some struggles. Financially, my parents couldn’t support me on a move to Nashville and I was 20 at the time and I’m just like I’m leaving and my parents were like no you’re not (haha) it was this big thing.  It was just funny that I auditioned for this show that had an AD on the radio that they were looking for a girl who sang country music, so I went and auditioned and I ended up getting cast. The show was actually called Nashville, and they actually came to Hazard to film this whole pilot and it ended up getting picked up by FOX, so they moved me to Nashville pretty much all on camera and we shot a whole season and then it got cancelled like two episodes in I think. But it was really the biggest blessing because I don’t know how I would’ve gotten here, I mean I would’ve eventually figured it out, but this definitely made it easier. When you’re young like that wondering how you’re going to make it happen, it can be hard, but that was so great for me, it’s been really cool.

Have you always liked entertaining?

Mika: I decided from a very young age, since I can remember actually, that I was a performer. I was always dressing up and singing in front of my family and begging my dad to record me on our video camera. I always wanted to be the center of attention, ha…I guess that feeling of it all has been there from the beginning and never went away.

How would you describe your sound and how your music represents you?

Mika: I don’t think one solid sound describes what I’m trying to do; I’d like to think my sound really reflects me as a person, I’m pretty laid back and girly.  I think that’s hopefully a good description of how it fits, sound wise it’s a mixture of traditional instrumentation with just feel good melodic pop sounds. I’m just trying to represent myself as the best I can, I want fun and feel good music to reach out to people; I guess, artist wise, it’s kind of Colbie Caillat, cutesy stuff too.

Who were some of your musical influences growing up?

Mika: Well, ha, my younger teenage years I grew up in the generation of liking, as every person our age did at the time, Britney Spears and The Spice Girls and those types of music acts. I still have videos of me and my friends singing the spice girls in our houses and stuff like that. Aside from that sound I really grew up, family wise, with country music and music from The Rolling Stones and a lot of older country/rock influences. So I really got to enjoy a great mixture of really everything and every type of music and I think my sound is so heavily influenced by both traditional instrumentation and pop music, it represents what I grew up with and around if that makes sense. I had a good round of influences.

Two years ago you were a contestant on The Amazing Race and had an infamous episode with a water-slide; that’s an intense show as is, how was the experience for you?

Mika: The Amazing Race was definitely the hardest thing I’ve done in my entire life. I’m so thankful for the experience and so glad I did it though, even if I didn’t go down the water-slide, I was younger and had never even been on a plane until I was 20 and hadn’t even seen most of the U.S. let alone get the chance to see places around the world like that. I feel very lucky to have been apart of that experience, it taught me a lot about my character as well.

You’re still a young artist, but have you had any really stand out moments for yourself professionally yet?

Mika: I played a show about a year ago at The Red Rooster, my producer was actually in the audience that night and soon after that we decided to start working together. I feel so fortunate that he was there that night and feel very blessed to be working with such an amazingly talented person who really believes in me and what I’m doing. I would call that a life changing night for sure.

Any last thoughts you’d like to share about your music and what you have coming up in the new year?

Mika: I am really in a happy place right now with my music and being able to really take things on and get myself out there. I hope I can connect with people who’ve had similar life experiences that I have and my music can really mean something and connect with anyone out there. I’m so excited to have my Facebook page updated with new photos and a little video with some samples of my music on it. Looking forward to continuing to write and record and have an EPK out on my bandpage  and really just a whole bunch of stuff in the new year. We’re going to have more samples out soon and I’d love to connect with people on twitter too @mikacombs. I’m really looking forward to 2012!

*By Candace who can’t believe I just ate 4 brownies while typing this. Mika Combs music DOES make me happy, happy enough to eat brownies .

Forming in 2010, the fellows from Caveman have spent their first formative years on tour gaining attention with their live shows and eventually heading into the studio with Nick Stumpf (French Kicks) to record their debut album CoCo Beware .

Releasing the album on their own label, Magic Man! Records / ORG Music, in November of 2011, Caveman has now signed to indie label Fat Possum Records, home to such favorites as The Black Keys, Band of Horses, Wavves, and Youth Lagoon to name a few.

