There’s a steadily growing percentage of live music connoisseurs in Iowa City that might only know the Sanctuary for its stunning beer tapper (without rival in Iowa City and Coralville). However, not too long ago, the out of the way pub used to play  host to many of the finest students in the the UI [...]

Forgive us the early notice, but it’s just Monday morning and I’m already downright giddy about next Sunday’s show at Public Space ONE, which features A Sunny Day in Glasgow. A Sunny Day in Glasgow is a Philadelphia sextet (when touring, at least) creating atmospheric, dynamic pop with sample and electronic based techniques. And [...]

The Hawks’ bubble finally burst against Northwestern last weekend. It was a good run, for sure, and I definitely have enjoyed following the team in their improbable run. Unfortunately, the streak had to end at the expense of Ricky Stanzi, who it now appears will be out for the rest of the regular season, if [...]

*Yet another post from intrepid Mission Freak friend Gregory Markus.
Grinnell College is the Colin Greenwood of Iowa music. Tucked away in rural Iowa about an hour from Iowa City, Grinnell College is notorious for bringing prominent indie rock acts to play their establishment. I take it many of you, myself included, did not take the [...]

As you probably know, we love Public Space ONE around here. That may be due to the fact that many of us book shows or volunteer our time to the venue (full disclosure), but it’s still pretty cool. However, even with our almost blind, motherly love for the all-ages basement hang-out, we’ll admit that it [...]

If you had problems accessing missionfreak.com, you weren’t alone. Our host WordPress had upkeep and improvement projects scheduled through the weekend which extended into the week. This post is a bit on the late side, but it’s free music and it’s the debut of what we hope will be many posts from Mission Freak friend [...]

This week Iowa City officially celebrates the 50th anniversary of the publication of William Burroughs’ seminal work Naked Lunch. True, we very well could have celebrated this all year or at another point over the course of 2009, but nakedlunch.org is sponsoring a program of lectures and art and over the course of this year [...]

A triple-shot of new tuneage hits Iowa City on Friday. Three of the four bands on The Picador’s bill this Hallow’s Eve are celebrating the release of a record: Petit Mal, Lipstick Homicide and Ghostbustaz. Not only are the three bands sharing a release date, they’re also buddied-up on the same record label: Public School [...]

Tomorrow night continues this year’s Pacific Northwest takeover of Public Space ONE, with two more K Records recording artists joining the likes of Calvin Johnson, Desolation Wilderness, and Arrington de Dionyso in our favorite basement below Subway. Karl Blau, ridiculously prolific out-songwriter has a new record. Zebra pays homage to the African music that Blau [...]

It’s hard to compete with free at the Mill, but forgive me for stepping on John’s toes for a minute. I just wanted to remind you that the Avett Brothers show up tonight at the Englert Theatre in support of their extremely great new album, I and Love and You. Rick Rubin produced this one, [...]