list.in.to.chicago this week: 09.19.2005

Good Lord, Tuesday is stacked. I even left a couple out.

Pick of the week
I'm going to skip all the sold out shows this time, and offer up some alternatives if you didn't secure tickets for any of the big names. Athlete (Wednesday, Double Door) should be a pretty solid offering, and there's l.i.t.c. favorites Ivory Wire on Friday at Elbo Room. "Super Tuesday" isn't totally locked out, either, as it looks like both Paul Weller (The Vic) and Franz Ferdinand (Aragon) still have tickets available.

list.in.to.COZ
I don't want to alarm you, but you may have absolutely no chances to see me perform this week. Is somebody keeping track of how often that happens?

Recap
The extended debut of Wingman went pretty darn well. The odd thing about it is that I didn't really promote it outside of this newsletter. There's a lesson there, and I think it's to start bands with people that have a lot more friends than I do. I was also able to enjoy the symmetry of seeing Bloc Party on Wednesday and going to the HIdeout Block Party on a beautiful Saturday afternoon.

Bloc Party needs to put more food in their hospitality rider, because man, they looked waifer-thin. I didn't get much more from them live than I did from the record, except for a tendency to speed up from the drummer. The set was pretty thin as well, after a particularly long break, but a ferocious set from openers The Kills helped compensate.

At the Hideout event, I caught sets from Kevin O'Donnell's Ensemble Generale (a couple strong moments in a very loose set), Eleventh Dream Day (carrying the rocking schoolteacher torch with aplomb since Guided By Voices called it quits), the Sam Roberts Band (unremarkable but not unpleasant straight-up rock, and very shaggy), and the first three or four songs from the DBs, who were grooving on a nostalgic vibe I didn't quite feel, having never listened to them "back in the day," as the kids are saying these days. I think.

9.19   monday
Dashboard Confessional (House of Blues)
This is an acoustic performance to benefit Hurricane Katrina victims. Speaking of which, $1,000 to see Pearl Jam? I'll be really curious to see how fast those tickets went over the weekend.

9.20   tuesday
Open Jam (Vaughan's)   COZ SINGS!
Whether or not I make it out this week is entirely contingent on how late the U2 show goes, but if you didn't get tickets for one of the eighteen good shows tonight, you should stop by anyway.

Beck with McRorie (Riviera Theatre)   SOLD OUT!
The amazing thing about Beck's new record, to me, is how he's managed to synthesize the more individual sounds of his previous records into one. To some, that seems like he's retreading old ground, but to me, it's very meta -- a pastiche of previous pastiches.

U2 with Dashboard Confessional (United Center)   SOLD OUT!
I'm not going to complain about getting the aforementioned Dashboard Confessional, when other dates on the tour are getting the likes of Keane, The Arcade Fire and Kanye West. That is, if by "I'm not going to complain," I mean, "I'm going to complain a lot."

Franz Ferdinand with Pretty Girls Make Graves, Cut Copy (Aragon Ballroom)
With a second album that Time Out Chicago describes as significantly different that the first one, I may have to stop complaining about Ferdinand's shows sounding like the same song 12 times in a row. Then again, they called Hideout Block Party peformer Sam Roberts a "Canadian Jeff Tweedy," and that was wildly off the mark.

Paul Weller with Ian Moore (The Vic)
I haven't heard the new record from the former Jam and Style Council frontman, but I have a new appreciation for him since Diver started playing a couple of his songs. How funny would it be if he went out for a drink after the show and stumbled on Anto and Tony playing "You Do Something To Me"?

9.21   wednesday
Sigur Ros (Chicago Theatre)   SOLD OUT!
Since they weren't in a position to categorize themselves as "that band from Iceland" -- seeing as how the Sugarcubes and Björk already staked out that territory -- this emphatically atmospheric group put a lock on "that band from Iceland that sings in a made-up language." Although some might say that description fits Björk as well.

John Mayer Trio with Ray LaMontagne (House of Blues)   SOLD OUT!
I have to admit, I got tickets for this one to see the rhythm section of Steve Jordan and Pino Palladino as much as I did to see Mayer. Jordan, among other credits, was the original drummer for the David Letterman band, and Palladino has been on a ton of Pete Townshend records, among many, many others.

Beck with Whirlwind Heat (Riviera Theatre)   SOLD OUT!
No, really, go out and buy/download Guero if you haven't yet. It's fantastic.

Athlete with The Working Title (Double Door)
This UK band has the unfortunate fate of arriving after Keane and Snow Patrol, as those bands' pre-eminence will invite obvious comparison. It may drag down their peception as a result, as Athlete seems to add quite a bit more texture and depth to its sound, reminding me of Sea Change-era Beck and maybe even a little bit of Wilco.

