Music notes: Samples hit the Montrose Room
Get Sampled
Veteran alt-pop group the Samples will perform in the suburbs this weekend. The band formed in Colorado in the mid-1980s, and it has developed a devoted following with its blend of reggae, pop and alternative rock.
9 p.m. Friday, July 26, at the Montrose Room, located inside the InterContinental Chicago O’Hare hotel, 5300 N. River Road, Rosemont. Tickets start at $20. Go to montroseroom.com.
Rock prescription
Washington, D.C., band Ted Leo & the Pharmacists delivers punk-edged guitar rock with fierce wit and occasionally incendiary political advocacy. The band, a galvanizing live act, is playing some dates as it prepares its follow-up to 2010’s “The Brutalist Bricks.”
10 p.m. Saturday, July 27, at Subterranean, 2011 W. North Ave., Chicago. (Mannequin Men will open.) $15. Go to subt.net.
Still breaking ’em
Sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson, who together are the driving force behind the classic band Heart, burst onto the rock scene in the mid-1970s, which means they’re now in their fifth decade of making music together. Heart’s early hits — “Barracuda,” “Crazy On You” — were potent hard rock with a dash of heavy metal thrown in, marked by Ann’s powerhouse voice and Nancy’s guitar riffs. In the MTV-crazed 1980s, the band enjoyed spectacular success with a slew of polished arena-rock anthems like “What About Love” and “Alone.” Since then, the Wilsons have explored a variety of sounds and genres, from melodic rock to folk-pop. They’ve also become celebrated as rock pioneers — women who wrote and controlled their music and their band. Heart makes a stop in the suburbs next week.
7:30 p.m. Monday, July 29, at Ravinia, 418 Sheridan Road, Highland Park. Tickets start at $33 (lawn). Go to ravinia.org.
— Matt Arado