list.in.to.chicago this week: 06.21.2004

A hypothetical question. If you don't care what I think, why tell me that you don't care what I think? You've just said that you don't care what I think, and one would think that extends to whether or not I think you care about what I think. Don'tcha think?

Suffice it to say, somebody didn't particularly like my comments about MOBfest last week. On to the shows.

Pick of the week
Man, Friday is just loaded. John Scofield at Symphony Hall has gotta take top honors, though, with Spoon (Metro), Missile (Double Door), Rockets Over Sweden (Schuba's) and The Paramours (Blue Iguana) all worth a look and a listen. As for other days of the week, there's Primus (Saturday, Aragon), Prince (Friday and Saturday, Allstate Arena) if you can find tickets, and too many Summerfest shows to even mention.

list.in.to.COZ
I'll finally be back at Vaughan's this week, and then you've got two chances to see me on Sunday, with Abi Cruz (Lakeview Arts and Music Festival, Lincoln and Ashland) and Diver (Cullen's). Upcoming shows are going include, and I'm not making this up, playing in a parade.

Recap
New Jersey was oppressively humid, thanks for asking. Upon returning, I stuck with the shows I was playing, due to time constraints (my dad, god bless him, woke me up at about 6am to catch a flight leaving around 11, and we live maybe twenty minutes outside of Newark) and the fact that I'd need somebody to watch my back if I went to any MOBfest shows.

The Ripleys at Navy Pier was a fun time. Great weather. A couple of starts and stops that sorta fell by the wayside, but in three hours of music, you're going to have those. And if Saturday's weather was great, I gotta find a more superlative word for the sunshine on Sunday and the Abi Cruz show at the Humboldt Park festival. Probably the biggest crowd I've played for in quite a while, and I think we went over well, despite the salsa-heavy programming for the rest of the day. I just wish somebody had told me they were providing backline gear.

6.21   monday
David Byrne with the Tosca String Quartet (Skyline Stage)
If you missed him last week, or maybe read a review of last week's show (I'm assuming someone reviewed it, and am too lazy to check right now) and were intrigued, you've got another shot to see the former Talking Head.

Kelly Steward (Wise Fools Pub)   FRIEND OF COZ!
I just got an e-mail from Kelly for this one, and I'll cut her some slack on the gratuitous use of exclamation points because it's such a short notice kind of deal. Attention does need to be grabbed in that situation. But still, five exclamation points? Not once, but twice?

6.22   tuesday
Open Jam (Vaughan's)   COZ SINGS!
I may go original instead of cover this week. Maybe. I'm toying with the idea, although some part of toying with the idea would ideally picking up my guitar for the first time in a while. I've been really busy, which is why this is probably my first full open jam appearance in about a month.

Rachel Yamagata with Matt Gross (Schuba's)
Technically, there are two shows, and the early one has Jonathan Rice opening, but that one's sold out. Anyway, this is sort of a "props for a Chicago singer done good," as Yamagata has broken on the national scene with a major-label release. No idea if she's making a mark yet, but just getting there is an accomplishment in and of itself.

6.23   wednesday
The Streets (Metro)
With all the critical ink being spilt over A Grand Don't Come For Free, the latest from UK garage act The Streets, I'm surprised this one isn't sold out yet. Anyway, call first, 'cause tickets might go faster than that thousand pounds Mike Skinner raps about losing on the record, especially after getting the Critics' Choice nod.

6.24   thursday
The Darned with London Calling, All Mods Conned (Abbey Pub)
Sometimes you have to just give it up for clever band names. The Darned is a tribute band for, you guessed it, The Damned. The whole night is tribute bands, with London Calling and All Mods Conned as tributaries to the mighty rivers of The Clash and The Jam, respectively.

Richard Thompson with Dayna Kurtz (House of Blues)
Thompson is one of those guys you're supposed to like if you dig Elvis Costello, but I've never really been able to find a way in with the British singer/songwriter. That said, I've only got one record, and maybe it's the wrong one for the novice listener.

EXO (Milwaukee Summerfest)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
I was wondering why Metromix returned 31 pages of listings for "rock/pop" over the next week, but then I hit Thursday, which is apparently the first day of the annual Cheesehead music parade. Among those listings was l.i.t.c. faves EXO, who I like a lot, but probably not enough to want to drive to Milwaukee on a Thursday.

