list.in.to.chicago this week: 11.01.2004

I was going to go with massive Election Day puns and commentary this week, but for the most part, elected not to.

Whoops.

Pick of the week
The Beastie Boys show on Thursday (United Center) might be appealing to some of you, but I've been hearing too much early Beasties -- which I'm not as big a fan of -- lately to be totally on board, and I'm not sure how well that'll go in the cavernous UC one way or the other. I'd be more inclined to go with The Donnas (Wednesday, Metro) or King's X (Thursday, Durty Nellie's) in more intimate settings. Or Helmet on Saturday (Empty Bottle) in MUCH more intimate settings.

list.in.to.COZ
Two, count 'em TWO, Diver shows this week -- Friday at Blue Bayou and Sunday at Cullen's. No excuses!

Recap
I could tell you about the Bar Thirteen show, which I thought went well despite the fact that I, as a solo artist, almost outnumbered the audience. But I'd rather tell you about Saturday night's Halloween party at the House of Blues Foundation Room.

Long story short, my costume was making fun of Mancow as a cheap ripoff of Howard Stern. Which is to say, I dressed up as him with some props. Turns out he was actually judging the contest, and either didn't get the joke (or see the props) or has a better sense of humor than I had given him credit for, and I won. More details, including pictures, up on www.notabbott.com later tonight or tomorrow.

11.01   monday
Tears For Fears with Dirty Vegas (The Vic)
There's something inherently funny about a show from the band who wrote both "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" and "Shout" on the night before Election Day, although I guess the latter song would be more appropriate if Howard Dean had gotten the Democractic nomination. And it's still better than if the election were last week, in which case the theme song could have been R.E.M.'s "It's The End Of The World As We Know It." I've gotten mixed reports on the new album.

11.02   tuesday
Open Jam (Vaughan's)   COZ SINGS!
I'm going to try to make a point of getting the Vaughan's staff to get the live Daily Show election coverage on the TVs before we get rolling.

Vote Then Rock (Park West)
If you bring your voting receipt, you can get in for free to see this concert, with Poi Dog Pondering headlining. It's a good idea, but might be too good of an idea, so you may end up waiting in line longer than voters in Ohio and Wisconsin.

11.03   wednesday
The Donnas with Von Bondies, The Starlight Desperation, The Reputation (Metro)
It's still early to tell if it's buzz or hype, but I'm hearing good things about the new album from the all-female throwback punk outfit. Mostly that there's been a real tangible sense of growth across their last couple of releases, from which it follows that this is their best, most mature album to date.

Tributosaurus with Motion To Fix (Martyr's)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
This month, the band becomes The Smiths. I'm not terribly familiar with the whole Smiths catalog, so I don't know what kind of mileage they can get out of it, but I think the band thrives in situations where they can get a bit deeper into the history.

Your Little Ponies (Beat Kitchen)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
I'm at that point where I really need to see these guys again, because I tend to repeat myself too much when talking them up. Not quite Tenacious D's brand of humor, but damn close.

11.04   thursday
Beastie Boys with Talib Kweli (United Center)
With no hockey and crappy basketball, this is probably one of the most entertaining nights you'll get at the house the Michael Jordan built for a while.

Jayh Johnson (Bar Thirteen)   FRIEND OF COZ!
We're still trying to get this Thursday series at the Wicker Park nightspot off the ground here, so come on by. And tell them you meant to come by to hear me last week, and when am I playing again?

King's X (Durty Nellie's, Palatine)
The next big thing that never was, but this hard rocking trio has managed to sustain a career by not overreaching their ambition. Which is to say, they've pretty much stuck to their guns stylistically rather than jump through hoops to cash in. That's a good thing. And I've just been informed that Friends of Coz Soulfix are one of two opening bands.

11.05   friday
Diver (Blue Bayou)   SEE COZ LIVE!
The two burning questions are clearly what malady or affliction might knock Anto out this time (so far, it's been a recurring throat infection and massive back pain) and whether or not we'll be debuting any of the new tunes we're allegedly learning.

Slayer with Killswitch Engage, Mastodon, Agent Zero (Aragon)
This tour looks very much like metal legends Slayer trying to pass the torch to a new wave of metal bands. I've heard pretty good things about Mastodon, in particular. From the first thirty seconds of Killswitch Engage's latest, it sounds solid as well.

Peven Everett and Seance Divine with Motep, Mr. Greenweedz (HotHouse)
I was a big fan of Everett back when he was Swimmer's "secret weapon," and I've read some intriguing things about what he's been up to since, but I haven't heard any of it yet.

Missile with Linus, 9-Fifty (Gunther Murphy's)
I need to maybe get me some recordings from Missile, so I can have a more fixed idea of what they actually sound like. And I'm always disconcerted when I see Linus playing anywhere, since that was also the name of the former band of my former URT bandmates.

11.06   saturday
Sunday Morning Chameleon with Facing Winter, Drowning Wallace, Austin Willach (Elbo Room)
Didn't these guys just play last week? I recently found out, through a mutual friend, that these guys are pretty brand new, which could explain the questionable strategy and typical rookie mistake of playing maybe a little too often as an original band. Then again, it actually worked out well for Friends of Coz The Changes, and none of the original bands I've been in have actually gotten very far with the more sparse approach, so what the hell do I know? They may actually have gotten out of the gate with a big enough splash to make it work.

Helmet with Instruction (Empty Bottle)
Yeah, Helmet. And yeah, the Empty Bottle. Should be interesting. And really loud. I like the new record so far.

Robyn Hitchcock with Steve Frisbie (Schuba's)   SOLD OUT!
I think the last time this wry British songwriter was in town, I commented that he had written one of the best songs about cheese, to which a friend replied that he's probably written the ONLY song about cheese. And about SeaTac airport. Longtime Hitchcoch fans will quickly realize that I only really listen to that one record...

11.07   sunday
Diver (Cullen's)   SEE COZ LIVE!
At our last Cullen's show, I'm sorry to report -- okay, not really -- that no one managed to trip and fall into what can only loosely be described as the "stage." With Sundays being such a big draw here, I don't think we'll have that problem this time around.

Matthew Sweet with Velvet Crush (The Vic)
Tony's going to be upset that we've got a gig the same time as this one.