list.in.to.chicago this week: 09.09.2002

Obviously, this week is unique to all manner of things, and live music is no exception. Some clubs are staying dark on Wednesday, others are offering tributes and benefits, and still others are just going on with business as usual.

Pick of the week
I'm going with Garaj Mahal at The Boulevard Café. I haven't even heard them as a unit, but I have heard three of the four guys in the group individually, and they're pretty amazing on their own. I have little doubt that the band will defy and/or transcend the unfortunate "jam band" label they seem to have been saddled with.

Recap
My apologies to those of you who wanted to see Your Little Ponies at Vaughan's last Tuesday. I swear they told me they'd be in attendance. Other than that, I caught Lexie's set on Friday, which was a little stilted with two new/substitute band members, as percussionist Bob Garrett was at Millennium Park for the Red Moon Theaters "Drumtree," which was very cool. And very strange, but in a good way.

9.09   monday
Corey Radford/Scott Anderson Quartet (Phyliss' Musical Inn)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
Scott's a good friend and a great guitarist, so I'll give him a plug even though he bailed on coming with me to Martyr's on Friday.

9.10   tuesday
Open Mike (Vaughan's)   SEE COZ LIVE!
It is purely coincidence that I never seem to find anything else to recommend on Tuesday nights. Really. This will be me first open mike after starting vocal classes, so watch out!

9.11   wednesday
EXO with Carbon Four and Sono (Schuba's)
On the one hand, this is a benefit show for FTC Chicago, a charity for kids who lost parents in the terrorist attacks a year ago. Good band, good cause.

Pistol Pete (B.L.U.E.S.)
On the other, this is billed as "Ron James Divorce Party. It's FINALLY over!" There's moving on, and then there's moving ON.

9.12   thursday
Mekons (Fireside Bowl)
This is part of a three-day "25th Anniversary Tour" for the aging Chicago-by-way-of-Leeds mainstays, where they're focusing on a particular era of music each night. The Fireside show will feature 1977 to 1984, which, given the venue, I'm guessing is their punk heyday. To tell you the truth, I don't know much about this band other than that John Langford has become ubiquitous on the Chicago scene since moving here, and gets a lot of good press for his efforts. The other two shows are at the Abbey Pub on Friday ('85-'91) and Fitzgerald's on Saturday ('93-'02).

9.13   friday
Garaj Mahal (Boulevard Café)
I would recommend guitarist Fareed Haque on his own merits. Same goes for keyboardist Eric Levy and bassist Kai Eckhardt. But together? This should be pretty potent, and again, much more intense than that lame "jam band" moniker would indicate. I'm just not getting images of String Cheese Incident when I think of these guys on stage together.

9.14   saturday
Chevelle with Liftpoint and Code Red (House of Blues)
I originally thought this was a CD release party for the local hard rock trio's major-label debut on Epic, but I can't find a date for the record hitting the stores. That said, I saw one show from these guys where they played the new songs, and they didn't seem to have the same impact as the material from the Steve Albini-produced, indie release Point #1, but I may just be much more familiar with the latter. Openers Liftpoint play well, and play hard, but I still haven't ever left one of their shows remembering much about the actual songs.

9.15   sunday
Queens of the Stone Age (Riviera Theater)
Stoner rock was all the rage a couple of years ago, not coincidentally around the time QOTSA released Rated R. Now they've got a follow-up out which has been conspicuously absent from modern rock radio, as far as I can tell. Maybe I'm overly optimistic, but that could mean there's no pressure on the genre as the "next big thing." Dave Grohl played drums on the album and toured Europe with the band, but with the new Foo Fighters album hitting soon, he's attending to business on that end and won't be on this leg of the tour.