list.in.to.chicago this week: 04.04.2005

I get the feeling all of these UK bands chartered a plane together to save costs or something, because there seems to have been at least one up-and-coming band from across the pond every week for the last month.

Pick of the week
If you can get tickets for Queens of the Stone Age (Tuesday at The Vic), by all means, do it. And bring earplugs, lest Songs For The Deaf become self-fulfilling prophecy. You've also got two different British buzz bands this week, with The Decemberists (Thursday) and The Bravery (Friday) both hitting Metro.

list.in.to.COZ
A new gig for me this week, as I'll be playing drums with Granian on Thursday at Wise Fools Pub. And Friday in Indiana, but I don't expect you to travel that far.

Recap
As far as I can tell, the Fado crowd on Friday was just drunk enough not to notice that Diver was having, by my standards at least, an off night. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Saturday saw a variation on the 'patron falling into the stage' tradition, and that's the 'patron falling into a microphone stand and subsequently almost impaling a band member,' which has happened to Avi before. This time Tony almost got a black eye from it, I think.

The solo gig at Wrightwood Tap was sparsely attended, at best, but I guess that's to be expected on the Sunday between the semis and finals of the NCAA tournament, especially at a bar that doesn't serve food.

4.04   monday
Ray Lamontagne with Missy Higgins (Metro)   SOLD OUT!
Rhapsody pins Lamontagne's contemporaries as Dave Matthews and David Gray, and his main influence as Van Morrison. That's pretty much all you need to know right there, and a clue as to why he's getting so popular so quickly with the XRT crowd.

The Redline with Crap Engine, Driftless Pony Club (Empty Bottle)
If this is the same Redline I saw a year or so ago at Beat Kitchen, it's one of the stranger pairings of club with band I've seen in a while. Which means it probably isn't.

4.05   tuesday
Open Jam (Vaughan's)   COZ SINGS!
I'm tired and I have nothing witty to say about this, othe than you should come.

Queens of the Stone Age with Throw Rag (The Vic)   SOLD OUT!
The newly revitalized Q101 is playing a version of "Little Sister," the first single from Lullabies To Paralyze, that intersperses Christopher Walken's "more cowbell" bit from Saturday Night Live. Let me get this straight. He's supposed to be Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickenson, advising Blue Oyster Cult in the studio? Did BOC even exist after Paul D'Anno left Maiden? Wouldn't the "joke" have had at least a tiny basis in reality if they, oh, I don't know, picked a band that actually used a lot of cowbell? Def Leppard? Bachman Turner Overdrive? Tito Puente?

4.06   wednesday
Tributosaurus (Martyrs')   FRIENDS OF COZ!
This month, Tom Petty. I'm going to stop using this space to speculate as to when I might reprise my guest appearance with the band, because I'm currently more interested in figuring out when I'll be able to get a good night's sleep. This time, it's not me bitching about getting old, just realizing I'm a bit overextended at the moment.

Aesop Rock with DJ Biz Wiz, SA Smash (Metro)
What little I've read about Aesop Rock makes him sound pretty interesting within the world of hip-hop. I don't know if it's just that rappers who don't seem focused on gangsta trappings appeal to me more in general, or if something else set him apart.

4.07   thursday
Granian with The Bridge, Simmering (Wise Fools Pub)   SEE COZ LIVE!
The obvious touchstone as I try to learn the songs for this gig is Rob Thomas and Matchbox 20. Catchy pop stuff with a good amount of dynamic variation and a certain everyman quality to it.

The Decemberists with Okkervil River (Metro)
Yet another British band of the moment, but if last week's Bloc Party show didn't sell out -- and I have no idea if it did or it didn't -- I suspect this one won't, either, as they're not quite as interesting.

Widespread Panic (Chicago Theatre)   SOLD OUT!
I'm not sure if I get the idea behind a jam band in a reserved-seating theater. Maybe they take the seats out, but I sorta doubt it. Where will the hippies do their silly noodle dance? They can't all fit in the aisles, can they?

4.08   friday
Ash with The Bravery, Alaska (Metro)
Speaking of Brit bands of the moment, expect to hear a lot about The Bravery in the near future, if you haven't already. Personally, I don't hear a single point of difference between them and Las Vegas natives The Killers, except maybe that you'd be able to get tickets for this show if you hurry. Ash, on the other hand, sounds eminently forgettable.

Straylight Run with Minus the Bear, Gratitude, The Honorary Title, Spitalfield (Logan Square Auditorium)
I've said it before, and it's still true. One of the easiest ways to get listed in this newsletter is to take your name from a William Gibson novel.

Widespread Panic (Chicago Theatre)   SOLD OUT!
See Thursday's listing. On the one hand, I'm a little surprised that a band with as low a public profile over the last five or six years -- to make a very conservative estimate -- can still sell out two shows at a relatively large venue, but that ignores the dynamics of how the jam band world operates. Which is to say, generally without the usual album/tour cycle.

4.09   saturday
Widespread Panic (Chicago Theatre)   SOLD OUT!
Make that "surprised they can sell out THREE shows."

4.10   sunday
Liquid Soul (Martyrs')
I haven't been to one of these shows since the very early going, so I don't know how successful they've been in reintroducing their sound to an audience that may or may not have moved on.

Nicholas Barron's Hyperactive (Long Room)
Of course, Nicholas and crew have done their part to keep some semblance of that late 90s acid jazz thing going, although he's definitely changed quite a bit since Swimmer.