list.in.to.chicago this week: 12.27.2004

Great googly moogly, there are a ton of shows this week. About half of them are sold out, though, but there are still a handful that aren't, including some on Friday night.

And yeah, I guess I could have flown back from Virginia, unpacked, reacclimated myself to my surroundings AND pounded out a newsletter yesterday, but I also could have continued the low-impact pace of my holiday, so there. It's fun not having to answer to an editor!

Pick of the week
Among the usual suspects, we've got Long Count on Wednesday (Tryst), Tributosaurus as the Who (Friday and Saturday at Martyrs') and the Assassins on Thursday at Schuba's. Much buzz and/or hype about The Redwalls (Wednesday at Schuba's and Thursday at The Hideout), so that may be worth checking out. If you can find Guided By Voices tickets (Thursday and Friday at Metro), that should be memorable one way or the other. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

list.in.to.COZ
Vaughan's. Tonight. Be there. Unless you get this tomorrow.

Recap
It's the "you make me nauseous" verse of the Grinch that keeps tripping me up. Aside from that, I think Vaughan's was all I did last week, by virtue of the whole "not being here" thing.

I'm not even going to insult you by mentioning a show that happened last night. Let's just move on, shall we?

12.28   tuesday
Open Jam (Vaughan's)   COZ SINGS!
I realized too late last week that "Father Christmas" from The Kinks would have been a good selection. If I have time tonight after work, I may still try to learn it. Still up in the air as to whether or not I'll take one last shot at The Grinch.

Gayle Ritt (Elbo Room)
The former Chicagoan is in town for a couple of days as part of her "Gayle by Rail" tour, which brings her to, natch, Union Station on Thursday night. Technically, there are some old train tracks on the north-south street of Elbo Room's intersection, but this show isn't part of that.

Ted Nugent (House of Blues)
I read somewhere that the Nuge left the Motor City for Texas, with lots of red state/blue state commentary being left in his wake. Because if we've learned anything in this past year, it's that the media will flog a story at least six months past it's logical expiration.

12.29   wednesday
The Redwalls with Baby Teeth, The New Constitution, DJ Poseur (Schuba's)
Initially, everybody was comparing these guys to the Beatles, but lately, I'm seeing more references to the Kinks. And to their impending big-label debut on Capitol, so this week might be one of those "see 'em before they take off" kind of weeks.

Fall Out Boy with Midtown, Gym Class Heroes, The Academy Is (Metro)   SOLD OUT!
One of the ways this newsletter/column/whatever helps me keep a little more "current" than I'd be otherwise is that occasionally I'll see some band I've never, ever heard of selling out shows. This is one of those times. Apparently, they're from Wilmette, have been around since 2000, and I still haven't ever heard of 'em.

Long Count Quartet (Tryst)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
Again, this is a great match of band and room, and with posters up hyping the combination, could stick around for a while if people take to it. Which means you should go.

Spaceways Incorporated (Empty Bottle)
I think I downloaded an album from these guys off of EMusic a while ago, and that I liked it. The group was formed to somehow combine P-Funk and Sun Ra, if that gives you any sort of bearings. Anyway, with Hamid Drake, Nate McBride and Ken Vandermark, this should largely solidify Wednesday night of this week as a good jazz night.

12.30   thursday
Fall Out Boy with Midtown, Gym Class Heroes, The Academy Is (Metro)   SOLD OUT!
The other salient bit that allmusic.com was able to tell me about these guys is that they recorded their Take This To Your Grave album, on the Fueled By Ramen label fueled by one of the guys from Less Than Jake, with the same producer as Lucky Boys Confusion, which is another local band that seemed to suddenly appear in the city after building a lot of buzz with the all ages crowd in the suburbs. So I'm thinking that's what's going on here.

The Gelheads with The Snaggs, Swizzle Tree, Best Days Behind (Bottom Lounge)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
Okay, I gotta give Jeff some love here, since we have a new project in the works. They may still be looking for a guitarist, so if anybody out there is looking for an original band in which to ply your trade, check 'em out.

