list.in.to.chicago this week: 01.18.2010

The following takes place between January 18th and January 24th.

Events occur in real time.

I have a hunch I've used that one before...

Pick of the week
If you've been following the Chicago music scene for a long time, and particularly the undergound parts, then the Pravda Records party on Friday with The Service, The Slugs and Boom Hank at the Abbey Pub will probably feel like an old pair of pants, in a good way. That Cavashawn show on Thursday at Lincoln Hall looks good, too.

list.in.to.COZ
This Friday, come see Andrew Fraker & Sons in our first full band show in a couple of months. We'll be at Goose Island Wrigleyville along with our friends B-Side Social. I've got normal office hours Tuesday at Vaughan's and Wednesday at The Globe, and may drop in at Trace on Clark Street on Thursday night. More on that in a bit.

Recap
Have you ever heard "The Devil Went Down To Georgia" played on accordion? Well, you would if you had come out to Sing Along With Coz on Wednesday night. And that was only the beginning. I also made it to see The Powwows play a rocking set on Thursday night, which gave me the opportunity to watch Tony C. (from Diver, The Ripleys, Fraker & Sons, etc.) burn through some guitar solos from the front instead of the side or the back like I'm used to. The band before them, Tallest Trees, hailed from Nashville and were chasing all sorts of strange sounds, effects and textures to considerable effect. The best comparison I could come up with was Yeasayer, which isn't bad company.

1.18   monday
The Waco Brothers with Eleventh Dream Day (Hideout)
There's notrhing wrong with having some good music to accompany a good cause, as I believe this is a fundraiser for Haiti. If you don't know why Haiti needs a fundraiser, then you probably don't have a connection to the Internet, either, so you're not reading this.

Coltrane Motion with Soft Speaker, Panda Riot (Empty Bottle)
It's a bad night to go to the Bottle if you're a fan of percussive instruments, as I know at least two of these bands prefer MacBooks to live drums. I'm guessing Soft Speaker is similar.

1.19   tuesday
Open Jam (Vaughan's)   COZ SINGS!
Just on principle, I'm going to insist that Tony sings "Pride (In The Name Of Love)" to commemorate Monday's holiday, which meant I didn't have to go into work. As opposed to all the other days, when I didn't have to go into work because I don't actually have a full-time job. Still accepting leads for marketing analytics gigs, and the voiceover stuff will be ready to launch soon.

1.20   wednesday
Sing Along With Coz (The Globe Pub)   COZ SINGS!
Aside from the accordion player -- who said he'd be back -- we actually had four or five really good acts last week, which makes me think that we may be gaining some traction here. I think the flyers up in the bar itself may have helped, as attracting musicians who already go to The Globe is by far the path of least resistance. You guys rank up there, too.

Save the Clocktower with Inchworm, Sissy Mena (Schubas)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
If, on the other hand, you want to see what the previous host of the Globe Open Mike is up to, his band is playing tonight as well. I haven't actually heard them yet, despite the almost never-ending stream of Facebook messages. I would complain about that, except that I've been sending out weekly event invitations for Wednesday nights myself.

Joey McIntyre (Lincoln Hall)   SOLD OUT!
Some of you were giving me shit for listing one of the Jonas Brothers last week, but that misses the point of the list entirely. Of course, with a sold out show this week from a former New Kid On The Block, it would seem that point is to list at least one teen idol -- although I don't know if McIntyre really counts as a teen idol presently, seeing as how he's only two years younger than I am -- per week to expand my demographic and/or show up in more search engine results.

1.21   thursday
Andrew Fraker (Trace)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
I forgot to mention last week that, on the heels of wrapping up seven years of playing at Messner's twice a week, Andrew has finally moved off of Southport. By about two and a half blocks. I'm conflicted about him playing at the location of the late, lamented Crooked Plough over on Clark Street, but he assures me that they're good folks. I may drop in to spell him for a bit so he can conserve his voice for the gig on Friday night.

