list.in.to.chicago this week: 08.17.2009

If you were planning on going to see Eddie Jobson on Saturday at Martyrs', I regret to inform you that the show has been canceled. It looks like they lost their Chapman Stick player, as former King Crimson touch guitarist Trey Gunn is eventually getting on board. I am now less upset that I wasn't going to be able to go. Hopefully we'll get a make-up date.

Pick of the week
The sleeper pick this week is The Wood Brothers up at SPACE in Evanston on Wednesday. I suspect their music works really well live. And as far as bang for your buck and proximity to important bands goes, The Pretenders at The Vic on Tuesday might also be worth your while. Finally, I'd get my prog fan card revoked if I didn't mention that Zappa Plays Zappa is here on Sunday, but not as a headliner.

list.in.to.COZ
We're in the home stretch of the very busy summer, with Diver playing Wednesday at lunchtime just south of the (former) Sears Tower, and then again on Saturday at Fado. Then next Friday, it's Andrew Fraker & Sons at Double Door, so jot that one on your calendar right now. I'll wait.

Recap
The Bottom Lounge show on Friday night was about what I expected, in that there were some local bands with prog rock tendencies that took advantage of the "MyKeneally" tour concept to add the former Zappa sideman to the bill. The first two bands were pretty young, and sort of unfocused stylistically. I don't want to harsh too much on Lobster Newburg, which features the son of Survivor's Jim Peterik on stage and Jim Peterik himself in tight, ripped purple pants in the audience, but the rhythm section seemed to be coming from a Living Colour/Fishbone place in the instrumental breaks, while the verses and choruses had a Kansas vibe. And there was a saxophonist. It just didn't gel for me.

I had only seen full band configurations before with Mike Keneally, so the stripped down versions -- particularly "Them Dolphins Is Smart"/"1988 Was A Million Years Ago" -- were pretty nifty to experience live. And the fact that both Keneally and Beller have played a ton of shows across a wide range of audiences really showed in their stage demeanor, compared to the rest of the bill. They just have a lot more experience. The drummer from The Hue joined them for a few songs at the end, driving the set a bit more instrumental than I was in the mood for. Maybe he just really likes instrumentals, as his band came out with no vocals and what struck me as a prog-metal approach. I've got this old CD from a band called Gamalon that seemed to be the best comparison.

8.17   monday
Kamikaze Eyes with Vegetative State, Culo (Metal Shaker)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
Never heard of the venue, which is at Milwaukee and Roscoe and is described on Yelp as a "metal dive bar," but a friend and former colleague is there this evening with his latest band, which I haven't had the opportunity to hear just yet.

Ryan Powers with Jerome Holloway, Scott Sweeney, Frank Ferro (Double Door)
Double Door seems to have Powers host one of these songwriter roundtable gigs every month or so, to the point where I'm starting to be intrigued by them.

8.18   tuesday
Open Jam (Vaughan's)   COZ SINGS!
I'm debating the Pretenders show, which won't preclude my attendance at the Open Jam as much as it would delay it. Will I make it down at a reasonable hour? You'll have to show up to find out!

The Pretenders with Cat Power, Juliette Lewis (The Vic)
Apparently jobs and concert tickets are both lagging indicators for any economic recovery we're experiencing right now, because this was moved from the Aragon, which has about five times the capacity. And it's a really good show, too. Although you've also got Pat Benatar at Ravinia the previous night and Journey out in Rockford tonight, so maybe all the 80s band oxygen has been sucked from the room.

Jay Bennett Tribute (Martyrs')
I think this is just a musical tribute to the late former Wilco guitarist, and not some sort of benefit. Featuring Fair Herald, Lou Carlozo, City at Large and Evan Holmes.

8.19   wednesday
DIVER (311 South Wacker)   SEE COZ LIVE!
This free lunchtime gig downtown is a little less weird than the one up on Washington a couple of weeks ago, in that my back is not facing an intersection. We should go on around 11:30am, and it's a nice little outdoor courtyard area for you to take in your repast.

The Wood Brothers with Tristen (SPACE, Evanston)
I've really, really liked what I've heard from Chris Wood (of Medeski, Martin and Wood) and his brother Oliver. It's kind of a low-key acoustic blues vibe, and the songwriting is excellent.

Evil Beaver with Mr. Russia, This Is Versailles, Youth Dekay (Double Door)
I'm not sure, but I think Evil Beaver may have been doing the two-person rock juggernaut well before The White Stripes or The Black Keys. Their MySpace page says they're based in L.A. now.

8.20   thursday
Brendan Benson with Anni Rossi (Schubas)   SOLD OUT!
Well, we had Jack White in town with The Dead Weather a couple of weeks back, and now it's his Raconteurs counterpart playing a pair of sold out shows in a slightly smaller venue.

8.21   friday
The B-52's with The Dials (House of Blues)
This just seems like an odd combination of headliner, opener and venue. I would think the B-52s might be too big for the River North space, and their mainstream pop seems slightly out of step with the punk-pop of The Dials, who I wouldn't have pegged for having a national footprint of any sort. So, either this show has some kind of story behind it, or it's actually a genius pairing in ways I don't quite understand.

Fake Fictions with The Record Low, Flatbear (Subterranean)
I was talking to someone about trends in band names lately, and aside from the proliferation of "rabbit" bands, I think "FF" bands are also on the rise. Think Fiery Furnaces, Fleet Foxes, etc. And by "etc.," I may just mean the progenitors of the movement, the Foo Fighters, because no one else springs to mind.

8.22   saturday
DIVER (Fado)   SEE COZ LIVE!
So, I went a whole week without playing at Fado before this past weekend's Sugarbeat gig, but I think this might be my last time there until mid-September. I think I need to find a way to play drums for Morgan just so I can totally make the staff sick of seeing me.

Our Lady Peace with Meese (The Vic)
People who like this band seem to really, really like this band, and tend to get angry with me when I talk about how much I hated their U.S. breakthrough single, "Superman's Dead." I, for one, didn't realize they still existed.

Lucky Boys Confusion with Swizzle Tree, Inept, The High Life (House of Blues)
This was probably the first place I ever noticed these bratty suburbanites, on account of them selling out two or three all-ages shows without me having the faintest idea who they were.

Apocolypse Hoboken with The Brokedowns, Vacation Bible School, Bier Slut (Reggie's Rock Club)
According to Wikipedia, this is the third reunion show in the last three years or so, after the local punk band broke up in 2001.

8.23   sunday
Dream Theater with Zappa Plays Zappa, Scale the Summit, Elf (Chicago Theatre)
Seeing as how I've seen Dweezil playing his dad's music twice now, and how I really, really don't care for Dream Theater, I'm sitting this one out.

Pearl Jam with Bad Religion (United Center)   SOLD OUT!
I've seen Eddie Vedder and company twice, and while I like them well enough, and Matt Cameron is one of my all-time favorite rock drummers, they're pretty firmly in the "I'll go if someone offers me tickets" category. Mostly because their fan base is pretty rabid, making it difficult to get good tickets.

Great White (House of Blues)
I'm going to venture a guess that there won't be any pyrotechnics for this show.