list.in.to.chicago this week: 11.18.2013

I think I owe Cults an apology. See below for details.

Pick of the week
Liking the jazz options this week, with Mike Stern at the Showcase from Thursday through Sunday, and then Joshua Redman at Symphony Center on Friday.

list.in.to.COZ
After regular office hours on Tuesday, it's the last Diver show of the year on Saturday at Fado.

Recap
Nothing last week. Quite possibly nothing through the end of the year, although that could change. I'm not saying I'm burned out on live music, but I may have hit my ceiling for the year.

11.18   monday
Young the Giant (Metro)
This is actually an exclusive Q87.7 VIP deal, but the band just announced its return leg in a few months at the Riv, so you're not totally out of luck. Except for the part where you have to see them at the Riv.

Dave Davies (City Winery)
The other Davies from the Kinks is hitting both the uber-intimate venues in (or near) the city to kick off the week.

11.19   tuesday
Open Jam (Vaughan's)   COZ SINGS!
Not going to point any fingers, but I think somebody scared away the new guy last week with their enthusiasm upon realizing the song he was playing was from Trapper Schoepp.

MGMT with Kuroma (Aragon Ballroom)
With each successive album, this band seems to ratchet up the weirdness factor, to the point where we're headed for an epic showdown between them and the Flaming Lips.

Gary Clark Jr. with Wild Feathers, Max Frost (The Vic)   SOLD OUT!
I have to say, I was a bit underwhelmed with Clark when I saw him at Lollapalooza. He's a competent blues guitarist, to be sure, but not unlike Robert Randolph, I feel like his act probably goes over better with audiences who aren't as steeped in the blues as we are here in Chicago.

Dave Davies (SPACE, Evanston)
See Monday's listing.

11.20   wednesday
Pink with Kin (Allstate Arena, Rosemont)
Quick turnaround from the city arena data to the suburban arena date, and I'm not sure if there were dates in between, or if the pop singer and aerial acrobat enjoyed a long weekend in town.

Emilie Autumn with Birthday Massacre (House of Blues)
I feel like this date was rescheduled from an earlier cancellation from the neo-victorian quasi-industrial goth violinist and one-time Courtney Love collaborator.

11.21   thursday
Cat Power with Nico Turner (Old Town School of Folk Music)
Not sure if this is the first we've seen of indie singer/songwriter Chan Marshall since her last release in 2012. The tour to support that record got off to a bit of a rocky start as she had to postpone a bunch of European dates last year.

Thundercat with Ghosthouse (Schubas)
This bassist has played with Erykah Badu, Suicidal Tendencies and an Miles Davis tribute band, which is some kind of range. The Reader blurb says his own stuff is a mix of funk, soul and electronica.

Mike Stern Trio (Jazz Showcase)
Apparently it's a banner week for musicians who have played the music of Miles Davis, as guitarist and former Davis sideman Stern holds down the fort at the Showcase for the weekend.

Brendan Canning with Save the Clocktower, Dinosaur Bones (Beat Kitchen)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
Sometimes there's a bit of a disconnect between the tone of Save The Clocktower's enthusiastic social media presence and their chilled-out electronica.

11.22   friday
Joshua Redman Quartet with Muhal Richard Abrams (Symphony Center)
One of my favorite contemporary jazz saxophonists. Someday I'll get over my weird hangup about seeing jazz in the relatively formal confines of Symphony Center.

Fitz & the Tantrums with Capital Cities (Aragon Ballroom)   SOLD OUT!
On the funkier side of the indie/dance spectrum, these guys keep playing bigger and bigger rooms, and selling them out. Lots of positive energy, without the hipster affect of, say, fun. or Foster the People.

Avett Brothers with Deer Tick (UIC Pavilion)
As with Mumford & Sons, I have some concerns about how this kind of indie-folk can struggle in bigger venues. I had thought that they were on the Twelve Years a Slave soundtrack, but I think they just backed up Chris Cornell when he performed his song from that soundtrack on Jimmy Fallon a few weeks ago.

Yakuza with Scientist, Liquor Mortis (Beat Kitchen)
This local metal band may be the longest-running "band I'm vaguely interested in seeing but haven't gotten around to yet" in l.i.t.c. history. Mostly because everything I hear about Bruce Lamont makes him sound like a pretty fascinating musician.

High on Fire with Kvelertak, Doomriders (Metro)
Not sure if stoner rock will make a big comeback in Chicago now that medicial marijuana is legal in Illinois.

Mike Stern Trio (Jazz Showcase)
See Thursday's listing.

11.23   saturday
DIVER (Fado Irish Pub)   SEE COZ LIVE!
On the one hand, it's our last Fado show of the year. On the other, you'll have nearly double the opportunities to see us there in 2014.

Smith Westerns with Sky Ferreira (The Vic)
I actually think the rest of this tour is Ferreira headlining with Smith Westerns opening, but this is the band's hometown, and they've been on the upswing for a good year and a half now. So the billing makes it look like they're sorta co-headlining this one.

Cults with Sacco, Mood Rings (Metro)
It dawns on me that I've been wholly confusing this band with The Kills. Both are a male/female duo, but that's where the similarities mostly end, as this band is much more lo-fi and organic, with even a bit of a Motown girl group vibe on their new record. And they tour with a full band.

Mowgli's with Royal Teeth, Ambassadors (Bottom Lounge)
This band's Wikipedia entry is flagged as potentially being from a fan's point of view, rather than a neutral point of view. It also describes the band as "an 'indie, gospel, folk, love-rock' band created with an intention to help change the world for the greater good by spreading a message of joy and love that is embedded in their music." So there's that.

Michael Nesmith (City Winery)
Kind of odd that they added a third, non-contiguous date when only one of the ones last week sold out, but he was always the avant garde one in The Monkees.

Mike Stern Trio (Jazz Showcase)
See Thursday's listing.

11.24   sunday
Paramore with Metric (UIC Pavilion)
I actually liked the first single off the band's new record -- sounded like the good parts of No Doubt, but with teeth -- but I struggled with the rest of the album. And I generally like Metric, but feel like they're not going to show me anything new after having seen them twice already.

Rick Springfield with William Beckett (City Winery)   SOLD OUT!
This is as good a time as any to recommend Dave Grohl's Sound City documentary, in which the former General Hospital heartthrob and jealous friend plays a prominent role. And he'll be back for a second date in a few weeks if you read this and suddenly had to hear "Jessie's Girl" from the guy who wrote it instead of some generic cover band at a street festival.

Mike Stern Trio (Jazz Showcase)
See Thursday's listing.