Creative Control is TONIGHT!

Guess what you guys, this month's edition of Creative Control, saki's in-house variety show hosted and produced by Joe McAdam, is happening tonight! How about THAT?

This month, the lineup includes standup from Bill Cruz (Chicago's self-proclaimed premier queer comedian), Mikey Manker, Stephanie Hasz, Goodrich Gevaart, and Andrew Smreker! We'll also have sketch/character pieces from Marlena Rodriguez and Chris Stephens, with musical guest Rock Falls.

We like to give things away for free at Creative Control. This month, we're raffling off tickets to see Bobcat Goldthwait at UP Comedy Club, as well as a pair of passes to a sold out screening of Mike Birbiglia's new film Sleepwalk With Me at the beautiful Music Box Theatre (the screening may or may not be hosted by whose name rhymes with Elmira Glass. We'll see!).

For this month's poster, we were lucky enough to work with the amazing Paul Hornschemeier, a graphic novelist and illustrator whose work might have seen during the opening credits of IFC's Comedy Bang! Bang!. If you're lucky, you might walk away with a copy of the poster. You can see it directly below this sentence!

Look at that thing.

Here's some videos of people from this show for you to look at until the real thing happens tonight.

Joe McAdam's new web series The Joe McAdam Show!

Mikey Manker doing standup!

Stephanie Hasz also doing standup and then being interviewed on a couch!

Chris Stephens as Toblerine on the last season of The Late Live Show!

Annie from Rock Falls!

Creative Control is FREE and open to all ages. The show starts at 8pm on Friday. I hope you can make it!

Metro ticket giveaways!

We've got one pair each for these upcoming Metro shows! Just buy one of the band's releases at saki and we'll put you and friend on the guest list for that show. We only have one set to give for each show, so act fast!


Nada Surf 4/2


Neon Indian 4/6 The Neon Indian spots have been claimed!


JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound 4/27


Maps & Atlases 5/11 The Maps & Atlases spots have been claimed!


Mark Lanegan Band 5/17

Hideout ticket giveaways!

Our best buds at The Hideout hooked us up with a guest list spot to give away for each of these upcoming shows! The first person to purchase an item from each of these artists can claim the spot (no +1's)!


3/9 Laura Gibson


3/22 Psychic ills/Prince Rama This guest list spot has been claimed!


3/23 Andre Williams/Jon Langford


3/30 Nat Baldwin

Sharon Van Etten pre-order and ticket giveaway!

Sharon Van Etten's new album, Tramp, comes out 2/7 on Jagjaguwar & saki is offering a pretty crazy deal for pre-orders! First, all pre-orders are 15% off! Just pay in advance and pick up the record on or after 2/7. In addition to the pre-order discount, we also have a pair of tickets for each of Sharon's shows at Lincoln Hall on 2/16 and 2/17! The first two customers to order will be put on the guest list for the night of their choice (with a +1! In addition to all of this, we'll also have a limited number of Sharon Van Etten promo 7"s and posters to give away with purchase. If you pre-order, you'll get your poster and 7" when you pick up your record.

We love Sharon Van Etten and we're so excited to offer this promotion for all of you! Don't miss out. Come pre-order Tramp right away!

The guest list spots for this show have been claimed, but you can still pre-order the CD or LP at 15% off!

Psych Fest ticket giveaway!

We've got a pair of tickets for each day of Chicago Psych Fest 3 to give away! Just pick up any release from CAVE, The Velcro Lewis Group, Dark Fog, Plastic Crimewave Sound, Rabble Rabble or Verma and you get the pair for the day of that band's performance!

Today is the last day to claim these guest list spots! Hurry up!

Carter Tanton: Epitonic saki Session & ticket giveaway!

Yeah, it's a Monday, but January 16th will be one of the best Mondays ever at saki! Western Vinyl's new guy, Carter Tanton is playing an Epitonic saki Session! Carter has worked with some pretty amazing artists, and some our favorites around these parts: Marissa Nadler, Twin Shadow & Lower Dens. His new solo record "Freeclouds" has seen Carter Tanton quickly ascending to the top of the indie-singer/songwriter pile, garnering praise from NPR, Pitchfork, Consequence of Sound, SPIN & many, many more.

So take off work early on the 16th! It's a free show and the experience is well worth the lost wages!

We've also got 2 pairs of tickets for Carter's 1/15 Tomorrow Never Knows show at Lincoln Hall w/ Two Gallants, Boy & Death Ships! All you've got to do is come in to saki and buy ANYTHING to enter. If you buy Carter's, Melissa's or Lower Den's stuff you get to enter your name twice! We'll draw the winners on the 12th!

We also have Epitonic saki Sessions in January with Hospitality, The Damn Choir, Paper Thick Walls, Brokeback & Miracle Condition!

