list.in.to.chicago this week: 03.26.2007

Band from the "old days"? Check. Band I saw once and have meant to check out again for longer than two years? Check. Making fun of band names? Check. Reminiscing about URT? Check. "Friends of Coz" listing? Check. Bands I've never heard of but feel obligated to comment on anyway? Check.

This one's got everything, folks.

Pick of the week
Seeing as how Mew made my top ten from last year, their Wednesday show at Double Door is a bit of a no-brainer. And the drum geek in me has to mention Steve Smith and Vital Information on Sunday at Martyrs'.

list.in.to.COZ
Friday marks your last chance to see your humble correspondent play with Wingman, at what has become the band's home away from home, Mix (on Halsted just north of Diversey). This also means it may be your last chance to see me play Bon Jovi and Guns 'N' Roses ever, if I have any say in the matter. Monica singing "Patience" every once in a while at Vaughan's doesn't count.

Recap
The Diver gig at Victory Liquors forcibly reminded me how weeknight gigs can wipe me out. I think my body has gotten used to the Tuesday nights, but Thursday night made me completely useless on Friday. Sorry, Dearborn. I had every intention of making your show.

Saturday was Bound Stems at Double Door, and I don't know if it was just the musical climate of the week, but they sounded very reminiscent of The Arcade Fire to me, only not Canadian and maybe not quite as sprawling. The songs struck me as a bit ADD, but the good bits were pretty good. They just never seemed to repeat. Stars of Track and Field, despite the lack of a bass player, sounded pretty solid, reminding me a bit of shoegazer bands in the late 80s/early 90s, with that universal update to that sound that inevitably draws comparisons to early Radiohead. And the singer of The Long Winters had a 70s mustache, but 80s hair. It was weird, and I couldn't appreciate them as anything more than a pale imitation of Guided By Voices, sonically.

3.26   monday
Billy Talent with Drive By (House Of Blues)
So who would win in a fight between Billy Talent and John Legend? I mean, anybody can have talent, but to be a legend is something else entirely. On the one hand, Billy Talent is actually a quartet, while Legend is just one guy. On the other, they look like a bunch of weenie skatepunks.

Escape From Earth with Sick Puppies, Inept (Metro)
Okay, it's bad that my only real frame of reference for this band is a Sunday night show at Metro that we played with them way back in the URT days. That said, an opening slot on a Monday night bill is not how I'm going to refresh my memory.

3.27   tuesday
Open Jam (Vaughan's)   COZ SINGS!
We had a suggestion for a theme of "nineties bands," which isn't necessarily limited to 90s one-hit wonders, but those kinds of bands should give you an idea. Bands who are strongly identified with the decade, particularly within the modern/active rock radio format. Sugar Ray and 311 are certainly fair game. I might be able to cover this one without actually learning any new songs.

Ken Andrews with First Wave Hello, Bear Claw (Double Door)
The ad in the Reader points out that this is Ken Andrews, formerly of Failure. Now, while I do remember that band, it almost seems like they get disproportionately name-checked for three records in the nineties. Which would make them a good candidate for the open jam theme if I actually knew any of their songs.

Stone Sour with Shadows Fall, Lacuna Coil (House of Blues)
Didn't all these bands cease to exist when Q101 ostensibly changed their format? If not, why not? And the "shuffle" seems to have lost a lot of its luster lately, alliteration notwithstanding.

3.28   wednesday
Mew with Oh No! Oh My! (Double Door)
I only just recently learned that the Scandinavian psychedelic band is only a trio, and I'm definitely curious to see how they pull off all the sounds on ...And The Glass-Handed Kites, which was one of my favorite records from last year. Granted, it seems like they were a quartet back when that album was released -- 2005 in Europe and last year in the States. It looks like they've got a new one on the way, too.

Explosions in the Sky with The Paper Chase, Eluvium (Metro)   SOLD OUT!
I was going to say this is another one of those band I've never heard of that can apparently sell 1,000 tickets with room to spare, but reading up on them, I may have actually seen their name here and there. Apparently they're cut of the same cloth as Mogwai -- who I like a lot -- and Sigur Ros, and their live shows are highly regarded.

Neko Case with Sonny Smith (Park West)
I can't quite get on the Neko Case bandwagon. I recognize that she's very, very good, but I have a hard time opening up to her particular brand of alt-country, which probably isn't even all that "alt-". I find her contributions to The New Pornographers much more my speed. This is the only of the three shows that isn't sold out, at least right now and according to Metromix.

3.29   thursday
Paper Airplane Pilots with Dirty On Purpose, The Besnard Lakes (Schubas)
Another week, another band I saw a while back and intrigued me enough to remember, but maybe not to actually track their progress. At the time, I thought they were milking the Jeff Buckley vibe a little too much, I think, but it was also very clearly early in their development, and you've got to start somewhere.

Taylor Hicks with Michael Warren (House of Blues)   SOLD OUT!
Last week I walked by House of Blues before they opened the doors for Brand New, when the line of concertgoers was queued out onto Dearborn. For that particular band, I don't think I saw a single person in line over the age of 20. I almost need to go out of my way to see what the line looks like for the American Idol winner.

Neko Case with Matt Pond PA (Park West)   SOLD OUT!
See Wednesday's listings, but good luck finding tickets.

3.30   friday
Wingman (Mix)   SEE COZ LIVE!
After this performance, I will only be in one band for the first time in I don't even know how long. That's just kind of weird. Anyway, the band will continue past this show, but this is your last chance to see the not-quite-original lineup. Don't want to forget Blake.

Keb' Mo' (House of Blues)
I have one or two friends who keep telling me I need to see this guy, but I have to ask: What is the apostrophe after "Keb" abbreviating, exactly?

Mat Kearney with The Feeling, Roco De Luca (House of Blues)   SOLD OUT!
I know I've seen this guy's name around, but with a release last year on Aware Records, you're almost guaranteed some kind of Chicago presence. And I find it interesting that his last name is Kearney and his allmusic bio mentions that he played soccer in college, but unless you're hyperaware of American soccer, or grew up in Jersey, that's not going to make any sense at all.

Neko Case with Jon Rauhouse (Park West)   SOLD OUT!
Third of the three-night stand.

3.31   saturday
Mat Kearney with The Feeling, Roco De Luca (House of Blues)   SOLD OUT!
See Friday's listing. Because we need more sensitive, male singer-songwriters.

The Gufs with Fever Marlene, Ryan Powers (Double Door)
Sometimes I get this feeling that lots and lots of bands from the local music scene ten or more years ago settled down, had kids, and then got back together after those kids got old enough. That's the only way I can explain the resurgence of bands who used to play all the time back when I got out of college.

The Ponys with Black Lips, Mannequin Men (Logan Square Auditorium)
The local band's Matador Records debut dropped last week. I'm listening to it right now, and it's not arresting, but it's pretty good. The perfunctory allmusic.com search informs me that this is at least the second band mentioned in this week's newsletter that has been recorded by Steve Albini, with Ken Andrews' Failure being the other.

4.01   sunday
Vital Information (Martyrs')
This is the electric jazz group that former Journey drummer Steve Smith has been leading since he left the classic rock outfit back in the mid-80s. They can occasionally drift into smooth jazz territory, but for the most part, it's pretty credible stuff.

Nicholas Barron's Hyperactive (Long Room)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
Because it's not LITC without a "friends of Coz" listing. And 'cause they're good and stuff, and Steve got me to reconsider the new Shins record.