list.in.to.chicago this week: 08.27.2007

Score one for quality control. Cracker was actually on Saturday and Naked Eyes and A Flock of Seagulls on Sunday at Flavor Fest in Lincoln Park. I think Metromix was originally wrong and eventually fixed it, because I thought it looked fishy to me when I wrote it last week, not that I can prove it. Sorry if you made plans around that without double-checking.

Pick of the week
I'm actually a little bummed that I'm going to miss Helmet at Double Door on Saturday. I think I could use that heaviness to clean out all the dumb shit rattling around in my brain these days. For something completely different, there's the Herbie Hancock Quartet Thursday at Symphony Center, and Medeski, Scofield, Martin and Wood on Friday night at the Jazz Festival in Grant Park.

list.in.to.COZ
I know there are some of you out there who are fans of Tony singing lead for Diver and who might still be on summer vacation before the school year gets rolling again. You know who you are. Anyway, the electric trio version -- not to be confused with the acoustic trio version, which you may hear about in a couple of weeks -- of Diver is playing at Cullen's on Saturday.

Recap
Okay, first we have the Diver gig in Palos Heights. The lesson here is that if you're confronted by a drunk local woman with teased, sprayed blond hair out to here, a white dress shirt, jeans and bright white sneakers and a particularly gruff voice berating you to start the set a half hour early and, you know, rock, you should NOT try to figure out what bands she actually wants to hear, because then she might hug you. Thank god neither Tony nor Avi had a camera. She wanted to hear Tom Petty, if you're wondering. Trio was a pretty nice room, though, and we'll be back at the end of September.

And once I learned of my mistake on the Flavor Fest lineups, I was able to catch bits and pieces of the sets from both Naked Eyes and A Flock Of Seagulls, and they were pretty sad, in that Spinal Tap playing the Air Force Base kind of way. It got me thinking about the economics of these kinds of bands and how much money they could be reasonably pulling down, and I may post something about that to the blog proper later this week.

8.27   monday
Goo Goo Dolls with Lifehouse, Colbie Caillat (Charter One Pavilion)
For whatever it's worth, Johnny Rzeznik will be one of the judges on the new Fox series The Next Great American Band, which has the potential to make me even more bitter and cynical about the state of rock and roll than I am already.

The Bangles with The Bridges (House of Blues)
On the other hand, Susanna Hoffs is probably still capable of making me forget about being bitter and cynical about rock and roll.

8.28   tuesday
Open Jam (Vaughan's)   COZ SINGS!
I may not make it -- my car broke down Sunday morning and I won't have it back until probably Thursday -- but that doesn't mean you shouldn't go, or that I shouldn't use double negatives.

Brother Brother (Martyrs')   FRIENDS OF COZ!
An increasingly rare performance from the brothers Spiegel, who have been increasingly busy with other projects and career tracks over the last few years.

8.29   wednesday
The Allman Brothers Band with Robert Randolph and The Family Band (Rosemont Theatre)
I would think that an all-seat proscenium theater might be an odd fit for the longtime jam band, but I guess their audience is getting older and might like to just sit and not get up and noodle dance. I can't imagine sitting still for Robert Randolph, and this is coming from someone who almost categorically does not dance.

8.30   thursday
Herbie Hancock Quartet (Symphony Centre)
Still one of the greatest jazz piano players in the business and a favorite son of Chicago. The former Miles Davis sideman plays the now-traditional kickoff concert for the Jazz Festival, and it dawns on me that we haven't really heard about any new, young jazz piano players in a while. Maybe the guy from The Bad Plus, but that's it since, say, Marcus Roberts and the late Kenny Kirkland, at least on my radar. Then again, my radar hasn't been quite so good since I stopped my subscription to Downbeat.

Earlimart with The String Dream Team, Patrick Park (Schubas)
I should have a separate category for "band the folks at Chicagoist.com keep going on and on about." This one of them.

The Bronx with The Last Vegas, With a Gun, Rebel Angels (Double Door)
It should come as no surprise that this band is not, in fact, from The Bronx. I downloaded a couple of tracks a while ago after they were mentioned over at Coolfer, and it's fairly decent punk-inflected hard rock. Better than a sharp stick in the eye.

8.31   friday
Medeski, Scofield, Martin and Wood (Petrillo Music Shell)
As it relates to my earlier point, I don't count John Medeski as a jazz pianist, since the bulk of his notoriety comes from playing the organ and/or other synths. But this is a pretty solid first night headliner for the Grant Park festival.

Farewell Captain (Hideout)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
If they keep up this pace, I'll either finally get around to seeing them, or they will quickly set a new record for those "gee, I really need to get out and see these guys" mentions.

Eight Bold Souls with Fareed Haque (Velvet Lounge)
It looks like guitarist Haque is guesting with the jazz ensemble, which could make for a pretty scintillating post-Jazz Festival set.

Effigies with The Gravetones, Spare Change (Subterranean)
I don't know if they qualify as punk legends outside of Chicago, but the return of this band has certainly made some waves locally.

9.01   saturday
Diver (Cullen's)   SEE COZ LIVE!
We're a trio again this time around, and if I can get my act together, I may send around some MP3s for Tony and Avi to learn by the weekend.

Helmet with Burning Brides, Dummy, Bible of the Devil (Double Door)
Page Hamilton came back with a vengeance back in 2004 with Size Matters and followed up with last year's Monochrome, which I haven't heard. There's something simultaneously nostalgic and vital about bands from alternative rock's heyday that I can't quite put my finger on, other than those damn kids on my lawn again.

The Format with Piebald, Limbeck, Steel Train, Rubens Accomplice (The Vic)
I know there are one or two or even three of these "The Something" bands that I kind of like, but I'm not sure if this is one of them. I know The Music is pretty good, as are, I think, The Sounds, both of whom I'd like to see sharing a bill with these guys for obvious reasons.

9.02   sunday
Mingus Big Band (Petrillo Music Shell)
The big closer of the Jazz Festival is the posthumous continuation of Charles Mingus' ensemble. Speaking of posthumous, I wonder how many of the acts at this week's festival will tip their hat to legendary drummer Max Roach, who passed away a week and a half ago. The reality of the end of the bop era, at least in terms of the lives of the performers themselves, may cast some kind of shadow on the proceedings, although it could very well be a celebratory shadow.

Download Festival (Charter One Pavilion)
This is being billed (by its promoters, so take it with a grain of salt) as the "ultimate interactive music festival," but unless that means you get to go up on stage with Snoop Dogg or The Shins, I don't know if I'm buying it. The show was moved from Alpine Valley, so it seems not a lot of other people are buying it, either. And with bands from the worlds of indie, emo and hip-hop, I have a hunch some of the interactivity might be between fans of the different bands.

My Life With Thrill Kill Kult (Double Door)
Apparently, all these Double Door shows -- going back to The Bronx on Thursday -- are part of something called "Electric City Rockfest." Apparently someone looked at the local music scene and decided that what we were missing was some sort of four-day, single-club festival, because we clearly don't have any others. Can't really quibble with the lineup, though.