Buddy Guy with Scott Holt (Buddy Guy's Legends)
There may still be tickets available for this one, if Metromix is to be believed. I accidentally transcribed the opener as Steve Holt, which just goes to show how deeply Arrested Development (the TV show, not the hip-hop band) has lodged itself in my brain.

Cavashawn with The Fold, We The Living (Lincoln Hall)
I'm not entirely sure how this band got on my radar, but the name definitely is distinctive enough to ring a bell. And the first track that I clicked on after searching for them yielded some really poppy indie rock, somewhere in the ballpark of Office. Now that I can put a sound to a name, they're definitely a band I'd like to check out at some point in the future that probably won't be this particular show.

B1g T1me with Benton Harbor Lunchbox (Bottom Lounge)
As near as I can tell, this is a Tom Waits tribute band of some sort, and involves a musician named Zebulun that I used to jam a bit about fifteen years ago. Those two things are enough to pique my interest, for sure.

Grant Hart with Jared Grabb, Annie Saunders (Ronny's)
The former Hüsker Dü drummer released another solo record last year, but I would have figured he would play a venue more on the beaten path. This is probably one of the bigger names I've seen listed at the Logan Square club.

1.22   friday
Andrew Fraker & Sons with B-Side Social, Katie Quick (Goose Island Wrigleyville)   SEE COZ LIVE!
This will be our longest full-band set, by a wide margin, so we're going to be playing pretty much everything we know, along with some new covers and one of Tony's songs that we've been working on. And if you've been to Vaughan's on a Tuesday, chances are you'll recognize some of the B-Side Social guys from the Open Jam.

The Service with The Slugs, Boom Hank (Abbey Pub)
Jim DeRogatis did a nice profile of Pravda Records, who are celebrating their 25th Anniversary with this show.

Freedy Johnston (Schubas)
It's an odd coincidence that Johnston is in town this week, because I just created a station on Pandora -- the Internet music site, not the home of the Na'vi -- based around The Beatles and Beatles-influenced bands, and he popped to the top of the list. And then I heard him covering a Beatles song on Sunday morning on WXRT. He's following me. This is the early show.

Buddy Guy with The Nicholas Tremulis Orchestra (Buddy Guy's Legends)   SOLD OUT!
This would have been a good one to see of the January residency, as Nicholas Tremulis is a Chicago institution in his own right. Not quite to the level of Buddy, but who is?

1.23   saturday
Robin Thicke (The Vic)
The son of actor Alan Thicke is a bit of an R&B crooner, apparently. He was also at the Golden Globes last night with his wife, who was in Precious. None of this seems to have been enough to reach critical mass on tickets sales for the Riviera, which is where this show was originally scheduled.

The Assembly with Meqqa, Villian vs. Villian, Heart Set Self Destruct (Double Door)
This local band has been around for at least four or fives years, which means this may be one of those shows where you run into lots of people you knew back when you went out to see a lot more local bands slogging it out in the clubs. Hypothetically speaking, of course.

Robert Gordon and The Men They Couldn't Hang with The Honeybees, Hot Rod Hucksters (Abbey Pub)
Have you ever wondered what happened to the drummer from the Stray Cats? Well, apparently, he's in this band. Yeah, I had no idea, either.

German Beef Initiative (Cal's Liquors)
Certainly one of the more creative band names I've seen this week. And I had heard that Cal's was throwing in the towel, but perhaps rumors of the South Loop dive's demise were premature.

Andrew Fraker (Trace)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
See Thursday's listing.

Buddy Guy with Carl Johnson (Buddy Guy's Legends)   SOLD OUT!
See previous listings.

1.24   sunday
Timbaland with Down With Webster (House of Blues)
I'm tempted to go to this show just to thank Timbaland for making such a crappy record with Chris Cornell that it drove him back to Soundgarden. Seriously, I don't think I've heard a single record this guy has produced that I've liked at all. My impression is that he sacrifices any and all sense of songwriting in order to make his records more conducive to dance clubs. I'm not sure how that translates to his own material, but I would expect lots of thumping bass and not a lot of harmony.

Buddy Guy with Larry McCray (Buddy Guy's Legends)   SOLD OUT!
See previous listings.