After two songs, Waters front man Van Pierszalowski started chatting up the audience, telling us about the day he and the band spent in Chicago. The silence of the crowd made it easier for the more vocal members to chat him back, asking for details. Note to all bands coming through Chicago: it is lame to go to the Bean. But sitting at Intelligentsia Coffee all day rather than actually seeing the city is maybe slightly lamer.

Sitting with a pup all day, however, would not be at all lame.

Ill-advised travel plans aside, the band kept up the back-and-forth with the audience, taking full advantage of the sold out crowd. Still, it wasn’t until their fifth tune that this sold out crowd tried to head bop along. As engaged as they were in the story from Pierszalowski, it took a while to get them up and moving.

However, for the end of their 9-song set, Pierszalowski jumped to the main floor for an unplugged and led us into a really lovely, slow and steady end to their show. After asking the crowd to join in the chorus of “Forever, Forever,” the engaged if semi-stoic audience quickly warmed to the sing-a-long. In a room where a pin would not have gone unnoticed, I was unimpressed by the pair of girls who stormed in, practically yelling “what the sh*t” into the dreamy scene. While Waters certainly heard, they continued unfazed, putting a great final touch on their set.

The music on the album is nowhere near as lacking in color as its cover

All in, Waters puts on a live show perfectly demonstrating the talent seen in their album. Hopefully, this will lead to greater success and another swing through Chicago, with more ambitious tourist goals.

By jesy: who has just realized that most of her cooking endeavors involve booze, but isn’t all that upset about it.

Kenny Chesney, Lady Antebellum, Sara Evans, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, Miranda Lambert, Martina McBride and Love and Theft are just a few of the Country superstars who’ve all donated exclusive items for the garden’s very first auction which you can bid on from now until Monday, December 5th, 9PM CST.

You can bid on items like this Copley Acoustic guitar autographed by Carrie Underwood:

Miranda Lambert’s first pair of nice boots she bought for her very first tour:

A notebook that will be signed by Keith Urban, and it’ll also include a personal line of inspiration for you:

Sara Evans‘ dress that she wore on the red carpet at the 2008 CMT Awards:

Autographed, hand-written lyrics to Martina McBride’s hit “Wrong Baby Wrong” written and autographed by co-writer Stephen Barker Liles of Love and Theft, and signed by Martina McBride:

Other items included in the auction are: Kenny Chesney’s personal cowboy hat-both worn and autographed by the star, Darius Rucker’s personal South Carolina autographed ball-cap, a Harley Davidson helmet signed by Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, and Zac Brown and friend’s cookbook, “Southen Ground” signed by the Zac Brown Band. There are plenty more items up for bidding from other stars like, American Idol Winner, Scotty McCreery, Kristin Chenoweth, Sugarland, and more.

For a complete list of items up for auction visit the garden’s auction page at www.nashvillemusicgarden.com/auction-items. Remember, you have until December 5th at 9PM CST to bid on items up for auction in support of the garden.

The Nashville Music Garden is located in Walk of Fame Park in downtown Nashville (corner of Fourth Avenue and Demonbreun), the idea for the Nashville Music Garden was born when country music legend Barbara Mandrell gave her namesake rose to garden founder and friend, Pat Bullard.  The garden is a “living” walk of fame filled with over six dozen varieties of roses and daylilies named in honor of the music and artists synonymous with Nashville.  Created as a way to recognize these artists, songs and industry leaders and also beautify Music City, the garden was the first to assemble all the flowers of the Nashville Music Garden Collection in one place for the public to enjoy. As the garden continues to grow and bloom into an ever popular part of Nashville’s culture it’s need for funding is as well. All of the proceeds will go to raise awareness and funding  for the Nashville Music Garden, which is sustained by a fund established through non-profit organization The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee. To ensure that the garden continues to grow for the community and country music fans to enjoy, the fund must be supported.

*By Candace, who is seriously contemplating making everyone’s Christmas presents so I can bid on that Keith Urban notebook.

Not just a prop – she does play her own guitar.

