list.in.to.chicago this week: 03.24.2003

Oh boy, there's a new Linkin Park CD out this week. Pinch me. I don't know why, but I just categorically don't get that band. And I know it's a long way off, but opening up to the center pages of Section 3 this week and seeing Sammy Hagar, Journey, .38 Special, Styx, REO Speedwagon, Heart AND Night Ranger over two days at Tweeter this summer made me laugh hysterically for a good ten minutes. I'm starting to think the Loop is still holding off on buying those newfangled CD players, seeing how nearly everything they play was released on vinyl.

Pick of the week
I'm going to strongly recommend the "poor man's Lounge Ax closing" celebration, as The Rock House in Rolling Meadows is apparently closing down after this weekend. From what I understand, Lindsie Reitz (featuring yours truly on drums, for those of you who don't read all the way down) may be the last act to ever grace their stage on Saturday. And, as if that weren't enough, the double-barrelled assault of Ivory Wire and Two Ton Levy will be there on Friday, so there may not be much of a stage left. Those guys definitely bring the rock.

Recap
I probably shouldn't badmouth bands that I don't like in this newsletter, because you never know when that kind of karma will come around to bite you in the ass. As a sidebar, that's also precluding one show this week from being mentioned. What I will say, though, is that one of the bands at Bottom Lounge on Saturday just sucked. Light FM wasn't that band, and they've got a really, really big sound that provides a nice contrast to the very indie-rock feel of the songwriting. I'd very much like to hear the band in a bigger venue, particularly in a venue where guitarist Josiah Mazzachi's guitar amp isn't pointed straight at me. Facing that sonic assault forced me to leave before Sour Deluxe came on, so you do the math.

3.24   monday
The Fire Theft with The Jealous Sound (Metro)
These guys used to be Sunny Day Real Estate, so if you didn't know that, I thought I'd help out. I remember seeing these guys at some point five or six years ago, but all I really remember about them is that someone gave me their old bass player's number when URT had to fill that hole, and he wasn't interested.

3.25   tuesday
Open Mike (Vaughan's)   SEE COZ LIVE!
I have to say I'm a bit disappointed. Last week I offered to play whatever the heck you wanted me to play, as long as it's on my list, and no one took me up on it. So now I'll have to reduce that to maybe taking requests, or I'll just console myself with obscure prog rock.

Sidewinders, Jake Head (Fitzgerald's, Berwyn)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
Do you like rockabilly? Do you like Berwyn? Would you like to hear some rockabilly in Berwyn? Dan Peters and company have got the show for you. Bonus points if you get the reference, and no, it doesn't actually have anything to do with this show.

3.26   wednesday
Lifehouse with SR-71 (Vic Theatre)
Tony plays some Lifehouse on Tuesdays at Vaughan's, and they fall squarely in that category of inoffensive but very good songcrafters. Which sounds like damning with faint praise, but that's not how I mean it. SR-71, on the other hand, haven't shown me much of anything to recommend them on their own, and I still don't believe that they and Sum 41 are actually different bands.

3.27   thursday
ICP Orchestra (Hothouse)
I don't know anything about these guys, but Peter Margasak does. I'm just wondering if any Insane Clown Posse fans are going to show up, thinking this is some sort of special small-club appearnance.

3.28   friday
Ivory Wire, Two Ton Levy with Damage and Empyrean (Rock House, Rolling Meadows)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
I think that, if you trace it back, members of Ivory Wire and Two Ton Levy have been in or performed with about half of the bands in Chicago, including but not limited to Dovetail Joint, Cassius Clay, Birds at the End of the Road (I think), Verbow, Los Borrachos and Sumo.

George Clinton and the P-Funk Allstars (House of Blues)
The granddaddies of all that is funky. Period. And I'm not just talking about Clinton's hair.

3.29   saturday
Lindsie Reitz with June's Arrival, The Radio Hour (Rock House, Rolling Meadows)   SEE COZ LIVE!
If you haven't seen us since Regal Standard's Larry Schroeder joined the band, well then you've missed one whole show. That said, he has brought some extra guitar and vocal power that you don't want to miss. And while I would never stoop to bribing you with special offers, except of course, on days ending in "Y," I feel obligated to mention that Long Island Iced Teas and Cuervo Margaritas are both a measley $3. The Rock House is on Algonquin Road in Rolling Meadows. Take I-90 West to Rte. 53 North to Algonquin Road, and head east about one mile. It's in a sorta strip mall thingie.

Guster with Blue Merle (Riviera Theatre)
These guys will forever be known locally as "that band that ripped on the corporate sponsors of some Q101 festival and subsequently weren't paid" but there are worse fates, I guess. Not surprisingly, WXRT is sponsoring this performance.

3.30   sunday
Joe Jackson Band (Vic Theatre)
Chalk this one up as one of those shows I with I had gotten tickets to, as it's sold out. Jackson is one of those guys who you could always tell had some special songwriting skills, even in the synth-heavy world of eighties music.