list.in.to.chicago this week: 09.14.2009

Okay, so I've mentioned this on at least Facebook in the past, but today is the last day to pledge money to help James Van Osdol (formerly of Q101) publish his book on the Chicago music scene of the 90s. Details are here, and without a late surge, it looks pretty grim, so I would ask you to help out if you're so inclined.

Pick of the week
I like the Kimo Williams show at Joe's on Thursday, and if you want something really odd, you can't beat Buckethead at the Vic on Friday.

list.in.to.COZ
I'll be at Vaughan's on Tuesday, and then Diver is back in action this Saturday night at Fado.

Recap
For a guy who says he doesn't care too much for ginormous shows, I sure do end up seeing a lot of them lately. A friend offered me a last-minute ticket for U2 last night. By now, you've probably seen pictures of the spaceship within the spaceship, and I thought they pretty much achieved their goal of making a huge show seem at least more intimate than stadium shows are typically.

The set seemed a bit hit-or-miss until the band reached "Until The End Of The World," at which point things really seemed to take off. And I was surprised that I actually knew what was probably the most obscure song choice of the night -- "My Blue Room" from the Passengers: Original Soundtracks I album that also produced the better-known "Miss Sarajevo." And I'm pretty sure they ran a live link to the International Space Station for the spoken bit in the middle.

I only caught a couple of tunes from Snow Patrol, and I still like a handful of their songs more than I like the band itself, mostly because I get overloaded by their apparent disdain for any rhythm other than straight eighth notes.

9.14   monday
Pet Shop Boys (Chicago Theatre)
I was never really that into them in the first place, but I still have a tough time imagining that bands like Depeche Mode and Pet Shop Boys have aged particularly well, since so much of their sound seemed wrapped up in the synthesizer technology of the day. Which is why "Inner City Pressure" from Flight of the Conchords works so well as both homage and parody. How cool would it be if Pet Shop Boys covered it?

9.15   tuesday
Open Jam (Vaughan's)   COZ SINGS!
So, I'm guessing we may hear a fair bit of U2 from Andrew this week, and from me, along with a sprinkling of Snow Patrol, after this weekend's big shows.

The Proclaimers (Double Door)
My reasons for this are twofold. First, The Proclaimers still exist? Second, now you have "Five Hundred Miles" stuck in your head. You're welcome.

9.16   wednesday
Dear and the Headlights with Kinch (Reggie's Rock Club)
This is one of those indie bands that's sitting right on the edge of my radar, making me think I know more about them than I do. I know they were on too early for me to see them at Lollapalooza back in 2007, and I can't recall if I ever listened to their last record. But I seem to hear about them a lot.

Ra Ra Riot with Princeton (Schubas)   SOLD OUT!
This indie rock band was also tagged as an "Artist to Watch" by Rolling Stone in the past year, proving that they don't just talk about new bands from Brooklyn. They also occasionally hype bands from upstate New York.

Billy Talent with Poison the Well, American Taxi (Metro)
Apparently, these punk-popsters are huge in Canada, with two multi-platinum albums in the Great White North. Which means that making fun of them risks inciting the wrath of our neighbors to the north, as Peter Margasak found out that one time he slagged The Tragically Hip.

9.17   thursday
Kimo Williams (Joe's Bar)
The really easy description for Williams' brand of "symphonic rock" is a cross between Jimi Hendrix and Frank Zappa, and since he's been known to use that description himself, I'm not going to argue with it. These shows are typically a who's who of young local talent strewn throughout a band that runs around 14 pieces.

Nicholas Barron Trio (SPACE, Evanston)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
If Facebook status updates are any indication, Nicholas has put together a new group with Rich Stitzel on drums and Paul Mutzabaugh on keys. I don't know if that means they're the only guys he's playing with now, but even if it does, that's not too shabby of a band.

Ultra Sonic Edukators with Idle Hands, Bad Flirt (Schubas)
It's been a while since I saw these guys, so I'm wondering if they've managed to get their multiple guitarists to start spreading out some texture instead of all playing the same chords. If they do that, it'll go a long way to hone their sound.

9.18   friday
Poi Dog Pondering (Schubas)   SOLD OUT!
This is being billed as an "acoustronic" appearance, which seems like a pretty good moniker for the two directions Frank Orrall seems to want to take this band at any given time.

Buckethead with Wolff (The Vic)
It's hard to believe the avant-metal guitarist has been at this for nearly 20 years. Apparently his guitar remained on all but two tracks of Chinese Democracy from Guns 'N' Roses, but that's probably not the record you'd want to check out to hear Buckethead. While his solo material is getting harder to get a hold of, I still have only heard one or two other recordings that come even close to his contribution on Transmutation (Mutatis Mutandis) from Praxis, from all the way back in 1992.

9.19   saturday
DIVER (Fado)   SEE COZ LIVE!
I don't want to alarm you, but there is a non-zero chance that we will have new songs in the set for this one. We will also have pinch-hitter Sue Zindle on bass one more time.

Alice In Chains (House of Blues)
I'm not sure if they intended to reform the band after a handful of reunion shows that started in 2005, but that's what happened, and now there's a new record scheduled to come out in a couple of weeks.

Lou Gramm with Sunfallen (Joe's Bar)
If you don't remember who Lou Gramm is, that's okay. That's why I'm here. He was the lead singer of Foreigner. Yeah, I don't know why he's playing this big of a room, either.

Hey Mercedes with Noise By Numbers, The Etiquette (Double Door)
This is one of those bands where I'm sure I've seen the name, but can't place why. Apparently they broke up back in 2005, and have some connection to Threadless, the crowd-sourced t-shirt company here in Chicago.

9.20   sunday
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band (United Center)
Having just been in town with a "normal" show a few months ago, The Boss is back to play Born To Run in its entirety, which means it's been at least three weeks running with one of these album reproduction gigs in town.