list.in.to.chicago this week: 11.12.2007

Look mom, no proofreading!

Pick of the week
Out of anyone playing this week, I own more CDs from Me'Shell Ndegeocello (Tuesday, House of Blues) than anyone else, so that should tell you something. And Juliette and the Licks (Friday, Reggie's Rock Club) will undoubtedly be a loud, hot, sweaty mess, and I mean that in a good way.

list.in.to.COZ
One of your last chances to see Diver this year on Saturday at Fado.

Recap
I guess Robert Fripp and the League of Crafty Guitarists end up as more of a repertory band than an ongoing concern, as there seems to be a body of material that comes out of Fripp's "Guitar Craft" courses, and it doesn't seem to change all that much. A lot of the compositions were the same ones I have on a couple of over ten-year old live CDs. That said, there was a certain magisterial vibe from all those acoustic guitars played by ten Fripp acolytes who looked like they had sticks up their asses. A bit of a creepy, cult-ish vibe, but still a good show, particularly the unamplified encore (Fripp played standing up!), followed by some unamplified playing in the lobby while they passed a hat around for tips. I actually made eye contact with the prog legend.

And later that night and right up the street, Sirsy was still just as impressive when I knew what to expect, with the lead singer also playing drums, triggering basslines, and even playing flute. Soma Star rocked, and stuff, but I was starting to fade.

Having been a bit skeptical of sets from The Changes recently, I was pleasantly surprised, particularly at the end when they were switching instruments. In the past, that's scared me a bit, but they really had it together on those tunes. And Athlete was very much at a sort of crossroads between Snow Patrol, Keane and Editors, so if you like those bands -- and you know who you are -- you would have loved them. Compliments to the fill-in bass player, who didn't seem to miss a beat.

11.12   monday
Frisbie with Modern Skirts, Team Band (Schubas)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
The Practice Space residency continues for the indie/power-popsters. And Modern Skirts are recommended by the friend of a friend of a friend, with all of those friends defined rather loosely.

Band of Horses with The Drones, Tyler Ramsey (Metro)
In retrospect, I probably had the time to go see the band last night in the first of the two-night stand, but sorta got sucked into my couch.

Neil Young with Pegi Young, Anthony Crawford (Chicago Theatre)
Now that I don't canvas the music section of the Reader like I used to -- most of the listings I draw from are from Metromix these days -- some shows can kind of sneak up on me, like this one.

11.13   tuesday
Open Jam (Vaughan's)   COZ SINGS!
Still playing soccer on Tuesdays, but this time I should at least make it by for a bit. If I can get a quorum of usual suspects, maybe we'll come up with a theme for next week.

Me'shell Ndegeocello (House of Blues)
She's moved increasingly towards her singing and songwriting and away from her absolutely fantastic bass playing the last couple times I've seen her, and the new record isn't on Rhapsody, so I don't really have much to go on as to what to expect. It'll probably be good, though.

Ben Lee with Cary Brothers, Kahn Brothers (Double Door)
One of those innocuous names you see often enough to think maybe you've heard of them, but also maybe not. I don't think this is the guy that opened for Gomez last time I saw them. Also, according to Wikipedia, "it has been suggested he is currently dating the actress Ione Skye." But not confirmed, apparently.

Neil Young with Pegi Young, Anthony Crawford (Chicago Theatre)
See Monday's listing.

11.14   wednesday
The Story of Modern Farming with Pillars and Tongues, A Tundra (Ronny's)
I haven't given out a "band name of the week" award in a while, so let me address that right now. Not sure what to make of this name, exactly, but it did catch my eye.

11.15   thursday
Menomena with Illinois, Sybris (Metro)
Runner-up on the band name thing, and now you've got that song stuck in your head. I still haven't gotten to hear a full set from Sybris ever since catching a song and a half when I was going to see another band somewhere.

The Mountain Goats with Bowerbirds (Empty Bottle)
I would probably like them better if I, you know, actually listened to lyrics.

