list.in.to.chicago this week: 08.22.2005

It's the "chick singers sell out" edition, or something like that. If you're wondering, yes, I count Jack Johnson in there.

Pick of the week
I've got a lot of gigs this week, so the chances of me seeing any shows are slim. You, on the other hand, might want to check out the Cupcakes reunion (Saturday, Double Door) and jazz trumpeter Wallace Roney (Friday and Saturday, Green Mill), in particular.

list.in.to.COZ
Like I said, lots of gigs this week. I'll be filling in on drums again with The Ripleys (Wednesday, Navy Pier Beer Garden) before hitting with Diver on Thursday (Celtic Knot in Evanston) and Saturday (Cullen's).

Recap
Wednesday. Duffy's. Shubie won again, and somehow chipped Kev's tooth in the process, while I fed a shot of Jager to a guy in a wheelchair. It was kind of a strange night.

8.22   monday
Garbage with The Start (The Vic)   SOLD OUT!
I'm going to have to go back through the catalog to make sure, but having rehearsed the heck out of a couple of tunes from the band's first album, their songwriting seems to have gotten more well-developed over time. The early tunes had a ton of texture, but didn't have much in the way of contrast.

The Changes with May Or May Not, Margot and The Nuclear So and So's (Schubas)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
Two down, two to go in the Monday night series for the guys who are fully inhabiting the phrase "local favorites."

8.23   tuesday
Open Jam (Vaughan's)   COZ SINGS!
There's one show this week that may very well inspire some new tunage. I'll let you figure it out.

Alex Skolnick Trio (Martyrs')
If the blurb that Martyrs' sent to the club's e-mail list is to be believed -- and I have no reason to claim it shouldn't be -- Skolnick has actually made a successful transition from heavy metal shredder guy in Testament to cutting edge jazzbo. Sounds like something that needs to be heard to be believed to me, that's for sure.

8.24   wednesday
Clearly and the Mainstream with Chuck Prophet (Schubas)
These guys were nice enough to send me a CD, but as is the norm around here, I haven't had a chance to listen to it just yet.

Institute (Double Door)
This band features former Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale. Except that everytime I write "former Bush frontman" in some sort of capsule description, I end up thinking of Ari Fleischer and not Mr. Stefani.

Liz Phair with Matt Kearney (Black Orchid)   SOLD OUT!
Most of the articles I read about Phair include gratuitous mentions of her boyfriend, but that doesn't preclude the notion that she's secretly in love with me.

The Ripleys (Navy Pier Beer Garden)   SEE COZ LIVE!
Once again, I'll be sitting in with Tony's "other" band out on the lakefront starting at 3:30pm and continuing well into your downtown after-work happy hours.

Bar 1's Big Break (Duffy's)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
Melissa is still going strong, having made it to the semifinals. I think there are six or seven singers (and two weeks) left now.

8.25   thursday
Diver (Celtic Knot, Evanston)   SEE COZ LIVE!
The band returns to the scene of our most recent St. Patrick's Day gig. It's kind of an odd space for live music, but we've gotten pretty adept at finding ways to fit in corners and such.

Chris and Matt from Voodoo Bus with Big Saturday (Elbo Room)
Holy blast from the past, Batman. I remember Voodoo Bus from back in the Oncle Julien days. In fact, their drummer rented my first post-college apartment after I left it in, oh, 1994. You know what's coming next, so everybody in unison...GET OFF MY LAWN, YOU DAMN KIDS!

Raised on Zenith with Goo (Gunther Murphy's)
These are the guys I was somewhat impressed with a couple of weeks back at Elbo Room. Still haven't figured out who they reminded me of.

Liz Phair with Matt Kearney (Black Orchid)   SOLD OUT!
You know, I don't even know that she's still secretly in love with me -- because, you know, it's a secret -- but if you know me at all, you know I will flog a running gag into the ground until I've tunneled clear through to China.

8.26   friday
Jump, Little Children with Dick Prall (Schubas)
I get these guys confused with Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and yes, it's entirely on account of the odd punctuation within the name. Second of two nights, with Popular Genius opening the Friday version.

Cracker with Burn Rome Burn (Cubby Bear)
The Wrigleyville club has been getting a little schizophrenic with their booking as of late, with local cover bands, national acts and local original bands going back and forth on a day to day basis. This might be a good thing, but I'm not entirely sure yet.

Wallace Roney (Green Mill)
I saw someone touting Nicholas Payton as the heir apparent to Miles Davis' Bitches Brew-era sound, but Roney has always been a lock for the sixties version of Miles' band, which isn't surprising given that the late Tony Williams, who drummed in that late sixties group, took him under his wing.

Liz Phair with the Cary Brothers (Black Orchid)   SOLD OUT!
If you're wondering whether or not I can carry the gag through three whole listings this week, the answer is a resounding "no."

General Public with Naked Eyes, ABC (Lincoln Park Zoo)
Now, I can see the appeal -- retro or no -- of General Public, and maybe ABC, but there's absolutely no compelling reason for Naked Eyes to still exist in 2005. I'm sorry, there just isn't.

YesMen with Nice Peter (Martyrs')
If only Nice Peter was around when Enormous Richard still existed, then we'd have a double bill for the ages.

Sunday Morning Chameleon with The Blissters, Laura Glyda Band, Songs about Sports (Elbo Room)
These guys are still chugging along, if the Friday night at Elbo Room is any indication. It might be time for me to drop in and see if they're getting better.

Vinx (HotHouse)
It's almost hard to believe this guy has turned a chance meeting with Sting at an L.A. club into more than a decade on the national scene, but when you consider that he's just a guy with a djembe, the overhead must be pretty low.

8.27   saturday
Diver (Cullen's)   SEE COZ LIVE!
If you haven't seen us in a while, we have really, truly added new songs to the set. If you haven't ever seen us, well then it's all new, isn't it?

Cupcakes with Joe Cassidy, Billion Yen, Street Wisemen, Atmospheric Audiochair (Double Door)
I had heard a rumor that this reunion show was happening, and I'm really curious to see the crowd that comes out to celebrate one of Chicago's greatest near-misses, in terms of mainstream success. Cupcakes seemed like they were on the edge of something huge, but it never quite materialized, and with roots very deep in the local scene, I think that ended up leaving deeper scars in the scene itself than in the band members, in kind of a "if they couldn't do it, what chance do I have" manner. Or I could be completely overdramatizing it.

Wallace Roney (Green Mill)
See Friday's listing.

Puffy Ami Yumi with Adam Richman (The Vic)
Yes, this is the band you've seen plastered all over the CTA on those Cartoon Network ads. Apparently, the theme from Teen Titans wasn't enough, and they gave the J-Popsters their own show.

8.28   sunday
Gayle Ritt (Elbo Room)
In retrospect, I should have added Chicago expatriate Ritt to my hypothetical bill to eliminate the need for anti-depressants, although I'm making an assumption that her music is as relentlessly positive as she is.

Lucky Boys Confusion with Melee, Dropping Daylight (Metro)
If I'm ever in a conversation with you about local bands, particularly local bands that got started mostly in the suburbs and went on to find some degree of success, and I can't remember the name of the one band that did that by way of the lead track on one of the Local 101 compilations, this is them. Seriously, I've had that exact same mental block several times now.