list.in.to.chicago this week: 07.01.2013

Sorry, out of town yesterday, which means you missed me wondering how the hell Polyphonic Spree could fit in Subterranean. On with the shows!

Pick of the week
Gotta go with David Byrne & St. Vincent at Rivinia on Saturday. The Chicago Theatre date on the first leg of the tour was really great.

list.in.to.COZ
Just Vaughn's this week.

Recap
Nothing to report from last week, other than that West Virginia is actually a really pretty state to drive through.

7.02   tuesday
Open Jam (Vaughan's)   COZ SINGS!
Last week was "let's see what we can make Tony play on the pedal steel." Who knows what this week will bring? Also, the degree to which one of our twentysomething regulars got excited at my rendition of Thomas Dolby's "Europa and the Pirate Twins" was a bit of a surprise.

Matt Pond PA with Matrimony, Damn Choir (Bottom Lounge)
Not sure who rounds out the band this time around, but after this tour is over, they will probably add to the impressive list of "former members" for the 15-year old indie rock band. Which is to say it's mostly Matt Pond, one other guy, and then whoever they can assemble at any given time.

Matchbox Twenty with Goo Goo Dolls, Kate Earl (Ravinia Festival, Highland Park)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
If I were to track down current Matchbox Twenty drummer Stacy Jones, with whom I attended the Berklee College of Music 5-week summer program back before there was an Internet, I'd ask him if Rob Thomas is a bigger diva than Miley Cyrus, which was his last gig.

7.03   wednesday
American Music Festival (FitzGerald's, Berwyn)
Four nights across three stages in the near western suburbs for the annual fest, with tonight's headliners including Miles Nielsen & The Rusted Hearts, Dave Alvin & The Guilty Ones and Sanctified Grumblers.

311 with Cypress Hill, G. Love & Special Sauce (Charter One Pavilion)
There's a lot of the 90s in town this week, and it seems like these guys play the lakefront pretty much every summer now. Although from this week's news, it sounds like the new lawn seats at Charter One can be somewhat problematic depending on the weather.

Matchbox Twenty with Goo Goo Dolls, Kate Earl (Ravinia Festival, Highland Park)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
See Tuesday's listing.

7.04   thursday
American Music Festival (FitzGerald's, Berwyn)
Headliners on our nation's birthday are Dave Alvin & The Guilty Ones (again, but on a different stage), Brave Combo and Weepin' Willows.

Matchbox Twenty with Goo Goo Dolls, Kate Earl (Ravinia Festival, Highland Park)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
See Tuesday's listing. Is is me, or are three shows from these guys maybe one or two more than seem necessary?

7.05   friday
Marilyn Manson (Riviera Theatre)
Moved from the Congress Theater, which seems to be finally getting in trouble for being the absolute dump that it is.

Ours with Model Stranger, Vaudville (Schubas)
In all the years since I've heard of this band, which is over a decade now, I think they've only ever played Schubas. The majority of trips through town seem to stop here, anyway.

Squarepusher with Quadratic (Metro)
Metro is talking this up like I should know who it is, but I don't. Somewhere on the electronica side of the ledger, I think.

American Music Festival (FitzGerald's, Berwyn)
Jon Dee Graham, James McMurtry and Doop top the bill on each stage for the third day.

7.06   saturday
David Byrne & St. Vincent (Ravinia Festival, Highland Park)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
I would recommend pavilion seats for this one, as all the clever choreography won't really translate on the lawn. And a sort of homecoming for saxophonist and current New Yorker Bryan Murray, who I would imagine none of you remember from my short-lived funk band back in 2001.

Deafheaven with Marriages, Ormen Lange (Subterranean)
The Reader just ran a cool "Artist to Artist" feature on the headliner, where one of their members is interviewed by a guy from fellow metal band Atlas Moth.

Margot & the Nuclear So & So's with Brontosaurus (Lincoln Hall)
It probably makes no sense at all to lump this band together with We Were Promised Jetpacks and Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, purely on account of having unwieldy names and entering the public consciousness at (probably very) roughly the same time, but that's never stopped me before.

American Music Festival (FitzGerald's, Berwyn)
Finally, Jimmy LaFave, Tributosaurus as Tom Petty, and Cannonball headline the last night of the festival, with NRBQ and Dolly Varden also on the bill.

7.07   sunday
Jon Speigel's Tremolux (Martyrs')
This is both a birthday party and a CD release party for the Tributosaurus frontman, and I think it's his first album of original material in a while.

Liquid Soul (Abbey Pub)
Okay, so this has happened often enough that it looks like the first Sunday of every month.

Counting Crows with Wallflowers (Charter One Pavilion)
The wormhole back to no later than the 90s seems to be in full effect on the lakefront again.