list.in.to.chicago this week: 09.13.2004

UPDATE: Plura is not at Double Door this week.

Lots of Chicago mainstays on the docket this week, particularly Local H and Kill Hannah at Metro over the weekend. Actually, just lots and lots of shows this week, as the fall season may finally be upon us. This is the part where living in Chicago is a lot of fun, if somewhat exhausting and expensive to the relatively unconnected music fan.

Pick of the week
If you can find tickets for The Roots and Common on Thursday at HOB, that's pretty much a no-brainer. If you find extras, let me know.

I'm going to give a bigger than usual shoutout to my friends in Kick the Cat (Tuesday, Martyr's), since they're looking for a new home for their monthly fusion workout since Lyon's Den closed, and could use your support. Keane at Park West (Sunday) looks promising, and of course, the benefit show Sunday at Metro with Billy Corgan, Rick Nielsen and others is, at the very least, for a good cause.

list.in.to.COZ
Wednesday will be my second show with Kelly Steward, this time at Elbo Room. This is also, I think, the third band I've played with at that venue in a month's time. Mick is getting tired of seeing me.

Recap
Tried to see Jayh Johnson on Tuesday, but one sort of inherent problem with neighborhood bars that don't have music very often is that they do things like wait until the Cubs game is over before they start, and I had to get going to Vaughan's. Although not before an impromptu and somewhat awkward reunion of a certain band Jayh and I both played in recently.

Friday wound up being the biggest crowd I've seen at Elbo Room in a long time, mostly to see Sunday Morning Chameleon, who had a good thing going along a sort of Coldplay/U2 continuum. They also have what can only be described as a particularly attractive audience. We (Marigold Engine) had a pretty good energy onstage, and I think went over well. I'll refrain from commenting on the band before us, because I occasionally subscribe to the notion that, if you don't have anything good to say, at the very least don't put it online where it can be Googled.

And if you picked the third set in the "when will someone at Cullen's trip and fall into the stage during the Diver show" pool, congratulations!

9.13   monday
Terry Callier and Beyond (Green Mill)
I heard Callier years ago on Richard Milne's Local Anaesthetic show, and he's been on the outskirts of my radar as someone I'd like to check out since that time.

9.14   tuesday
Open Jam (Vaughan's)   COZ SINGS!
I just put together an MP3 CD of all the songs I either can sing, try to sing even though I can't quite pull it off, or would like to learn how to sing, and it's something like 158 tracks. Not quite the human jukebox that Tony is, but still kinda crazy.

Kick the Cat with Bad Dog (Martyr's)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
If it weren't for the George Clinton show on Wednesday, I'd venture a guess that these guys will play as many or more notes than all the other shows put together this week. That's not a bad thing. They just play a lot of notes, and put them in funny places that you might not expect if you only listen to, say, rock and pop.

9.15   wednesday
Kelly Steward with Drowning Wallace (Elbo Room)   SEE COZ LIVE!
This show is going to demonstrate the value of serial rehearsals, as we won't have a chance to all get together beforehand, but will have little breakout rehearsals with two or three of the four of us. Alternately, day one of the "rehearsal is overrated" tour, but Tony (Calderisi, from Vaughan's and Diver) play together enough that we should be able to manage.

George Clinton and the P-Funk All-Stars with Javier (House of Blues)
Is it wrong of me to be a fan of the Comedy Central movie staple P.C.U. almost entirely because George Clinton and P-Funk figure into the plot?

Scissor Sisters with DJ Sammy Jo (Metro)
Lots and lots of ink on this band lately, with a Darkness-esque debate as to whether or not it's pure schtick of just throwback eccentricity with conviction. In this case, it's a glam/dance/rock amalgam (amalglam?) that achieved a measure of notoriety for a cover version of Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb."

The Ex with Triage (Empty Bottle)
All I really know about these guys is that they did an EP with Tortoise that I still haven't gotten around to picking up, but Margasak really likes their new record.