Umphrey's McGee with Buckethead (Riviera Theatre)   SOLD OUT!
Along with the Redwalls and maybe Rachel Yamagata, the success of Umphrey's in 2004 is probably one of the bigger success stories of the local rock scene -- yes, I'm qualifying the rock part to leave Kanye West out of the debate for now -- this year, and so they're blowing it out in their hometown with a couple of sold out shows.

Guided By Voices with Tobin Sprout (Metro)   SOLD OUT!
While those three are looking at the musical road ahead, Robert Pollard and company are claiming they're calling it quits with a pair of shows at Metro. I thought about getting tickets for this back when they went on sale, but never did, and of course it sold out.

The Redwalls with Manishevitz, DJ Matt Fields (Hideout)
See Wednesday's listing. Both venues are pretty intimate, so it's largely a matter of personal preference or opening acts.

Legends of Hip-Hop (Arie Crown Theater)
Public Enemy, Doug E. Fresh, Slick Rick, Too Short, MC Lyte, Big Daddy Kane, need I say more?

Assassins with Plastic Crimewave Sound, Woman Is The New Man (Schuba's)
I wasn't sure if this was a real show, as it's part of the Onion's "Upstairs DJ" series. It sounded more like local bands spinning their favorite music, but the critic's choice callout in the Reader tells me that comes after they play a set downstairs. It also tells me their original major-label deal with Arista fell through a full two years ago. I'm always the last to know about these things.

The Sidewinders (Green Dolphin Street)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
Metromix has these guys listed as "R&B/Hip-Hop." Dan, is the record company already meddling with the band? 'Cause the Tribune is never, ever, you know, wrong.

12.31   friday
Guided By Voices with The Go (Metro)   SOLD OUT!
Now, given that frontman Bob Pollard has, shall we say, a history of being somewhat inebriated on stage, I can only imagine what the last night of the last tour on New Year's Eve might bring. This is why I originally considered tickets for the Thursday show.

Urge Overkill with The Sights, University and Suffrajett (Logan Square Auditorium)
Blackie who? These guys seem to be coming back in fits and starts since their mid-90s heyday, but I don't get a good vibe yet as to whether or not anyone cares.

Tributosaurus (Martyrs')   FRIENDS OF COZ!
A rare non-Wednesday appearance from the musical chameleon, and the bigness of the holiday requires bigness of material, so they'll be tackling The Who this time around. Would have been a good one to sit in on if it didn't mean abandoning other New Year's plans. Of course, I still haven't figured out what I'm doing.

Umphrey's McGee with Minikiss (Riviera Theatre)   SOLD OUT!
Okay, so there's a different opening act for the New Year's Eve gig, with Minikiss taking over for Buckethead. I wonder if this means there will be a guy -- or maybe one more guy? -- with a KFC bucket on his head wandering the streets of Chicago on New Year's, or if he had another obligation elsewhere.

01.01   saturday
Tributosaurus (Martyrs')   FRIENDS OF COZ!
Anything worth doing is worth doing again, especially when most people might have already had plans for New Year's Eve.

David Fathead Newman with Henry Johnson Organ Express (Jazz Showcase)
Okay, remember the tenor saxophonist in the movie Ray? This is him. As usual, this is part of a six-night, two-shows-a-night stand at the Showcase, including an 11pm start on New Year's Eve that probably doesn't include any party favors or champagne toasts whatsoever, but I'm just guessing.

01.02   sunday
Liquid Soul (Martyrs')   FRIENDS OF COZ!
Yes, I'm going to go on and on again about how funny it was when former Bull and current Comcast Sports Net personality "Stormin'" Norman Van Lier got up on stage with Mars, Phil (the FOC in band) and the boys last time I saw them. What can I say? I was tremendously amused.

Nicholas Barron (Long Room)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
For the time being, I'm going to forgo the name of the band, because I don't know if it's Hyperactive or Tongue in Groove. What's funny is that there are a bunch of posters in the washroom that all have a different name for the band, going all the way back to "The Free Associates." It's been mostly the same band all along, though.