list.in.to.chicago this week: 01.30.2006

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Pick of the week
Two local bands on the way up in Absent Star (Thursday, Schubas) and The Changes (Thursday, Empty Bottle) and one on the way out in Rockit Girl's farewell show (Saturday, Double Door).

list.in.to.COZ
After two weeks of shows on real stages with bright lights, it's back to the dark corner of the bar when Diver plays this Friday at Cullen's.

Recap
If I'm going to create little semantic hacks like "Drummer with a captial D" from a few weeks ago, then I have to mention that on Friday in Libertyville, we had a Soundman with a capital S for the Diver/Wingman double bill at Cubby Bear North. I don't know that I'll ever get used to driving all the way out there, because there's a stretch of seriously undeveloped land that you think isn't going to ever end, and then there's the huge sign shining like a beacon in the night. Also, they thought our name was Driver.

Sunday night was Metro again. Madina Lake started strong -- I thought Nathan Leone's vocals were much improved from his Blank Theory days -- then kinda faded toward the end, particularly as his voice seemed to tire out. And if they're looking for some sort of slogan, I would suggest "when one hair color just isn't enough." This Is Me Smiling were the opposite, both in terms of having monochromatic hair and starting slow and getting stronger. When they were setting up, the snap judgement based on how they looked was Weezer meets OK Go; throw in some Joe Jackson and you're not that far off. I thought the vocals could have been stronger, but they were still very good. Punchline and Bayside were both largely unremarkable ninth- or tenth-generation punk pop, the kinds of bands that I would imagine litter the MySpace landscape.

1.30   monday
Grazyna Auguscik Quintet (Green Mill)
On the off chance that you're basing your Monday night jazz decisions on Metromix rather than the Reader, it looks like the former is wrong this week, as they've got Monday night mainstay Patricia Barber playing, while the club's ad in the reader says Barber is on tour.

1.31   tuesday
Open Jam (Vaughan's)   COZ SINGS!
Show up early and maybe we'll come up with a drinking game for the State Of The Union address.

Kick The Cat with 7 League Boots (Martyrs')   FRIENDS OF COZ!
You know the drill. Local jazz-rock fusion, served up once a month.

2.01   wednesday
Tributosaurus (Martyrs')   FRIENDS OF COZ!
You know this drill, too. This month, Ray Charles.

The Bish with Trevorside, Noah Gabriel (Double Door)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
Again, if you're scoring at home, the bands these guys have reminded me of are Deep Purple, The Cult and Oasis. If you're not scoring at home, try sending flowers.

Aimee Mann with Chuck Prophet (Park West)   SOLD OUT!
I don't really have anything to base this on, but I get this feeling that Mann got much more serious after the success of Magnolia. There was a certain whimsy to her early solo efforts, and the vibe I get from her now is that she's moved on from that.

2.02   thursday
The Changes with 1900's, Record Hop (Empty Bottle)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
I wanted to make the point that this was the band's first show since playing Schubas on New Year's Eve, but that wasn't even a whole month ago. It seems longer for some reason.

Absent Star with The People, The Hopefuls (Schubas)
These guys were recently signed to RCA, and while I'm happy for them, I also didn't realize RCA still actually made records. If the label is trying to get back on the map, it could be a double-edged sword, a la From Zero being one of very few rock acts on Arista back when they got their deal and not faring very well.

Ricky Martin (Chicago Theatre)   SOLD OUT!
Darn it all, Ricky Martin is sold out. My vida will just have be a little less loca.

Chris Potter Quartet (Jazz Showcase)
The Chicago-born, South Carolina-raised tenor player made his name touring with both Dave Holland's quintet and Steeley Dan. I'm still having trouble getting used to these Thursday to Sunday stands at the Showcase.

2.03   friday
Diver (Cullen's)   SEE COZ LIVE!
Um, yeah, so we're playing at Cullen's again. You should come. It'll be fun.

Toasters with Deals Gone Bad, Go Jimmy Go, Westbound Train (Beat Kitchen)
It's been a long while since I've seen a ska show at Beat Kitchen, if, in fact, I've ever seen a ska show at Beat Kitchen. I don't think I have, but I know how you fact-checkers are on the Internet, waiting to pounce on any factual innaccuracies I put out there at a moment's notice. So I need to leave myself some wiggle room. People tend to bounce more than wiggle at a ska show, though. Wiggling is more for jam bands. Where was I again?

Chris Potter Quartet (Jazz Showcase)
See Saturday's listing.

2.04   saturday
INXS with Marty Casey and Lovehammers (Chicago Theatre)   SOLD OUT!
The conventional wisdom is the Marty Casey got the better deal out of Rock Star: INXS in that he scored a record deal and a major tour for his longtime hometown band The Lovehammers. Unfortunately, their big major label debut is excruciatingly bad, with all the worst qualities of early Candlebox, Jimmy Eat World and Hoobastank. I wanted to like it. I wanted to be proud of a local boy done good. I just couldn't.

Burn Rome Burn (Martyrs')
Metromix has the start time listed at 6pm for this one, which struck me as kind of odd, but there's apparently also a later show from Paris Delane as well. It's also Burn Rome Burn's CD release party, which only makes the double booking weirder. To me, anyway.

Rockit Girl with The Strategy Game, The Venom Lords, America's #1 Sweetheart (Double Door)
This is the final show for the band. Over its seven years, I wonder if anyone has written an article about Gina Crosley that called her "Rockit Girl's 'It' Girl"? Or is that too obvious? Too dumb? Wait, don't answer that.

The Bomb with The Methadones, The Unpretty Things (Beat Kitchen)
I was struggling to remember what seminal Chicago punk rock band one of the guys in The Bomb (Jeff Pezzati) was from, so I entered "seminal chicago punk band" into Google. Naked Raygun -- which is the band I was looking for -- came up at #2 behind The Effigies.

Chris Potter Quartet (Jazz Showcase)
See Thursday's listing.

2.05   sunday
Chris Potter Quartet (Jazz Showcase)
See Friday's listing. Because straight chronological references are for suckers.