list.in.to.chicago this week: 11.26.2007

Quality control last week kind of sucked, so my apologies if you thought the sold-out M.I.A. show you couldn't get tickets for on Wednesday was at The Vic when it was actually at House of Blues. I saw the Friday show at the Vic and figured I must have made a mistake on the Wednesday show. And Farewell Captain didn't play Beat Kitchen on Wednesday, Ted Ansani did. That one I blame on Metromix entirely. Good thing I called.

read list.in.to.chicago on the web at notabbott.com/litc

Pick of the week
I'm going to stay neutral this week. If anything jumps out at you from the screen, you may want to consider cutting back on your dosage. And post it in the web comments.

list.in.to.COZ
I'm off this week. The only remaining Diver show in the city this year is an opening slot for Crash at the Cubby Bear on December 21.

Recap
Last Monday, Frisbie fought through a cold and a tough mix with a valiant, if somewhat vocally inaudible, effort. Good night for randomly bumping into friends, too -- I love those nights. And I sat in with Andrew Fraker on Saturday at Messner's, and one thing I can say about that without getting into trouble is that there was surprisingly little smoke near the front of the bar where we set up.

11.26   monday
Frisbie with Howie Statland, JT and The Clouds (Schubas)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
Steve Frisbie promised better health and a better show this week, and I believe him.

11.27   tuesday
Open Jam (Vaughan's)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
I've got a late soccer game again, so you'll have to wait for a reprise of the Thom Yorke and Beck tunes I debuted last week. In my absence, I totally dog dare you to pay tribute to Kevin DuBrow, the recently deceased former lead singer of Quiet Riot.

Kick The Cat with The Renegades, Tom McCarthy Luminance Ensemble (Martyrs')   FRIENDS OF COZ!
I've written about the jazz fusion stylings of KTC and The Renegades often enough, but I'm actually a bit more curious about Tom McCarthy, as I think he's the guy who plays with Blue Man Group and did the cool Robert Fripp parts on "Heroes" way back when I sat in with Tributosaurus.

11.28   wednesday
John Fogerty (Chicago Theatre)
One of the few eMusic artists to mostly survive the big MP3 drive crash of aught-seven. I wish I could say the same of my "Real Book" playlist.

11.29   thursday
Tegan and Sara with Northern State (Portage Theater)   SOLD OUT!
This one stands out because, while I've seen the odd show here and there at this venue, I don't think I've ever seen one from someone I've actually heard of. I don't know if this is some sort of alternate promoter or what at this point, but I'm curious.

11.30   friday
Robert Pollard with Death of Fashion, The Party Downers (Metro)
Since retiring from Guided By Voices, I think Pollard has released about a dozen solo records. Okay, maybe four, but he seems to do them two at a time, which is kind of odd. But then, so is Pollard. I'm pretty sure his touring band still includes local-boy-done-good Jason Narducy.

Garaj Mahal with Bumpus, Euforquestra (Martyrs')
I'm beginning to lose my patience with Metromix. After misleading me on that Beat Kitchen show last week, now they have the wrong opening bands down for this one. Between these problems and the dwindling number of pages for venue ads in the newly reconfigured Reader, I may have to either find new sources or give up altogether. Not that anyone actually reads this in order to go to see shows.

Daryl Hall and John Oates (UIC Pavilion)
There's been a sudden surge in indie cred for at least Daryl Hall, with a guest cameo on Flight of the Conchords and a big interview on Pitchfork. This is primarily a Christmas show, though, so I don't know how much of the "classic" catalog will get attention.

Willy Porter (Schubas)
I remember Porter used to get compared to the late Michael Hedges before he died, and I downloaded an album of his, but alas, I don't think that one survived the previously mentioned MP3 drive crash of aught-seven.

Shonen Knife with The Juliette Dagger, Verona Grove (Reggie's Rock Club)
Another big name for the new south Loop club, this time from the venerable Japanese punk band.

12.01   saturday
Old Town School of Folk Music 50th Anniversary Benefit (Auditorium Theatre)
Enough is going to be written about this in the coming week, so I'll just note that it features performances by Jeff Tweedy, Bela Fleck and Abigail Washburn, David Bromberg, Roger McGuinn, Lonnie Brooks, Bonnie Koloc, Corky Siegel and others.

The Cells with White Wolf and Sonic Princess, The Telepaths (Red Line Tap)
Played with these guys way back with URT. I remember because we were supposed to play with Box-o-Car, which featured several of the same players. Let this be a lesson to you out there, as sometimes it's better not to put the other bands you're playing with on the poster.

? and the Mysterians with Semi Precious Weapons, The Sonnetts, The Bon Mots (Double Door)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
No, I'm not friends with Question Mark, but the ever-present Mr. Frantisak still plies his trade with The Bon Mots, near as I can tell. Not sure if this is part of the string of benefits for ?'s house burning down earlier this year, or just a regular old show.

Willy Porter (Schubas)
See Friday's listing.

12.02   sunday
Michelle Shocked (Abbey Pub)
Ah, memories of the big Earth Day show back in college, which featured Shocked, Poi Dog Pondering and John Wesley Harding. And this totally annoying guy from the campus environmentalists, who almost killed the show by advertising for it off campus and trying to take credit for making it happen. The first part was what almost killed the show, the second part was just irritating. Then there was the speech between acts. Oy. At one point, we had forgotten to turn the ringer off on the phone at the side of the stage, and when it rang, Michelle Shocked just so happened to be standing next to it. So she answered. Other than the unprofessional part of having left the phone on (I was stage manager at the time), it was pretty funny.

Modest Mouse with Man Man (Congress Theater)   SOLD OUT!
I had a notion of going to see this one, but I decided to let the market decide. If there were tickets left day of show, I probably would have checked it out. I haven't done much of any work to figure out the top ten for the year, but they've got at least a better than average chance of making it.

Trans-Siberian Orchestra (Allstate Arena)
What would happen if these guys toured in the summer? It would be absolute chaos.