Schubas/LH giveaway amendment!

Hey folks, just want to make you all aware of a slight change to the Schubas/Lincoln Hall promotion we've been doing. First, let me say thanks to everyone who's come in and picked up an album as part of the promotion. You're awesome and we hope you enjoyed whatever record you bought AND the show you got to see just for buying it from us!

Now, the slightly bad news: The promotion is now limited to ONE show per customer per month. Really that's what the giveaway should have been from the start, but we're dummies and we misunderstood. On the PLUS side, you can still get to see a free show EVERY MONTH if you stop in and pick up a record from one of the performers at saki, so really it's not so bad.

Hope you all understand that we had to put some limitations on this. It's still an amazing deal and we hope you take advantage of it! If this news has a really negative effect on you emotionally, we know a good therapist. Her name is Whiskey and she can help you get over just about anything. If you have any questions about the change, please stop in or call.

Thanks, customers. You're the best!

Hideout ticket giveaways!

There's a lot of great people that we are excited to work with in Chicago, but none of them top The Hideout. We've got some guest list spots to give away for a few upcoming Hideout shows. Same ol' deal. By something from the band at saki and we'll get you on the list.

The Hideout Block Party 9/24!
Buy anything from Andrew Bird, Mavis Staples, White Mystery, Jon Langford, Booker T. Jones, The Eternals or Dosh!

Joan of Arc 9/30!
Buy anything from Joan of Arc, Brokeback & Coins!

David Daniell/Douglas McCombs 10/6!

Sonoi & A Tundra 10/13!

Buy It At saki, See It For FREE!

By now you should know all about our deal with Schubas & Lincoln Hall. If there's a show coming up at either venue that you'd like to see you can buy that artist's album at saki and we'll get you on the guest list with a friend! That's like the definition of "good deal." Here's some upcoming shows that we recommend:

UPDATE: Sorry, sold out shows are excluded from the promotion.

Schubas
Active Child, 9/16
Viva Voce, 9/19
Japandroids, 9/23 SOLD OUT
Peter Wolf Crier, 9/24
Asobi Seksu, 9/25
Megafaun, 9/28
Pig, Swig & Record Dig (no giveaways, but we'll be there, so come hang out!) 10/1
Gauntlet Hair, 10/14
The Rosebuds, 10/15
Nurses & Dominant Legs, 10/22
Sebadoh, 10/30
In Tall Buildings (As Deerhoof) 10/13
Loney Dear & Daniel Knox, 11/7

Lincoln Hall
Matt Pond PA & Rocky Votolato, 9/12
Tapes n Tapes, 9/16
Laura Marling, 9/22
Toro Y Moi & Unknown Mortal Orchestra, 9/24
The Horrors, 9/25
Starfucker, 9/26
Girls & Nobunny, 9/29
Wild Beasts & Twin Sister, 10/1 (Come over after the pig roast at Schubas!)
Twin Shadow & Diamond Rings, 10/2
Jens Lekman, 10/3 SOLD OUT
Besnard Lakes, 10/4
Mekons!!!!!, 10/5
Zola Jesus, 10/12
Neon Indian & Com Truise, 10/14
CANT, 10/18 (Chris Taylor from Grizzly Bear)
Gang Gang Dance & Prince Rama, 10/20
Moonface, 10/26
Future Islands & Javelin, 10/30
Real Estate & Big Troubles, 10/31
Shlohmo & Shigeto, 11/4
A Winged Victory For The Sullen, Ken Camden & Benoit Pioulard, 11/6
A.A. Bondy, 11/8
tUnE-yArDs, 11/9 & 11/10 SOLD OUT
The Radio Dept. & Memoryhouse, 11/16
M83, 11/17 SOLD OUT

Spots are limited, so don't wait!

Any of these shows for FREE!

Here's a list of artists who saki has in stock and are playing an upcoming Schubas or Lincoln Hall show. Just buy anything from these artists at saki and we'll get you and friend on the list!

Fruit Bats, Vetiver, The Horrors, Breathe Owl Breathe, Matt Pond PA, Starfucker, Girls, Rocky Votolato, Tapes n Tapes, Toro Y Moi, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Megafaun, Tim Kasher (or Cursive or The Good Life), Doug Paisley, Japandroids, Bass Drum of Death, War On Drugs, Tammar, Asobi Seksu, Houses, Pet Lions, Peter Bjorn & John, Viva Voce and Dntel.

That's better than a sale!

saki & Schubas/Lincoln Hall giveaway!

Schubas & Lincoln Hall have agreed to furnish us with guest list spots for most of their shows when you buy a performing bands album at saki!! That's nuts right?? It's true though... if you see that a band you like is playing at Schubas or Lincoln Hall in the coming weeks, just stop in to saki, pick up one of their albums and we'll get you on the guest list with a friend!

