list.in.to.chicago this week: 11.10.2003

Okay, so it's cold out. Most, if not all, of these shows are indoors, so that's not going to be a prohibitive factor, is it?

Special thanks to those of you who tried to jog my memory of Rick Springfield tunes last week. That got more comments (um, two, actually) than any other recent topic I can recall, which could just be my memory failing, but never mind that.

You know the drill. Subscribers, forward to friends. Friends, check the instructions and subscribe. Everybody, enjoy the local music scene.

Pick of the week
Okay, you can't really go wrong with Ivory Wire on Wednesday (Schuba's), Drive on Thursday (Subterranean), and the Scorpio Party featuring Nitrous Foxide, Rubber and Strain Busy Sky on Friday (Joe's). For good measure, try to get out to Soldier Field for the Fire game earlier on Friday night.

list.in.to.COZ
I would be remiss if I didn't thank those of you who came out to the solo show at Wild Goose on Saturday. And scold those of you who didn't have ironclad alibis for not showing. Pretty soon it might be an entire night of eighties tunes. Be afraid.

Recap
Friday's Primus show was interesting, and not just because it did, in fact, sell out. I would have figured that it would have been an older crowd, but apparently the younger set is still discovering the band, even without much recorded output as of late. First set was a little slow, but the second, which was a front-to-back rendering of Sailing The Seas of Cheese, was fantastic, fifteen-minute drum solo before "Eleven" notwithstanding. I'm a drummer and that was way too long.

Saturday was my show, but you knew that. If I tell you how it was, you might not come next time. On Sunday, I saw Lake Shore Jive at Mystic Celt, which was, without a doubt, the best unamplified, well lit, a cappella (did I spell that right?) performance I've seen all year.

11.10   monday
Dana Lawrence Trio (Bad Dog)
The fact that some of those in attendance at one of Lawrence's earlier solo shows here have offered to back her up is a good sign that this will a good way to spend your Monday night. Also, the pita and hummus appetizer at this relatively new Lincoln Square spot is crazy good.

11.11   tuesday
Open Mike (Vaughan's)   SEE COZ LIVE!
My fingers, nearly mashed to a bloody pulp from Saturday's marathon set, should be sufficiently recovered to regale you with some tunes I didn't play over the weekend. Because I like to change it up like that.

Hanson (House of Blues)
Yes, Hanson. Would you think less of me if you knew I've seen them live before? It was free, as were the drinks for part of the evening, so I like to think I had a good excuse. What's going to get me in trouble is that they were actually pretty good. Of course, that could have been the free drinks talking, too. The show is sold out, but it's not like you were going to go anyway.

11.12   wednesday
Badly Drawn Boy with Leona Naess (Park West)
For some reason, I think Badly Drawn Boy is lumped into a category with Beck, but on the whole, that seems like a Badly Drawn Comparison. Maybe with certain Beck albums, particularly Sea Change and Mutations. That's the vibe I get listening from the opening chords of The Hour of the Bewilderbeast, his 2000 release that won him the Mercury Prize in the U.K., but there's also quite a bit more to him than that, making it a Badly Drawn Conclusion.

Ivory Wire with The Push Stars (Schuba's) FRIENDS OF COZ!
For such a small room, big rock sounds surprisingly good here, which will make this perhaps a good time to catch the Ivory boys. Something about the narrow confines makes all the sound hit you at once, so it's very balanced. If I've just jinxed the sonic experience, I apologize in advance.

11.13   thursday
The Alarm with Regal Standard   FRIENDS OF COZ!
It was brought to my attention by a l.i.t.c. subscriber, who knows a hell of a lot more about rock music than I do, that The Alarm is actually Welsh, and not Irish, as "reported" last week. That said, Larry's got another acoustic Regal Standard set opening up this show, which has apparently done pretty well with the advance tickets, so you may need to get on the ball if you're going to go.

Tony Calderisi with The Humbugs, Pleyel and The Miles (Beat Kitchen) FRIENDS OF COZ!
Former Telstar frontman and current Vaughan's open mike host Calderisi is out playing original music again after a long break that ended earlier this year. Come out and see him so he doesn't go into hibernation again.

Drive with The Strategy Game, Heartbreak Speed (Subterranean) FRIENDS OF COZ!
Wow, Thursday seems to be a good night for the ever-burgeoning "Friends of Coz" category. Or a bad night, seeing as how getting to all of these shows at the right time is damn near impossible.

Mike Doughty's Band (Double Door)
If I wanted to get all semantic and shit, I'd wonder if Mike Doughty is actually playing, or if this is just his band going out on tour. That said, the former Soul Coughing singer has done his share of solo gigs since that band broke up, so this is likely an effort to make sure it's billed as a full band event.

11.14   friday
Chicago Fire vs. New England Revolution (Soldier Field) SEE COZ LIVE!
Still trying to wash the taste of the Cubs' last-minute collapse from your psyche? Fed up with the futility of the Bears and the Bulls? This is your last chance to see the Fire this year, and if (I'm not going to jinx it by saying "when") they win, they go on to the MLS Cup Final. Meanwhile, I'll be performing in the concourse just inside Gate 0 before the match, either by myself or with some friends. If you're going to go, get tickets in section 122 or 123 (121 or 124 if those are gone), and you may actually have to buy them through Ticketmaster unless you want to stop by the Fire office or get a group of 10 or more people.

The 5th Annual Scorpio Party (Joe's on Weed Street) SEE COZ LIVE!
It's officially gotten too big to even hold at someone's big-ass loft. This year, it'll be Strain Busy Sky, Rubber, and yours truly playing with Nitrous Foxide in the main room, along with Jackson Rohm in the front room, DJs filling in the gaps, and 4 HOURS OF OPEN BAR. Which I'm assuming starts at around 9pm, based on the information at my disposal.

11.15   saturday
Kristen Hersh, Howe Gelb and Andrew Bird (Old Town School of Folk Music)
A friend of mine saw this tour in New York and absolutely loved it. You know Hersh from Throwing Muses, and Andrew Bird from his Bowl of Fire, although he's recently struck out as a solo artist. Not to be confused with Birds of Fire, which was a Mahavishnu Orchestra album.

Deals Gone Bad with The Zvooks (Fireside Bowl)
It's Chicago's favorite local ska-punk band, if by "Chicago's," you mean "my."

11.16   sunday
The Fixx with Cooler By the Lake (Abbey Pub)
I would not be a terribly credible purveyor of eighties tunes if I didn't point out a show from one of the quintessential bands of the era. They had been releasing new material well into the nineties, but I don't know exactly what they're up to these days. Playing the Abbey makes me think they're still writing new music.

Jellyeye Drum Theatre (HotHouse)
I've only seen this group once before, and where, say, Stomp incorporates traditional African drumming with found instruments, and Blue Man Group weaves a pastiche of percussion and pop culture, Jellyeye seemed more primal and straighforward. Not unlike the drummers in Neal Stephenson's cyberpunk novel The Diamond Age. That was a long time ago, so they might be entirely different now.