COVER STORY : FIG DISH here ’ s the excitement brewing again about Fig Dish , one of Chicago ’ s beloved , underrated ; some may say ( including the band members themselves ) overestimated rock bands , releasing a new album , Feels Like The Very First Two Times , on September 6th , and playing live for the first time in a decade ( two sold-out shows in fact , after the first sold out in minutes ), September 5 and 6 at GMan Tavern .

Speaking to three of the four Fig Dish members via Zoom , including Blake Smith , who is now a father of three , his oldest driving the car next to Smith during our interview , I wondered if his kids care at all about hearing Dad ’ s music or seeing him rock out in front of a sold-out crowd . “ No , they don ' t really care ,” Smith said . “ I took my daughter to see Chappell Roan at The Vic the other night . I ' m not coming out in a Marie Antoinette dress and rolling around on the ground for two hours . I can ' t compete with the music that they listen to now .” Perhaps someday , Smiths kids will be interested in hearing about their father ’ s quasi-fame and rollercoaster music career , which has led to a new record after 25 years and two sold-out shows . Penelope Biver caught up with the band .

HELLO MY NAME IS MARK BURGESS

Mark Burgess would like to clarify one small detail about Where Are You ?, the brand-new comeback Metropole EP from his recentlyreformed Manchester outfit The Chameleons , and its upcoming fulllength followup , Arctic Moon . Sure , his atmospheric guitar group has been surviving by putting various permutations of its original 1981 lineup through its Greatest-Hits-Tour paces . Including their recent Strange Times juggernaut , the 40-year-old catalog classic was performed in its entirety . ‘ But it hasn ’ t taken me 20 years to write new material ,” swears the bassist / vocalist . “ It ’ s taken 20 years to find the right combination of people that I felt could take The Chameleons forward . When Reg ( Smithies , co-founding guitarist ) rejoined , that was a major step forward , and then getting Stephen ( Rice , guitar ), Todd ( Demma , drums ), and Danny ( Ashberry , keyboards ), all of the components that I felt were necessary fell into place . We didn ’ t want to make a record that borrowed heavily on the sound of our former guitar player , Dave Fielding , who left the group 20 years ago — we wanted to do something really fresh , and we all feel like that ’ s what we ’ ve managed to do .” Tom Lanham spoke to Burgess .

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