list.in.to.chicago this week: 01.08.2007

UPDATED: Burn Rome Burn is at Metro on Saturday, not Elbo Room. My bad. And "if you're interesting?" I'm slipping.

If you're interested in that sort of thing, I've posted my Best Of 2006 over on notabbott.com proper. I know I'll promise this and never get to it, but I've got a vague notion of going back through the newsletters and figuring out just how many shows I saw last year.

Happy 72nd Birthday to Elvis Presley, wherever you are alleged to be. And to David Bowie on his 60th.

And a shout-out to Dubious Moniker for being good sports in the comments section about me making fun of their name last week. You never quite know what you're going to get when you set out some Googlebait like that.

Pick of the week
If I were going to pick one of the Tomorrow Never Knows shows at Schubas, it would probably be Saturday's, with Office and Mucca Pazza. But all of them look pretty solid.

list.in.to.COZ
Just Vaughan's this week, and maybe not even that, depending on how I'm feeling.

Recap
If you heard me at Vaughan's on Tuesday night, you would have heard zero evidence of the viral anvil that crushed my sinuses into submission later that same night.

Not much to report on account of a fairly debilitating head cold, but the highlight of the week was undoubtedly watching Shubie's 84-year old grandmother get down with her bad self at the Wingman show on Saturday night. I hope that I'm out at bars until 2am when I'm 84, that's all I'm saying.

1.08   monday
Talent Magnet Mondays (Stadium West)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
I know what you're thinking. "Wasn't the last one of these supposed to be a couple of weeks ago?" Well, yes, but that was, um, just the last open mike night ever in 2006? This one purports to be the real last one ever before the bar goes bye-bye.

Pit er Pat with Make Believe, Bronze (Schubas)
I have this vague notion that Pit er Pat may have played at Pitchfork, and that I may have seen them, but with the festivals driving the number of bands I saw last year quite possibly over 100, I honestly don't remember. I just feel like I've heard of them, but can't place why.

1.09   tuesday
Open Jam (Vaughan's)   COZ SINGS!
Sorry, no theme this week. If I can actually make it out this week, we'll come up with something for next time before we leave.

1.10   wednesday
French Kicks with Headlights, Skybox, Eagle Seagull (Schubas)
The Tomorrow Never Knows festival kicks off with one of the critics' favorites from last year, although I didn't see the Brooklyn band crack too many year-end lists.

1.11   thursday
Dizastro with Calling All Destroyers, Bitterson, Union Pulse, Harmony (Elbo Room)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
This is a guy who has been coming to Vaughan's off and on for about a year and a half, maybe two years, and his original tunes have been pretty damn good. Even if I am occasionally thrown by how much he sorta looks like Gillis.

Margot and the Nuclear So and So's with Dr. Dog, The Bees, Brooklyn Bridegrooms (Schubas)
I know nothing about any of these bands, but it's night two of Tomorrow Never Knows, so I figured thoroughness would count for something.

1.12   friday
Mission of Burma with Pinebender (Double Door)
While this band didn't make my top ten, they did have one of my favorite songs of the year in "2twice."

Soma Star (Stadium West)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
Not to be outdone by Dana with her second "last" open mike, the Soma kids are boasting their third "last show before we head into the studio" as part of the Stadium West swan song.

Fareed Haque Group (Green Mill)
There was a brief period of time back in the early nineties when Haque was signed to Sting's Pangea label, I think, which is as good a reason has any to say that if the Police do get back together this summer, and only play the UK, I'm gonna be pissed. Or on the first plane to London.

Gregg Allman and Friends (House of Blues)
I tend to be somewhat skeptical on these "with friends" tours, 'cause it usually means they don't feel the headliner can draw enough on their own, but none of the supporting cast is really all that well-known, but hey, they're his "friends," so they must be good, right?

The Ponys with Benjy Ferree, Sano, The Early Tapes (Schubas)
If TNK is going with a particular aesthetic, the French Kicks on the one hand and the Ponys on the other give me a good sense of what the overall sound is going to be like, which is to say, very indie, a little jangly, and with just a trace of UK influence.

1.13   saturday
Burn Rome Burn with Buddy Nuisance, Seven Day Run, Brother Lowdown, O'Neill and Wean (Metro)
I keep saying that I think these guys are our upstairs neighbors in the rehearsal building, but I'm not actually sure. I think Buddy Nuisance may be in the same space.

Andrew Bird with The Paulina Hollers (The Hideout)   SOLD OUT!
Chicago's returning prodigal prodigy should come across well in such an intimate venue.

The Waco Brothers with Brice Woodall and the Bots, Open to Suggestion (Martyrs')
Jon Langford has become quite the Chicago musical icon for someone who clearly didn't develop here, which is an astounding feat when you consider how parochial this town can be sometimes.

Office with Mucca Pazza, Tiger City, The God Damn Doo Wop Band (Schubas)
Tomorrow continues to not know with one of the hotter local bands of the moment on the bill.

Howard Jones Duo (Abbey Pub)
Yes, it's that Howard Jones from the 80s, and it's an acoustic evening sponsored by VH-1.

Gregg Allman and Friends (House of Blues)
See Friday's listing.

1.14   sunday
Bound Stems with Dirty On Purpose, All Smiles, The A-Sides (Schubas)
Another much-hyped local band on the TNK docket.