list.in.to.chicago this week: 04.26.2003

UPDATE: e-mics are actually on Thursday, and the listings have been changed to reflect that. Fortunately, there's a Blue Man Group show pretty much every day, in case of emergency.

Ah, springtime in Chicago. When there's baseball, usually some snow and the orange street cleaning signs are in full bloom.

Also, there's music.

You know the drill. Forward. Subscribe. Repeat. Don't make me come over there.

Pick of the week
Definitely down with e-mics on Thursday at Martyr's, and I'm as curious as the next red-blooded American male to see if Blondie (Sunday, House of Blues) has still got it.

list.in.to.COZ
Two gigs this week, the regular Vaughan's open jam on Tuesday, and then Blue Line Transit with Pat and Jeff on Friday at Wrightwood Tap. Perhaps I'll see you there?

Recap
Okay, so it's not music, but if you want some really cheap entertainment, go to the Belmont El stop at about 2am on a weekend night and watch drunk and/or clueless people not get off the Ravenswood and then get really confused when it starts going north again.

4.26   monday
Josh Rouse with DJ Matt Fields (Schuba's)
According to the Reader, Rouse has released a couple of records to some acclaim, including his most recent on Rykodisc. So, what I'm getting is that there's hope for others of us who have played gigs at the local watering hole on the corner of my street, which is where I've seen Rouse's name most often over the last two years or so.

4.27   tuesday
Open Jam (Vaughan's)   COZ SINGS!
I have no idea what might happen this week at Vaughan's. So, you should come and see for yourself. Or sing for yourself. Whichever works best for you, because this is all about you.

Big Bang Music Theory with Terminal Bliss, Heavenly States and Bicycle Tricycle (Double Door)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
One of the nice things about bands I've been in breaking up, if there are any nice things, is that the musicians in those bands go on to play in other bands, expanding the universe of "Friends of Coz" shows for my dinky little newsletter. Because even though I just said it's all about you, I lied and it's really all about me. And about former Lindsie band guitarist Kevin Holland, who will be playing live with BBMT for the first time. I've even heard he's been practicing.

Kari Nelson (Martyr's)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
Kari was one of many guest singers for the Tributosaurus Bowie gig, and I swear I thought she was going to pop a blood vessel on "Panic In Detroit." I mean that in a good way. I believe she will have a potent band behind her for this, as I remember a couple of people, impressive musician people, talking about it at that particular gig.

4.28   wednesday
Blue Man Group (Briar Street Theatre)
Oddly enough, I've never mentioned this show in this space. There have apparently been some changes since "Tubes" opened however many years ago, mostly cribbed from the Complex tour that I kept not seeing. And while you may quibble about performance art in a music list, I would remind you of two things. First, my list, my rules, and I've listed soccer games, so there's certainly precedent. Second, the theatrical aspects are good and all, but Blue Man is all about the music for me.

4.29   thursday
e-mics with October Crifasi & Miki Greenberg, Twilight Babies (Martyr's)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
After what can only be described as entirely too long of a layoff, the band that one might describe as Chicago's answer to Steely Dan returns to the stage. Lots of heavy hitters playing really good songs, and in a good room to boot.

Telepathy with Wine Poetry, The Kennedys (Nevin's Live, Evanston)
All I know about this band is that they played with Mike Keneally at some point, as part of a double bill or something. Like, two years ago. They describe themselves as a "quirky mix of Beatlesque pop, jazzy experimentation, and a big slab of party funk to keep things interesting." Which could either be cool, or just hippies who think they can write hooks.

Riviera with Paper Airplane Pilots, Telectro (Gunther Murphy's)
Wouldn't it be really funny if, in what could only be described as a stunning coincidence, there was a band called Gunther Murphy's playing at the Riviera this same night? No? I guess it's just me, then.

The Alarm (Abbey Pub)
It may interest you to know that the second or third rock band I was ever in, a little combo that we called Chester the Jester and his Downtown Fools, played "Strength" from this reunited Welsh band at a Battle of the Bands back in good old Scotch Plains, NJ. Or, it may not, but that's really not my problem.

4.30   friday
Blue Line Transit (Wrightwood Tap)   SEE COZ LIVE!
I don't want to alarm you (which, I swear, is not a pun relating to Thursday's listing), but you're running out of chances to hear me, Jeff and Patrick play various covers and originals for your listening and drinking pleasure.

Einsturzende Neubauten (Metro)
I think there may be one person receiving this list who can pronounce this industrial music mainstay's name properly without staring at it and figuring it out phonetically. Maybe one or two more who know what it means in German without looking it up.

Los Lobos with the Nicholas Tremulis Orchestra (Park West)
Didn't see an ad for this one, so I'm wondering if it's some sort of special deal. Of course, you could argue that Los Lobos is a special deal, and I would not be one to disagree with you.

Deals Gone Bad with First Name Basis (Hog Head McDunna's)
This one jumped out at me because it seems like an odd venue for a ska-punk band that typically plays places like the Abbey or Metro. I know they dabble in original music at Hog Head's, but it's usually bands I've never, ever heard before. Maybe they've gone punk, I don't know.

Nelly Furtado (The Vic)
With her brand of light, groovy pop, I'm surprised that they're actually putting seats in the Vic for this show.

5.01   saturday
Poi Dog Pondering with Rockets Over Sweden (The Vic)
And I'm assuming the seats will be long gone when Frank Orrall and company hit the same stage a night later, because I think it's illegal in Illinois to sit still for a Poi Dog show. After improving my six degrees of separation by leaps and bounds with that Tributosaurus show a few weeks ago, I could maybe claim "Friends of Coz" on this one, as I shared that stage with Orrall and Rockets Over Sweden and former Verbow frontman Jason Narducy.

Evan Dando with Robbie Fulks, All Systems Go (Abbey Pub)
The onetime Lemonhead is back in town again with a full band and with Chicago mainstay Fulks, who is up toward the top of the list of "artists I've been meaning to see for a long, long time, but haven't yet."

Mary J. Blige with Glenn Lewis, Mario Winans (Arie Crown Theatre)
I've heard live recordings of Blige and her band, and they can play. There's a serious gospel vibe and the more obvious funk thing as well. The singer seems slightly apart from about two or three different trends in R&B, and that, I think, works in her favor in terms of staking out her own territory.

5.02   sunday
Blondie (House of Blues)
After shaking the rust off with their reunion record, No Exit, it seems Debbie Harry and company have found their groove again with The Curse of Blondie, if the critics are to be believed. And I see no reason why they shouldn't, unless they all felt really bad about what they said about the prior record. Apparently, they would like to rip her to shreds.