list.in.to.chicago this week: 02.27.2006

It's all about Stadium West and the Gillis-Lawrence axis this time out. The return of Long Count at the club is one of two Steve-related shows I've got listed, along with one for a band he produced that I'm playing drums on. Dana is also on that bill, and gets a shoutout for the new open mic night over by the intersection of Elston and Belmont.

Pick of the week
The highest profile shows -- Yeah Yeah Yeahs (Logan Square Auditorium) and Ta'mar with Prince (Congress Theatre) tonight, Mogwai (also at Logan Square Auditorium) on Wednesday and the reunion of Fig Dish (Saturday, Schubas) -- are all sold out, but you've still got Tributosaurus as Steely Dan on Wednesday (Martyrs') and Nicholas Barron's Hyperactive on Thursday (Elbo Room) for your local fix, and Aqualung (Saturday at Metro) and Nada Surf and Rogue Wave (Sunday, also at Metro) on the national side.

list.in.to.COZ
In like a lion with Vaughan's on Tuesday, Diver on Friday (Cullen's) and Other World on Saturday (Wise Fools Pub). And I think all my gigs are real this time, which some of you might recall wasn't the case this week last year.

Recap
Some nights you just shouldn't bother going out. Massive sinus congestion and a bowling injury -- yes, you read that right -- made it tough to appreciate any changes Sunday Morning Chameleon have made since I last saw them. They still had that solid Cure vibe, and I think everyone but the singer was new. The only thing that stuck with me about the other two bands I saw was that stage right seemed to be the hipster position. One guitarist boasted the trucker hat and the horn-rimmed glasses, with the next keeping the glasses but going with the ironic argyle sweater.

Saturday night was much more satisfying, even more so because I had no idea what to expect. Columbian Monkey Knife Fight, aside from having a great name, offered up something that reminded me of Maserati but with vocals, or maybe a less laconic Interpol. I liked them a lot. With Viceroy, I couldn't get away from comparing them to Thin Lizzy, of all people. And watching their drummer's facial expressions throughout the set was absolutely hysterical. Finally, The Ladies And Gentlemen delivered on the new new wave promise, but I thought the true origins of their sound were revealed with a raucous set-ending cover of "I Wanna Destroy You" from The Soft Boys.

2.27   monday
Yeah Yeah Yeahs with The Ponys, Imaad Wasif (Logan Square Auditorium)   SOLD OUT!
What I can't understand is how this whole "garage rock" resurgence, epitomized by The Strokes and Yeah Yeah Yeahs, came out of New York City. We're talking about bohemian New Yorkers. They don't even have cars, let alone garages. Anyway, this trio has a new record out next month, which means you'll be able to tell the most tech-savvy in the audience by whether or not they're singing along to songs that have been inevitably leaked online.

Tamar with Prince (Congress Theatre)
I'm still a little wary of this last-minute show featuring the diminutive Minnesotan, because it's really all about his new vocal protege and member of the New Power Generation. There's too much potential for a bait and switch, and at $50 a ticket and a midnight start time, that's not a risk I'd be willing to take.

Open Mike (Stadium West)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
Friend of Coz Dana Lawrence is going to be running this one, as proprieter and recent birthday boy Jeff Malas continues to fill out the music schedule at the Logan Square hotspot.

2.28   tuesday
Open Jam (Vaughan's)   COZ SINGS!
I was going through some old mix tapes yesterday, and the net result is that I might resurrect Missing Persons and take a shot at a different solo David Lee Roth tune this week. Or I could be lazy and just stick with what I already know, but where's the fun in that?

Meat Beat Manifesto with Dalek (Abbey Pub)
With few exceptions, it seems like there haven't really been any new industrial bands in a long, long time, but I'll be the first to admit I don't pay that close attention to the genre. Prove me wrong in the comments.

