For the past 14 months, every Wednesday night, Angels and Kings Chicago has been home to the “One Man(no) Show.

We’ve proudly put together and promoted local and national two-band bills, and presented them all.. for FREE!

Over the course of the rewarding run at AK, the following artists, in no particular order, are among those who have made music on our stage: Fall Out Boy, Butch Walker, Plain White T’s, Cobra Starship, Samantha Ronson, the GZA, Tokyo Police Club, Gym Class Heroes, AM Taxi, Kill Hannah, Janus, The Audition, Empires, The Academy Is…, Catfish Haven, The Lifeline, Madina Lake, The Fold, Makeshift Prodigy, The Hush Sound, Treaty of Paris, Tiger Spirit, The Frantic, Local H,  David Costa and Death on Two Wheels. The list goes on and on and on.

A few familiar faces who’ve joined us to take it all in: Kiefer Sutherland, Metallica, Lindsay Lohan, Chad Kroger of Nickelback, the Chicago Blackhawks’ Patrick Kane and Patrick Sharp, Jared Leto, Danny Masterson, the 2009 Chicago White Sox and Chicago Cubs, Shiny Toy Guns, Alice in Chains and Ashlee Simpson. Again, the list goes on.

We’ve broadcast our shows live on Q101. We’ve streamed our concerts live on JBTV. Record labels, managers, musicians, tastemakers and anyone paying attention has learned that we’re a vital checkpoint on the checklist. People are paying attention.

The night has vitalized both players and patrons who, together, deal a similar passion for sharing music that spans genres and memories that span lifetimes.

If you’ve been, you know. If you haven’t, you should.

If you’ve played there, you get it. If you haven’t, you can.

For a minute there, it kinda sounded like  ‘goodbye.’ Quite the opposite.. We’re just getting started! And we’re looking to open up our talent pool to the most promising Chicago artists who deserve and need to have their name added to the dignified list above.

Are you in a band that doesn’t suck? Do you know a band who would be a perfect fit? Good. Send us your stuff!

Email the following 6 things to ryan@ryanmanno.com AND jason@angelsandkings.com :

- Band name

- Photo

- 150-200 word bio

- Last 5 shows played

- Website / Myspace

- MP3 of your best song

That’s it. Simple, right? We’ll review each submission and, assuming we dig it, get back to you ASAP about lining up an Angels and Kings showcase in the weeks and months ahead.

Our passion is exposing the best bands to the brightest people. That we get to do it in Chicago is the greatest gift. Our family includes AK NYC, Los Angeles and Barcelona. We want you to be part of it.

Making room in our inboxes,

.:: Ryan Manno and Jason Merz