list.in.to.chicago this week: 07.22.2013

Sorry about the delay. Something something royal baby something Jay Z something no more hyphen something something Justin Timberlake.

Pick of the week
If you play it right, your weekend could include the Air Guitar Regional Championships (Metro on Saturday) and Loverboy (Taste of Lincoln Avenue on Sunday). You're welcome. Personally, I'd be all over Split Single at Schubas on Saturday if I didn't have a gig.

list.in.to.COZ
Did I mention having a gig? Diver will not only be at Fado this Saturday, but also providing the soundtrack to your lunch downtown on Wednesday at 225 West Washington, starting at 11:30am.

Recap
I did not, in fact, go see Pearl Jam on Friday. Many friends had just assumed, and were surprised to find that I had skipped it. Didn't actually go see any shows last week, but that's about to change in a big way.

7.22   monday
Jay Z and Justin Timberlake (Soldier Field)
So, yeah, this apparently happened last night. I'm going to declare the economic downturn as comprehensively over just based on all the gigantic concerts that have come through Chicago in the last three weeks.

7.23   tuesday
Open Jam (Vaughan's)   COZ SINGS!
I can neither confirm nor deny that we'll be playing nothing but Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark selections to make up for them having to cancel their Metro show and the rest of their 2013 tour due to illness.

Matthew Sweet with Unibrow (City Winery)
The still-reigning king of midwestern power pop seems to have a thing for the near West side. I feel like his last two shows were at City Winery, and then before that, Bottom Lounge.

7.24   wednesday
Diver (225 W. Washington)   SEE COZ LIVE!
It's our annual downtown lunchtime show! Acoustic Diver, featuring original bassist Avi Kopernik! And also, lunch! (Lunch not included)

Rodrigo y Gabriela with Zach Heckendorf (Chicago Theatre)
The biggest rock-influenced flamenco guitar act going today, by a wide margin. I like how the Reader has this classified as "Folk & Country." To be fair, it doesn't say which country.

Sophistafunk with Ham Council, Gunnelpumpers (Martyrs')
I think frequent listee Chris Siebold may play guitar in Ham Council. Or he knows and enjoys them. It's hard to keep track of the guy.

7.25   thursday
Steve Martin & the Steep Canyon Rangers Band featuring Edie Brickell (Chicago Theatre)
Bluegrass from the legendary comedian and the no-longer-quite-so-New Bohemian. If the Groupon last week is any indication, there are lots of tickets still available for this one. And the banter between songs will be better than any show you've seen this year. Maybe ever.

7.26   friday
Ike Willis with Flavia & the Red (Reggie's Music Joint)
I've never seen Willis take precendence over whichever Zappa tribute outfit he's joined up with before (in this case, Ugly Radio Rebellion, who I still haven't seen), but the poster for the show bears that out.

Elements of Style, Sweeps, Peekaboos, Bummer (Empty Bottle)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
This is a CD release party for Elements of Style, and they're having a "pay what you want" offer on their Bandcamp site during the run-up to the show.

Ozomatli with Afrozep (House of Blues)
I've described this multi-culti band as a sort of cross between Los Lobos and maybe Fishbone. I also prefer to see them outdoors when given the opportunity.

Marbin (Andy's)
So, the local jazz duo (typically augmented with a backing band) has done pretty well for themselves since they sent me a rough demo three or four years back.

7.27   saturday
Diver (Fado Irish Pub)   SEE COZ LIVE!
Not only is this our monthly Fado show, it's also the pre-party for the CONCACAF Gold Cup Final on Sunday afternoon at Soldier Field, hosted by the primary U.S. Men's National Team supporters group, the American Outlaws. Let's just hope the U.S. team actually plays on Sunday--they have to win on Wednesday night in Dallas against Honduras.

Split Single with Kerosene Stars (Schubas)
Because he's got a higher profile, a lot of people erroneously labeled this another Britt Daniel side project, when it's really former Verbow frontman Jason Narducy's baby, with Daniel and drummer Jon Wurster in tow. Bummed that I'm missing this one.

Senator Bogina with Black Bridge (Bird's Nest)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
Every year, the Senator makes but a single appearance. And invariably, the ad hoc cover band does it on a night when I'm playing with Diver. I have never witnessed Bogina in action, having only fed on scraps left around various rehearsal spaces. Well, mostly one rehearsal space, back when we had it.

Ted Leo & The Pharmacists (Subterranean)
While I like most of what I've heard of Leo's indie-punk stylings, it never quite crosses over to being essential for me to seek out. Although I did completely coincidentally queue up one of his albums on the iPod the other day. He's also playing Wicker Park Fest this weekend.

Shoes with Valley Downs (SPACE, Evanston)
Okay, so when Valley Downs stopped by Vaughan's last week to shake off the rust in advance of this gig, I didn't realize it was opening for Chicagoland power pop legends.

The 2013 Air Guitar Championship Semi-Finals (Metro)
NORDIC THUNDER!!

Marbin (Andy's)
See Friday's listing.

7.28   sunday
Loverboy with...seriously, who cares? LOVERBOY! (Taste of Lincoln Avenue)
I was going to skip the street festivals this week, but then this happened. And to be fair, there are some good bands earlier on the same stage, including Mutts and Paper Thick Walls.