Unfortunately, these spots are limited and some restrictions apply. We can't give away tickets for sold out shows (duh), and reunion/anniversary shows and festival events are excluded from the deal. Please make sure you ask at the counter and give your name and contact info when you choose to participate.

Big thanks to Schubas/Lincoln Hall for being so generous with us and especially a big thanks to you all for shopping at saki!

Intuit turns twenty!

Intuit: The Center for Intuitive & Outsider Art are celebrating their 20th anniversary at The Hideout on June 10th! You know they've been around for a while because they managed to snatch up the domain art.org... you can't sleep on that one!

Help Intuit celebrate 20 years of promoting and showcasing the work of self-taught and outsider artists with musical guests Lord of the Yum-Yum, Casts Spells and Bottomless Pit! Make sure you enter the raffle for a chance to win some saki gift certificates!

We don't really need excuses to go to The Hideout, but if you do, this is one of the best ones we can think of.

Buy It At saki See It For FREE!

We've got a couple really cool ticket giveaways coming up! Unfortunately, the guest list spots we got for these shows are pretty much limited to one person (+1 guest), but it's pretty cool nonetheless! This show is 18+!

Man Man @ Metro 5/24!

The first person to buy Man Man's new album 'Life Fantastic' (out 5/10) from saki will get the guest list spot (+1)! This show is 18+

The Dodos @ Metro 6/6!


The first person to buy The Dodos' 'No Color' (out now) at saki gets a guest list spot (+1)! This show is 18+!

The Antlers w/ Little Scream @ Metro 6/11!


The first person to buy either The Antlers' 'Hospice' (out now), The Antlers' 'Burst Apart' (out 5/10) or Little Scream's 'Golden Record' from saki will get a guest list spot (+1)! The Antlers guest list spot has been claimed!

Hurry up people, these are gonna go quick!

Donate to a great cause, get free stuff!

If you've been keeping up with all the info on our Record Store Day page, you know that we've got lots of cool stuff to give away! Most of it will be out there on a table for the taking, but certain items will be raffled off with all proceeds going to help relief efforts in Japan!

For $1 per entry you can put your name in a drawing to win either an AUTOGRAPHED Bill Callahan puzzle, a screen printed TV On The Radio show poster for their upcoming sold out show at Metro, or tickets to the upcoming Femi Kuti, Yacht, or CSS shows, also at Metro! Obviously, we owe a big thanks to Metro for donating their goods as well as our buds at Drag City for the Callahan puzzle.

That's it! Take some free stuff, and donate if you feel inclined, or pay $1 to enter to win any of the above giveaways!

Ticket Giveaway: Wax Trax! Records Retrospectacle!

Ladies & gentlemen, you have ONE WEEK to win a ticket to the Wax Trax! Records Retrospectacle: 33 1/3 Year Anniversary at Metro on 4/17!

We have 2 spots to give away and all you have to do is come in to saki, buy ANYTHING, and give us your name. That's right, just buy something - something big, something small, doesn't matter - and the first two people to do so will be on the list for the last night of the Retrospectacle on 4/17. Hurry up now!

2 or more cool things...

Panda Bear's new album Tomboy is streaming at NPR and there's a new True Widow video available for your aural/ocular enjoyment.

Also, while were chatting, just an update on the Surfer Blood, ...Trail of Dead & True Widow ticket giveaway... we've already had a lot of interest for this one and the spots are limited so you might want to act fast! Unfortunately, Surfer Blood's Astro Coast is out of print on LP. We have the CD in stock as well as the 'Floating Vibes' 7". You can purchase any of those, as well as the ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead CDs & LPs that we have on hand OR the new True Widow album on CD or LP, which we highly recommend!

saki Ticket Giveaways!

saki has a few exciting ticket giveaways coming up in February and March and there are even more to come! For any of the shows listed below, all you have to do is come in to saki and buy any item from any of the bands on the bill and we'll get you into the show for FREE! It's that easy - buy good music and then get to see it live for FREE. Listed below are the shows we're giving away right now. Make sure you check our newsletters, facebook, twitter, events page, or this here blog, to stay up to date on all our events and promotions at saki!

Friday, February 4th
10pm @ The Empty Bottle

Disappears w/ Brain Idea & Tyler Jon Tyler

Saturday, March 12th
10pm @ The Empty Bottle

Obits w/ Jaill & Loose Dudes

*** The new Obits album Moody, Standard and Poor comes out on 3/29. Since this is after the date of the show, you can come in and pay for your copy ahead of time and we'll have it here waiting for you on the 29th. Or you can just buy something from Jaill or Loose Dudes 'cause they're purdy good too!***

Thursday, March 17th
10pm @ The Empty Bottle

Sic Alps w/ CAVE & Wet Hair