list.in.to.chicago this week: 08.30.2004

This week looks uncharacteristically light, but there are still some good ones.

And seeing as how I'm becoming a total slacker when it comes to seeing shows these days -- this day job will be the end of me -- I'd like to open up the floor for comments on shows that you, the intrepid l.i.t.c. reader, might have seen.

By now, you know the drill. I typically write on Sundays, so get me a couple of quick lines about shows you may have seen during the week before then. There's a chance this may also wind up in a new feature on the website that I'm tossing around in my head.

Pick of the week
Wednesday looks like a really good night. You've got the Paul Wertico Trio at HotHouse, and your monthly installment of Tributosaurus as Joe Jackson at Martyr's. Also, a pair of Poi Dog Pondering shows over the weekend at Double Door look like they should be a good time.

There's also the Chicago Jazz Festival this weekend, but nothing really jumped out at me on the schedule. Siouxsie Sioux is at House of Blues this week, and Sarah MacLachlan is at the United Center, but I was having trouble coming up with anything witty to say about them.

list.in.to.COZ
Come to Vaughan's on Tuesday if you'd like, because you really don't need to be that awake at work on Wednesday, but other than that, you've got the week off.

Recap
So I played in Wilmette for the first time ever. I didn't know what to expect, and I was right. C.J. Arthur's is more of a restaurant than a bar, but the crowd was appreciative and the set went pretty well. We had an opening act that was more than half my age, which was maybe a little disconcerting. Also, I've learned that the universal interband hand signal for "slow down" looks an awful lot like the one for "play quieter," at least after a couple of shots.

8.30   monday
Nicholas Barron Trio (Navy Pier Beer Garden, 1pm)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
Having a tough time getting started at your work week -- maybe because you had a bit too much to drink on Sunday -- and want an excuse to take a long lunch? No? I guess that's just me, then.

8.31   tuesday
Open Jam (Vaughan's)   COZ SINGS!
I actually tried three songs I hadn't ever played before last week. Two out of three of them went alright, I think, and it just goes to show that playing Journey is sort of a silly idea.

9.01   wednesday
Paul Wertico Trio with Andreas Kapsalis Trio (HotHouse)
This is part of the Jazz Club Tour put on by the Jazz Institute of Chicago in advance of next weekend's big Jazz Festival in Grant Park. It's also probably a better bill than any of the Petrillo shows.

Tributosaurus with Kari Nelson (Martyr's)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
This month it's Joe Jackson, but I likely won't be able to make it. Your job, should you choose to accept it, it to report back on how it goes, and to let me know who they're going to be next month so I can start bombarding Dan with e-mails to let me sit in if it's somebody I like...

9.02   thursday
Jimmy Eat World with Paris, Texas (Metro)   SOLD OUT!
Yeah, I'm a little surprised this one is sold out, too. That said, I can personally vouch for the international appeal of their megahit "The Middle," after hearing it on an overnight train to Seoul in South Korea. They'd play the song, then they would, as far as I could tell, translate the words into English. It was very, very bizarre.

9.03   friday
Goldie with Photek, Total Science, MC Armanni, DJ? Acucrack (Metro)
This was one of those guys, along with Moby and Tricky and the Chemical Brothers, who were supposed to take over the world when Electronica (with a capital E) was the "next big thing" after grunge. Obviously, that sort of success never happened, but with electronica (small e) being a genre -- like a lot of others, actually -- that could thrive in the underground, a lot of those artists never exactly went away. Or, if Goldie did go away, he came back.

9.04   saturday
Escape From Earth with Inept, Beneathme, Dysception (Metro)
Good night for bands who shared bills with URT back in the day. Bad day for spelling and proper spacing further down the bill.

Poi Dog Pondering (Double Door)
Frank Orrall and company are back in action, playing a smaller venue than in recent history. Usually they'll hit The Vic or Metro, so I'm wondering if the band's audience has started to dwindle. Without any new material lately -- and I could be wrong on that -- I could see how that might eventually have an effect, although the band rode the wave of it's live shows in town for quite some time.

Light FM with Clearly and the Mainstream, Twin Wrecks the Memory, Toyband (Bottom Lounge)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
This is the part where I loudly regret not having seen Light FM in a while, and that I hope mentioning them here spurs me to action, but there's a good chance it might not. Maybe this time will be different, but my association of "bottom lounge" and this Saturday is that I really, really hope that the Chicago Fire stop lounging at the bottom of their conference and get a win at home earlier in the evening.

Rollover with John Kimler, Finneus (Abbey Pub)
The venerable -- I still remember these guys from the early 90s -- rock outfit will feature special guest Paris Delane from Sonia Dada. Which seems like an odd pairing to me until I realize that as well as I know both bands by name, I couldn't tell you the first thing about what they sound like, even if I did see Rollover back in the day, which I think I did.

9.05   sunday
Liquid Soul (Martyr's)
Speaking of longtime Chicago bands, it looks like the acid-jazz juggernaut is starting to make some noise around town again. This is the second or third show I've seen from them in a couple of months, and with the holiday on Monday, could seek to recapture the big Sunday night crowds from Liquid Soul's heyday.

Poi Dog Pondering (Double Door)
See Saturday's listing, with the added bonus of the big Sunday night before a holiday mentioned above.