Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Downtown Live Music & Entertainment Scene - April 29-May 4

Welcome to this week's edition of "The Scene"! April showers bring May flowers and with them yet another awesome weekend of great live music and entertainment in Downtown Elgin.

Mad Maggies
51 S. Grove
847-531-5883
http://www.madmaggies.net/

Thursday, April 29
The Hudson Branch - 7:30pm

Friday, April 30
Beneath the Flesh with Art of Flesh - 5:30pm
The World We Knew with Hundreth, Continuance, Dorian's Decay and Textbook Tragedy - 5:30pm
Ovrevolt with My Headphone World - 10:30pm

Saturday, May 1
Sixteen Candles - 10:30pm

Tuesday, May 4
Job for a Cowboy with Cattle Decapitation, Gaza & White Chappel - 5:30pm


Douglas Street Sports Bar & Grill
231 Douglas Avenue
847-695-5659
http://www.douglasstreetsportsbar.com/

Friday, April 30
Paul Willart & Parker


Elgin Public House/Pub 217
219 E. Chicago Street
847-468-8810
http://www.elginpublichouse.com/

Friday, April 30
Hyperplasia

Saturday, May 1
Astrobirds


The Hemmens Cultural Center
45 Symphony Way
847-931-5900
http://www.hemmens.org/

Friday, April 30-Sunday May 2
Elgin Symphony Orchestra Exiles in Hollywood

Friday, April 30 - 1:30pm
Saturday, May 1 - 8:00pm
Sunday, May 2 - 3:30pm

It is well known in Hollywood circles that Der Rosenkavalier was an inspiration for early recorded film scores. Rósza, Waxman and Korngold helped establish that sound while equally contributing as major symphonic composers in their own right. If you are a lover of the Hollywood sound you will want to be with us for this one!

Tickets on sale now through the Elgin Symphony Orchestra Box Office: 847.888.4000

Please call or visit each venue's website for ticket information, performance times or for any applicable cover charges.

And don't forget our two PREMIERE Live Music events in Downtown Elgin this coming weekend: The Vehicle Album Release Party at Gasthaus on Friday, April 30 (benefitting Lords Park Zoo) and MelodicRockFest2 at The Roadhouse/Main Event Elgin all weekend long!




THE GASTHAUS PRESENTS VEHICLE ALBUM RELEASE SHOW

Proceeds to benefit Friends of Lords Park Zoo Fund

On Friday, April 30, Gasthaus Bar & Grill will team up with MY LAZY ELEPHANT, JERRY HUTSON (Johnny Cash song stylist) and VEHICLE, local bands doing classic rock covers, to raise money for the Friends of Lords Park Zoo fund.

Russ Barnes, Steve Barnes, Chad Fredrickson, Samantha Parsons and John Bordsen make up My Lazy Elephant - www.myspace.com/MyLazyElephant

Scott Barnes, Steve Barnes, Tim Radloff, Sam Heckman and Tim Jones make up Vehicle - http://www.musicvehicle.com/

Show starts at 8pm. Donation buckets will be set up at the door and a $5 minimum donation will be required. Larger donations appreciated!

This special event includes:

- Great Live Music
- Prizes
- 50/50 Raffle
- Cash Bar

For more information contact The Gasthaus Bar & Grill at 15 N. Grove Avenue, 847-695-8828.











MELODICROCKFEST 2
Coming to The Roadhouse/Main Event Elgin

April 30-May 2

Some of the biggest and best names in melodic rock will once again gather for the biggest party of the year when MELODICROCKFEST 2 comes to Downtown Elgin for the weekend of April 30-May 2.

Hosted by THE ROADHOUSE at 200 Prairie Street in Elgin, MelodicRockFest 2 is the second major concert event organized by the popular hard rock website http://www.melodicrock.com/ - one of the most respected and leading music websites in the world, tallying 42 million hits and currently servicing 275,000 unique users per month.

Spread over two full days (Saturday May 1 and Sunday May 2); with an additional VIP ticket holder night on Friday April 30; the event will feature 20 bands and additional special guests in a display of classic melodic and hard rock music.

Here is the weekend rundown:

FRIDAY, APRIL 30

The Friday VIP Meet & Greet night is open to VIP ticket holders and will feature some acoustic performances from more melodic rock stars.

Headlining the night will be a rare special 30-minute set from ALIAS, featuring vocalist Freddy Curci and guitarist Steve DeMarchi.

Chicagoland rockers MECCA made an immediate impact with their debut album in 2000, but has never played live – until now. This will be a very special set not to be missed.

ROCK SUGAR couldn’t help but get involved again and will warm up for Saturday with some acoustic tracks.

And joining us again from MRF1 is US melodic rock band GOODBYE THRILL, who might just ignore the acoustic night premise to deliver some rocking tunes.

A number of the weekend guests will be on hand to meet and greet fans, sign autographs or possibly share a drink or two.


SATURDAY, MAY 1

Saturday’s show will be headlined by San Francisco hard rock legends Y&T. The band will be taking a break from the studio, preparing the release of their new studio album due mid-year to rock Chicago.

DANGER DANGER is one of the most popular hard rock acts to come out of the late '80s and in 2009 the band delivered one of the genre’s best new albums. They’ll be playing all their biggest hits and some new tracks too.

PRIDE OF LIONS needs no introduction – featuring Chicago’s favourite rock legend Jim Peterik (ex-Survivor, Ideas Of March, World Stage) and vocalist Toby Hitchcock, plus members of the World Stage band, Pride Of Lions will appear for one of their rare live appearances.

EDEN’S CURSE features members from 4 different countries, but they will converge on the USA for the very first time to perform the best tracks from two acclaimed albums and maybe even preview the upcoming third opus. And they’ll record and film the set for a DVD release!