9.16   thursday
The Roots with Common (House of Blues)   SOLD OUT!
This looked like a hot show when tickets first went on sale and Common wasn't on the bill. And still I didn't buy a ticket. Now it's looking like a candidate for the best show of the fall season, not that I'll be able to vouch for it personally. The conventional wisdom seems to be that Tipping Point is not as good as Phrenology, but that the band is still fantastic. I have to imagine the band, or at least drummer ?uestlove, will back up Common as well.

Suicide Machines with Planet Smashers, Bang Bang (Metro)
I want to say that these guys were pegged as a sort of "next big thing" back in 1998 or so when their Battle Hymns record came out, but nothing seems to have panned out except some lineup reshuffling and a return to an indie label after four discs on Hollywood. Then again, I think it was DeRogatis who was touting them, and he's wrong often enough that he could be a weatherman.

9.17   friday
Local H with Outlaw Family Band, Street Wisemen (Metro)
Yes Virginia, there were guitar/drum duos before White Stripes, including this Chicago favorite. I, for one, never totally got on board the Local H bandwagon, but they certainly have written some good tunes.

The Derek Trucks Band with Frank Bang's Secret Stash (Park West)
I first saw Trucks, nephew of Allman Brothers drummer Butch Trucks, play at Lounge Ax when he was about 12, on a bill with Col. Bruce Hampton and the Aquarium Rescue Unit. I almost don't want to know how old he is now, but having toured for what's got to be nearly half his life by now, I'm figuring he's getting the hang of it.

The Von Bondies with Auf Der Mar (Bottom Lounge)
Speaking of the White Stripes, here's another Detroit garage-y band of a similar ilk, even if they actually have a bassist. Speaking of bassists, Hole and Smashing Pumpkins vet Melissa Auf der Mar is back again. This has got to be three or four times in about two months, so give her credit for just hitting the road and working her record.

Fashion Bomb with Flatline, The Heavils (Double Door)
This was more interesting when Plura was supposed to be playing, but they're not. Diver bassist Avi Kopernik might be playing with Flatline, though.

Anne Harris with Jenn Cristy (Gunther Murphy's)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
Last time I saw Harris, her music had acquired a bit more of an edge than I remember it having in the past. And, as I think I also mentioned at the time, drummer Bob Garrett has the hybrid drum/percussion kit down cold.

9.18   saturday
Kill Hannah with Seymour Glass, DJ Tommie Sunshine (Metro)
If anyone wants to explain the whole "tube-sock-on-the-arm" thing to me, I'm all ears. Watch as every disaffected goth teen in the greater Chicagoland area descends on Wrigleyville for this one.

Light FM with Stellar Road, Buddy Nuisance, Air This Side Of Caution, DJ Tankboy (Double Door)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
These guys seem to be booking shows at a pretty rapid clip as of late. And I still haven't caught one of 'em. I'm curious to see if Air This Side Of Caution has expanded past the overwhelming Jeff Buckley influence so prevalent the last time I saw them.

Green Day (Vic Theatre)
I'm not sure what to make of the fact that I saw the big display ad and didn't register that the show was this week. Looks like it's part of a quick promotional burst to coincide with the band's new record.

9.19   sunday
Keane with French Kicks (Park West)
They're not getting as much attention as Franz Ferdinand, but are still part of the latest wave of Britpop to hit our shores. I dialed these guys up on Rhapsody, and one of the little "fun facts" they'll pull up on the screen was that the band's name has nothing to do with Manchester United midfielder Roy Keane. Or Tottenham forward Robbie Keane.

Another State Of Mind Benefit Concert (Metro)
I didn't really have any good information as to the underlying cause for the last benefit for David-James and Sonya Figeroa, and the Metro site doesn't say anything other than it's a benefit. Billy Corgan, Rick Nielsen, Nicholas Tremulis, Caviar, members of Kill Hannah and members of Giant Step will be performing.