list.in.to.chicago this week: 04.28.2003

The International Pop Overthrow festival is still percolating throughout the city, but as I mentioned a week or two ago, it's too big for me to wrap my head around in the amount of time I have to write this. And I know I'm skipping the XRT "Rockin' de Mayo" shows over at Division and Elston this weekend, but (a) I think the Flaming Lips are sold out on Friday, and (b) the Saturday lineup doesn't do much for me.

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Pick of the week
Gotta go with Drive and American Motherload Friday at Elbo Room, and both bands are making enough noise in the biz that I'm probably not the only one. On a similar note, we're still definitely riding the "see them before they're big" wave for the Assassins on Sunday at Metro, with Kill Hannah. Both of those shows boast a couple of bands I'd recommend, so they get a slight edge over the Soundgarden-esque rock of Saturday's 2 Ton Levy show, also at Elbo Room. That said, I'll almost definitely be there when the Levy breaks.

Sorry about that. I couldn't help it. I blame the codeine.

Recap
A good time was had Friday night (Nitrous Foxide, Strain Busy Sky, Tristen, not in that order) at Martyr's, even though a certain vocalist who will remain nameless introduced me as "Chris Cornell" on drums. Looks like I'm not the only one listening to Audioslave a lot. The show wasn't without it's speed bumps, but there were enough bright spots in the performance to outweigh them. Last night, I finally got back out to see Nicholas Barron and the Free Associates, or the Galaxy 5, or whatever he's calling the rest of the band, and noted just how far Nicholas has come as a guitarist. In the early days of Swimmer, he was already pretty solid in terms of harmony (i.e., chord choices) and rhythm, but over the six or seven years I've seen him play, he's gotten noticeably better as a soloist.

4.28   monday
Patricia Barber Quartet (Green Mill)
The nice thing about Mondays is that there's a nice bunch of steady shows in the event nothing unique to the week jumps out at me. This week, it's Barber's turn in the rotation.

4.29   tuesday
Open Mike (Vaughan's)   SEE COZ LIVE!
If you're wondering what Queens of the Stone Age sounds like on acoustic guitar, come on by. I've also been digging into Peter Gabriel's new record quite a bit, but those lyrics are pretty dark for Tuesday night drinking and revelry.

4.30   wednesday
Ike Reilly, The Holy Ghost (Gunther Murphy's)
Reilly has had a month-long residence here on Wednesday nights. Again, he was touted as sort of a midwestern Beck back when he got signed, but then dropped off the mainstream radar.

The Changes with The Saturday Nights (The Hideout)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
Haven't seen these guys in a while, and I've heard other people talking about their Police-styled pop lately, but I think I said this exact same thing last time they played.

5.01   thursday
2 Skinny Js with McGregor, Bicycle Tricycle
I saw these guys on HBO's Reverb once, and I recall being somewhat impressed. However, I don't recall what they sounded like, only that they dressed funny. This is apparently their farewell show.

Pete Yorn with Grandaddy, Rooney (Riviera Theatre)
This one's sold out, either because of a promo push early on from The Zone, or lots and lots of indie cred for Yorn, which would appear to be mutually exclusive reasons. If not, there may still be hope for commercial radio, but I'm not holding my breath.

5.02   friday
Drive, American Motherload, VD6 (Elbo Room)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
Once again, Drive is probably my favorite "new" Chicago band right now, and there's a buzz developing around American Motherload, who also qualify as "friends of friends of Coz," for whatever that's worth. Come to think of it, that designation could probably account for 75% of the bands playing the north side club scene. The latter band might be doing an acoustic set at this particular show, but I'm not certain of that. Should be quality either way.

Oteil and the Peacemakers with The Danglers (Martyr's)
I get in trouble whenever I make this assumption, but I think Allman Brothers bassist Oteil Burbridge is good enough to transcend that typical "jam-band" wankery. I think I'm generally skeptical enough of that assumption that I wind up not going to these sorts of shows.

Wigfield (Chicago Center for the Performing Arts)
As a big fan of The Daily Show, this piqued my interest. It's a performance from TDS correspondent Stephen Colbert along with Amy Sedaris and Paul Dinello, adapted from their book of the same name, which comes out this week. Colbert and Sedaris, and maybe Dinello for that matter, were behind the bizarre Comedy Central series Strangers With Candy, so I'd expect this to be somewhere in that spectrum of oddness.

5.03   saturday
2 Ton Levy with My Left Arm, Mojo Filter (Elbo Room)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
Jayh Johnson and crew are back in the city for the first time in a while, so you have to imagine that pent-up need to rock the 773 area code will be in full effect.

Flora Purim and Airto Moreira (HotHouse)
This pair helped usher in 70s fusion with Chick Corea, adding vocals and percussion with a serious Latin edge to early Return to Forever. I saw these two back about eight or nine years ago with a group called Fourth World, which varied from serviceable Afro-Cuban fare to some ripping stuff, and expect much of the same here.

Music as a Weapon II (UIC Pavillion)
This tour boasts Chicago-area bands Disturbed and Chevelle, who are head and shoulders above some of the other nu-metal/modern rock crap in my mind, along with Taproot, who aren't. The local appeal may have forced a move from the Aragon, and the change from general admission to reserved seating is bound to be a logistical nightmare, so if you've got tickets, get there early.

5.04   sunday
Kill Hannah with Assassins, Tommie Sunshine (Metro)
There's an element of "old guard meets new guard of shiny Chicago bands" to this show, as both Kill Hannah and Assassins have a certain amount of heavily produced sheen about them. This is the first show I've seen from the Assassins in a while, and I haven't heard anything recently regarding all the major-label interest they were immersed in last time I saw them.

Vital Information (Martyr's)
This band is the primary vehicle for drummer Steve Smith, who you may recall from Journey back in the eighties, but don't hold that against him. Lately, Smith has been tracing the history of "American" music as a sort of all-encompassing genre, and the results have flowed back into his band, which features saxophonist Bill Evans on this tour.