list.in.to.chicago this week: 05.19.2008

In which I sort of stumble into an "original drummers" theme.

Pick of the week
I'm warming up to those Panic At The Disco shows Friday and Saturday at the Congress, more for the supporting cast than anything else. And there's an increasingly rare Assassins sighting Sunday night at Darkroom.

list.in.to.COZ
Unless recent efforts to break back into the festival circuit pan out and pan out quickly, I got nuthin' until mid-July. There may be a Diver gig in that stretch, but it's while I'm out of town at the end of June.

Recap
I did make it to Double Door on Thursday. Tenniscourts weren't bad, but they kept reminding me of another band, and I kept not being able to place it. Soft Boys was the closest I got, but that wasn't quite it. Upon further investigation, my initial reaction to Ultra Sonic Edukators might have been overly enthusiastic. They still had their moments, but I'd like it more if the vocal melodies were a bit more adventurous and the two guitarists would play different parts more often. They got better over the course of the set, though, and Frisbie seemed to take a few songs to find their stride as well. Once they were fully engaged, though, they were great. And I'm not just saying that because of the inspired cover of "In The Dark" from Billy Squier, although that was pretty great, too.

The Friday Abbey Pub showcase went well enough. I joined Dave Moran for a couple of tunes from his strong solo set. During sound check it seemed like the loops might have been problematic in that setting, but those fears proved unfounded. The other two acts were good, if somewhat unremarkable, but that may be the lack of sleep talking (about the unremarkable bit, in case they're reading). And we here at Andrew Fraker & Sons had fun rocking out "The Bends" from Radiohead, and debuting yet another two-day old finished song. Not as big a crowd as last time, but it's tough to sustain that "new band bounce."

5.19   monday
Sybris (Double Door)
Looks like just one band for just three bucks down in Bucktown, which is an interesting way to try to play the normally slow Monday night.

Theo with Shannon Richardsong Band, Keeping Kana, Andrew Bailie (Elbo Room)
The headliners went through the effort of friending me on MySpace, and I think the tiny little snippet I heard when I tried to figure out just who was inviting me to an event was pleasing to the ear. Can't remember much more than that, though.

5.20   tuesday
Open Jam (Vaughan's)   COZ SINGS!
To commemorate the passing of John Rutsey, I may try to work up some tunes from Rush's 1974 debut album. Rutsey, or course, played drums on that record, only to be replaced by eventual drumming legend Neil Peart.

Pete Best (Heartland Cafe)
At first I just figured this was some young indie band ironically naming themselves after the original drummer from The Beatles, but no, Time Out Chicago says this actually is the guy that Ringo Starr replaced.

Seether with Flyleaf, Red (Riviera Theatre)
I'm kind of surprised, or at least skeptical, that the South African grunge-influenced band can fill this large of a venue.

Mike Ness with Jesse Dayton (Park West)
His solo band includes two members of his "other" band, Social Distortion. It also features a non-Social Distortion guy playing guitar and pedal steel, which, along with the album of country covers Ness released a while ago, should give you an idea what it'll sound like.

5.21   wednesday
Larry Coryell Trio (Andy's Jazz Club)
The noted jazz guitarist used to always play the Jazz Showcase for at least one week-long stint per year. Now that Joe Segal's club is currently without a home, he'll play two shows a night for a couple of nights in the same neighborhood.

The Graduate with Nightmare Of You, Paper Rival, Edison Glass (Subterranean)
It's going on a year since I was introduced to these guys on a small stage early Sunday afternoon on a side stage at Lollapalooza, and I haven't had the chance to check them out again.

Mike Ness with Jesse Dayton (Park West)
See Tuesday's listing. I was going to say that Park West seemed like an unusually upscale venue for Ness, until I realized I was confusing him with Minutemen bassist Mike Watt.

5.22   thursday
Stone Temple Pilots (Charter One Pavilion)
Every reunion likes to point to reconciling differences and letting bygones be bygones, but I think the second Velvet Revolver record didn't do too well, and Army Of Anyone -- the band featuring the DeLeo brothers from STP and Richard Patrick from Filter -- flopped so hard that both principal parties have gone back to their original bands.

Farewell Captain (Darkroom)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
Chicagoist was on the bandwagon for these guys over a year ago, and they made a strong case for the Who- and Neil Young-inspired sound. Also, this is one of the three or five bands that URT alum Chris Frantisak is in. He may need his own category.

Larry Coryell Trio (Andy's Jazz Club)
See Wednesday's listing.

5.23   friday
Kanye West with Rihanna, N.E.R.D., Lupe Fiasco (United Center)   SOLD OUT!
Given the early previews and reviews of local hero West's current tour, I'm surprised he's doing indoor venues, as it must be a really tight fit for both the size of the production and his ego.

Panic at the Disco with Motion City Soundtrack, The Hush Sound, Phantom Planet (Congress Theater)
I haven't been able to check out the new Panic At The Disco -- now officially minus the exclamation point in their name -- record, but I'm very high on the new release from the Hush Sound. Motion City Soundtrack, not so much, but what they lack in recording quality they make up for live, if last year's Lolla set is a good indicator. And all I've got on Phantom Planet is that singer Alex Greenwald lends his vocals to Mark Ronson's funky version of "Just" from Radiohead.

Tall Dark Stranger with Blueblood, The Teenage Prayers (Schubas)
Friends with a co-worker, recorded by "Friend of Coz" Steve Gillis, but I still haven't had the opportunity to check these hard rockers out. I may be put off by the one guy's ironic facial hair.

North Mississippi All-Stars with Jimbo Mathus (House of Blues)
These guys were all the rage a few years ago, infusing some modernity into the blues-rock stew.

The Webstirs with Poverty Tax, Max Reeb, The Summer Salts (Double Door)
The selling point for this band seems to be that they are "ex-Redwalls," but I didn't think the Redwalls were really old enough to have had ex-members already. And I'm sure it's a total coincidence that this is going up against a Redwalls "music video screening party" at Kinetic Playground.

5.24   saturday
Rilo Kiley with The Spinto Band, Nik Freitas (Riviera Theatre)
Saw them last year at Metro, and don't really see what the big deal is, when there are other bands with similar outlines (female-fronted indie rock) that do it better.

Panic at the Disco with Motion City Soundtrack, The Hush Sound, Phantom Planet (Congress Theater)
See Friday's listing. And the Hush Sound is one of those bands not unlike Rilo Kiley that I think does it better.

Kanye West with Rihanna, N.E.R.D., Lupe Fiasco (United Center)
See Friday's listing. Metromix lists this second night as not sold out, which surprises me, so don't bet the ranch on being able to score non-scalped tickets.

5.25   sunday
Assassins with Marvelkind, The Strange Young Lovers (Darkroom)
If I remember correctly, Assassins grew out of Marvelkind (and Butterfly Child), so I'm guessing this is some kind of "everyone is back in town for Memorial Day" reunion of sorts. Of course, I also couldn't stand Marvelkind, but that was before they went more heavily into electronica.

Ben Weasel and his Carnegie Bandsmen with Shot Baker, The Leftovers, The Guts (Reggie's Rock Club)   SOLD OUT!
With the likes of Pegboy and Naked Raygun back on the scene, I guess it was only a matter of time before Screeching Weasel namesake Ben Weasel returned as well.