list.in.to.chicago this week: 05.26.2008

Happy Memorial Day!

Pick of the week
I think the return of Regal Standard (Wednesday at Subterranean) makes the grade, and if you can find tickets to either Erykah Badu and The Roots (Friday and Saturday at the Chicago Theatre) or Buckethead and That 1 Guy (Friday at Park West), those work, too.

list.in.to.COZ
Just Vaughan's this week, and every week until some time in July.

Recap
No shows this week, but I was saving up energy for and recovering from a nine-bar pub crawl on Saturday that reminded me exactly why I don't normally do pub crawls of pretty much any length.

5.26   monday
Los Campesinos! with Jeffrey Lewis and the Jitters (Empty Bottle)
These guys get a lot of mileage out of their name sounding like some kind of mariachi band, when they're one of those vaguely ork-pop indie rock collectives. Plus, they're Welsh. On a record label known for Canadians.

5.27   tuesday
Open Jam (Vaughan's)   COZ SINGS!
With an underscheduled three-day weekend preceding this week's Open Jam, I may debut a bunch of stuff, including Spoon, The Alarm and maybe Aberdeen City, although that one is proving to be a bit tough.

Eric & The Implants with Jeff Freling & The Rock Squad, Red Letter Kill (Martyrs')   FRIENDS OF COZ!
The esteemed and irrepressible Mr. Howell is the one act not teased on the Martyrs' website on this bill, but he did send me a message through MySpace about it. So allow me do my part letting you know about it. I even have a demo of his around here somewhere, but I'm guessing the Beatles loom large as an influence.

Los Campesinos! with Jeffrey Lewis and the Jitters (Empty Bottle)
See Monday's listing. And now I don't feel nearly so bad about not getting this out in time for the Monday night show.

5.28   wednesday
Regal Standard with Your Little Ponies (Subterranean)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
So, I had gotten e-mails from Ashok Warrier from Ashoka saying he was now playing in Holding Mercury with Matt Hoffer. I ran into Ashok at the Fraker show at the Abbey last week, and asked him what the deal was with that, and he told me he was originally going to play drums in the band (or maybe bass), but now he was going to be playing guitar. Which led to me finding out that Larry was leaving that band, and now we know why. Not all of these listing have this sort of twisty backstory, so I thought I'd share it in all its glory. Plus, Your Little Ponies!

Bell X1 with Brooke Waggoner (Empty Bottle)
I received one track from this Irish band as part of a mix from a friend who is well-versed in up-and-coming Irish and English bands that you've never heard of. The mix was called "Another Version Of A Rock Opera," which was nominally a reaction to my proposed 80s rock opera, the details of which escape me right now.

Anthrax (Double Door)
Even if a gig with a brand new singer doesn't quite qualify as Anthrax for some, seeing them at Double Door seems worth it. I'd bring earplugs. The DD website says some tickets are still available.

5.29   thursday
M83 with Berg Sans Nipple (Empty Bottle)
Daft Punk come back, and suddenly the country is lousy with French electronica outfits.

5.30   friday
Erykah Badu with The Roots (Chicago Theatre)   SOLD OUT!
I was reading in Wired that Badu has finally found and embraced technology, which has led to a sudden spike in her recorded output. And hardest-working-band-in-hip-hop The Roots have a new record out, minus the collaboration with the guy from Fall Out Boy, which apparently didn't fit the darker, more political tone of the rest of the album.

Mudhoney with Easy Action, The Fake Fictions (Reggie's Rock Club)
The grunge pioneers never had the success of Nirvana or Pearl Jam, but here they still are, supporting both a new record and a reissue of one of those early clarion calls from Seattle. I think this may be one of those shows that was supposed to be at the new Bottom Lounge, but they're not quite ready for business yet.

Van Halen with Ky-Mani Marley (Allstate Arena)
This is the rescheduled date due to Eddie Van Halen's recent, um, "illness." I'm not saying he went back into rehab, only that pretty much everyone in the world suspects just that.

Lucky Boys Confusion with Scott Sweeney, Hotel Ahead (Beat Kitchen)
Lucky Boys Confusion with Swizzle Tree, Kevin Andrew Prchal (Beat Kitchen)
This was probably the first band that grabbed my attention selling out shows when I hadn't ever heard of them. It was a three-night stand at House of Blues, and the root cause was the legion of underage suburban kids they had been cultivating way off my radar.

Madeleine Peyroux (Park West)
All I've got here is that Peyroux will forever be remembered as the singer that I saw referred to on some official MSN music blog as a "chartreuse" instead of a "chanteuse," which is never not going to be funny.

5.31   saturday
Buckethead, That 1 Guy (Park West)   SOLD OUT!
A friend recommended That 1 Guy a couple of months ago, and my guess is that he's riding some kind of wave of popularity, because I can't imagine Buckethead selling out on his own, as much as I'm a fan of his post-modern shredding.

The Breeders with The Montana Boys (Metro)
Some reviews of the latest from the Deal twins have been a bit harsh. The record isn't bad, and the chances of it yielding another "Cannonball" weren't exactly great to begin with. I'm guessing that'll get saved for the encore.

Dot Dot Dot (Joe's)
I just saw that The Next Great American Band will not be returning to the Fox TV schedule, and that makes me wonder what's up with The Clark Brothers, who deservedly won the competition. That competition included Dot Dot Dot, in case you're wondering.

2 Live Crew (House of Blues)
Okay, if any of you are somehow responsible for an expression of some sort of pent-up demand for Luther Campbell nostalgia, I'm not talking to you anymore.

Too White Crew (Cubby Bear)
If this is a coincidence, it's a really good one.

Erykah Badu with The Roots (Chicago Theatre)   SOLD OUT!
See Friday's listing.

6.01   sunday
Do-Division Festival (Division between Damen and Leavitt)
Ted Leo and Pharmacists headline the second day of this one, and the Sunday bill also features Frightened Rabbit and The 1900s.

Ness with The Deccas, Gangi (Hideout)
A few weeks back it was Local H. Earlier this week it was Lucky Boys Confusion. Now it's Ness. Has the late nineties Chicago scene reached that point where they settled down and had kids, and now those kids are old enough that Dad can go out and rock again?