Sound check: Ludo at House of Blues, John Mayer's two nights in Chicago
Two nights with Ludo
Ludo, the St. Louis power-pop group behind the mid-2000s hits "Love Me Dead," "Hum Along" and the stunning "Broken Bride" concept album, heads to Chicago for two nights at the House of Blues, joined by musical parody act Clownvis Presley. Both performances will be livestreamed via veeps.com and will be available for 48 hours from the start of the event. This show was rescheduled from 2020; original tickets will be honored.
6:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, April 22-23, at House of Blues, 329 N. Dearborn St., Chicago. $30-$39. (312) 923-2000 or houseofblues.com. Livestream passes are $19.99 each or $36.99 to livestream the two-night series at ludo.veeps.com.
Underbelly Hours showcase
Adela and Dan and their West suburban-based underground music podcast The Underbelly Hours present up-and-coming singer-songwriters Josh Buche, Demi Clara and Zachary Sonny Edwards at the April edition of the monthly Underbelly Hours Spotlight showcase. The three artists will perform at Wheaton's Dry City Brew Works Saturday.
6 p.m. Saturday, April 23, at Dry City Brew Works, 120 N. Main St., Wheaton. Free. (630) 456-4787 or drycitybrewworks.com.
Emo Neverafter
The Neverafter, a solid recent addition to the Chicago area's emo revival, debuts its new EP, "Art of Separation," this weekend at the WC Social Club in West Chicago. Catch all the new songs - as well as special guests Knockout Kid, Night Spice, The Linden Method and Wild Gravity - at the all-ages release party.
7 p.m. Saturday, April 23, at the WC Social Club, 920 Roosevelt Road, West Chicago. $12-$15. (630) 473-0099 or thewcsocialclub.com.
Punk in the suburbs
Chicago punk-inspired rock band Nora Marks ventures out to the Elgin arts outpost at Side Street Studio for a live performance with alt-punks the Grow Ops, Plainfield garage-rock duo Crash Birmingham and Chicago punk band Torch the Hive.
7 p.m. Saturday, April 23, at Side Street Studio Arts, 57 Ziegler Court, Elgin. $10. sidestreetstudioarts.org.
Lynne on stage
Chicago blues and jazz diva Lynne Jordan continues her yearlong residency at the Raue Center with her spring concert this weekend. The warm and delightful Jordan will belt out some favorites accompanied by sometimes poignant (but always hilarious) stories drawn from her own experiences living life on stage. (Read our interview previewing her Valentine's Day show at dailyherald.com.)
8 p.m. Saturday, April 23, at the Raue Center for the Arts, 26 N. Williams St., Crystal Lake. $27-$33 ($18.90-$23.10 for RaueNOW members). (815) 356-9212 or events.rauecenter.org.
Worship elevated
Fresh off a Grammy win for Best Contemporary Christian Music Album, Elevation Worship brings its "Elevation Nights Tour" to the suburbs for a night of worship through music. "We'll be singing a lot of the songs God gave us during the pandemic that we've not gotten the chance to lead outside of Elevation yet," said Tiffany Hudson, one of the group's songwriters and touring worship leaders. The music will be accompanied by a word from Steven Furtick, who is joining the group on its cross-country tour.
7 p.m. Tuesday, April 26, at NOW Arena, 5333 Prairie Stone Parkway, Hoffman Estates. $24.75-$99.75. (855) 484-1991 or platformtickets.com.
John Mayer's 'Sob Rock'
Rock and blues artist John Mayer brings his "Sob Rock Tour" to Chicago for two nights at the United Center, joined by Arkansas acoustic singer-songwriter Yebba.
7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday, April 28-29, at the United Center, 1901 W. Madison St., Chicago. $39-$199. (800) 745-3000 or ticketmaster.com.
In other news ...
• The Grammy-winning duo Twenty One Pilots announced last week they're hitting the big screen with a cinematic presentation of the band's "Scaled and Icy" album release show from 2021. Including performance footage, as well as never-before-seen content, the film will be screened at multiple showings throughout the suburbs and Chicago Thursday, May 19, as well as limited encore screenings Sunday, May 22. See twentyonepilots.film for more info and to purchase tickets before they sell out.
• Brian Shamie is a Daily Herald multiplatform editor and local music junkie. Email him at bshamie@dailyherald.com, find him on Facebook or follow him on Twitter (@thatshamieguy) or Instagram (@chicagosoundcheck). He also keeps tabs on the Chicago music scene at chicagosoundcheck.com.