list.in.to.chicago this week: 02.25.2008

So I scored a goal from midfield yesterday with my indoor soccer team. I don't know if I even realized how far the goalie was off his line. I just sorta figured I'd give it a shot.

Just thought I'd share.

Pick of the week
I'm totally down with The Hives at the Riv on Friday.

list.in.to.COZ
Diver is off -- at least in full band form -- until St. Patrick's Day weekend. So it's just Vaughan's for now, and maybe the occasional guest spot with Professor Fraker over at Messner's.

Recap
So we had a couple of newbies at Vaughan's on Tuesday. A comedian that we'll get into a bit later, and a five piece band with horns that played lounge versions of classic rock tunes over chords from various jazz standards. The Diver show at Cullen's went well enough. And the final Long Room gig from Nicholas Barron's Hyperactive bounced between mainstays of Nicholas' catalog -- almost a "greatest hits" vibe at times -- and some extended jams and vocal improvs that have been a part of his repertoire just as long as "I'm Not Superman" has. That's my take on the first set, anyway, because while the band was cookin', I was burnt.

2.25   monday
Foo Fighters with Serj Tankian, Against Me! (Allstate Arena)   SOLD OUT!
If you didn't manage to get tickets for this one, and Fuse is part of your cable or satellite package, they'll probably be replaying the quasi-live broadcast from Madison Square Garden the other night. There were a couple of arrangements in there that I really liked.

2.26   tuesday
Open Jam (Vaughan's)   COZ SINGS!
After we had a comedian try her hand last week, it was decided among the regulars that everyone is telling jokes this week. Not quite sure how many, and obviously the deal is off if said comedian shows up again, because that would be mean.

Bicycle Tricycle with Lucas (Martyrs')
Haven't seen these guys listed lately, so I don't know if they're still up to the arty electro-pop that was their bread and butter back when they were more active on the local scene.

Ghost to Falco with Outpost, U.S. Girls (Empty Bottle)
Best band name of the week, but only if you remember Falco's MTV videos for "Der Kommisar" and "Rock Me Amadeus" from the 80s. And I most certainly do.

2.27   wednesday
Dub Trio with Foreign Islands, The Jai-Alai Savant (Subterranean)
All I know about these guys is that they form the core rhythm section for Peeping Tom, and if they're good enough for Mike Patton, they're good enough for me.

Dengue Fever with Cordero, Alla (Empty Bottle)
A co-worker of mine is all about these guys, and seeing as how he got Vampire Weekend tickets for Schubas before they sold out, he seems to have a finger on a certain flavor of the pulse. Not unlike Vampire Weekend, this band combines something a bit different (Cambodian pop) with something more familiar (psychedelic rock). Which may make that sort of multi-culti fusion the official hip, new trend of 2008.

Snoop Dogg (House of Blues)   SOLD OUT!
I was recently told a story about how much this one state-of-the-art concert hall in Australia would love to book Snoop Dogg, only he can't get a visa to enter the country. So, naturally, I would expect at least half of this audience to be Australian, right?

2.28   thursday
Andrew Bird with Dianogah (Hideout)
This is a fundraiser for Barack Obama, and while I don't typically talk politics in this forum, I was watching this week's Real Time with Bill Maher, and got particularly angry at the ridiculous misrepresentations the guys on the right -- David Frum and Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA) -- are perpetuating about Senator Obama, and angrier that Bill Maher didn't call them out on it.

A Birdsong Valentine with Shat, Blackbox, Perfect Red (Elbo Room)
It's always a little unsettling when the talent buyer for a local club books their own band in the room, but third down on the bill on a Thursday night seems eminently reasonable.

Pelican with Black Cobra, Unearthly Trance (Empty Bottle)
Wikipedia calls their sound "post-metal," and also indicates that they have left Chicago for Los Angeles, which, for a metal band, post- or otherwise, is probably a good move. Not that there's no metal scene here, but I think it's historically pretty good in L.A.

Winger with The Black Mollys (House of Blues)
Where do I even start on this one? If she was only seventeen way back in 1988, she's going to be 37 now. And 37 seconds was about how long it took me, back in 1988, to realize I had made a terrible mistake in buying their debut record. It might have been 27. I have a very clear memory of starting at the click on my CD player in disbelief.

Snoop Dogg (House of Blues)   SOLD OUT!
See Wednesday's listing.

2.29   friday
The Hives with The Donnas (Riviera Theatre)
Hopefully, time away from the spotlight will not dampen the Swedish post-punk band's sense of self-importance, because there's something about the way they proclaim they are the best band you've ever heard in your life that has you believing it by the end of the show. And I gave the latest Donnas record a spin to see if I should give it to my sister (Donna, natch) for Christmas, and was particularly underwhelmed.

Sia with Har Mar Superstar (Park West)
I think there may be some special promotional circumstances surrounding this show from the Zero 7 singer out on her own, but I'm not sure.

Yakuza with Dirge, Dead for Days, Disonic, Drudge Puppet, A.D.D. (Metro)
On the one hand, I've wanted to see Chicago heavy metal mainstays Yakuza for quite some time. On the other, I recall hearing Disonic on Q101 and being somewhat less than impressed.

Liam Finn with Pela (Schubas)   SOLD OUT!
As mentioned in a previous episode, Liam is the son of Neil Finn of Crowded House.

Baby Teeth with The Fake Fictions (Empty Bottle)
This is one of those bands that I seem to keep listing in support of other bands I know -- I counted at least six supporting roles with a quick Google search -- but here they're the top dog. The big cheese. And the sound seems more like Electric Light Orchestra than anything else, not that that's necessarily a bad thing. This is a benefit for something called Girls Rock Camp!

3.01   saturday
The Graduate with A Simple Plan (Metro)
I have no interest in headliners A Simple Plan, but openers The Graduate were the surprise find of last year's Lollapalooza for me, buried over on one of the side stages in the earliest hours of Sunday's proceedings.

Tim Reynolds Band with Van Ghost (Double Door)
If the name sounds familiar, he turns up with Dave Matthews quite a bit, and released a live album from Radio City Music Hall with him last year.

Griffin House with Sons of William, The Kin (Schubas)   SOLD OUT!
You're probably getting tired of my "sold out show at Schubas from someone I've never heard of" shorthand, or maybe you appreciate that discovery mechanism. This one is kind of confounding, as the Nashville singer/songwriter has apparently been around since 2002.

Dot Dot Dot (Joe's)
Haven't seen too much of these guys after they bowed out of The Next Great American Band, but Joe's seems to be the place for post-reality show gigs, although Hoffer is the exception to that rule.

Lightspeed Champion with Never Enough Hope (AV-aerie)
This is a new band from one of the guys from a band called Test Icicle, who were probably more well-known for their name than their music.

3.02   sunday
Smoking Popes (Schubas)
It's kind of funny when you take the long view of the local scene, as Smoking Popes were once the next big thing, then were totally left for dead after Josh Caterer found religion, but now are playing around quite a bit as veterans. At any point during that trajectory, the next step seems more than a bit unlikely.