list.in.to.chicago this week: 04.12.2004

Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work I go! But not before laying down the picks for the week, of course. In keeping in line with my new schedule, this week features a heck of a lot of shows on the weekend, when you don't have to worry so much about how late you stay out.

Pick of the week
Since they put me on a billboard, I must point out that the Cubs are not the only team with a home opener this week. The Chicago Fire kick off the MLS season on Saturday, and I'm playing a solo set inside the concourse to boot. No pun intended. Well, maybe a little.

Other than that, you've got A Perfect Circle and Mars Volta on Friday at UIC if you can find good tickets, Death Cab For Cutie and Ben Kweller at the Vic Thursday and Friday if you can find any tickets, and a whole lot of afropop on Friday night with Baaba Maal at the Old Town School of Folk Music and Orchestra Baobab at HotHouse.

list.in.to.COZ
I'll be playing with a new-ish acoustic cover band called Late Night Radio on Thursday at McGee's, then it's the big Soldier Field gig on Saturday starting around 6pm.

Recap
Good god, it was a crazy week. Rehearsed with Tributosaurus on Monday, which was an experience in and of itself. Those cats can play, and the level of preparation is impressive. As for Tuesday's open jam, suffice it to say I need to figure out two little transitions in the Ozzy tune, and find a new key for Squeeze. Then the Tributosaurus gig itself, which was a whole lot of fun. I played drums on "Moonage Daydream," then percussion on "Young Americans" (sung by Poi Dog Pondering's Frank Orrall) and "Panic in Detroit," with crazy backing vocals from Kari Nelson. Big thanks to the band for letting me be a part of it.

Friday night's double bill with Joel Burleson was fun once the Cubs finally won the game and we could really get underway. The emerging 80s rock opera (called Addicted to Love, natch) made another appearance. Joel's set was pretty darn cool, with lots of electronics and loops and whatnot accompanying his acoustic and an electric. Diver's weekend at Cullen's went off without a hitch, which is saying something, considering we're within a week of Tony's wife's due date.

4.12   monday
Fozzy with American Motherload (Metro)
I have to make sure I read this right. Fozzy features professional wrestler Chris Jericho. Yep, that's what it says. Unfortunately, Mr. Jericho apparently thinks so much of his WWE (I'm still amused that they lost the trademark suit to a panda bear) celebrity that he thinks he can get $20 a ticket on a Monday night at Metro. If local favorites American Motherload, who I really like, were headlining, you'd actually have more of a case, but I'd be surprised if there's much of a turnout for this. Then again, I could be severely underestimating the pro wrestling fan demographic. Even moreso when you consider that Mancow's morning show is the main sponsor. And did a tough-guy wrestler really name his band after a muppet?

Stickfigure with Lorenzo Getz (Beat Kitchen)
Apparently, it's a good night for sports figures, or pseudo-sports figures, playing in bands, as former White Sox hurler Jack McDowell brings his band to the north side the same day as the Cubs home opener. His show, by comparison, is only $7, much more in line for a marginal national act with a celebrity on a Monday night that doesn't involve Keanu Reeves or Russell Crowe. However, I have to point out to Jack that the band's website says he was "just signed" to Anaheim. Which is accurate if by "just" you mean "six years ago."

4.13   tuesday
Open Jam (Vaughan's)   COZ SINGS!
Anto is back, and we'll be taking late entries in the baby pool for Tony's wife. That is, if the baby hasn't made an appearance already, which is still eminently possible. If you're a singer who doesn't have a wife that's eight-months-and-three-weeks pregnant, come on out and sing a couple! It may be worth it just to see just how fast Tony high-tails it out of there if and when his cellphone rings in the middle of a song.

Stellastarr* with The Killers (Double Door)
Just a slight indie buzz alert on these guys, who popped onto radar all of a sudden in the last couple of months. Don't know a lick about 'em, but again, the name has started turning up more frequently.

Britney Spears with Kelis, Skye Sweetnam (Allstate Arena)
Rescheduled from a few weeks ago. In Tuesday-continuity news, why couldn't the "Onyx Hotel," the theme of the Britster's current tour, be the one infected by the Cordilla virus on 24? I'd watch that.

4.14   wednesday
Kurt Elling Quartet (Green Mill)
Since I always mention Norah Jones when I talk about Patricia Barber at the Green Mill, I wonder if Jones' success has had or will have an impact on Elling's career. He's a bit more jazz and less pop, but still very, very accessible in that same kind of way.

4.15   thursday
Late Night Radio (McGee's)   SEE COZ LIVE!
After a brief dalliance with this being a full electric band, it has survived as a more acoustic outing fronted by singer/guitarists Eric Antonini and Jeff Goldford, along with someone I've been told is a "sick lead guitarist," and I'm assuming not in the communicable sense.

