list.in.to.chicago this week: 04.30.2012

So, sorry about the lack of a newsletter last week. I expected to write it at my hotel in New York on Sunday and Monday night, but I ended up not getting in until 3am on Sunday (long story), and then the WiFi in the hotel sucked ass.

Pick of the week
I'll be getting my prog rock nerd on this Tuesday with U.K. at the Vic for sure. Old 97's on Saturday at Cubby Bear looks promising as well. Also a little something in the same room the night before, which leads me to...

list.in.to.COZ
This Friday! It's Andrew Fraker & Sons at the Cubby Bear! It's $5 off the cover if you use one of the flyers! I'll totally e-mail one to you!

Recap
Nothing last week, but the previous week had a couple. My two overarching reactions to Kaiser Chiefs were that they are a very fun band, but also that they are so deliberately populist that it comes across as almost cynically manipulative -- lots and lots of "woah-oh-oh" choruses and that sort of thing. It's mostly catchy as hell, so it still works. What struck me most about openers Empires were that they didn't make much of a big deal of playing in their hometown, and then that the vocal-heavy mix may have called too much attention to the band's uninspired lyrics.

The next night was Nick Lowe and his Band, and the best way to describe this show would be completely and utterly charming. The banter alone almost made you want Lowe to just tell stories all night, except that would have taken away from his well-crafted songs, performed by blokes he's known for years and years.

4.30   monday
The Wombats with The Static Jacks, Flagship (Park West)
The difference between this bratty British post-punk band and all the others, apparently, is that this one is from Liverpool.

The Peekaboos with Royal Canoe, The Gorilla Press, Sexy Fights (Double Door)
What I like about this show is that Canadian band Royal Canoe has been Tweeting at famous Chicagoans (Jonathan Toews, Oprah, etc.) all day inviting them to the show or asking for a retweet.

5.01   tuesday
Open Jam (Vaughan's)   COZ SINGS!
The show at the Vic should be over early enough that I'll stop by post-game. Not sure if I'll have enough time to come up with an acoustic arrangement of "Rendezvous 6:02" in tribute.

U.K. (The Vic)
This might have been one of the first true prog rock supergroups back in the late 70s, and this tour features the Eddie Jobson-John Wetton-Terry Bozzio lineup from the band's second record. My prediction is that Bozzio will have more drums than there are women in attendance.

Great Lake Swimmers with Cold Specks (Lincoln Hall)
I saw this band open for Tony Allen in the Pritzker Pavilion two years ago, which was a bit of an odd pairing. My recap then made comparisons to Okkervil River, who were really the only pastoral indie-folk band I knew of at the time.

Foxy Shazam with Maniac, Cadaver Dogs, "Richardson" Richardson (Subterranean)
This Cleveland band rode the wave of neo-glam rock a few years ago, but that wave seems to have died down.

5.02   wednesday
Sing Along With Coz (The Globe Pub)   COZ SINGS!
There's an alternate reality where twenty years of playing music in this city led to a revolving door of great local musicians coming to hang out and interact with each other on Wednesday nights. Maybe it's the reality where Agent Dunham is a redhead. Anyway, things didn't quite pan out so well back in this reality, but I soldier on in hope of actual musicians and an audience.

Belleisle with The Elements of Style, The Maharishi (Martyrs')   FRIENDS OF COZ!
I think Elements of Style get credit for being the first new "Friends of Coz" band on the list in a while, and Martyrs' was where I first saw them.

Eleanor Friedberger with Hospitality (SPACE, Evanston)
This is one half of the band Fiery Furnaces, who are apparently on hiatus.

5.03   thursday
The Weeknd (Lincoln Hall)
I've heard a bit about this up-and-coming artist, but the thing that struck me was that he's been described as releasing "mixtapes." This originally made me think something like a Spotify playlist of other people's music, making him a DJ or a mash-up artist, but I'm no longer sure that's the case. Is this somehow the new name for what we used to call an EP? I can't keep up anymore.

Spiritualized with Nikki Lane (Metro)
This band was originally described as a sort of second wave of shoegazer rock, but may have taken a more indie turn at some point along the line.

Fareed Haque's Math Games with Bonzo Terks (Abbey Pub)
I had high hopes for this project from the gifted jazz guitarist, but it wasn't quite as, I don't know, cerebral as I had hoped. Abbey Pub seems like an odd choice of venue for avant-garde jazz, but remember that Haque has played here several times with Garaj Mahal.

The Bad Plus (Old Town School of Folk Music)
The original hook was jazz interpretation of rock songs, but that was probably ten years ago, so there's likely more to the trio nowadays. To their credit, they're one of very few new jazz groups to show up on my radar in a long while.

Robbie Fulks with Cameron McGill (SPACE, Evanston)
Interesting pairing of the old guard and the new guard of local singer/songwriters.

5.04   friday
Andrew Fraker & Sons with The Eli Story, Eric Selner, Sean Skyler & The Daymakers (Cubby Bear)   SEE COZ LIVE!
The gig schedule has gotten a bit more sparse for the band so far this year, so you won't want to miss this one. Plus, we've got some really good songs that we want to share with you and your friends. I have a flyer that knocks something like five bucks off the cover charge, so email me and I'll hook you up.

Gary Sinise & the Lt. Dan Band (Joe's Bar)
You may not remember this, but the actor actually went to Berklee College of Music as a bass player. He's toured on and off with his band, inspired by his Forest Gump character, to raise money for veterans groups.

56 Hope Road with Bassel & The Supernaturals, Fletcher Rockwell (Martyrs')
For a while, it looked like these guys were positioned well within the post-Deadhead scene, but they never quite took off. What I remember about them was that they seemed more influenced by the Grateful Dead's country-influenced, harmony-inflected songs than, say, their propensity to noodle endlessly.

M83 with I Break Horses (Riviera Theatre)
French electro-pop. No, you're thinking of Phoenix. This is the other one.

5.05   saturday
Old 97's with the Sam Roberts Band (Cubby Bear)
Rhett Miller and his band are in town for an XRT Cinco de Mayo concert. Or they just happened to be playing on that date and turned it into a promotion/event after the fact. All I know is that I keep seeing Tweets about it.

7Horse with Gooey, American Babies (Martyrs')   FRIENDS OF COZ!
Apparently, 7Horse includes two members of the band dada, with Friends of Coz Gooey also on the bill.

Geoff Tate (Mayne Stage)
I never quite got into Queensryche, but I did think it was cool that some of the band's gear and costumes ended up in the Seattle exhibit in the Experience Music Project.

5.06   sunday
La Dispute with Balance & Composure, All Get Out, Sainthood Reps (Metro)
Based on the name, I wouldn't have guessed "posthardcore/screamo from Detroit," but there you have it. The 6pm start on a Sunday should have tipped me off.