Author: Jae-Ha Kim

Jonathon Brandmeier conquers the World

Jae-Ha Kim

Jonathon Brandmeier’s concert Saturday evening at Tinley Park’s World Music Theatre started off with a bang as the popular WLUP radio personality crashed through a video screen, wearing a Superman-style costume. Quickly stripped of that outfit to reveal a slightly less flamboyant combination of a colorful flowered shirt, casual black pants and jacket, Brandmeier and his band, the Leisure Suits, launched the World’s summer season with a two-hour show that included satirical music, glib comedy, a little mooning and a marriage proposal.

Guns N’ Roses shoots straight rock ‘n’ roll

Jae-Ha Kim

Guns N’ Roses, kicking off its first-ever headlining tour Friday night at Alpine Valley, negated the oft-repeated and seemingly true tale that today’s musicians have forgotten what rock ‘n’ roll is all about. Three years after its debut LP “Appetite for Destruction” clawed its way to the top of the album charts, the controversial Los Angeles band gave an aggressive, testosterone-laced performance before an almost sold-out crowd of 40,000 fans, showing that while its members’ tumultuous private lives and business idiosyncrasies are the stuff that keeps gossip columnists in business, their music contains all the elements that make rock ‘n’ roll vital.

Jesus Jones shakes rock to the roots

Jae-Ha Kim

Creating a euphoric version of rock ‘n’ roll that relied on equal parts acid house, hard rock and Beatlesque melodies, Jesus Jones’ performance Saturday night at the Vic Theatre embodied what rock music once was all about. Foregoing the hackneyed formats of its sample-crazed colleagues, Jesus Jones – a five-man band from London – deftly demonstrated that with a little ingenuity, artists can borrow from the past without committing an artistic crime. Jesus Jones is not the savior of contemporary rock ‘n’ roll, but the group has proven that using the musical past is no sin if it’s the way to a better future.

Isaak shines

Jae-Ha Kim

After six years of playing to seemingly the same small group of fans, Chris Isaak made a triumphant return to Chicago, this time as a bonafide pop star. The Junk Monkeys also performed a show over the weekend that made up with power what it lacked in polish. The Junk Monkeys concert at the Avalon on Saturday night proved that while they have “speed pop” down to an art form, the young Detroit musicians would benefit from varying their sets to showcase some of their non-thrash-style songs earlier in their gigs.

Chris Isaak finally wins success in wicked game

Jae-Ha Kim

Everyone knew Chris Isaak would become a star. No one knew that it would take this long. Six years after being touted as the proverbial next big thing in rock ‘n’ roll, Isaak has fulfilled the prophecy of music critics and fans. With the release of his debut LP “Silvertone” in 1985, Isaak was pronounced as this generation’s answer to Elvis Presley and Roy Orbison, all rolled into one neat, Brylcreemed package.

INXS on Fashion Excess

Jae-Ha Kim

Is it an oxymoron to call a music video politically correct?  Perhaps, but more rock bands are diversifying from the babes-in-bondage theme and opting for vignettes that might be (mis)interpreted as art. Following in the same vein as Van Halen’s “Right Now,” which superimposed socio-political phrases throughout its video, INXS is serving up “Beautiful Girl,” which the Australian band says is a tribute to women.

All it took was a `Kick’: INXS brings fan into present

Jae-Ha Kim

A few days before my 17th birthday in 1983, INXS was scheduled to play a 21-and-older show at the Park West, which left me in a quandary.  On the one hand, I really wanted to check out this new band that had a sound like nothing I’d heard before.  But I also was cowed by the fact that the only fake ID I had said I was 32. INXS won out.

‘Mats intoxicate Aragon crowd

Jae-Ha Kim

The Replacements made brilliant noise Saturday night at the Aragon Ballroom, performing a concert that was inspired in its unabashed celebration of music and unusual in its uncharacteristic professionalism. Their latest album, “All Shook Down,” may be a product of vocalist Paul Westerberg’s musical tastes, but at the Replacements’ concert, each member had his turn in the spotlight. The Aragon’s muddled acoustics make most artists sound foreign, and Westerberg’s raspy vocals at times fell victim to the venue.

Young, warm actress buds in `Blossom’ debut

Jae-Ha Kim

A high school sophomore, Mayim Bialik more than holds her own in the title role opposite a cast of older, more experienced actors. Her co-stars include Ted Wass (of “Soap” fame) as her befuddled father and Eileen Brennan as their cantankerous neighbor. Bialik portrays 14-year-old Blossom Russo, the lone female in a household that includes two very immature older brothers. In tonight’s episode, Blossom’s coming-of-age is dealt with in a way that could make viewers uncomfortable. What could have been a touching and humorous look at how she views her first menstrual cycle with both amazement and fear is instead turned into a tacky lesson on what not to do in comedy.

Conwell rumbles into the Met

Jae-Ha Kim

When I first saw Tommy Conwell’s teen-idol face,  I thought here was a guy who could win over the Tommy Page crowd with no problem. When I first heard him sing, I was shocked by what came out of that mouth. Make no mistake about it.  Conwell is nobody’s pretty boy.  He is a serious musician who happens to have a youthful, not-so-serious outlook on life.

Cheap Trick survives rock’s highs and lows

Jae-Ha Kim

Back in 1979, Cheap Trick didn’t have to beg anyone to want them. The power-pop quartet from Rockford was riding high on the phenomenal success of their fourth album, “Live at Budokan.” The hit album, recorded in Japan during a concert tour, spawned several Top 10 singles, including “I Want You To Want Me.” The buzz surrounding “Budokan” also taught the group that timing can be more important than substance. The studio version of the “Want You” song from 1977’s “In Color” album went nowhere fast.

Deee-Lite pop trio finds an international groove

Jae-Ha Kim

Deee-Lite is a self-described “holographic house groove band” with three members, who have taken the musical influences they grew up with to create a sound that’s both nostalgic and new. They’re also a mini-version of the United Nations, with one young man from the Soviet Union, another from Japan and a young woman from the United States. All three are brave or outrageous enough to wear dorky-looking clothes, designed to look like the worst of everything from the 1960s and ’70s.

Gene Wilder takes `Funny About Love’ seriously

Jae-Ha Kim

Gene Wilder is sitting in a very demure-looking hotel room, sipping on an early-morning cup of coffee. Dressed in a pair of beige chinos, a blue polo shirt and a pair of well-worn Adidas, he ruffles his hand through his trademark mane of curly brown hair. Unlike his on-screen image, where he generally portrays wild and crazy characters, Wilder is genteel in person.

New star? Jennifer Aniston wins three TV roles

Jae-Ha Kim

“If I had come to Hollywood three months earlier or three months later than I did, I may have been waiting on tables right now, or back home in New York,” Jennifer Aniston said. “Getting roles isn’t based solely on talent, unfortunately. Looks, drive and being at the right place at the right time seem to have as much, or more, effect on who gets what role. It’s certainly not fair, but Hollywood isn’t exactly a bastion of fairness.