list.in.to.chicago this week: 03.18.2013

Sorry, needed an extra day to recover from Saturday. Which is more than can be said for Morrissey, who has now cancelled his tour outright after two postponements.

Pick of the week
The safe, not sold out option is probably Frightened Rabbit on Saturday at the Riv. And I'm suddenly noticing buzz on Boy (Wednesday and Thursday) at Schubas, but some of that buzz may be because the shows are selling out. Speaking of sellouts, if you want to hit Craigslist, Local Natives at the Vic on Thursday or Stars at Metro on Saturday might be worth looking into.

list.in.to.COZ
Just Vaughan's this week, and even that's a bit touch and go.

Recap
Okay, so I realized I forgot to recap the Muse show last week. They delivered big and bombastic, with a pretty nifty stage and lighting setup. And a Neil Peart-esque rotating drum riser. So it was pretty much exactly what I expected, and I mean that in a good way.

Friday was Django Django at Metro, and they do this sort of tribal, reverb-drenched, synth-y thing with slightly obtuse vocal melodies and harmonies really, really well. I went back and forth between digging that and wanting them to stretch out just a bit. Openers Night Moves had some good songs, but were maybe a bit too beholden to warm 70s-esque guitar tones.

One thing I will say about Saturday's epic Diver show at Fado is that the reception we got from that drunken, celebratory crowd for our version of "Little Lion Man" was probably one of the best crowd responses I can remember in my life. Also, our inaugural performance of "Madness" from Muse kinda killed. And I seem to have mashed the ball of my right foot to a pulp with eight hours of playing. Okay, three things.

3.19   tuesday
Open Jam (Vaughan's)   COZ SINGS!
Expecting a good turnout from the regulars tonight, but with the St. Patrick's Day drinking over the weekend and March Madness on the immediate horizon, possibly not much more than that.

M13 (Quencher's)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
There aren't that many regular big band gigs in the city in the first place, let alone ones quite as adventurous as this one. Or so I've heard.

3.20   wednesday
The 1975 with Republic of Lights, the Break (Subterranean)
Another new U.K. band that a few friends have been talking about. Somewhere between synthpop and indie rock, with three EPs under their collective belt.

Boy with Hanna Ashbrook (Schubas)
Ethereal folk-pop that tries not to sound overly twee (with varying degrees of success) from this Hamburg duo, neither of which are boys.

Nu Bambu with Outertown, Adia (Martyrs')
Some weeks, guitarist Chris Siebold needs his own separate section, as he's playing with M13 on Tuesday and Outertown tonight. So yes, being friends with me on Facebook increases your gig's likelihood of being seen by, literally, dozens more people.

Great Big Sea (House of Blues)
Hands down, this is the best band I've ever heard from Newfoundland and Labrador. You wouldn't be alone if upon hearing them, you just assumed they were Irish.

3.21   thursday
Local Natives with Superhumanoids (The Vic)   SOLD OUT!
Their latest record sounds like a somewhat Americanized take on Frightened Rabbit.

Boy with Hanna Ashbrook (Schubas)
From the looks of it, this second show may have been sold out, but then some tickets were just made available. So you should probably go on Wednesday.

3.22   friday
Dot Dot Dot with AM Taxi, Miles Nielsen and the Rusted Hearts, Hank and Cupcakes (Double Door)
That's "Hank and Cupcakes," not a band named Hank and then a very quiet reunion show from Cupcakes. Big presence from the Lucky Boys Confusion-centered sliver of the music scene in Dot Dot Dot and AM Taxi, along with yet another Miles Nielsen appearance. Starting to think he risks overexposure.

Low with Geoff Farina (Metro)
With Jeff Tweedy producing their new record, it's a collision between "slowcore" and "dad rock." Slowdad? Dadcore?

Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes with Blue Olives (House of Blues)
If this were in his home state of New Jersey, it would be a must-see, just on the off chance Springsteen might show up. Here, that's probably far less likely.

Saw Doctors with So Cow (The Vic)
Now we're getting the St. Patrick's Day tours that started in other markets.

3.23   saturday
Frightened Rabbit with the Twilight Sad (Riviera Theatre)
Their latest record sounds like a Scottish take on Local Natives. No, seriously, the band's Atlantic Records debut smooths some of the more abrasive edges from the critically-acclaimed The Winter of Mixed Drinks record, making it a more enjoyable listen on balance.

Stars with Milo Greene, Said the Whale (Metro)   SOLD OUT!
The Canadian indie pop band are compatriots of Broken Social Scene, having come through the same Arts & Crafts label and the same Montreal, er, scene. Generally, they hit me as a far less over-the-top, super-hooky version of Metric.

G. Love & Special Sauce with John Fullbright (The Vic)
I was going to say this is one hell of a long career on the back of one novelty hit, but "Cold Beverage" didn't even break the singles chart back in 1994. He's had three songs that broke into the top 40 for modern rock since then, but nothing I've ever even heard.

KMFDM with Legion Within, Czar (House of Blues)
So, apparently old industrial bands don't ever really go away.

English Beat (SPACE, Evanston)   SOLD OUT!
Neither does Dave Wakeling.

Javelin with Raleigh Moncrief, Jamaican Queens (Empty Bottle)
One of those bands that über-hipsters (and, to some extent, music critics) seem to have a hard-on for, but having heard them at Lollapalooza, I found them damn near unlistenable. Then again, hipsters now glamorize Malört, which exposes the whole movement as calling bad things good in attempt to shake up the natural order of aesthetics with them on top, like how Nietzche portrays religion as having defined "good" and "evil" as a way for the less fortunate to claim the moral high ground against the rich. But I digress. A lot.

3.24   sunday
Wolff & Clark Expedition with Mike Clark, Michael Wolff, and Jeff Berlin (Martyrs')
Last time they were here, Clark and Berlin played with guitarist Scott Henderson. This time, they're playing with either a notable jazz pianist who got his start with Cal Tjader, or a journalist who writes for Vanity Fair. Probably the first one.

English Beat (SPACE, Evanston)
See Saturday's listing. Or wait until Wakeling inevitably comes back as General Public in a couple of months.