list.in.to.chicago this week: 08.24.2009

This week is a bit easier because of all the national acts, but I'd like to ask for your help in identifying some newer local bands that I should be paying attention to. You can put them in the comments or send them to me in e-mail. If the response is good, I'll post some sort of round-up on the website.

Pick of the week
The chances of you getting Nine Inch Nails (Friday and Saturday at the Aragon) tickets are pretty much nil, but if someone offers you one, you should take it. The other two standouts for me are Modest Mouse (Tuesday at the Aragon) and a chance to see a legendary band close-up with Little Feat at the Old Town School of Folk Music (Friday).

list.in.to.COZ
Of course, I'd rather you came out to Double Door on Friday for Andrew Fraker and Sons. We have a pretty good track record of adding at least one new song per show, and pending something disastrous at tomorrow night's rehearsal, this one should be no different. After all these cover band gigs, you should be dying for some quality original music, right? And thus ends the really busy summer of gigs for your humble correspondent. After this, it's nothing for three whole weeks! Except Tuesday nights at Vaughan's, of course.

Recap
I did end up catching as much of that Pretenders show on Tuesday as I could while still making it over to Vaughan's in enough time to purport to be co-hosting. It was interesting in that it was clearly meant to be a "big" rock show, only it was in a smaller venue. Could have used a bit more volume, though. Very good through six songs, to be sure, and I heard the rest of the show was top-notch as well. Cat Power dragged a bit for me, because so many of Chan Marshall's songs are torchy and noir, and after a while, they all bleed together. Not a lot of dynamic range or tempo changes. Juliette Lewis, as I think I said after her Lollapalooza set, is either a true believer when it comes to the music she makes -- which was a little less Iggy Pop this time around -- or is really good at playing the role of a somewhat over-the-top frontwoman.

Saturday's Diver gig at Fado was a bit odd, in that the connection between my brain and my limbs didn't seem to be working right, to the point where I actually wondered if I might have hurt myself in that minor traffic accident a few weeks ago more than I initially thought. Something weird may have just been in the air, because Tony had an off night as well. It happens.

8.24   monday
Pearl Jam with Bad Religion (United Center)   SOLD OUT!
Remember last week, when I said that Pearl Jam was one of those bands that I would totally go see if a friend offered me a ticket? Well, a friend offered me a ticket, so I'm going to the second of the two sold-out shows.

Red Red Meat with Rural Alberta Advantage (Pritzker Pavlion)
There's been a bit of hyperventilating about the return of Red Red Meat, but not from me. I never quite got the appeal, mostly because of a show I caught from them at Cubby Bear way back when Cubby Bear would book bands like Red Red Meat, in which the two lead guitarists seemed to be playing out of tune on purpose. That poisoned the well for me regarding the band.

Ryan Powers with Mike Chorvat, Dave Tamkin, DJ Poseur (Double Door)
I think Double Door is giving Ryan the whole month of Mondays for his songwriter roundtable.

8.25   tuesday
Open Jam (Vaughan's)   COZ SINGS!
If you post a request in the comments, I may try to learn it. If not, I'll buy you a drink. This assumes -- nay, requires -- that you show up at Vaughan's after 9:30pm on a Tuesdays. Unless it's a really good request.

Modest Mouse (Aragon Ballroom)
This is probably one of the more unlikely indie bands to get as popular as they have, because their sounds is a bit, well, "inscrutable" is the word I want to use, but that sounds too much like one of those two-dollar rock critic words that could mean just about anything. They're heavy on texture, and can be light on hooks, so maybe that's what I'm trying to get at.

8.26   wednesday
De La Soul with Kenan Bell, LB Wunder (House of Blues)
I may have told this story before, but after this hip-hop band played the University of Chicago way back in 1989 or so, some other members of the concert-booking organization took them out to a South Side restaurant. The clientele was overheard exclaiming "Hey, it's De La Soul," after which they noticed the three pasty white college students with them and added "and the Beastie Boys!"

Empires with Big Science, Pet Lions (Schubas)
I feel like I've heard of these guys, but it looks like they've just shown up on some bills as an opening act in the past year for the likes of Dear and the Headlights and Gavin Rossdale. Still, that's more familiarity than I have with other local bands, and here they're with one I've actually seen in Big Science.

