list.in.to.chicago this week: 06.13.2005

In which our hero actually saw a whole bunch of shows last week, for the first time in a long time.

Pick of the week
I'm going to go with Los Borrachos on Saturday at Martyrs' and leave it at that.

list.in.to.COZ
Back to the pubs with Diver (Friday at Blue Bayou) before our big, big show at Cubby Bear next Thursday. You can download a discount ticket here, unless your e-mail client busted this message down to plain text.

Recap
As I predicted last week, Siebold was at the Mike Keneally Band show, where we were treated to some vintage Keneally head-ripping. I've been saying to myself that his new record reminds me of his first record, hat., and that was borne out with a lot of material from the latter. Openers Happy Apple were pretty good, but too pretentious by half.

Friday was The Futureheads at Metro, with a strong opening set from High Speed Scene. The headliners were doubly impressive with their massive harmonies and kinetic, angular attack. I had this thought about halfway through that Americans get into rock and roll to be cool, while Brits do it to be clever. Feel free to poke holes in that theory, and obviously, there are exceptions.

Afterwards, I managed to catch Gooey at Elbo Room. By the end of the second song, I had put them safely and securely in a Wallflowers box, and was too tired to revise that assessment.

6.13   monday
Lifehouse with thecrashmoderns (House of Blues)
Nothing has changed my not-so-flattering opinion of the new Lifehouse CD. In case you were wondering. And I think some rock critic should write a review of thecrashmoderns that's all lowercase letters with no punctuation, just to see how they like it.

6.14   tuesday
Open Jam (Vaughan's)   COZ SINGS!
Not only am I back this week, I'm hosting the festivities by myself. Once again, just like if Anto were there. I'm going to run that joke into the ground, so you know.

The Go-Betweens with The Double, Robert Skoro (Abbey Pub)
Allmusic.com calls this band a "quintessential cult band of the 80s," which makes sense, since the name seemed awfully familiar, but I didn't actually know a damn thing about them. I'm not very religious, you see.

6.15   wednesday
Gov't Mule with Xavier Rudd (Skyline Stage)
One of very few nominally jam bands I can tolerate. Which reminds me of a funny story. I was at The Globe last night, and one of the owners asked me if I was there for the Jam band they had play the back room a few weeks ago. I was puzzled that they were going for the hippie crowd until I realized they meant the tribute band for The Jam.

Ted Leo and Pharmacists with The Oranges Band, Aloha (Logan Square Auditorium)
I'm somewhat surprised that Leo has maintained "indie rock darling" status for so long without being picked up by a major label, but he seems pretty content where he is, from the one interview I read with him.

Sleepytime Gorilla Museum with Cheer-Accident, Stag Party (Bottom Lounge)
With a name like that, it did not surprise me at all to learn these guys are, well, kinda weird.

6.16   thursday
Sleater-Kinney with Dead Meadow (Riviera)
The longtime indie-punk trio coming to town is as good a reason as any to tune into Sound Opinions on WXRT tomorrow night, since DeRogatis likes to give Greg Kot stick about his alleged Catholic schoolgirl fetish that he thinks drives his admiration of this band. The usual "I have minor issues with bands that don't have bass players" rule applies.

Gov't Mule with Xavier Rudd (Skyline Stage)
Second of two shows. No funny story for this one, though.

6.17   friday
Diver (Blue Bayou)   SEE COZ LIVE!
For those of you who check the website often enough to know that there was a Fado gig on Saturday than mysteriously disappeared, I have to question how you spend your free time.

Bobby Conn and the Glass Gypsies with The Apes, Baby Teeth (Double Door)
I wonder if this mini-glam revival (think The Killers and The Bravery, for starters) will mean anything for Conn and his merry band, or if they're still a bit too out there to surf this trend.

6.18   saturday
Los Borrachos with the Drastics (Martyrs')   FRIENDS OF COZ!
The Borrachos are back! The Borrachos are back! No word if they took my advice and learned "Hey Ya" in Spanish.

Alkaline Trio with Rufio, Thieves Like Us (Riviera)   SOLD OUT!
I always get these guys confused with Aluminum Group.

Eisley with Lovedrug, Pilotdrift (Double Door)
Time for another one of those half-assed recommendations. I think I've seen Eisley on a bill with somebody else, and I have this very vague notion that I wanted to see more of them. Keep in mind, I may be thinking of someone else entirely.

Sybris with Stars, The Most Serene Republic (Metro)
Now, I know I saw Sybris on a bill with somebody else, because a friend of mine who bartends at Metro really liked them. The song and a half I heard sounded pretty good.

6.19   sunday
Eric Johnson with Kaki King (House of Blues)
Most fans and critics go with Ah Via Musicom, but for my money, side two of Tones is pretty much all you need to know from the Texas guitarist.

Deals Gone Bad with Rude King, Hub City Stompers, Bomb Town, Fear City (Bottom Lounge)
One of many great things about all-ages punk/ska shows is that they cram a lot of bands on the bill, so there's much bang for your entertainment buck. Plus, you're out pretty early because of the curfew, which maybe makes for an okay tradeoff for being made to feel somewhat ancient because a bunch of fourteen-year olds turned out for the show because they can.

Marillion with Jason Hart (Double Door)
The English progressive rock band has always struggled to finance tours of the United States, to the point where they had one tour subsidized entirely by fan donations. I suspect that's at least part of the impetus for this more mobile acoustic trio. Not carting around drums and keyboards can probably save a ton of dough.