6.25   friday
Spoon with Thee Shams, The M's (Metro)
I think Spoon is one of those bands you can legitimately call "indie darlings," so expect lots of short sleeve dress shirts, sideburns and glasses at this one. The stuff I've got from them (they're on Matador; Matador is on EMusic; I subscribed to EMusic until the download limits started to suck) sounds like a more angular, almost math-rock version of Guided by Voices, if that makes any sense.

John Scofield "Real Jazz" Trio with the Brad Mehldau Trio (Symphony Center)
Tickets are only $22, which seems like a steal given how freakin' good Scofield is, especially in the company of Steve Swallow on bass and Modern Drummer cover boy Bill Stewart on drums.

Missile with Callisto, Miles of Empty, Javenilas (Double Door)
Sometimes I can just bask in how long I've been toiling away on the local scene with very little to show for it. Missile played with URT, Callisto's singer used to come by Vaughan's and Miles of Empty shared a bill with Lindsie Reitz deep in the suburbs on a Sunday night. Javenilas? No idea. Probably passed one of 'em on the street at some point.

The Paramours (Blue Iguana)
I have this ongoing dialogue with Paramours singer Niki Conrad (again, in case she's Googling) where we both always say how we're going to go see the other one play, and then have something else going on so we can't make it. Seriously, this has been going on between the Paramours and Diver for, like, six months now. So I guess it's fitting that we completely missed each other for lunch last week.

Rockets over Sweden with Matthew (Schuba's)
This is former Verbow frontman Jason Narducy's latest, who will probably never, ever go on tour with Jets to Brazil. Which is unfortunate.

Phish (Alpine Valley)
I was getting all choked up about this being the last go-round for the jam-bandwagoneers, but then I realized it was probably just an allergic reaction to something I ate. At least they're playing Alpine and not Tweeter.

6.26   saturday
Primus (Aragon)
After selling out the Aragon for their start-to-finish performance of Sailing the Seas of Cheese, the alternative proggers got a bit big for their britches and booked the second leg, which will include Frizzle Fry getting the start-to-finish treatment, at the spacious UIC Pavillion. Then subsequently moved it back to the Aragon due to poor ticket sales. Big difference between 5,000 seats and 10,000, there is.

Dokken with L.A. Guns (House of Blues)
Awwww, yeah. Wasn't there some band in town a few months ago that "featured" Traci Guns from L.A. Guns? Can you even have L.A. Guns without Traci Guns? Is that a rhetorical question, or was it a side project? And could any station other than the Loop be promoting this one?

Prince (Allstate Arena)   SOLD OUT!
Having had the good fortune to see the artist formerly known as The Artist Formerly Known As Prince at the Riviera, I just can't imagine such a big room as the Allstate working nearly as well. That said, I have no doubt Prince can bring the arena rock. This is the second of three sold-out shows, with the others on Friday and Monday.

Phish (Alpine Valley)
See Friday's pithy, wise-assed listing.

6.27   sunday
Abi Cruz (Lakeview Arts and Music Festival   SEE COZ LIVE!
We're all about the outdoor shows now with Abi, who I think officially now has "Cruzettes" in the band. Come for the novelty of the big dorky white guy (me) playing hip-hop, stay for the frozen bananas on a stick. It's a street festival, so I'm assuming there will be frozen bananas on a stick, otherwise what kind of street festival is it? Location is Lincoln and Ashland, and we're on the Melrose stage at noon sharp.

L.A. Galaxy at Chicago Fire (Soldier Field)   SEE COZ LIVE AND/OR ON THE JUMBOTRON!
This would be the second leg of the "spend the day with Coz" triathlon, as the Eastern Conference-leading Fire welcome back their international stars, who have been off saving the day for the U.S., Jamaica and Botswana.

Diver (Cullen's)   SEE COZ LIVE!
After the street festival, and the soccer game, why not kick back with one of your better-poured pints of Guinness at one of the city's better Irish bars? You can see if Anto has recovered from both his throat infection and having his wisdom teeth pulled last week.