list.in.to.chicago this week: 01.04.2010

Welcome to the first list.in.to.chicago of 2010! The final tally on last year, if my recaps are to be believed, was 41 shows attended, which lands 2009 right on the average for the last six year. Yes, I've started keeping track.

Anyway, I hope this list continues to help you wrap your head around the Chicago music scene, or is at least fun to read. I've been sifting through the history of this beast lately, and it's been a weird ride. I think I found one week back in 2004 when I saw three different shows in one night.

Pick of the week
Two of the four Buddy Guy shows at his club appear to still have tickets, so jump on that if you're so inclined. The other standout for me is Tomorrow, The Moon at Darkroom on Thursday night.

list.in.to.COZ
Regular office/open mic hours are Tuesday at Vaughan's and Wednesday night at The Globe. Next Diver show is 1/16 at Fado, and the next Andrew Fraker & Sons show is 1/22 at Goose Island Wrigleyville.

Recap
If you need to know how intense the first set of Booty Movement Coalition was on Monday night, suffice it to say that the percussion rig fell over during a drums and percussion breakdown about two tunes in. I know I missed them last month, but I feel like this was the first time I've seen the whole first team onstage in a while.

Thursday night's New Year's Eve gig was a bit weird -- there was one couple practically having public sex off to stage right, and another older gentlemen to our left who we suspect had paid for his evening's companionship. Still, we had one guy tell us we were better than the other two bands playing the event, so I'll chalk it up as a win, even if one of my first sights of the year as I was going home was a guy peeing onto the tracks at the Chicago Red Line stop.

Other than that, the weather was cold enough to dissuade me from seeing artists I've seen before (Pat DiNizio, Project/Object) or that were playing on the other side of the city (Roy Hargrove). And I mistakenly said Hargrove played with Tony Williams last week. I was thinking of Wallace Roney. Sorry about that.

Tony and I did, however, drop in on the final Andrew Fraker show at Messner's on Saturday night, ending a seven-year residency at the Southport bar. It was quite the madhouse, which was pretty much what I expected. Stay tuned for up-to-the-week information on where he goes next with his regular acoustic gigs.

1.04   monday
Typhanie Monique Vocal Jam Session (Jazz Showcase)
If I were to express this week's list in New Year's resolutions, one of them would be to finally get down to the new Jazz Showcase. And having seen Typhanie Monique improvise with Sumo and Booty Movement Coalition, I'm a bit curious how that would translate to what I would have to imagine is a bit more of a straight-laced environment.

1.05   tuesday
Open Jam (Vaughan's)   COZ SINGS!
Obvious song topics for this week include the new year and anything by Soundgarden. Because, if you haven't heard, Soundgarden is getting back together to tour this year. I'm very, very happy about this.

Butch Walker with Gold Motel (Schubas)   SOLD OUT!
He's probably better known as a producer, and maybe as one of the judges on Rock Star: Supernova a couple of years ago. I picked up one of his records after seeing him on that TV show, and was fairly unimpressed, but apparently that's just me, as he's sold out four nights in a row.

1.06   wednesday
Sing Along With Coz V (The Globe Pub)   COZ SINGS!
Last week was probably the most successful night since we started this thing. We had participants AND an audience, where previous weeks were one or the other. If we were lucky. Still, it could be so much better if you were there. Yes, you. The person reading this right now. Music starts around 9:30pm, and if you feel the need to sign up ahead of time, you can do that starting at 9pm.

Butch Walker with Gold Motel (Schubas)   SOLD OUT!
See Tuesday's listing.

1.07   thursday
Tomorrow, The Moon with Airlines-x, The Debauchers (Darkroom)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
I probably put this in the recap after I saw them a month ago, but I didn't realize this band includes not one, but two members of the late, lamented Phantom Helmsmen. And DiNou on keyboards. On the New Year's resolution front, I've never been to Darkroom, either, so maybe I should fix that.

Buddy Guy with Big James and the Chicago Playboys (Buddy Guy's Legends)
It's January, so that means it's the annual residency for the blues legend at his South Loop club. This is also probably the last year for said residency at the club's current location, as it's going to be moving over to the old HotHouse space, presumably sometime in 2010.

Butch Walker with Gold Motel (Schubas)   SOLD OUT!
See Tuesday's listing.

1.08   friday
Lady GaGa with Kid Cudi, Jason Derulo (Rosemont Theatre)
I'm not sure how I managed it, but I seem to be able to count the number of times I've actually heard "Poker Face" on one hand. And at least one of those times, it was Eric Cartman singing it. This was originally scheduled for the Chicago Theatre, and the way they handled the venue switch seemed sort of weird to me, if I'm remembering it right.

Chris Trapper (Schubas)
A friend of mine has recommended this singer/songwriter, who she describes as "more ballad-like stuff, but still good."

Mucca Pazza with Paper Mice, Andrew Taylor (Empty Bottle)
With this weather, this might be a good show to see just because the fifteen or so members of the indie-rock marching band probably emit more body heat than smaller bands.

Butch Walker with Gold Motel (Schubas)   SOLD OUT!
See Tuesday's listing.

Buddy Guy with the NuBlue Band (Buddy Guy's Legends)   SOLD OUT!
And with the annual residency comes the selling out of most of the shows.

1.09   saturday
The Damnwells with Flame Shark, Katie Todd (Double Door)
XRT DJ Ken Sumka called these guys "one of the most criminally underrated bands of the last decade" in his year-end roundup. He also mentions that you can download the band's latest album for free (actually, for the bargain price of your e-mail address) from their website.

Cracker with Camper Van Beethoven (Cubby Bear Wrigleyville)
They're calling this the "Legacy Concert Series," or something like that. I just find it amazing that these two bands are still joined at the hip. I lost count of the double-bills these bands shared over the last fifteen years or so.

Buddy Guy with Billy Branch and the Sons of Blues (Buddy Guy's Legends)   SOLD OUT!
See Friday's listing. Or Thursday's listing, but without the available tickets.

Lady GaGa with Kid Cudi, Jason Derulo (Rosemont Theatre)
See Friday's listing.

1.10   sunday
Anvil (House of Blues)
I could tell you about this Canadian heavy metal band, or you could just rent Anvil: The Story of Anvil, the documentary about the band that came out last year to a fair amount of critical praise from the rock press, if I remember correctly. Although I also seem to remember some people thinking it was a parody, not realizing that the distance between Spinal Tap and reality is not so great.

Buddy Guy with Guy King and his Little Big Band (Buddy Guy's Legends)
Another one that's not sold out as of press time.

Lady GaGa with Kid Cudi, Jason Derulo (Rosemont Theatre)
See Friday's listing.