list.in.to.chicago this week: 12.01.2003

Since I've never seen it used before, I need to define a new word I may or may not have invented. "Googlebaiting" is deliberate name-dropping on a website, in order to come up when somebody searches on their own name, or the name of their band, or something like that. This whole newsletter is sort of an exercise in Googlebaiting, on some level, as I get a fair amount of traffic from some of the bands contained in these missives.

Pick of the week
I'm gonna go with the venerable Living Colour (Tuesday, Park West), because you don't see guitarists like Vernon Reid come through town every day. Next of note would be l.i.t.c. standbys Tributosaurus (Wednesday, Martyr's) doing their thing as Elvis Costello this time around.

list.in.to.COZ
I'm still in the process of rebuilding my big book o' lyrics for Vaughan's on Tuesday, now that I've been forcibly reminded that 12-point type is not going to work. That's it for me this week, but next week is going to be HUGE. Or, as fellow Jersey boy and Sun-Times music writer Jim DeRogatis (see, Googlebait!) would say, YOUGE!

Recap
I was a big honkin' wuss last week, but in my defense, I had a late rehearsal on Wednesday way the hell out in the 'burbs, and on Friday I decided that while musicians without health insurance is a worthy cause, I'm a musician, and I have my own premiums to pay, so I stayed in.

12.01   monday
Scott Anderson/Corey Radford Trio (Phyllis' Musical Inn)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
I'll have to ask these guys the next time I see them, but isn't it odd to name a trio after two of the members? Just one person would make sense, or all three, but two? Did bassist Pat Williams just draw the short straw or something?

12.02   tuesday
Open Mike (Vaughan's)   SEE COZ LIVE!
The voice is back, and I have to stress that even singing low-register stuff when you've lost most of your voice isn't such a good idea. Singing low-register stuff when you don't really know all the words and the lyrics you printed out are too small to see in a dark bar is a much worse idea, but I tried anyway. Because I care. About the children. Okay, now I'm just rambling.

Living Colour with Tony C and the Truth (Park West)
This is the make-up show for the band getting bumped from that double bill with King Crimson last month. Apparently the issue was that the stage was not big enough for both bands to set up all their gear, as Crim is not big on striking any of their setup for the opening act. That said, Living Colour have just released their "comeback" album, but I haven't heard a note of it yet.

12.03   wednesday
Tributosaurus becomes Elvis Costello with Motion to Fix (Martyr's)
I guess maybe this would have been a good show for me to try to get involved with, seeing as how I'm, you know, named Costello (no relation -- he's Irish and I'm Italian, and it's not his real name anyway), and have garnered at least a little bit of a reputation for playing his songs now and again. I'm such a freakin' slacker sometimes.

Pete Francis with Mary Lee's Corvette, Swamp Sugar (Abbey Pub)
Francis is the lead singer of Dispatch, that band from two summers that was all over the radio for about three months with the reggae-influenced "Open Up," then completely disappeared. Funny what a little bit of independent promotor money can do.

12.04   thursday
Moth with Edsa, Wreckage of a Modern City (Elbo Room)
This is billed as a "special 9pm return to Chicago" for the band, which makes me wonder if it's the same Moth that had that single "I See Sound" last year, the one that had Josh Freese playing way over-the-top, in a good way, on drums. If so, it should be some good power pop. If not, you're on your own. It doesn't help that allmusic.com has three different Moths listed as active in the 00s.

12.05   friday
They Might Be Giants (Vic Theatre)
In the "stunning oversight" department, the display ad for this show tells you that it's the XRT Holiday Concert for the Kids, that you should bring an unwrapped toy or children's book, that it's brought to you by Merlin Muffler and Brakes and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois, that THIS IS THE FULL ROCK ONSLAUGHT SHOW (empahsis theirs), and that there are two kids shows over the weekend. What it neglects to tell you is where the damn thing is.

Anthrax with Ill Nino (Metro)
Holy crap, Anthrax is playing at Metro? I was thoroughly amused when they mock-contemplated changing their name to "Basket Full of Puppies" after those envelopes laced with anthrax were found. And now we can be reasonably sure that Tom Ridge and John Ashcroft are reading this.

12.06   saturday
Yesmen with Jump, Little Children and Adam Richman (Martyr's)
Okay, I'll admit it. This is almost purely Googlebait, as the boys from Yesmen, who I liked very much the one time I saw them, have occasionally noticed my mentions of their operation and have offered to put me on the guest list as a reward for my efforts. No plans as of yet, fellas. You know where to find me.

Escape From Earth with Premium, Devil May Care, Plura (Double Door)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
URT played our lone Metro show with Escape From Earth, and it's good to see that they've been able to find success in spite of that. I have no earthly idea what Premium has been up to lately, and Plura is the stoner rock-influenced outfit led by former Cassius Clay and Great Apes man Newt Cole.

Q101's Twisted 10 (Allstate Arena)
This year's installment of the "original alternative" (which is just sorta funny) station's holiday bash boasts a pretty decent alt-rock lineup, with veterans Jane's Addiction, Korn and 311 joined by relative newcomers AFI and Dashboard Confessional. Unfortunately, the show will probably rely heavily on the stunningly unfunny and unoriginal Mancow for much of the between-band filler, which will likely consist of material Howard Stern did ten years ago.

12.07   sunday
Nicholas Barron and Hyperactive (Long Room)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
I'm not exactly sure what the difference is between "Nicholas Barron and Hyperactive," which is what I think they're calling it now, and "Nicholas Barron and the Free Associates," which is what I think this group used to be called. It's still mostly the same cast of stellar musicians mostly making it up as they go along, and making it funky in the process, with Barron as ringleader.