list.in.to.chicago this week: 02.21.2005

In a perfect world, The Presidents of the United States of America -- or whatever they're calling themselves these days, but you know who I'm talking about, the ones who sang "Lump" -- would (a) still be around, and (b) be playing somewhere this week.

If I were more industrious, I'd try to find lots of acts with some sort of presidential tie-in. Lucky for you, I'm really lazy, even on a day off.

Pick of the week
This week's highlights seem pretty straighforward. American Motherload at Double Door on Saturday. Ani DiFranco with Andrew Bird at The Vic on Sunday if tickets really are still available. And if my friend Jeff is to be believed, Indigineous at House of Blues on Thursday.

list.in.to.COZ
Just Vaughan's this week, but they're giving away the Guinness glasses again! Next full band show on the calendar is Diver on Sunday, March 6th at Cullen's.

Recap
I posted a full-fledged review of the Keane show on notabbott.com. Click here if your e-mail client doesn't bust this message down to plain text. In short, powerful voice, too many slow or midtempo songs, and the Redwalls' ultimate success will depend on how much they're seen more than how much they're heard.

And I caught most of the first set from Nicholas Barron's Hyperactive last night -- let's face it, I'm old and can't stay out too late anymore -- and they have, for the time being, gone to a straight-up blues thing. Nicholas mentioned it and may have explained why between songs early on, but I didn't catch it.

2.21   monday
Danzig with Kataklysm, Trivium, Eyes of Fire (House of Blues)
One thing I've noticed in the course of writing this newsletter is that big industrial shows have this strong tendency to happen on Sunday or Monday nights. I'm not sure why that is. Maybe they're riffing on the notion that a lot of bars have "industry nights" on those nights for the people who work in the service industry.

2.22   tuesday
Open Jam (Vaughan's)   COZ SINGS!
The new stuff went over pretty well last week, especially the Wilco tune. I need to find a better key for Genesis' "Misunderstanding," and you haven't heard Judas Priest 'til you've heard it done on acoustic guitar. We'll see if I reprise some of this week or try the next batch of tunes I've been working on.

2.23   wednesday
Mari Ann Jayme and Christy Ogilvie (Fitzgerald's, Berwyn)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
You may recall Jayme as the singer in the short-lived R&B band I put together -- eventually called Clusterfunk -- about three years back. The bassist in that project, Jeff Hanley, is also on board for this show. I haven't ever heard Mari Ann doing her own stuff, so this could be interesting.

Luna with The Hong Kong (Metro)
Remember a few weeks ago, when I was saying I always got the band Low confused with another band, but couldn't remember who? It was Luna. And with Yo La Tengo coming to town in a month or two, you've got sort of a trifecta of slowed-down indie rock.

Disturbed with Anthrax, Drowning Pool, Soil (Aragon)   SOLD OUT!
This is a benefit for the Dimebag Darrell Memorial Fund, established for the former Pantera guitarist who was tragically gunned down on stage back in December. Like I said back then, a moment of silence would be inappropriate.

2.24   thursday
Indigineous with Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers (House of Blues)
These guys have certainly caught WXRT's ear, as they've been plugging them quite a bit for about a year now. A buddy of mine has been telling me that they're very much worth checking out, but I haven't really heard much yet.

Scottinho (Smoke Daddy)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
It's Scott's birthday, or close enough for him to be calling this a birthday gig. Ask him about the surprise party that Chris and McKenna from Oncle Julien threw for us about (gasp) eight or nine years ago, because I don't think I've ever heard a story of someone trying so hard to not go to the location of the surprise party in my life. I thought it was funny, anyway.

Floorbirds (Beat Kitchen)   CO-WORKER OF COZ!
I guess I could expand the definition of the "Friends of Coz" category to include co-workers, but really, I don't think I've had more than two conversations than the guy in the office in this band, and I may have been a little critical of them last time out, so we'll leave it like this for now. In any event, if you like the vibe that other local bands like The Redwalls are going for, you might like these guys as well.

