list.in.to.chicago this week: 11.23.2009

So, I'm hoping Kuma's Corner has some sort of ridiculous, heavy metal-themed turkey burger planned for Thursday, for those of us who have no family in town and no plans.

Pick of the week
That Company of Thieves show on Friday at Logan Square Auditorium looks interesting, although I'm probably going to opt for Tomorrow The Moon at Bottom Lounge. Other than that, not much that isn't sold out.

list.in.to.COZ
Just Vaughan's this week, but next week I'll be kicking off the third era of the Wednesday Open Mike at The Globe as well. More details on that to come.

Recap
I'm honestly not sure where last week went, but I do know that I didn't go see any shows. The Diver show on Saturday was a bit rough around the edges, but it took off right at the end with Tony's blistering guitar solo on "Sympathy for the Devil," and then Brian and I both took a page from the old Sumo playbook and stretched out with bass and drums at the end of "Play That Funky Music," which made for a rousing finish. Plus, we didn't have to pay for parking, which always makes for a good night.

11.23   monday
All Time Low with We The Kings, Hey Monday, The Friday Night Boys (House of Blues)   SOLD OUT!
With an early start time, I'm guessing these bands cater to the disaffected teenage youth demographic, which is why I wouldn't have heard of them by now. Or they appear on the New Moon soundtrack, which is pretty much the same thing.

Samba Bamba (Martyrs')   FRIENDS OF COZ!
They've described themselves thusly: "If the B-52's punched Carlos Santana square in the face, the sound of Sergio Mendes re-breaking Santana's nose to help it properly heal would resemble the music of SAMBA BAMBA!!" Can't really argue with that. Frequent listee Gerald Dowd is apparently holding down the fort on drums.

11.24   tuesday
Open Jam (Vaughan's)   COZ SINGS!
Last week ended up being epic, as the Led Zeppelin challenge ended as all Led Zeppelin challenges must, with some version of "Stairway to Heaven." In this case, it was me, Tony and Andrew bringing down the acoustic hammer for a rapt audience of nearly ten people. Not sure how we're going to top that this week.

Imogen Heap with Tim Exile, Back Ted N-Ted (The Vic)   SOLD OUT!
I feel like Heap has been around longer than ten years, but then again, ten years is a long time, and that still still gives her the pole-position on post-Bjork female-fronted electronica. She's had her songs all over TV for years, including The O.C. and Heroes.

All Time Low with We The Kings, Hey Monday, The Friday Night Boys (House of Blues)   SOLD OUT!
See Monday's listing.

11.25   wednesday
The Cranberries with Griffin House (Riviera Theatre)
Dolores O'Riordan and her band are back together and touring again, and hoping fans can still name more than three of their songs after being away for a bit. This is a WXRT- FM 93.1 Holiday Concert for the Kids, so they ask that you please bring a new, unwrapped toy or book.

Chandeliers (Chopin Theater)
From the Reader's "Free Shit" blog: Electro-funk outfit Chandeliers provide live musical accompaniment to an eclectic trio of short films in Cinema 16, Wednesday, Nov. 25 at the Chopin Theatre. Sounds pretty interesting.

Kid Sister with Flosstradamus, Rob Threezy, Green Velvet (House of Blues)
She almost certainly rates as one of the highest-profile female rappers to ever come out of Chicago, but it's not like there's a heck of a lot of competition.

11.26   thursday
Chris Brown with New Boyz (House of Blues)
You've got to figure that Brown is giving thanks that he can still find himself a gig after all the negative publicity he's gotten in the past year.

11.27   friday
The Jesus Lizard with Model/Actress (Metro)   SOLD OUT!
After a well-received set at Pitchfork this past summer, it seems David Yow and his merry band still have some more life in them. One of these days I might go back and compile as much of my concert-going history as I can, because I saw The Jesus Lizard at Metro many, many years ago. I remember thinking it was some sort of black motorcycle jacket convention.

Crawl with The Hue, Nova Roma (Martyrs')
This show will be way up on the notes-per-minute scale, as Crawl and Hue both traffic in "music for musicians." I'm a bit more interested in the jazz-fusion of Crawl, based on who I know in the band. I've seen The Hue already, and thought they leaned a bit too heavily on Dream Theater-era prog rock for my tastes.

11.28   saturday
Tomorrow The Moon with Airlines-X, Damp Hay, Killer Moon (Bottom Lounge)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
I haven't seen former Phantom Helmsmen frontman Steve Gerlach play live in quite some time, so I'm really curious to see what he's got going on in this particular project, who most recently "dressed up" as the Psychedelic Furs (I think) at the Abbey Pub on Halloween.

Company of Thieves with Annuals, Big Science, Mike Maimone (Logan Square Auditorium)
As far as up-and-coming or buzzing indie rock bands go, this looks like a pretty solid bill. Yes, I wasn't crazy about Annuals when I saw them a couple of years ago, but they didn't have the benefit of a very good sound mix, not that I think it would be much better at Logan Square Auditorium.

Angry Chair with Vasoline, Rearview (Abbey Pub)
If you're going to be a tribute band, I guess you want to be an easily identifiable one. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess Alice In Chains, Stone Temple Pilots and Pearl Jam, so bust out your flannel and your Doc Martens.

The Jesus Lizard with Triclops! (Metro)   SOLD OUT!
See Friday's listing.

11.29   sunday
An Aesthetic Anaesthetic with The New Diet, Carbon Tigers, We Are The Willows (Ronny's)
Not much to choose from on the worst travel day of the year, so we'll go with a clever band name.