list.in.to.chicago this week: 02.02.2004

What I want to know is, how long is it going to take for some band to call themselves "Wardrobe Malfunction"? With regard to other good things that popped out of yesterday's Super Bowl halftime show, NFL execs said MTV would not be returning as a presenter any time soon.

Pick of the week
The entirely self-serving pick is The Honor Thieves on Friday at Goose Island Wrigleyville. The less self-serving pick is American Motherload, celebrating the release of their new CD on Saturday at Metro, and the obligatory jazz pick (or maybe the obligatory guitar pick, which sounds funnier) is Larry Coryell, Thursday through Sunday at the Jazz Showcase.

list.in.to.COZ
Big week this week, with the WORLD PREMIERE performance of The Honor Thieves, this Friday at Goose Island Wrigleyville. Address is 3535 North Clark, and there's relatively cheap paid parking all over the vicinity. We hit around 11:30pm, and play until about 1am. I know it's cold out, but at some point, leaving the house is probably a good idea.

There's also Patrick Hasbrook on Thursday, and, as usual, Vaughan's on Tuesday.

Recap
I bitched about crappy opening/middle bands last week, and I have to say, things improved a bit since then. Regal Standard played to a sparse, cold audience on Wednesday, but that had to be a tough proposition to motivate the troops for anybody. Opening the show was a pretty good band from Wheaton called The Scarecrow Garden, who owed a great debt to Radiohead and, I've been told, Rufus Wainwright. They're still really young, so they have time to move beyond really obvious influences and very unsubtle dynamic shifts. Van Allen Belt, also on that bill, were gloriously strange, in a noise-rock geek sort of way.

After completely wimping out on Thursday due to the cold and this annoying tendency of various clubs in the city to have cover charges, I ended up seeing Bumpus for the first time, at Martyr's, on Saturday. While they weren't spectacular or anything, they played some capable funk. The drummer was maybe too much down the center of the beat, which I'm entitled to say because I tend to do the same. And they covered Beck's "Sexx Laws" and Radiohead's "The National Anthem" toward the end of their set, which worked for me. Opening that show was the Youngbood Brass Band, one of a select group of bands that combine hip-hop with sousaphone solos. I'd say it's a group of one, but I'd probably be wrong.

I do have to wonder, after seeing him at both of those shows, if Darren Spitzer from The Changes is stalking me...

2.02   monday
Blues Jam (Buddy Guy's Legends)
This thing has been going on for years down in the South Loop. I went once, and the two things that struck me were that (a) there are some badass bass players who come up from the South Side for it, and (b) playing a slow blues without speeding up or slowing down is a lot harder than you'd think.

2.03   tuesday
Open Mike (Vaughan's)   COZ SINGS!
A friend of mine -- who will remain nameless for his own safety -- has suggested reworking Primus into "Amanda Was a Race Car Driver" for this week, but I'm not nearly that mean. For those of you who don't know what I'm referring to, I'll tell you later. I might play that new original tune I mentioned last week, though I still need to practice the bridge. And I heartily encourage singer/guitarists to brave the cold for some midweek fun.

Super Furry Animals with Papa M (Metro)
I bought into the buzz about this Welsh band to buy one of their records, and maybe I'm just not one of those types who idolizes the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds enough to really get into it. They continue to garner some degree of hype, though, so it's entirely possible that I don't know what the hell I'm talking about.

Crash Test Dummies with Seven Harkey and the Graves (Schuba's)
Yeah, I didn't know they were still around, either.

2.04   wednesday
Tributosaurus with Numbers (Martyr's)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
This month, they're Stevie Wonder, which means it's as good a time as any for people to be rediscover what a great songwriter Wonder was in his heyday. It only just dawned on me that, having played some Wonder tunes with the early version of the band that never became Clusterfunk, this might have been a good one to sit in on, but being a day and half away, I'm thinking it's probably too late. Maybe next time.

2.05   thursday
Patrick Hasbrook (Wrightwood Tap)   SEE COZ LIVE!
The last time he played, Patrick's e-mail described yours truly as "loveable." No, I don't get it, either. Should be another fun time, though, with a wide range of covers and original tunes. I might even sing a couple.

Family Style with Don Tisch/Ian Torres Quintet, Star People (Gunther Murphy's)
I should be boycotting Gunther Murphy's shows until they make their display ad marginally readable, but then again, I also supplement my "research" with metromix.com, where they don't fare quite so badly. I still need to actually see these guys one of these days, but I just finally saw Bumpus, so get off my back about it, will ya?

2.06   friday
The Honor Thieves with RPM (Goose Island Wrigleyville)   SEE COZ LIVE!
Yep, another new cover band. This one features the Rhythm Section of Doom, previously sighted with Foxide and with Lindsie, backing up Dana Lawrence and Eric Antonini, and we'll be starting out with the likes of Pearl Jam, PJ Harvey, Liz Phair, Maroon 5, John Mayer and others. It is, without a doubt, the best new band I'm in this week.

Marigold Engine with Dive, Thomas Pace (Elbo Room)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
I have a vague notion that these guys always have shows on nights I'm playing elsewhere, which is unfortunate.

2.07   saturday
American Motherload with Fashion Bomb, The Gelheads and High Plains Drifter (Metro)
This is the CD release party for American Motherload. When I saw them on New Year's Eve, they sounded a bit more powerful and a little less retro, which is good in my book.

Dennis DeYoung with the Chicagoland Pops Orchestra (Rosemont Theatre)
Did anybody else catch the gratuitous use of "Lady" from Styx in the California Cheese Board ad before the Super Bowl started? I wonder if you get better dough when your song gets used in a Super Bowl ad. I also wonder if this is going to start some sort of open warfare between California and current cheese-kings Wisconsin. And I find it odd that I used the phrase "cheese king" in a bit about a Dennis DeYoung show and it wasn't about him.

2.08   sunday
Larry Coryell (Jazz Showcase)
This jazz heavyweight is back for his more-or-less annual stop at the Showcase for a four-night stand that ends tonight. As usual, the guitarist has drummer Paul Wertico and bassist Eric Hochberg backing him up.