list.in.to.chicago this week: 07.11.2005

Let's do the time warp!

My apologies for completely missing the Old Town festival last week. I'd have recommended Ozomatli in a heartbeat.

Pick of the week
Wow, there's a lot this week. Adrian Belew on Saturday (Park West). Tortoise at the Intonation Festival (Union Park, Saturday). Team Sleep on Wednesday (Metro). Anne Harris on Friday (Martyrs'). And, if you never change your car stereo from the Loop, Journey, Asia and Foreigner in three separate shows.

list.in.to.COZ
It wouldn't be fair to always ask you to come see me play indoors, so this Wednesday, I'll be playing with The Ripleys (also featuring Tony from Diver) out at the Navy Pier Beer Garden. Three sets going from 3:30 to 7:30pm, so come on over after work.

Recap
The Double Door festivities on Friday pretty much ran the gamut. First up was Rebecca Wickens, who was apparently abandoned by most of her band in a scheduling mix-up, and absolutely did not sound at all like the Indigo Girls. Okay, maybe a little. Fine, a lot. Next was Seven Day Run, who had that kind of earnest, straighforward rock sound that seems to come out of willfully ignoring most of the 90s alternative rock movement in its entirety. Think Counting Crows and you'll be in the ballpark. Matt Hoffer's set was strong, even if it had the most "let me hear you, Double Door!" exclamations per song I've heard in a long while. And I was really distracted by his drummer's kit, which was set up left-handed, but right-footed. By that time, I was pretty worn out, so I didn't stick around for Liv Tyler's better half, former Spacehog bassist Royston Landgon and The Tender Trio.

On Sunday night, I caught the second half of Ozomatli at the Old Town Roots and Folk Festival up at Welles Park. Surprisingly large stage, surprisingly large turnout, and unsurprisingly good music from the eclectic L.A. band. Somewhere between Los Lobos and Fishbone, which is a slight revision from my previous thumbnail sketch.

7.11   monday
Bastard Sons Of Johnny Cash with Randy Burke and The Prisoners, Divebar (Elbo Room)
I don't really know anything about any of these bands -- although I think Rebecca Wickens' sidekick from Friday night is in Divebar, but what's interesting is that it looks like maybe Elbo Room has abandoned the "Chicago Rock Club" motif for Monday nights.

7.12   tuesday
Open Jam (Vaughan's)   COZ SINGS!
Just imagine I said something so ultimately compelling that you have no choice but to come out and have a couple of drinks ($3 microbrews!) on a Tuesday night. Because watching the MLB All-Star game at home by yourself would just be lame.

The Wallflowers (House of Blues)
I guess it's only fair to turn around and say that, if you like local band Gooey, you'll like Dylan's kid and his band.

7.13   wednesday
Team Sleep with Idiot Pilot, Scene Index (Metro)
This is a side project of sorts from Chino Moreno of Deftones, and other than his voice, doesn't sound at all like that band. The original goal was, as I understand it, to go for a more Massive Attack kind of vibe, and listening to their self-titled 2005 release, that seems to be a good starting point for a description.

The Ripleys (Navy Pier Beer Garden)   SEE COZ LIVE!
It seems I fill in on drums with these guys about once a year on the outdoor stage. We'll be playing from 3:30 to 7:30, so if you're working downtown, feel free to stop by after quitting time. If the thunderstorms hold off, anyway.

7.14   thursday
Tim Reynolds with Greg Howard (Martyrs')
The occasional Dave Matthews collaborator has perhaps the most effusive biography on allmusic.com that I've ever seen. Seriously, "profoundly talented," "cutting killer riffs," "recognized as one of the impeccable, highly skilled acoustic musicians" and "underrated master," all in the space of a single paragraph, is setting the bar really, really high.

7.15   friday
Anne Harris with Dylan Rice (Martyrs')   FRIENDS OF COZ!
This is a CD release party for singer/songwriter/violinist Harris, whose backing band should include Bob Garrett on his hybrid drum kit/percussion rig and Chris Siebold on guitar.

Asia with Cooler By The Lake (Abbey Pub)
Okay, so there's only one original member of the 80s "supergroup" -- keyboardist Geoff Downes -- but seriously, Asia? Fuck yeah!

The Bish with Black Box, Perfect Red (The Note)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
Okay, so former Lindsie bandmate Larry Schroeder is playing with everybody these days, including The Bish. That said, I'm not sure if The Bish is a band, a person, or both.

Tracy Bonham with Cowbody Junkies (Park West)
Bonham is the opening act on this bill, but on the strength of her brief flirtation with the big time in the mid-90s with "Mother Mother" and her vocal turns on the last Blue Man Group record, she's the more interesting of the two for me.

The Paramours with Rich Hardesty and Band (Cubby Bear)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
Talk about striking when the iron is hot! After our double-bill a couple of weeks ago, we're probably not getting back in here until September! Might be time to fire our booking agent. Wait, that's me.

Fountains of Wayne (World's Largest Block Party)
If Stacy's Mom is single these days, she'll probably be here, as this is considered to be the world's largest meat market as well.

The Go! Team with Tilly and The Wall (Double Door)
I don't know a lot about this band, but I see lots written about them in print and online out beyond the mainstream. This is what the kids are calling a "buzz" nowadays. Or maybe hype, I get those two confused.

7.16   saturday
Adrian Belew with Rana (Park West)
Despite his associations with bands like King Crimson, Belew's solo work is typically not unlike Todd Rundgren or Joe Jackson, in that it treads a very Beatles-esque line with authority. Having said that, his recent Side One (Side Two comes out this week on Sanctuary Records) is pretty weird, and for my money, is a better King Crimson album than anything the band has released lately.

The Intonation Music Festival (Union Park)
Pitchforkmedia.com is putting on this two-day festival of pretty cutting edge bands that provides a stark and infinitely more affordable alternative to Lollapalooza in a couple of weeks. The aforementioned The Go! Team plays Saturday, as does post-rock poster boys Tortoise.

Fareed Haque Group (Martyrs')
I've seen Fareed in enough different contexts to never know quite what to expect, but you can count on the jazz guitarist being pretty damn good, and there being some funny and occasionally surreal between-song banter.

Journey (Charter One Pavilion)
Asia and Journey in the same week? What is this, 1985? In a desperate attempt to try to stay relevant that is doomed to fail, the band will be giving away free copies of their new CD to all ticketholders.

Clearly and The Mainstream with Penthouse Sweets, Welcome to Ashley, The Pleegs (Elbo Room)
Every once in a while, I like to mention bands who I only really know by name, having mentioned bills they've played on for other reasons. Clearly and the Mainstream and Welcome to Ashley both fall under this category.

Uncle Boogie Pants with Papa Grows Funk (Cubby Bear)
Easy winner for band name of the week.

Spin Doctors (Rock Around The Block)
As cloying and lame as the early nineties hippy pop band's two hit singles were, the rest of the album was actually pretty good. Can't speak for anything after that, though.

7.17   sunday
The Intonation Music Festival (Union Park)
Headlining the second night are The Decemberists, a band lots of people like, but I don't, really.

Foreigner (House of Blues)
That clinches it. We really are in 1985.