list.in.to.chicago this week: 07.05.2004

Yeah, I'm running late again, but with the holiday weekend, I'm guessing most of you wouldn't even get this until you check into work today.

Pick of the week
Absolutely no question. Go see Tributosaurus as Peter Gabriel with The e-mics on Wednesday at Martyr's. Should be way cool.

list.in.to.COZ
Two shows this week, on top of the Open Jam at Vaughan's on Tuesday. We've got Abi Cruz on Wednesday at Elbo Room and Diver on Friday at Vaughan's. There's even a chance to see bands I'm in but won't be performing with out in Mount Prospect with Nitrous Foxide on Friday.

Recap
Caught Ivory Wire on Friday, and heard a couple new songs that sounded pretty good. Openers House of Moist, from Houston, were solid, but for all the hype, crowd and gear, I wasn't all that impressed with Blue October. Did I mention all the gear? They had this totally overactive tour manager that seemed contractually obligated to look busy at all times leading up to the band taking the stage, checking and double-checking the aforementioned gear. And you don't expect a band in Schuba's to have a bass rig bigger than the bassist all that often. If ever.

I also saw Bumpus at Elbo Room on Saturday, but when I say that, I mean I saw members of the band at the upstairs bar having a drink. I didn't stick around to listen.

7.05   monday
Me, Tony Calderisi and Steve Roach (downtown Arlington Heights)   SEE COZ LIVE!
I know it's patently unhelpful for me to plug a show after it happened, but this is more for those of you who might have been at the parade in the northwest 'burb, saw a float go by with a band playing on it, or occasionally a band looking like they were playing, except that you could only hear the drums for five or ten second intervals while the battery peaked out, and thought to yourself "is that Coz?" To which I say yes, it was. May have even been on the WGN news, but I'm not that obsessive about my media whoredom any more, so I don't know.

7.06   tuesday
Open Jam (Vaughan's)   COZ SINGS!
Last week we had a guy follow up Sarah McLachlan's "Ice Cream" with "Crazy Train." See what you missed?

Jet with Sloan, The Everyones (House of Blues)   SOLD OUT!
I'm not nearly as down on Jet as I was when I first heard them, but also not up on them enough to try to finagle tickets for this sold out show at the River North spot. Or even to bail on my soccer game when a ticket is offered to me.

7.07   wednesday
Abi Cruz with Shad and the Thirty Block Walk (Elbo Room)   SEE COZ LIVE!
Yet another chance to see me getting down with my Latin soul self. My biggest question for this show is how we're going to fit all the singers on stage. It's not a very big stage.

Tributosaurus with e-mics (Martyr's) FRIENDS OF COZ!
This month, Peter Gabriel gets the Tributo-treatment. You have no idea how bummed I am that I can't make it. Almost as bummed as I was when I found out they already had enough guest drummers filled in, as I think I actually offered Dan my firstborn for the chance to play "Kiss of Life." And, as if that all weren't enough, Wes and the e-mics opening the show.

7.08   thursday
Alan Gresik's Swing Shift Orchestra (Green Mill)
I have to wonder if the name of the band plays into the popularity of a swing band with the martini-drinking younger folks. Because just looking at this, I figure these guys aren't as popular as Mighty Blue Kings or Jimmy Sutton's Four Charms, and it's solely because the name is a bit too unwieldy.

Blue Man Group (Briar Street Theatre)
Every once in a while, I need to use the "in case of emergency, break glass" listing of the Blue Men. Not a whole lot else coming up for a Thursday in July, for whatever reason.

7.09   friday
Diver (Vaughan's)   SEE COZ LIVE!
Still hammering out the details, but it looks like this will be a full band appearance at our home away from home. I've been promising and not delivering new songs for a while now, so I'll keep quiet on that front until I'm sure we've actually expanded the set.

Nitrous Foxide (Famous Freddie's, Mount Prospect)   SEE COZ SEE DARIO LIVE!
Okay, this one's not going to be funny unless you've got HTML on in your e-mail. The Diver show came up first, so I'm leaving Foxide in the capable hands (and feet) of Soulfix's Dario Civinelli.

J. Davis Trio with The Baldwin Bros., Juice (Double Door)
Some venerable bands on the dancier side of the Chicago rock scene, with Davis' unique hip-hop/acid jazz sound and the Baldwins doing their electronica thing. Haven't seen either on a bill in a while.

7.10   saturday
Animation (N.B.G.C. Summerfest, Irving Park west of Western)
Okay, so a friend of mine directed me to a website full of Rush midi files, which I found entirely amusing, so I'm in a bit of a Rush frame of mind. Lo and behold, a tribute band playing an outdoor festival! Also on Saturday's docket are tributes to Alice in Chains (Angry Chair) and Black Sabbath (War Pigs). I'm morbidly curious about the vibe and expected mulletude of this particular event, to say the least.

Sucker Punch (Duke O'Brien's)
I haven't the foggiest idea who these guys are, or even where Duke O'Brien's is, but seeing as how Step Zero was originally called Suckerpunch, you can see why it caught my eye.

7.11   sunday
Nicholas Barron's Hyperactive (Long Room)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
Okay, remember last week when I said I wasn't sure if Long Room would even be open for the holiday and you should call first to check if Nicholas and company would still be playing? I didn't either. No extenuating holiday circumstances this time, so I have every reason to expect the band will be back.

Sumo (Elbo Room)
If Metromix is to be believed, the improvised acid jazz collective returns after a couple months off.

Madonna (United Center)
I quoted it elsewhere on the site a while ago, but I love the opening of the New York Times' review of this tour. "Madonna calls her new traveling show the Re-Invention World Tour, and, if anything, the name seems a bit too obvious. (You don't see John Kerry crisscrossing the country on a tour called Lots of Speeches.)"

USA vs. Poland, New England Revolution vs. Chicago Fire (Soldier Field)
It's the first U.S. Men's National Soccer Team appearance in Chicago after some number of years that I could probably look up, or just guess that it's around fifteen or so, followed by your MLS action pitting the Fire against themselves, really, as they are a much better team than they've looked lately. They especially need to find some semblance of rhythm against the Revs in order to push them further into the cellar of the Eastern Conference.