Bobby Conn and Glass Gypsies with XBXRX, Make Believe (Bottom Lounge)
With only about three weeks left before CTA expansion shuts the room down, I figure it's time to start plugging Bottom Lounge shows, and Chicago's political glam rocker is a good place to start.

U2 with Dashboard Confessional (United Center)   SOLD OUT!
See above. Early reports have them mixing up set lists a bit more than they did earlier in the tour, including the addition of "Fast Cars," a B-side from their latest record that I like a lot.

ICanLickAnySonofabitchInTheHouse with Tijuana Hercules, Big Big Shoulders (Abbey Pub)
The clear winner of the unofficial "band name of the week" award.

9.22   thursday
John Mayer Trio with Ray LaMontagne (House of Blues)   SOLD OUT!
If I were to pick one track each from Mayer's backing band for you to check out, it would be Mike Stern's "Mood Swings" for Jordan, which also features the late Jaco Pastorius on bass, and Pete Townshend's "Give Blood," which also features David Gilmour on guitar and Simon Phillips on drums.

Robbie Fulks with Anna Fermin's Trigger Gospel (Field Museum)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
I've been meaning to see Fulks forever, and Fermin ever since the last time I went to the Hideout Block Party three or four years ago, so this would be a perfect opportunity to kill both of those particular birds. Naturally, I'll be in San Diego for my brother's wedding.

9.23   friday
Ivory Wire with Luster, Less Nessman, Ghost Pilot (Elbo Room)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
Last I heard, these guys were getting increasingly busy with other projects, so my advice is to see them now, because it may be a while before you get to see them again. And report back to me, as I'll be out of town and will have to miss it.

Social Distortion with Mest, Bullets and Octane (House of Blues)   SOLD OUT!
I always get Social Distortion frontman Mike Ness confused with Minutemen bassist Mike Watt, but given their respective contributions to punk rock, that's not the worst mixup I could make. If you've ever heard a punk version of Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire," and wondered who sang it, now you have your answer.

Ladies and Gentlemen with Sour Deluxe, The Melismatics, The Year After (Double Door)
I want to say this band sprang from either The Cells or Box-o-Car, and I've been hearing good things, but I haven't been able to verify either of those claims.

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah with The National (Schubas)   SOLD OUT!
I've heard more about these guys -- at least in terms of vague, non-specific buzz -- than of the headliners, so I wonder who's driving the sellout. Especially since the early show, with Talkdemonic opening for The National, is not sold out.

9.24   saturday
Disturbed with 10 Years (Riviera)
The Chicago metal band releases their third major-label CD this week, so it's only fitting that we've got them in town. At this point, these guys have to be in the top N Chicago bands, in terms of album sales, but I'm not sure what N is. I'd venture a guess it's as exclusive as 5, but maybe more like 10. It probably depends on whether you look at single records or an entire body of work, which would help bring Chicago, Styx and Cheap Trick (hey, Rockford's almost Chicago) into contention.

Michael Franti and Friends (Park West)
I'm a sucker for really deep voices in rap, which is why former Disposable Hero of Hiphoprosy Franti is way up on my list, along with Chuck D from Public Enemy. Granted, I don't listen to that much rap and hip-hop, but there don't seem to be that many newer artists with that kind of resonance.

Michael Penn with Rosie Thomas (Schubas)
It must be rough being Michael Penn. He's done really well for himself, but not as well -- at least in the totally meaningless celebrity sense -- as his brother Sean. He's also considered a gifted songwriter, but maybe not quite as gifted as his wife Aimee Mann.

Social Distortion with Mest, Bullets and Octane (House of Blues)   SOLD OUT!
See Friday's listing.

9.25   sunday
Four Tet with Khanate, Hot Chip, Phill Niblock (Empty Bottle)
This band is only just popping up on the edge of my radar. Apparently, they're post-post-rock and they combine a lot of organic sounds with electronica, which sounds intriguing enough.

Social Distortion with Mest, Bullets and Octane (House of Blues)   SOLD OUT!
This isn't the first time I've commented on just how many sold-out shows House of Blues will have in a week. I don't know of any other venue this size that can boast that. Of course, they tend to get these stretches when a band that could sell out the Riv or the Aragon decided to play two or three consecutive nights in a smaller room, so it may be a little misleading. But not much.

Michael Penn with Rosie Thomas (Schubas)
See Saturday's listing.

9.26   monday
George Clinton and Parliament/Funkadelic (House of Blues)
Since I'll be out of town until late Monday night, I'm getting a headstart on next week. To date, I still haven't actually made it to the end of a P-Funk show. Maybe I'm just not funky enough. This one boasts Big Boi from OutKast as a guest, which should be pretty darn cool.