list.in.to.chicago this week: 03.03.2003

Sadly, no topless women to report in this week's installment. However, your humble correspondent is a year older, and probably none the wiser. If you want to celebrate, come out to Vaughan's on Tuesday, or Oasis One-Sixty in Chicago Heights on Sunday if you're the adventurous, car-driving sort. There will also be some sort of thirty-three-and-a-third celebration in July, so watch for that.

And I saw an ad in this week's reader for a Staind tribute album. No, I don't understand why, either. Other than that, you know the drill. Read. Forward to friends. Friends, subscribe. Rock.

Pick of the week
The big show for the week is obviously The Waltz V at Metro on Saturday, with quite the interesting cross-section of special guests. Scott Lucas and Mavis Staples? Should be interesting. It's a bit of a sentimental pick, but I've also got to go with Eric Johnson at House of Blues on Friday. Guitarists that good are still few and far between.

Recap
I want to like Emilie Autumn, who's CD release party I saw on Wednesday, but she just falls short of what it is I want to hear from her. Of course, this is different than saying she's good or bad. I want more rock, and maybe more electronica, but Emilie herself wears her classical and Celtic influences perhaps a bit too much on her sleeve. Or wings, if you want to quibble. And her drummer is pretty clearly a jazzer, which just doesn't fit the context, in my mind. Still, the potential is there.

Audioslave rocked. They're not as good as Rage Against the Machine or Soundgarden, the bands from whence this quartet came, but both of those bands are so huge in the alt-rock pantheon that it would be ridiculous to expect that right out of the gate. What impressed me the most, other than Tom Morello's command over the bizarre and not-so-bizarre sounds coming from his guitar, was how much the crowd was into the show. They were singing along with more than just the singles, and moving en masse with the bulldozed grooves provided by Tim Commerford and Brad Wilk. Although it was somewhat ironic when some people broke out lighters after Chris Cornell dedicated the encore-opening ballad to those who died in the Great White fire in Rhode Island. I said enthusiastic, not smart.

3.03   monday
Patricia Barber Quartet (Green Mill)
If you said to yourself last week, "it's so great that Norah Jones won all those Grammys, because you don't hear that kind of music everyday," get off your damn couch and support a local artist who is generally regarded as being as good or better.

Chicago Rock Club (Elbo Room)
This week's installment of the Q101-sponsored local band networking night features singer/songwriters in an acoustic setting, including friends of l.i.t.c. Ivory Wire and Regal Standard. Also, free beer from 8 to 9pm.

3.04   tuesday
Open Mike (Vaughan's)   SEE COZ LIVE!
As far as I know, Vaughan's may be a safe haven from all the ridiculous Mardi Gras/Fat Tuesday theme nights going on all over the damn city. Sure, hire a freakin' jazz band ONE night a freakin' year! Anyway, the house band is actually learning NEW songs to accompany your Tuesday night drinking, and I'll be polishing up some tunes that have been going over well in recent weeks. Plus, Guinness is giving away pint glasses in the runup to St. Patty's Day.

3.05   wednesday
Tabla Beat Science (Vic Theatre)
Since becoming hip to Talvin Singh, I've been a big fan of combining traditional Indian music with electronica. With tabla master Zakir Hussein and ambient guru Bill Laswell, this is pretty much the cream of the crop. The one CD I have isn't quite up to the level of Singh, but it's still a fascinating mix.

Audium Trio (Bottom Lounge)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
How many times am I going to have to tell you about this before you go? Huh?

Light FM with The Demilos (Schuba's)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
I sure recommend these guys a lot for a band I haven't seen in a long, long time. But I liked Motorhome, Josiah's old band, and Chris Frantisak is among my top five bass players from URT, so I still stand by it. If you go, tell the Schuba's people that their website seems to be down.

3.06   thursday
Emilie Autumn with Egostatic, Duenon and Stylus (Elbo Room)
After being mildly disappointed last week at the CD release, I'm curious to see EA in what is apparently a more acoustic, unplugged setting. The evening is billed as MTV Glam night or something, so that should be interesting in its own right.

3.07   friday
Eric Johnson with Tony Furtado (House of Blues)
At this point, most people may only remember "Cliffs of Dover" from Johnson's early 90s release Ah Via Musicom, but the Texas guitarist has a broader body of work to draw from, even though his last studio recording seems to date back to 2000. I sort of lost the thread with Johnson's stuff after the Venus Isle record, but the first two records are still top-notch.

Ivory Wire with Moda, Dexter and Silver Lining (Bottom Lounge)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
For those of you keeping track, or those of you keeping track and forgetting the last time I told you this, Ivory Wire is the band that used to be Dovetail Joint. They've got a new drummer, a new sound, a new outlook on life, and a new CD, the latter being the occasion for this early all-ages show.

Dirty Dozen Brass Band with DJ Logic (Abbey Pub)
I guess I had to include one Mardi Gras-related show, and this is it. I guess I'm just a sucker for a band with a tuba.

3.08   saturday
The Waltz V (Metro)
It's time again for the annual benefit for Heartland Alliance's Neon Street, hosted by the Nicholas Tremulis Orchestra and featuring a huge list of special guests. This time around, those guest include Ian Hunter, David Johansen, Alejandro Escovedo, Billy Corgan, Jimmy Chamberlain and Mavis Staples, just for starters. As far as I can tell, tickets are still available, which surprises me just a bit.

Soulfix with Buddah's Belly and Air This Side of Caution (Nevin's Live, Evanston)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
To be fair, the whole topless thing a week and a half ago happened during Soulfix's set, and not ours, so if you're looking for lightning to strike twice, this is where you'll want to be.

3.09   sunday
Lindsie Reitz, Miles Of Empty, She Likes Todd (Oasis One-Sixty) SEE COZ LIVE!
It's the Lindsie band's first real foray into the suburbs (Evanston borders Chicago directly and CTA goes there, so it doesn't count). Join us for our first all-ages show in Chicago Heights. The address is 160 (duh) W. Joe Orr Road, which I'll trust you to plug into your favorite driving directions web site. According to their website, they're both "the ultimate entertainment complex" AND "where the south suburbs rock." How can you go wrong? E-mail me and I'll even send you a ticket worth $2 off the admission price.