Bumpus (Schubas)
This is one of many celebratory Fat Tuesday shows going on around town. Should be one of those nights where many, many people aren't concerned about sleepwalking through Wednesday. As someone with much experience in this, I can tell you that the biggest bang for your early morning, late morning, early afternoon and late afternoon coffees to help you get through it is at Potbelly's, followed by McDonald's. We're talking value for the money and decent coffee to boot. And I'm not the only one who believes in the restorative powers of the Sausage McMuffin sandwich.

3.01   wednesday
Mogwai with Growing (Logan Square Auditorium)   SOLD OUT!
I went through a phase about two years ago where I listend to lots of atmospheric post-rock, but I drifted away from it enough that I didn't go out and get tickets for this show when they were still available, but I don't think I would have been able to go anyway.

Long Count Quartet (Stadium West)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
So with Dana doing the open mike on Monday and Steve putting Long Count back in action, the obvious conclusion is that they both met Jeff a week or two ago.

Tributosaurus (Martyrs')   FRIENDS OF COZ!
I had the good fortune of running into Matt and Shauna Spiegel on Friday night, and Matt told me that while they're revisiting Steely Dan, there will be no duplication from the first Dan show. So it's something like 16 new tunes this time around, which could the be start of a nice trend for those of us who have left the band's shows thinking "that was cool, but I wish they would have played..."

3.02   thursday
Nicholas Barron's Hyperactive with Devices (Elbo Room)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
After a month off at Elbo, Nicholas' "organ trio plus horn trio" is back to their Thursday night residency.

3.03   friday
Diver (Cullen's)   SEE COZ LIVE!
I should seriously avoid bringing up the whole "people keep falling into the band" mantra, in case my insistence on mentioning it somehow causes some disturbance in the force. Particularly, a disturbance that pushes people into the band.

This Is Me Smiling with The Skyriter, What Four, The Lifestyle (Metro)
I enjoyed these guys when I saw them at Metro about a month ago. Again, there were elements of Weezer, OK Go and Joe Jackson, and they played in seven.

BT with Juan MacLean, DJ Jung (Sound Bar)
I'm sorry, I can't look at an ad for this particular electronica artist/DJ and not think to myself, "British Telecom?"

3.04   saturday
Other World with Dana Lawrence, Doko Benjo (Wise Fools Pub)   SEE COZ LIVE!
Part of the reason this whole newsletter exists is because I've become somewhat more "mercenary" as a drummer, and that doesn't always lend itself to the kind of self-promotion that being a bona fide and fully invested member of a band does. And yet I still like seeing friends come out to shows. This one is a case in point, as Tony and I back up this straight-up rock band as they celebrate the release of their Steve Gillis-produced CD.

Aqualung with Kim Taylor (Metro)
I'm not sure which is more troubling, that a band would name itself after -- or at least the same as -- a classic Jethro Tull song, or that the younger segment of this plaintive British band might not even know the reference. If this sounds like me bitching about getting old, I feel like I'm entitled this week.

Fig Dish with Idle Hands (Schubas)   SOLD OUT!
For those of you that can't keep your two-name pop/rock local bands from the 90s straight, Fig Dish was the one that helped the upswing of major label attention on Chicago. I often get them confused with Loud Lucy, who helped shut that particular door by being not quite as good. I don't know what this reunion show means in the grand scheme of Fig Dish, Ness and Caviar, but I suspect we'll see some press on it later in the week.

Lez Zeppelin with Rock Star Club, The Goodyear Pimps (Cubby Bear)
Lesbians playing Led Zep. What's not to like? Although I don't know exactly what this does to the "low-slung-guitar-as-penis" metaphor.

My Life With Thrill Kill Cult with Chris Connelly (Double Door)
Meat Beat Manifesto on Tuesday, and Thrill Kill Cult on the weekend? What, is there some sort of industrial music convention in town?

3.05   sunday
Rogue Wave with Nada Surf, Inara George (Metro)
The website ohmyrockness.com -- which may become a good resource for the creation of this newsletter in the future -- calls this band "The Shins meets Crosby, Stills and Nash," but the quality of the vocals is both not as whiny as the former and not as overtly folky as the latter. The sound strikes me as indie rock with mostly soft edges, and last year's Descended Like Vultures makes for a pleasant listen.