list.in.to.chicago this week: 04.14.2003

I find it amusing that, after the guy booking Beat Kitchen moved over to Subterranean, the two clubs' display ads are right next to each other in this week's Reader.

Rather than encourage you to forward this to all your friends and have them subscribe (oops), I would also like to point out that you can add your own comments on the permanent web home of this column. If you'd like to add something I've missed, comment on a show you've seen, or just tell me how utterly wrong I am, you should feel free. The link is at the bottom.

Pick of the week
Even though it's not a show, per se, the Blue Man Group CD Release Party tonight should be way cool. Unfortunately, I can't go, but that's life. And I would be remiss in my duties as a shameless self-promoter if I didn't mention that I'll be drumming with Nitrous Foxide on Saturday at the Goose Island in Wrigleyville. Not on Clybourn, on Clark Street. There's a big stadium on the corner, you can't miss it.

And for pure bang for your concert buck, you can't go wrong with Thirty Girl Bands in Sixty Minutes on Thursday at Metro. Yes, there's a boorish joke in there somewhere. No, I'm not going to go look for it.

There's also the International Pop Overthrow Festival going on this weekend at several different venues, but as a somewhat larger event, it's got too much going on for me to wrap my head around in the hour or two I take to write this silly thing. As the name would suggest, at least to those of you familiar with Material Issue, it's all about the power pop.

Recap
The nice thing about working as a musician is that, even when I don't actually get out to hear any music, I can at least recount some of the gigs I played during the week and still act like I'm staying up on the local scene. This week, it was the Wednesday night singer/songwriter bill at Beat Kitchen that fills that role. Steve Frisbie was a no-show, so his spot was taken by the lovely Kat Parsons. So it was her, Tony Calderisi, and Dag Juhlin. That's right, Kat and Dag. The jokes just write themselves. I had never seen Dag before, and he was fun. You don't really expect to hear an acoustic guitar version of Earth Wind and Fire's "September," and I have nothing but respect for that. Tony and I joined him for a couple of songs towards the end of his set as well.

I did find myself at Howl at the Moon down on Hubbard Street on Monday, where they duel pianos all night long. In addition to sitting in on drums for a bit (which cost my friends $20 that I would have never ever paid in order to play), we got a pretty killer piano rendition of Black Sabbath's "War Pigs." It was a good time.

And yesterday afternoon's performance outside Cardinal Stadium in Naperville was noteworthy simply because one teenage girl asked me and Tony for our autographs and another gave us a one dollar tip. Superstardom, here we come!

4.14   monday
Blue Man Group CD Release Party (Double Door)
To say I'm excited about The Complex, the new CD from Blue Man Group, is quite an understatement. I've only heard the tune with Dave Matthews once on the radio, but I've got one track, sung by Tracy Bonham, on a sampler, and it kicks butt. The first 100 people get a free CD sampler, and there will be at least some sort of performance. The album hits stores next Tuesday.

4.15   tuesday
Open Mike (Vaughan's)   SEE COZ LIVE!
I'm getting better at this, I swear. And again, if you show up, I'll let you pick a song or two. Because I want to do as little work as possible. And I'm guessing Tony probably knows "Taxman" from The Beatles.

Drive with The Party of Helicopters, Disengage, Soloflyer, Velvet Sun (Double Door)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
Dammit, I keep meaning to talk to bassist Josh Shapera and get a hold of Drive's initial batch of recordings, which at last count, was up around 17 or 18 songs. And they're probably all really catchy and loud.

4.16   wednesday
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (Vic Theatre)
This show, along with the other three this week and the one last night, is sold out, and you already know who Tom Petty is, but I couldn't find anything else I wanted to recommend.

Groovepushers with B.L.T. (The Note)
Okay, I lied about not finding anything else. But man, I haven't seen the Groovepushers on a bill in many, many years. They've got to be older than the Rolling Stones by now! Okay, that's probably an exaggeration.

4.17   thursday
Marvin Tate's D-Settlement (HotHouse)
Good thing the Groovepushers are back, too, as one of Chicago's other notable funk units seems to be on the way out. This is billed as D-Settlement's final performance.

Soulfix with The Red Line, The Tom Chase Band   FRIENDS OF COZ!
Come support Lindsie Reitz/Nitrous Foxide bassist Mike Mitchel-with-one-el so he doesn't have to work full-time! The band is great, and I'm not saying that only because they have keys to where I keep my drums.

Thirty Girl Bands in Sixty Minutes (Metro)
The Neofuturists, the local theater group responsible for Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind, have been offering up a musical variation of their "Sixty Plays in Sixty Minutes" theme for a couple of years, and this year, they throw one more kink into it with the girl band angle. I've been to one of these, and it's fun, albeit a bit tough to sink your teeth into.

4.18   friday
Medeski Martin and Wood (Symphony Center)
I'm not sure how the organ-trio acid-jazzers will translate in a space like Orchestra Hall. There's something inherently sweaty about their music that might get lost in the larger room.

The Blank Theory, Crash Poet, Liftpoint, Calico System (Bottom Lounge)
I understand the sense of camraderie between local bands, but if I had a nickel for every time I've seen any two of The Blank Theory, Crash Poet and Liftpoint on the same bill, I'd maybe even be able to buy the real Chicago Tribune instead of that crappy RedEye.

Fischerspooner, Tommie Sunshine (Metro)
The main claim to fame of Fischerspooner, as far as I can tell, is that someone in the band found all their parents' analog synthesizers in the basement. I haven't really figured out if that's a good thing or not, but the band is seemingly on the rise with their retro-futuristic sound.

4.19   saturday
Nitrous Foxide with Navid Rashid (Goose Island Wrigleyville)   SEE COZ LIVE!
What continues to amuse me about this band is the wide range of covers that we play. We've recently added songs from Michelle Branch (well, technically, Santana) and Black Sabbath. You just never know where we're going to go next. Again, Wrigleyville and not North and Clybourn.

The Funk Brothers (Riviera Theatre)
Not unlike the Afro-Cuban bands that followed in the wake of Buena Vista Social Club, this tour picks up the thread of Standing in the Shadows of Motown, the recent flick about the great session musicians that helped galvanize that sound, and features guest vocalists Joan Osborne, Maxi Priest, Darlene Love and Bootsy Collins.

Ivory Wire, Plura (Bottom Lounge)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
Dammit, these guys should be working on our demo, not going off and furthering their own musical careers! Seriously, though, they rock.

4.20   sunday
Pigface, My Life With Thrill Kill Kult, Zeromancer, Bile and others (Metro)
With a Ministry show early next week, old-school industrial music looks to take the city by storm, as if there's any other way industrial music could take a city...

God vs. Satan (Bottom Lounge)
It's another "Stagefright Sunday," with deep theological debate provided by four-minute rock tunes performed by local musicians who either don't watch Six Feet Under or tape it. Right now, I'm still only enjoying this concept in principle, as I haven't checked it out in person yet.