list.in.to.chicago this week: 10.24.2011

This whole effort used to be based on the hard copy of the Reader, but that's not as robust as it used to be. Their online listings are a lot noisier and hard to navigate, but as Metromix continues to deteriorate, I think I'm going to have to switch. Time Out Chicago makes no claim to being comprehensive, so I can only use them as a quick survey to see if I missed anything.

Which is more insider baseball than you probably need, but there you go.

Pick of the week
Just based on the description and Lincoln Hall's reputation for booking good bands I haven't heard of yet, Viva Brother looks interesting on Tuesday. Other than that, nothing really jumps out.

list.in.to.COZ
This Wednesday will feature a stripped-down set from Andrew Fraker & Sons at Ace Bar as part of the "Get Off The Couch!" series.

Recap
So, we happened to stumble upon a Scottish Pub in Paris on Wednesday, which happened to be having an Open Mic. You know where this is going, right? Suffice it to say, several of my international colleagues now think I'm a bit of a rock star. I guess I hang around with enough other musicians and people who know musicians that I forget that not everybody knows people who can sing, or play guitar, or both. Also, people you know from, say, work often can't see you in other contexts until you force them to.

10.24   monday
Purple Rain Live with A Terrible Spaceship(Martyrs')
None of the online sites said a word about this, but a friend on Facebook posted a link. Apparently it's a mashup of some of the Martyrs' monthly residences, as a bunch of musicians, including Booty Movement Coalition ringleader Typhanie Monique, are presenting "a live concert version of the film," not unlike Tributosaurus.

10.25   tuesday
Open Jam (Vaughan's)   COZ SINGS!
After last week, I'm very pro-open mic, just because of the potential for absolute randomness.

Viva Brother with Motopony, The Break (Lincoln Hall)
Apparently, this band is from the same town in England where the original version of The Office was set. Make of that as you will.

The Bomb with Magnificent, Textbook (Beat Kitchen)
With all the activity from Naked Raygun over the last couple of years, I'm not sure I had seen too much going on from Jeff Pezzati's main post-Raygun project.

The Damned, Th' Legendary Shack Shakers (Metro)
Somewhat legendary UK punk, which means that, by definition, I'm not going to have much more to say about it than that, because I was listening to the guy playing Reggie's on Wednesday at the time.

10.26   wednesday
Andrew Fraker & Sons with Rebecca Rego, Ben Joseph, Jeff Breakey (Ace Bar)
If the venue doesn't ring a bell, it's the space formerly known as Hog Head McDunna's on Fullteron. This is a reprise of that "Get Off The Couch!" series that Andrew played by himself earlier this year, only with the full band. Tony and also be playing some of his songs earlier in the evening.

Sing Along With Coz (The Globe Pub)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
Actually, I've got the above-listed gig this week, so once again, I leave the open mic in the capable hands of Oakley Stevens.

Carl Palmer Band with Tautologic (Reggie's Rock Club)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
Ethan from Tautologic and I go way back, and he's been as steadfast an advocate of progressive rock as anyone I know. Here he gets to open for the legendary ELP and Asia drummer, which means the over/under on female audience members is probably 10 at best.

L.A. Guns with 20 Shades, Alcheystone, Pipe (Reggie's Music Joint)
On some level, you have to imagine that the hair metal act is relieved to be the younger of the two headliners playing the Reggie's complex.

10.27   thursday
Metronomy with Class Actress, Kid Color (Lincoln Hall)
Still not sure if you pronounce it like metronome with an extra 'e' at the end, or like astronomy but with 'metro' at the front. But a friend was just tweeting about listening to them. Time Out Chicago describes it as "mimimalist electro-pop" similar to Phoenix.

Howard Jones (Bottom Lounge)
I'm not sure, but from reading the Wikipedia entry, the album that gave us "No One Is To Blame" may have also been responsible for the invention of the five-string electric bass.

Leslie West, Michael Schenker, Uli John Roth (House of Blues)
If seventies prog rock drumming legends aren't your thing on Wednesday, how about seventies guitar heroes?

10.28   friday
Shelby Lynne (Lincoln Hall)
Describes as somewhere between country and "Southern soul," I seem to recall reading that Lynne had started self-releasing route after parting ways with a label. I wonder when we hit some sort of tipping point with that that's actually viable.

Widespread Panic (Chicago Theatre)   SOLD OUT!
Some tickets may become available for these shows depending on how many more Chicago arrests there are related to the finance industry protests, because the protesters are going to need bail money. See, it's funny because the media likes portraying them all as hippies!

10.29   saturday
AM Taxi with Last Vegas, Blackbox, the Fold, Hessler, Dorian Taj (Double Door)
More griping about source data. This is one of what seems to be a dwindling number of Halloween shows where bands pretend to be other bands, but I wasn't able to figure that out from any of the listings. And I don't think anyone had the Abbey Pub Halloween show at all. If I went back to scanning the actual print ads, I might solve these problems, but man, this whole thing is getting harder to maintain.

Robert Randolph and the Family Band with The Steepwater Band (Park West)
Since bursting on the scene a while back, I haven't heard quite as much from the gospel-fueled funk/soul ensemble. Good to see they're still around.

Screeching Weasel with Queers, Seething Coast (Reggie's Rock Club)
I need some sort of macro to just automatically cut and paste the bit about notable Chicago acts who have come out of semi-retirement to at least play a couple of shows a year or so. This time, it's Ben Weasel continuing to add ammunition to the idea that you can play hardcore/punk past the age of 30.

Widespread Panic (Chicago Theatre)   SOLD OUT!
See Friday's listing, or make up your own hippie joke.

10.30   sunday
Sebadoh with Mazes (Schubas)
One of the leading figures in "early" indie rock.

Future Islands with Javelin, Ed Schrader's Music Beat (Lincoln Hall)
Saw Javelin at Lollapalooza, and while they might do better indoors, wasn't terribly impressed. The MacBook generation is, on balance, not helping modern music, in my opinion. Bring back live drummers!

Ozric Tentacles with Mr. Blotto (The Mid)
With The Mid being mostly a dance club, this seems like a really odd place for an instrumental art rock band from the eighties, but being a Sunday night, it might be an independent promoter just looking for an available room.