list.in.to.chicago this week: 12.20.2004

This shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone, but searching "rock/pop" events for the next 7 days on Metromix yielded only 77 events. So this week's installment may be a bit shorter than usual. And the bar considerably lowered.

Also, apologies in advance if you get this twice. I've been having some trouble sending mail to AOL accounts today, so I may have to re-send this later once that gets resolved.

Happy holidays!

Pick of the week
This Clash Christmas on Wednesday at Schuba's looks damn cool, so if anyone goes, let me know how it is. I'll be on a plane to Richmond, VA and my parents' new house for the holidays. On that same night, you've got The Paramours at Joe's, and while I'm not 100% sure, they may be my favorite cover band that I'm not actually in. That's sort of damning with faint praise, seeing as how I don't actually know a heck of a lot of cover bands, but praise nonetheless.

list.in.to.COZ
Just Vaughan's this week, but that should be a nice pre-Holiday vibe. Nothing too crazy, and yet festive.

Recap
I went to see the Long Count Quartet on Wednesday, and I've seen them before in other rooms, and I've seen other bands (well, one other band) in that same room. But the combination of the two just fit really well together. There was this sense of rightness about it. Also, there was this one very drunk woman with some interesting dance moves.

Thursday night was The Changes at Metro, and the bigness of the room added a bit of a new dimension to the sound, which I would describe as sort of a happy My Bloody Valentine. This is on top of all the other comparisons I've made over time. One of the Metro bartenders, whose opinion I respect, had good things to say about Sybris, and the song and a half I heard, coupled with the compliment, will have me keeping an eye out for them. I only stayed for two songs of Troubled Hubble, and while there was a certain Guided By Voices element that intrigued me, I was really, really tired by that point.

12.20   monday
Clay Aiken (Chicago Theatre)
See what I mean about lowering the bar? On a related note, some kid at the Abbey Pub event a couple weeks back was swearing up and down that if I shaved my goatee, I'd look like Simon Cowell. No, I don't see it, either.

12.21   tuesday
Open Jam (Vaughan's)   COZ SINGS!
Okay, third time's the charm. I actually didn't do too badly with the Grinch song last week. The words, anyway. Chords were another matter entirely. Drinking is bad, kids, and, uh, stay in school.

The Cells with SundayRunners, Todd Bowie (Schuba's)
These guys used to be a sort of alter-ego band of Box-o-Car, who are, if memory serves, no longer called Box-o-Car, so maybe they no longer have two or three guys in common? Don't know, but they're probably still big ol' Midwestern power pop, if memory serves.

Kevin Spacey (House of Blues)   SOLD OUT
What's next, Minnie Driver at Double Door? Wait, did I already use that joke? Anyway, this is the accompanying tour for Spacey's new Bobby Darin biopic.

12.22   wednesday
Chicago Calling II: Another Very Special Clash Christmas (Schuba's)
Pretty self-explanatory, and the lineup is impressive. London Calling -- I'm assuming they mean the Clash tribute band -- with Jon Langford, John Haggerty, James Johnston, MCs Ronnie P and Versas Style, Dave Specter, Rick Ness, Balty DeLey, Josiah Mazzaschi, Chris Dorff, Ben Hollis and Dave Crawford.

The Paramours (Joe's Bar)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
Celebrate the end of Christmas shopping with Niki and the boys, or, if you're not done yet, I figure the Best Buy around the corner is going to be open pretty late.

Long Count Quartet (Tryst)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
As I said in the recap -- unless I forgot -- this group fits this room really well, and makes for a nice break to your week, assuming you're not in the process of leaving town for the holidays.

12.23   thursday
Paris Delane and His Tye Dye Skye with Leeroy (Double Door)
I met Sonia Dada singer Delane a while back, and he's a great singer and a nice guy to boot. We both appeared on the full-length debut from...

Miga (Underground Wonder Bar)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
As I was saying, I play drums on five or six tracks from Miga's full-length debut, which came out about four years ago. He plays at the late-night venue pretty much every week, I'm assuming solo or with a small acoustic group.

12.24   friday
Hairbanger's Ball (Joe's)
Okay, so scratch the "not a creature was stirring" crap, although I suppose the bit about "such a clatter" still applies. Still haven't seen these guys, although their singer guested with Foxide once or twice.

12.25   saturday
Merry Christmas!
I've got a mostly updated wish list on Amazon, but seeing how much time I spend on this newsletter and on NotAbbott.com in general, you might want to think about getting me a life.

Frank Morgan Quartet (Jazz Showcase)
As long as I can remember, Joe Segal has not let any artist, no matter how big, make him break his Tuesday through Sunday run of shows every week. Apparently that runs all the way up to Jesus. Gotta give it to Joe for sticking to his principles.

12.26   sunday
Sumo (Elbo Room)
If your family makes as much food as mine does for Christmas, the "shake dat ass" mantra of the Sunday night Elbo Room mainstays might be crucial to working off some of the holiday dinner.

Nicholas Barron's Hyperactive (Long Room)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
Every time I just assume Nicholas and company are playing in and around a holiday, they aren't, so call first.