list.in.to.chicago this week: 07.14.2008

Just a warning. If you notice any pigs flying tonight, or snowballs in hell, or, you know, the Apocalypse, it's probably because Diver is rehearsing.

Pick of the week
If you're inclined to go to the Pitchfork Music Festival (Friday through Sunday at Union Park), I probably don't need to tell you about it. If you're not inclined, you might want to look into tickets for Sunday's lineup. Otherwise, I would lean towards The Hush Sound on Sunday at House of Blues, and the 80s teenager in me is intrigued by The English Beat, The Fixx and The Alarm at Cubby Bear on Friday.

list.in.to.COZ
Hey, look, a Diver gig! We'll be playing somewhere in the vicinity of 11am to 1:30pm in the little plaza at 311 South Wacker, just across the street from the Sears Tower to the south.

Recap
I had every intention of going to the CD release party for Farewell Captain, but a string of 8:30am meetings during the week necessitated some preparation. Sadly, I didn't respect the 20-minute power nap, and never recovered. Sorry, Chris.

On Sunday, I did manage to catch dot dot dot at Rock Around The Block, and I guess I didn't realize that they're primarily a cover band when they were on that Next Great American Band show last year. It explains why their originals sounded so generic and narrowly targeted at the heart of the mainstream -- it's really hard to avoid "averaging out" all the covers you play when writing originals, which is something I noticed a long time ago with Underwater People. A friend commented that every one of their cover versions was smack dab in the same tempo range, and I would add dynamic range to that interpretation. Personally, I like a bit more variation.

7.14   monday
Yaz (Chicago Theatre)
I had no idea that the shortlived synthpop band from the 80s had reformed. Their brevity as a band the first time around seems to have allowed for their reputation to hold up over time, as they never had time to descend into self-parody like so many other 80s artists.

Gov't Mule (Navy Pier Skyline Stage)
Haven't seen much of note at the larger Navy Pier venue, so this stands out. Gov't Mule seems to be one of the more compelling jam bands out there. They seem to be more focused on the tunes and how the soloing supports the tunes, rather than soloing for its own sake. I haven't heard enough of them to say for sure, though.

The Nicholas Tremulis Orchestra with Black and Blond (Schubas)
I think I've seen this show up often enough for me to realize that it may be the Monday night residency from the venerable Chicago performer. Normally they seem to be up-and-comers, so that's a nice little change.

7.15   tuesday
Open Jam (Vaughan's)   COZ SINGS!
The original plan was to play songs from 1988, since I just attended my high school reunion and that's the year we graduated, but I trashed my voice at the Fire match on Saturday, so I might be reduced to Tom Waits and Everlast again if it doesn't get better.

Steely Dan with Joey DeFrancesco (Chicago Theatre)   SOLD OUT!
The Dan either gets a good or bad rap for bringing jazz into the pop singer/songwriter aesthetic, depending on who you talk to. Jazz fans and more mainstream rock fans dig the hip sophistication that the jazz turn gives the music, but as Vinnie Colaiuta said, hipness is transient, so listeners with a more current definition tend to find it a bit stale.

Son, Ambulance with Jennifer O'Connor, Fair Herald (Schubas)
I'm passing this along because I've seen this band get mentioned online quite a bit rather suddenly, and I hadn't ever heard of them before. So this may be an opportunity to get on a band's wagon -- known in some quarters as a bandwagon -- early. I don't actually have the faintest idea what they sound like.

7.16   wednesday
DIVER (311 South Wacker)   SEE COZ LIVE!
Featuring the original lineup! The gigs have been few and far between this summer, so each one is just that much more special. I'll let you define "special" however you need to in order to make that less treacly. This is a lunchtime outdoor gig, so if I catch any of you seeding clouds to make it rain, I'm writing you out of my will.

Steely Dan with The Deep Blue Organ Trio (Chicago Theatre)   SOLD OUT!
See Wednesday's listing. And if Rikki hasn't lost that number by now, good for her.