Jimmy Eat World with Viva Voce (Riviera Theatre)
I was trying to figure out if the noise I was hearing about the band's new record was hype or buzz, with the difference being marketing dollars versus fan reaction. After giving that record a listen, I'm going to have to go with the former. Nothing to write home about.

11.16   friday
Juliette and the Licks with Scissors for Lefty, Suffrajett (Reggie's Rock Club)
Actress Juliette Lewis rocked mightily at Lollapalooza this summer, and one day I'll post some pictures to prove it. This ain't no vanity project, although the Hollywood halo will probably mean you should get tickets in advance, if they even do that at the new south Loop venue.

Helicopters with Mission of Burma, Comasoft, Fun Club (Abbey Pub)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
As it turns out, two-thirds of Helicopters were at Wise Fools on Friday, and here they are opening up for the Boston post-punk band. No idea if recent unrest in Burma has increased the band's visibility.

John McLean Septet (Green Mill)
Haven't seen the jazz guitarist's name in quite some time, but I remember back when he, John Moulder and Fareed Haque seemed to be everywhere.

Shaw Blades (Joe's Bar)
You know you're in trouble when your record comes out on VH1 Classic Records to begin with. Said record is a covers album, and now that I look at it, I'm almost intrigued that they've got Yes ("Your Move") and ELP ("Lucky Man") in there. Almost.

11.17   saturday
Diver (Fado Irish Pub)   SEE COZ LIVE!
It's hard to believe, but we only have two more shows within the city limits in 2007, and this is the only one where we're playing all night.

Riot Fest (Congress Theatre)
With performances from a reformed Naked Raygun, Stiff Little Fingers and 7Seconds, this is the more noteworthy slate of bands for the two-day, all day, all ages punk fest.

Feist with Jason Collett (Riviera Theatre)   SOLD OUT!
Really liked her set at Lollapalooza back in 2006, and now she's achieved near-ubiquity with that song from the iPod commercials. You know, the "1-2-3-4" one.

KT Tunstall (The Vic)   SOLD OUT!
One of the best between-song banterers I've seen since Ani DiFranco, Tunstall comes across like someone I've struck up a conversation with at a bar, and seeing as how she lived in Chicago for a bit, it's entirely possible.

Pit er Pat with Bobby Conn, Willis P Jenkins (AV-aerie)
I've seen the name enough, and I think I even have one track downloaded from somewhere, but I don't have any functional memory cues on the Thrill Jockey recording artists. And I've seen this venue pop up more often lately. I think it's part of the Empty Bottle's "network" of alternate venues, at least from a booking perspective.

Cowboy Mouth with Corey Smith, Eli Young Band (House of Blues)
Despite former Daily Show correspondent Vance Degeneres playing with them at whatever street festival I saw them at over the summer, I thought these guys sucked hard to the point of being offensive, and I don't understand their appeal or their following. I recognize it -- playing to the lowest common denominator both in content and the incessant calls for audience participation, telling the crowd over and over that this is the most fun they've ever had until they actually believe it -- but I'm still confounded that it would work on such a large scale.

John McLean Septet (Green Mill)
See Friday's listing.

11.18   sunday
Riot Fest (Congress Theatre)
Only Bad Brains and Deal's Gone Bad stick out for me on Day 2, but that may be a function of my lack of punk rock awareness and not any sort of value judgment about the actual show.

Jeff Buckley Tribute (Metro)
The 10th annual event is a late afternoon affair, with Dorothy Scott, Alpha Rev, Ryan Groff, Anna D'Aloisio, Spencer Michauld,Catherine Harrison, April Smith. I won't claim to have been at the legendary Uncommon Ground show, but I know someone who was.

Robbers on High Street with Great Northern, Happy Salmon (Schubas)
I can't keep these guys straight from the Manic Street Preachers, not that they have anything to do with each other. They've got a little bit of that overly "precious" indie rock thing going on, but there's some substance behind it.