Drake/Zerang Percussion Duo (Hideout)
This looks like it'll be primarily avant-garde jazz with only drums. For some of you, those are all reasons to avoid it, but for others, I suspect those are all good things.

8.27   thursday
Alison Breitman with Amy LaVere (Schubas)
She's the undercard on this one, but this is the first time I've seen Breitman listed anywhere in quite some time. Lots of friends had been saying lots of good things about her about a year and a half ago.

Staind with Shinedown, Chevelle, Halestorm (Congress Theater)
I think I had the epiphany with this particular band that there was a certain type of "active rock" band that would play slow, angsty dropped-D songs that had an awful lot in common with those power ballads that are the subject of such ridicule. On the other hand, I don't consider Chevelle in that category, and they've gotten better as a live band the couple of times I've seen them over the years.

8.28   friday
Andrew Fraker and Sons with Train Company, Micah Walk Band, Safe Haven, Adam Richardson Band (Double Door)   SEE COZ LIVE!
I believe this is live show number six for this band, and all of those shows have gone over pretty well. We must be doing something right. It's also part of the two-night, nine-and-a-half year anniversary party for Shoeshine Boy Productions, who put this together. I alluded to this earlier, but Andrew's band is the only original music I'm playing right now, and good original music needs (and deserves) your support. Plus, I'm not on stage as much as I am on a cover band gig, so it's slightly better for catching up with some of you that I haven't seen in a while.

Nine Inch Nails with Mew (Aragon Ballroom)   SOLD OUT!
This is presumably Trent Reznor's swan song as far as live performance goes, and this "Wave Goodbye" tour is playing some pretty small venues for an artist of his stature. I'm pretty sure the ticket sales never made it past the pre-sale stage, due to intense demand. And to be fair, Mew is a pretty solid band in their own right, although this is still a bigger venue than they'd play on their own.

Little Feat (Old Town School of Folk Music)
We're getting a theme here with bands that we brought in to the U of C when I was there. The Southern Rock stalwarts were already on their second life back then, so I have no idea how well they've aged at this point. In a venue as intimate as the Old Town School, it almost doesn't matter.

Lubriphonic with Bumpus (Cubby Bear)
Somebody was telling me to check this band out, but I don't remember who it was. That they can command the top slot on the bill over the locally popular Bumpus is a good indicator for them. Or a bad one for Bumpus.

J. Davis Trio with Automata, Low Down Brass Band, Spinach Prince (Bottom Lounge)
I get a sense that these guys -- a product of the "acid jazz" scene back in the late 90s -- are angling for a comeback with a bit of an increased presence, and if they can command this big of a room on a weekend, they may very well be able to pull it off.

Down The Line (Schubas)
Unlike J. Davis, this local feel-good acoustic band has been pretty much working their asses off non-stop since about 2000 or 2001.

8.29   saturday
This Must Be The Band (Martyrs')   FRIENDS OF COZ!
When we last saw keyboardist Jim DiNou, we didn't really see him, because he was mostly stuck behind a post onstage at Schubas for the EXO benefit/memorial gig. Here he'll be playing with a pretty highly regarded Talking Heads tribute band.

Mucca Pazza with D. Rider, Reds and Blue (Bottom Lounge)
I've noted before that this indie rock marching band sometimes plays venues that seem too small to hold them. This is not one of those times.

The Well with Weber Band, Chris Buehrle Band, Boho Paisley, Dead Stock Audio (Double Door)
This is the second night of the Shoeshine Boy Productions anniversary gig that we're a part of on Friday.

Nine Inch Nails with Mew (Aragon Ballroom)   SOLD OUT!
See Friday's listing, only I'm going to this one.

8.30   sunday
Motorhead with Reverend Horton Heat, Sister Sin (House of Blues)
There were a bunch of Reverend Horton Heat shows this week that were canceled, so you may want to double-check if they're part of the reason you're going to this one. Lemmy is probably enough of a draw on his own, though.

The Rikters with Roman Candle, Phonograph (Schubas)
Another local band that's at least on my radar simply due to frequent listings with other bands I know, even if I haven't seen them yet.