Opening with “Masterplan,” Taylor started showing off immediately. Bringing energy and poise deserving of a much bigger crowd than came out, Taylor sucked the audience in and by the third song, all other conversations, beer ordering, and text messaging had stopped completely. Taylor and crew took advantage of the enthralled audience on “My Favorite… Love,” pumping up the album version with gorgeous harmonies that were only interrupted by the thumping beats from the bar below.

Picking up the pace for the next few songs, Taylor made it to “Cartoons and Forever Plans,” a fun pop song that features vocals from her male band members. Toe-tapping and singing along, the crowd seemed to swell larger than itself with a mini-dance break.

Halfway through her set, Taylor took a rare talk break introducing “Clean Getaway,” the song she wrote about packing up all of her stuff and moving to California to start over. Anyone who has ever done the same ((raises hand)) can relate to the simple, slow melody. I was glad that I didn’t have this disc to listen to on my drive out of New York – I was crying enough as it was. But it is a beautiful song for anyone who is more emotionally stable.

I can’t say how often she actually looks up and to the left, but it’s a great press shot anyway.

Even though Subterranean has a dedicated space for bands to hang out in between their main set and the encore, Taylor opted to just stay on stage and finish up her long show. Closing out with “Speak Easy” and “Leap Year,” Taylor laid off the truly heart-wrenching material as we put our coats back on. Having ridden the emotional rollercoaster with her for an hour and a half, Taylor proved that she could dictate our collective mood with a key change and one-third harmony. It seemed courteous to send the audience out on a positive-ish note.

All in, Taylor is a genuine and talented musician and her show illustrates the love she has for her music and her fans. Her new album, Overlook, and tour are definitely worth the time and money.

*By Jesy, who teared up just a little listening to “Clean Getaway” again while writing this… just a little.

A different environment than any Wolf Parade or Sunset Rubdown show has given, the intimate concert for Moonface proved just how chameleon Spencer Krug is with his music endeavors.

*By Karen, who is still in awe of this show

Suicide Machines put on an old school punk show, complete with audience humiliation when lead singer Jason Navarro demanded one member of the crowd pogo, which the teenager did not understand. Maybe it was more humiliating for the old folks who remember pogo-ing.

This is not pogo-ing.

First and foremost, however, was the music. Suicide Machines apparently saved their energy during that sabbatical and brought everything they ever had to the stage. Short bursts of punk rock goodness exploded from the stage as Suicide Machines put on one of the best shows of the night. Interspersed throughout the fast, scream-laden set list were Navarro’s mini-soliloquies on life, music, and his distaste for some fellow Riot Festers. It made this girl wonder if the band came back to the road for the music or the lifestyle.

This does seem way better than my desk job.

During one such story session, we learned a bit about what the guys had been through the night prior. To the girl who Navarro apologized to for vomiting in her car the night prior: perhaps inviting Navarro and a couple of the dudes from Naked Raygun into your car after a show was not the best way to ensure the (presumably) previous vomit-free state of your vehicle. But I suppose some people need to learn the hard way.

In addition to being pretty chatty for a punk rock kid, Navarro was surprisingly demanding of his crowd. Insisting not only that they pogo, for those who remembered, he specified that he was not looking for “Lollapalooza, Warp Tour bouncing, either.” Very particular, this band. To the crowd’s credit, or his, they eagerly followed every order thrown at them. For a group so into anarchy, at least according to the patches on their leather jackets, they were quick to go along with Navarro’s every request. Had the din of the crowd been less overwhelming, we probably could have heard some ask “how high” they ought to be jumping, too.

Like everyone else I know from Michigan, they seem to think the state hung the f’ing moon.

All in, Suicide Machines were a favorite of the Fest, and this girl is pretty stoked that they are back on the road, delivering their high energy punk rock to long time fans, and the newbie punk kids who don’t even know what pogo-ing is yet.

*By Jesy, who encourages all would be punk rock fans to do a little research next time they wander into a show.

Revealing some inside, scoop Manon tells Planet Verge, “No one had a better time at our event than Jessica’s mom- no really!”

Photos by Jeffrey Grossman

From L to R: Sharie Manon, Jessica Romano, Briella Marie and Glamo.

Krystal Couso of Jerseylicious

*By Karen, who will be seeing Moonface this evening in Chicago and thinks you should too.