TERRY BROCK has been in the business for 20 years and is the current lead vocalist for much loved AOR act Giant and classic rock band Le Roux. But Terry has a solo career also and in his feature set, he will cover all the favourites and perhaps a surprise or two. His backing band will be popular New York melodic rockers Valentine.

ROCK SUGAR might just be one of the most talked about bands of the weekend. Their unique take on twisting songs into each other, or ‘mashing them’ together will have everyone talking. Fast becoming a YouTube sensation with their Metallica/Journey mash-up, these guys are going to rock the house.

US rockers TALON are another band bubbling under and will debut their new vocalist and film a live DVD at the same time.

Opening the day is FARCRY – a band with the attitude of any stadium act of the '80s.


SUNDAY, MAY 2

Headlining Day 2 of MelodicRockFest is multi-platinum rockers WINGER. Famed for their musical prowess and fresh off a European tour, the band are supporting the release of their latest hard rock masterpiece Karma.

For the first time in 14 years, acclaimed NJ rockers TRIXTER will return to the mid-west to perform a true greatest hits set as they continue the tour that commemorates the 20th Anniversary of their debut album.

Pulling double duty for the show is Danger Danger frontman TED POLEY. Ted will do his own set, concentrating on some D2 rarities and solo material, plus tunes from his Poley/Rivera release. Ted will be joined by guitarist Vic Rivera and band.

JIMI JAMISON (ex-Survivor) returns from a guest appearance that brought the house down at MRF1 to perform a solo set of new solo tracks and some much loved Survivor classics. Who knows what guests might join him on stage?

VOICES OF ROCK RADIO are just that. Kevin Chalfant (The Storm, Two Fires) and Derek St. Holmes (Ted Nugent) and the Two Fires Band perform their best known hits before inviting former Survivor vocalist Jimi Jamison to join the fun.

CROWN OF THORNS, featuring Jean Beauvoir and Tommy Lafferty will play a rare US soil live show in support of their latest studio album and a catalogue of much loved tunes that go back to the Paul Stanley (Kiss) produced debut album.

No Chicago based show would be complete without local legends 7TH HEAVEN – the hardest working band in the Midwest and recently featured on American Idol.

Opening up Day 2 is melodic hard rockers BOMBAY BLACK, a heavy duty live act that will get the day off to a thunderous start.

Tickets for this very special event are on sale now. For full show information or to purchase tickets online, visit the festival website: http://www.melodicrockfest.com/ or call Revolution Tickets for credit card phone sales at 312-675-8025.

The event hotel for MRF2 is the Holiday Inn in Elgin. Discount rates are available by logging on to the event website.

For additional information regarding MELODICROCKFEST 2 show, please contact Andrew McNeice via e-mail at ajm@melodicrock.com or call Geoff Sands from The Roadhouse/Main Event Elgin at 773-619-0441

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Downtown Neighborhood News Receives Constant Contact All-Star Award

Downtown Neighborhood Association of Elgin today announced that it has received a 2009 All-Star Award from Constant Contact®, Inc., a leading provider of email marketing, event marketing, and online survey tools for small organizations. DNA was selected for meeting Constant Contact’s best-practice standards for the use of Email Marketing throughout 2009.

DNA received a 2009 Constant Contact All-Star Award for demonstrating best practices in the effective use of Constant Contact Email Marketing in the following areas:

• Frequency of campaigns
• Open rates
• Bounce rates
• Click through rates

The Downtown Neighborhood News, formerly the Downtown Top 10, is an event-themed e-mail blast that goes out to over 1700 unique e-mails every Wednesday.

“The DNA is very proud of the changes we have implemented in transitioning the ‘Top 10’ into the ‘Downtown Neighborhood News’ to better showcase all the great events and happenings that Downtown Elgin has to offer every week,” said Jason Pawlowski, DNA Promotions Coordinator.

“Our customers work hard to build strong relationships with their customers through email marketing and some, such as Downtown Neighborhood Association of Elgin, truly excel in this effort,” said Gail Goodman, CEO, Constant Contact. “We created our All-Star Awards to highlight those customers who are passionately committed to following our best practices as they work to improve their customer communications. We’re proud of the role we play in helping DNA be successful and we look forward to continuing to assist the company with its marketing efforts.”

About Constant Contact, Inc.
With more than 350,000 customers, Constant Contact, Inc. is a leading provider of email marketing, event marketing, and online surveys for small businesses, nonprofits, and member associations. Founded in 1995, Constant Contact helps small organizations grow stronger customer relationships by delivering professional, low cost, easy-to-use online tools backed with award-winning support, education and personal coaching. Constant Contact is a publicly traded company (Nasdaq: CTCT) with offices located in Waltham, Mass.; Loveland, Colo.; and Delray, Fla. To learn more, please visit http://www.constantcontact.com/ or call 781-472-8100.

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Monday, April 26, 2010

National Street Station Area Plan Project Public Meeting #3


The City of Elgin Community Development Department and the Gail Borden Library will host the third and final public meeting regarding the National Street Station Area Plan. The meeting will take place on Tuesday, May 4, 2010, at 6:30pm at the Gail Borden Library, Conference Rooms A&B, 270 North Grove Avenue, Elgin, Illinois.

The consulting team will present the final concept plan of the National Street Station Area. This will be your last opportunity to share your thoughts with the consulting team regarding the growth and development of the area, prior to its final adoption by the City Council.

For more information please visit the project’s website at http://www.landvision.com/elgin/index.html

***No RSVP necessary***

If you have any questions, please contact Denise Momodu, City of Elgin, at (847) 931-6103, or via e-mail: momodu_d@cityofelgin.org