list.in.to.chicago this week: 10.22.2007

Hello, Cleveland! And by "hello," I mean "goodbye."

Pick of the week
The two standouts for me are Queens of the Stone Age on Thursday and Rodrigo y Gabriela on Saturday, both at the Riviera and neither of which I can go to. The annual Halloween bash at Double Door on Saturday is always a hot ticket, too, and I would be remiss if I didn't mention the CD release party for Soma Star, also on Saturday, at Elbo Room.

list.in.to.COZ
You can get your costumed groove on with Diver at Cullen's on Saturday, and if you or someone you know can pull off dressing/acting like Paula Abdul, please let me know.

Recap
Anyone who has played in bands knows that some nights, the forces of nature align against you and there's pretty much nothing you can do. I think Thursday's show from The New Pornographers was one of those gigs. An acoustic guitar that refused to work got things off to a bad start, and it just started spiraling out of control from there, to the point where I think Dan Bejar had to be convinced to continue. Still, parts of the performance got through unscathed, and for me, there's a certain amount of entertainment value in watching a band fight through adversity like that.

Half of Diver played a last-minute acoustic set at Cullen's on Saturday, so I didn't manage to get over to The Globe, where David Beckham was watching the evening's Major League Soccer matches.

10.22   monday
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band (United Center)
According to Metromix this morning, the second show wasn't sold out, and this despite Jon Stewart's ringing endorsement last week.

Misfits with Rock and Roll, Drop, Juicehead (House of Blues)
According to Wikipedia, there's been a "touring version" of the band (sans Glenn Danzig) that has been out and about for a while now. And they've never really been part of my aesthetic, so I'm not surprised to find out they hail from Lodi, NJ. I'm happy to say I'm actually too young to remember them during their original incarnation.

Drive-By Truckers with Ryan Bingham and The Dead Horses (Park West)
I'm not sure if a band described as "cowpunk" is going to fit in at the Park West, one of the only music venues in Chicago that has washroom attendants. Then again, Cubby Bear has washroom attendants.

10.23   tuesday
Open Jam (Vaughan's)   COZ SINGS!
With the World Series finally set, I guess the most appropriate theme would be songs from artists hailing from either Boston or Colorado. Only because there aren't a lot of songs about choking, not to mention that Vaughan's has an Ohio affiliation which might make that theme not go over so well.

10.24   wednesday
Yellowjackets (Green Mill)
Wow, I haven't heard from this jazz quartet in quite sometime. Somewhere in my apartment is an old cassette of The Spin, and I can't even remember the club where I saw them while I was in college. It was on either Hubbard or Kinzie, and had some great acts come through. My former college roommate and current darling of the liberal blogosphere, Rick Perlstein, brought me back Scott Henderson's guitar string when he played that same club with the late Joe Zawinul.

Rogue Wave with Port O'Brien (Double Door)
The indie band was one of the highlights from last year's Bumbershoot Festival in Seattle, which reminds me that I haven't added any more pictures to the photos section of the site since I got that first batch up from this year's Lollapalooza.

Hellogoodbye with Say Anything (Congress Theatre)
I want to say that this is one of the bands that ended my honeymoon period with the "new" Q101. Which is to say, vapid, overproduced, overpackaged crap that their DJs fawn over like it was the best thing ever. I'm not sure, but some of that is me trying to repress the memory.

10.25   thursday
Queens Of The Stone Age with Black Angels, Billy Clyro (Riviera Theatre)
Fortunately, I didn't get tickets in advance for this one, as a Fire playoff game at Toyota Park takes precedence. On the one hand, I'm a little surprised that this show isn't sold out, but on the other, I think Era Vulgaris sorta tanked, so their moment may have passed.

HIM (Congress Theatre)
I know two things about HIM. The Finnish (!) band sell an awful lot of merchandise emblazoned with that "heartagram," and no one that I know has any of it, so I'm going to assume I'm not the target demo here.

His Name Is Alive with Mira Mira, The Black Swans (Schubas)
There's an Abbott and Costello routine somewhere in here with His Name Is Alive and HIM playing the same night, I just know it. "Who are you going to see tonight?" "His Name Is Alive." "Oh, really? I'm going to see HIM." "Cool, I'll see you at the show." That much you could do with anybody, so feel free to imagine the rest of it yourself.

10.26   friday
Gov't Mule (Riviera Theatre)
Reprising a joke from a mailing list I'm on that earned me a profession of undying affection, I want to see these guys tour with Band of Horses and The Ponys.

Pat Monahan with I Nine (House of Blues)
This name has been creeping onto my radar as of late, but I haven't actually checked him out yet. And to keep with the theme from earlier, not to be confused with my old roommate Pete Monahan.

Head of Femur with Light Pollution (Hideout)
Still on my list of local bands to check out, after hanging out with various band members at the Hideout Block Party and points beyond.

Rob Stone and the C-Notes (House of Blues Back Porch Stage)
I'm pretty sure this won't be the same Rob Stone who will be in town to do play-by-play for the ESPN2 broadcast of the Fire's playoff game on Thursday, but how funny would that be?

10.27   saturday
Diver (Cullen's)   SEE COZ LIVE!
We play one of our favorite haunts for their Halloween party. Avi can't do the gig, so we'll be completing the cycle of "everybody gets subbed out sometime." Being a nominal costume party, feel free to come dressed as Avi so it will seem like he's still there in spirit.

Soma Star with The Villas, Paid Pilots (Elbo Room)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
Not only does Soma Star rate as friends of Coz, but they'll be releasing a 5-song CD produced by another friend of Coz, Steve Gillis. The only thing that will be missing from this one is, well, Coz.

Rodrigo y Gabriela with Ian Ball (Riviera Theatre)
One of my favorite sets from this year's Lollapalooza was the acoustic guitar duo, which I think I described as what would happen if Paco De Lucia had kids who grew up listening to Metallica. And I don''t know exactly which guy from Gomez Ian Ball is, but I like that band, so I'm somewhat curious.

11th Annual Halloween Bash (Double Door)
Wasn't there some rumbling that last year's was going to be the last one? Apparently not, as they've got The Last Vegas as Alice Cooper, Catfish Haven as The Misfits, Thunderwing with Mike O'Connell as The MC5, The Midnight Shows as Boy George, The Sleepers as Pearl Jam, Blackbox as Local H. Two things stand out here. First, The Misfits are actually in town this week. Second, someone's performing as Local H? Isn't Scott Lucas always in this thing anyway?

Bob Dylan and his band with Elvis Costello, Amos Lee (Chicago Theatre)
If I have to tell you about Bob Dylan -- and Elvis Costello, for that matter -- you may be on the wrong mailing list.

10.28   sunday
The Decemberists with Laura Veirs and Saltbreakers (The Vic)
This is the "long" night of the indie band's "Long And Short Of It" tour, where they steal a page from Genesis' greatest hits CDs and play their longer songs one night and shorter songs the next.

Bob Dylan and his band with Elvis Costello, Amos Lee (Chicago Theatre)
See Saturday's listing.

Sevendust with 10 Years, Black Light Burns, Neverset (House of Blues)
I add this only to make Kevin happy, and I still don't understand why he likes this band.

Insane Clown Posse (Congress Theatre)
It's a good week to be an angry young person at the Congress Theatre. ICP tonight, HIM back on Thursday, and Cradle of Filth on Tuesday, although I didn't have enough to say about that show to actually list it.