Death Cab for Cutie with Ben Kweller, Willy Mason (Vic Theatre)   SOLD OUT!
These guys have been on that fickle border between indie rock godhood and mainstream success for a while, but I have a hunch they prefer life on the indie side of the street. First of two nights, both sellouts.

4.16   friday
A Perfect Circle with Mars Volta (UIC Pavillion)
Remember how I asked you all if you knew anyone who could hook me up with good seats for this, after I spaced the onsale date? You've done an absolutely miserable job of coming through for me so far, but it's not too late to save your collective reputation. This is too good of a show to see from any of the seats remaining through Ticketmaster.

The Thrills with Ambulance Ltd., The Changes (Metro)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
The boys in The Changes get another sweet opening spot, this time for a relatively new band out of Ireland in The Thrills. Heard a song from them on XRT the other day, but all I can remember is that I didn't change the station. Which is good on some level, I suppose.

Baaba Maal (Old Town School of Folk Music)
One of the newer voices in West African pop, Baaba Maal has a lot of the same high-energy style pioneered by the likes of Youssou N'Dour. I saw him maybe five years ago at Martyr's, and it was darned good.

Orchestra Baobab with special guest Ricardo Lemvo (HotHouse)
Of course, Maal and N'Dour both owe a huge debt to Orchestra Baobab, one of the seminal afropop bands to come out of Senegal, only to be supplanted years later by N'Dour's highlife sound. They've enjoyed a resurgence in the last couple of years, and are playing two shows down in the south Loop. Maal is also playing two shows, so if you really, really like afropop, you can probably manage one set from each.

Ben Kweller with Death Cab for Cutie, Pedro the Lion (Vic Theatre)   SOLD OUT!
Different band order (apparently), different opener, same lack of availability of tickets. Which begs the question, if you give an indie band the good news that they sold out, do they just cringe as an involuntary reflex, not realizing that you meant the show, and not the band?

Deals Gone Bad with Three Blue Teardrops, The Suits, Waxon 7 (Bottom Lounge)
One of Chicago's pre-eminent ska-punk acts back in action in Wrigleyville.

Queensryche with Symphony X (House of Blues)
Remember when Queensryche almost had that heir-apparent to Pink Floyd thing going, back in the late 80s/early 90s? No? I guess someone did, because they've got two, count 'em TWO, nights at House of Blues.

Herbie Hancock with Wayne Shorter and Jack DeJohnette (Orchestra Hall)
It seems like only last week when Hancock and Shorter last played at Orchestra Hall. That's because it was last week. I'm guessing they're staying in town, so anyone want to speculate as to whether or not Herbie visits the Hancock tower?

4.17   saturday
COZ SINGS! (Soldier Field)   SEE COZ LIVE!
That's right, I'm playing Soldier Field again, and will continue to say that out of context. Technically, I'm playing a small stage in the stadium concourse just inside Gate 0, but these are minor details. Of course, you're going to miss this one unless you get tickets for...

Chicago Fire vs. Dallas Burn (Soldier Field)
Yes, it's that time of year again. Perhaps you've seen the billboard, with apologies to Cubs fans. Anyway, the Fire open up their home season this week as well. I've got flex plan vouchers for tickets behind the south goal if you want, or you can always call the team or Ticketmaster.

YesMen with Pulse, Burn Rome Burn (Double Door)
This is a CD release party for the bratty garage rockers. Again, I got a sort of "Reese from Malcolm in the Middle fronting Weezer" vibe the last time I saw them, which is probably as good a description as any.

Stickmen (Uncommon Ground)
Not to be confused with Stickfigure from earlier in the week. I think these guys actually play the Chapman Stick, the coolest electric musical instrument since the Les Paul, but don't quote me on that.

4.18   sunday
Allison Bazarko, Ally Stinchfield, Darren Spitzer, Resurrection Joe (Burkhart Underground)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
If two people I know are playing on a bill together, it's almost automatic that I'll go, 'cause then I get two friends who owe me one and need to come see me play in one shot. Three is almost unheard of, but that's what we've got here with Allison, Ally and Darren. Don't know Resurrection Joe from Adam, but I have to wonder if it would have been more appropriate (or inappropriate, depending on your sense of humor) for him to play the previous Sunday. Burkhart Underground is that place you always walk by on Halsted north of Diversey that doesn't look like a venue, exactly, but always has fliers up for some sort of performance. If you've walked by it, you know what I'm talking about.

California Guitar Trio (Bottom Lounge)
I have to say, I'm a little puzzled by the choice of venue for these high-profile (relatively speaking) graduates of Robert Fripp's Guitar Craft program, as they're very acoustic and border on classical, and Bottom Lounge is kinda loud and grungy. Juxtaposition is generally okay in my book, so what the heck.