7.17   thursday
Soulfix with A Birdsong Valentine, Heartset Self Destruct (Subterranean)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
As it happened, I had King's X pop up on my iPod a couple of times over the last few days, which reminded me of how much Soulfix subsequently reminds me of that band.

A Hawk and A Hacksaw with The Boban i Marko Markovic Orkestar, Extra Golden, Fleet Foxes (Pritzker Pavilion)
This is a "free preview" of the weekend's Pitchfork Music Festival, although I'm not sure who goes on when.

The Watson Twins with Tim Fite (Lakeshore Theater)
Known primarily, or at least most recently, for their collaboration with Jenny Lewis of Rilo Kiley, here the country/folk sisters are on their own in support of their new Fire Songs album.

John Abercrombie (Jazz Showcase)
It still gives me goosebumps to be able to type "Jazz Showcase" again. The venerable guitarist is in for a four-day stint with Eric Schneider, Gary Versace and Adam Nussbaum.

7.18   friday
Pitchfork Music Festival (Union Park)
Friday night has become the traditional night for full albums performed by artists of historical relevance, as determined by the Pitchfolk. This time around it's Sebadoh, Mission of Burma and Public Enemy, the latter of which could give me flashbacks to a fairly difficult production of the band's performance at the University of Chicago during my freshman year.

The English Beat with The Fixx, The Alarm (Cubby Bear Wrigleyville)
Pretty much the perfect antidote for anyone who can't relate to any of the bands playing Pitchfork, and an interesting direction for Cubby Bear's booking aesthetic. I've been impressed by some of their recent moves, even if they don't seem to care too much about Diver anymore. It could just be that my new contact prefers the phone over e-mail.

Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo (House of Blues)
The non-Pitchfork options are going full-on retro. And sure, she's playing with Neil Giraldo, but what about Myron Grombacher? And why do I remember the name of Pat Benatar's drummer twenty years after the fact? I didn't even have to look that one up. Yikes.

John Abercrombie (Jazz Showcase)
See Thursday's listing.

7.19   saturday
Umphrey's McGee with Sound Tribe Sector 9 (Charter One Pavilion)
They were plugging this show on the Cubs TV broadcast yesterday, which seemed odd. One of the announcers -- I miss Chip and Stoney enough that I won't bother figuring which guy is which now out of respect -- even knew that Sound Tribe Sector 9 could be shortened to STS9.

Sound Tribe Sector 9 with Collective Efforts (House of Blues)
This is a midnight show, which make sense given that STS9 is playing a mile or two south of here earlier in the evening.

King Khan and the Shrines with Jay Reatard, Cheap Time, A/V Murder, The Dutchess and The Duke (Bottom Lounge)
As witnessed a few weeks ago in New York. I would have thought that a soul revue from Brooklyn hipsters would be weighed down by all that irony, but they did well with it. And they've also got an afternoon slot at Pitchfork on Sunday.

Pitchfork Music Festival (Union Park)
This seems like the weakest of the three days to me. Blur's Jarvis Cocker and No Age as the nominal headliners aren't terribly inspiring, although you've got an afternoon of indie faves on the "Aluminum" stage with Fleet Foxes, Vampire Weekend and The Hold Steady all in a row.

John Abercrombie (Jazz Showcase)
See Thursday's listing.

7.20   sunday
The Hush Sound with The Cab, The Morning Light (House of Blues)
A bit of unfortunate scheduling for the local indie band, as their core audience is probably going to be burned out from the festival weekend. For those of you scoring at home -- or reading by yourself -- they fit in the "jangly pop with male/female vocals" arc of modern indie rock, and fit in quite well.

Pitchfork Music Festival (Union Park)
If I were in town, this would be the day I showed up, as you've got Spoon, Dinosaur Jr., The Apples In Stereo and Boris, among others.

Boris with Torche, Nachmystium (Empty Bottle)
The "experimental duo" is here from Japan, so you can excuse them for double-dipping off of Pitchfork.

John Abercrombie (Jazz Showcase)
See Thursday's listing.