list.in.to.chicago this week: 05.12.2008

You've probably heard this from someone already, but there's a City Ordinance on the table this week that might have a significant negative impact on local music. Get the skinny at http://savechicagoculture.org and contact your alderman if you see fit. Slightly less histrionic -- but still necessarily alarmist -- takes on the situation at Jim DeRogatis' Sun-Times blog and at Time Out Chicago.

Pick of the week
Gotta go with Frisbie on Thursday at Double Door. That one's solid all the way down the bill.

list.in.to.COZ
Double whammy this week, with the return of Andrew Fraker & Sons on Friday at the Abbey Pub and then Diver on Saturday at Cullen's.

Recap
I had every intention of seeing Sybris on Friday night, but between jet lag, a nasty chest cold, Vaughan's, a soccer game, the Cubby Bear gig and the Cubs game on Friday, you can see why crashing on my couch won the day. Diver presided over what was surprisingly one of their better Thursday night crowds since they started doing the free shows a couple of weeks ago.

Also, a l.i.t.c. operative reported that Sting came onstage to accompany Elvis Costello on "Alison," but that's all I've got on that show Saturday night.

5.12   monday
Local H with Pegboy (Beat Kitchen)   SOLD OUT!
This is the last retrospective night of the 7-night run, featuring B-sides and rarities, to be followed on Tuesday by a performance of the band's new record.

Clinic with Shearwater (Empty Bottle)
I don't know if the band still insists on dressing up in surgical gear, but I listened to their new record and if I could come up with some medical metaphor about how it didn't do anything for me, I totally would.

5.13   tuesday
Open Jam (Vaughan's)   COZ SINGS!
I'm going to remember to change the batteries in my little lamp so I can actually play the Muse tune I learned last week. Andy keeps turning off the TV behind the stage, not realizing that it actually helps people see lyrics.

Local H with Mannequin Men (Beat Kitchen)   SOLD OUT!
So, again, this is the CD release party for 12 Angry Months, the new record from the band that's all about breakups. The record is all about breakups, that is. Not the band. Oasis would be a band all about breakups, right?

Yo Majesty! with Does It Offend You, Yeah? (The Mansion)
I've never heard of the venue, which is apparently at Kedzie and Fullerton, but there's been enough low-level buzz about Does It Offend You, Yeah? to make me wonder if we'll see more live music there. It looks like a general-purpose venue, exactly the type used by those independent promoters who are about to get squeezed out by very restrictive legislation from the city.

Dream Theater with Opeth, Between the Buried and Me, 3 (Rosemont Theatre)
Don't you figure that pretentious prog rock would use the same "sophisticated" spelling of "theatre" that nearly every venue in Chicago does? Cue the angry e-mail from Dean in 3...2...

5.14   wednesday
Flight Of The Conchords with Arj Baker (Chicago Theatre)   SOLD OUT!
If you managed to get tickets to see the stars of the HBO comedy, you're the only person I know who did.

Duran Duran with Your Vegas (Rosemont Theatre)
Apparently, this year's "reunion tour that gets off to a really bad start" goes to the 80s pop icons, as there were reports of forgotten lyrics, and band members storming off the stage in disgust from the band's first show. You may recall something slightly similar last summer when Stewart Copeland recounted all the mistakes at the second or third show from The Police.

5.15   thursday
Frisbie with Ultra Sonic Edukators, Tennis Courts (Double Door)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
As far as local acts go, this bill is pretty packed. I've always been a Frisbie fan, and just picked up on the slightly Oasis-ish stylings of Ultra Sonic Edukators. I heard Tennis Courts last night on Local 101, and they totally didn't suck.

Blind Melon with Van Ghost (Metro)
I guess the reunion tour with the new singer is doing well, seeing as how it's still going.

Nicholas Barron (Bourbon)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
I happened across this bar this weekend, and it was pretty cool. And pretty sparse, so I should encourage people to go in order to help the bar. This is Nicholas playing solo.

5.16   friday
Andrew Fraker & Sons with Brian Cherry Band, Alain De Courtenay, Dave Moran (Abbey Pub)   SEE COZ LIVE!
Back to the scene of the crime of our first big show. You may know Andrew from his regular Thursday and Saturday night gigs at Messner's, or from his regular appearances at Vaughan's. And the rest of the band you know from Diver. As an added bonus, Dave from Helicopters is playing solo to start the night, possibly with me on percussion.

Bob Moses Trio with Doug Rosenberg (Velvet Lounge)
The jazz drummer played on Pat Metheny's breakthrough Bright Size Life and released a well-regarded method book (of sorts) called Drum Theory back in 1984.

Head of Femur with The Heavenly States, The Poison Control Center (Schubas)
Didn't manage to catch the CD release party a month or two ago, so they continue to be on my ever-increasing list of bands I need to get around to.

KT Tunstall with Paddy Casey (The Vic)   SOLD OUT!
I'd say she hasn't quite repeated the success of "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree," but that was a bit of a fluke hit that she'll be unfairly held to as a standard for the rest of her career. She's still selling out shows.

5.17   saturday
Diver (Cullen's)   SEE COZ LIVE!
After being on a big stage with lights and a large sound system, it's always nice to come back to the more intimate "stuffed in the corner of a bar" surroundings. I can't decide if I'm being serious or sarcastic.

The Cure with 65daysofstatic (Allstate Arena)
I forget if this is a farewell or a reunion tour, or maybe neither. I have a hard time imagining the band can still fill a venue this big, and would love to see them come down to the level of an Aragon Ballroom show.

Butterfly Assassins with The Obstacles, Cavashawn, Luster (Reggie's Rock Club)
Again, think Decemberists meet Muse, as unlikely as that sounds.

Bottle Rockets with Otis Gibbs (Beat Kitchen)
Way back before Wilco took over Chicago, this band was the leading light among the alt-country set.

Bob Moses Trio with Doug Rosenberg (Velvet Lounge)
See Friday's listing.

5.18   sunday
Kenny Rogers (Rialto Square Theatre, Joliet)
I mention this only because the Peter, Paul and Mary concert that was supposed to happen here tonight was canceled, and would have to imagine that anyone who doesn't get the message and shows up anyway probably won't mind too much. That, and I saw some band recently cover Kenny Rogers in an attempt to be ironic, and it totally didn't work.