list.in.to.chicago this week: 08.15.2005

If and when I ever finish switching hosts for notabbott.com, this will turn into a real mailing list, instead of big BCC'd list of people with a poorly written CGI form on the website. That said, the old standby of forwarding this to friends and having them sign up via the instructions at the bottom still applies.

Pick of the week
We'll give the standing order to the Monday night shows from The Changes for the rest of the month at Schubas. Aside from that, I'll be most likely to be found investigating the Tom McCarthy Trio on Thursday at Cosmicafe on Lincoln.

list.in.to.COZ
I was debating taking a week off from Vaughan's on account of losing my voice at Saturday's Fire match, but if not being able to sing was really an obstacle, I wouldn't require quite so much coffee on Wednesday mornings. So I'm in.

Recap
Working backwards on Friday night, I have to say I was somewhat disappointed with Absent Star, but I think my expectations were too high on account of the pedigree of some of the band members. With guys from EXO and Regal Standard on board, I just wanted these super-memorable songs that immediately impressed, and I didn't get them.

Prior to them, Raised on Zenith was intriguing. I couldn't quite put my finger on the influences, but I kept defaulting to Bloc Party, because that was the CD they played between acts when I went to see the Pete Sutcliffe Project, which was exactly as entertaining as two guys playing Beatles tunes really well on acoustic guitars should be.

8.15   monday
The Changes with The Colour, Universe Society (Schubas)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
Apparently last week's installment of the month-long residency sold out, and if you're selling out a Monday night at Schubas, I think the odds are you're headed in a good direction, further proving that getting dissed by DeRogatis is good for your career.

8.16   tuesday
Open Jam (Vaughan's)   COZ SINGS!
If you stayed at home and watched the singer of a local band do an acoustic version of "Mr. Brightside" on Rock Star: INXS last Tuesday, you missed an even better acoustic version of that same song from another local band. Anto even got the words right, which is more than I can say for what's-his-name from the Lovehammers. I'm not entirely kidding here, either. Every once in a while we hit one out of the park.

Hank Williams III with Assjack (Metro)
I'm going to assume Hank III is doing his standard outlaw punk country thing, but I really just wanted to take this opportunity to say "Assjack," because it's fun. Try it. Assjack!

8.17   wednesday
Bar 1's Big Break (Duffy's)
So our own Shubie advanced to the next round. Same rules apply -- gotta get there before 10pm to get a wristband, which allows you to vote. Can't say for sure if I'll be able to get them to turn on the US vs. Trinidad & Tobago soccer match beforehand, but if I'm there early enough, I'll certainly try.

8.18   thursday
Tom McCarthy Trio (Cosmicafe)
I'm intrigued by this, as McCarthy is a graduate of Robert Fripp's Guitar Craft course who also plays in the backing band for Blue Man Group. He's also been known to sit in with Tributosaurus. This strikes me as the first time I've seen him out on his own.

Little Feat (Cubby Bear)
While LL Cool J was far and away my most trying concert production experience during college, Little Feat came in a close second, in part because I had to lie and say I had experience as a spotlight operator in order to appease the evil (and local) lighting company. Which isn't to say I don't like the band, or at least still have my copy of Let It Roll.

Paper Airplane Pilots with Lake Holiday, Warm Ones (Beat Kitchen)
It's probably about time to give these guys another listen, as my first experience with them seemed a little too derivative of other artists, particularly Jeff Buckley. Granted, there's a fine and very subjective line between sounding derivative and sounding like you're influenced by someone, and mine may be set differently than most.

8.19   friday
Backstreet Boys with Kaci Brown (Charter One Pavilion)
Thank god this one wasn't the same night as a Fire game at Soldier Field. That's all I'm saying.

Down The Line with Brad Peterson (Schubas)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
It's a CD release party for one of the most relentlessly positive bands I know. Not that there's anything wrong with being hapy, but if you pair them up on a bill with Anne Harris and there'd be no need for Prozac. Unless both bands have gotten all dark and shit since I last saw them. Katie Reider opens the early show.

8.20   saturday
Soulfix with Bamboo Brownodds, Ramon Bonzon (Double Door)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
This is billed in the Reader ad as the "Noypi Astig U.S. Tour," which I'm guessing has to be an anagram for something. This is a good chance to catch the band if you took Dario at his word last week and dutifully showed up at Retro on Roscoe at 12:30am like the e-mail said and missed them.

Super Diamond (House of Blues)
And to think, we were just a couple of weeks away from having an artist and their "number one tribute band" playing in town on the same night. That would have made for some odd decisions. Second of two nights.

Vulgar Boatmen with The Silvermen (Fitzgerald's, Berwyn)
The one thing I can't figure out about the current legislation that's extending Daylight Savings Time is if it will make it more likely or less likely that bands from Indiana will show up late for gigs because the time didn't change down there. That is still my enduring memory of the Vulgar Boatmen.

8.21   sunday
The Dead 60s with Walking Concert (Double Door)
When I saw them open for Garbage, I described these guys as bouncing "back and forth from ripping off Franz Ferdinand and the whitest reggae ever, but they weren't as bad as that makes them sound." Now they've got some Lollapalooza cred as well, for whatever that's worth.