2.25   friday
Modest Mouse with Mason Jennings, Cass McCombs (Congress Theater)   SOLD OUT!
A lot of people really liked Good News For People Who Love Bad News, the Washington state band's second full-length disc for Epic. Obviously, "a lot" translates in the real world to "enough people to fill the Congress Theater." To return to a recurring theme, I still have trouble keeping these guys straight from Death Cab For Cutie. Which is odd, because you'd figure I'd be getting them confused with Mouse on Mars.

Rock Star Club with The Rosedales, Big Big Shoulders (Bottom Lounge)
This is an early show, which doesn't mean it's necessarily an all-ages show, but that doesn't do anything to dispel the odd notion of these longtime local rockers playing to teenagers.

Miles of Empty with Strategy Game, Million Yen, Kiss n' Ride (Double Door)
Apparently, this is "bands who used to be friends of URT" night, as we played with Rock Star Club and were good friends with at least one guy in Miles of Empty when he was in a previous band, although I don't know that we played with them. And Million Yen is still around? I could have sworn I saw a farewell show from them about two years ago, but that might have been their cover band alter ego.

Family Style with Spare Parts, Orquesta Ranura (Beat Kitchen)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
Saxophonist Chris Neal also played briefly with the aforementioned Clusterfunk, and as far as I know, is still lending his talents to Family Style. Although this is another band I've been meaning to see forever, but haven't.

Fareed Haque Group with Goran Ivanovic (Martyrs')
Still one of the premier guitarists in this town, Haque's groups tend to be all over the place, mixing jazz, rock and world music influences into either a lush sonic tapestry or a big mess, depending on your aesthetic tendencies. I'm in the former category, although I would hesitate to use the phrase "lush sonic tapestry" if I weren't going for some degree of hyperbole. They take away your music critic card if you do stuff like that.

2.26   saturday
American Motherload with Broadzilla, Bible of the Devil, Ton (Double Door)
I haven't been keeping up on these guys lately, the one commenter who likes bashing them on the site notwithstanding, so I don't know if the rumblings of major-label interest have come to any sort of fruition. This is their first show in a while, which could track with taking time off to record, either for themselves or a deep-pocketed (even if their pockets are deep with money you eventually have to pay them back) label. I just don't know.

Loraxx with Zombi, Microwaves, Yowie (Bottom Lounge)
Another band that's been around for a while but keeping a low profile as of late, Loraxx has obvious parallels to Courtney Love's Hole, only without the overarching commercial tendencies. For a while, they were Sun-Times critic Jim DeRogatis' favorite band, which could make your mind up about them in either direction.

Umphrey's McGee (Riviera)
Chalk these guys up as another one of those bands that I need to learn more about -- or actually try to listen to -- so I can stop recycling the three things I know about them. First, that they had a great 2004. Second, I work with the fiancé of either a band member or their manager, I forget which. Third, their drummer is really good.

Ani DiFranco with Andrew Bird (Auditorium Theatre)   SOLD OUT!
The cursory treatment of DiFranco is that she's your typical acoustic folkie, but that treatment gets more wrong as time goes by. She's become the consumate performer, with nearly unparalleled between-song banter, and her music has certainly evolved considerably from it's sparse origins. Then there's the business side, where she's quite possibly the best case study ever for the do-it-yourself model. Local favorite Andrew Bird opens.

Lt. Dan Band (Joe's)
If you happen to be at Joe's on Saturday, and say to yourself, "wow, that bass player looks an awful lot like actor Gary Sinise," that's because it is.

2.27   sunday
WLUW Winter Fundraiser (Fitzgerald's, Berwyn)
The Loyola radio station became more responsible for keeping itself afloat a year or two ago, when the university made some kind of agreement that I can't recall specifically with WBEZ. So these events are much more important, especially to the local scene, as LUW remains THE best outlet for local music in Chicago, bar none. Anna Fermin's Trigger Gospel, Corky Siegel and others are on the all-day bill in the 'burbs, which kicks of at 1pm.

Ani DiFranco with Andrew Bird (The Vic)
See Saturday's listing, but as of Reader press time last week, there were still tickets available for this one.