list.in.to.chicago this week: 08.04.2014

Yeah, I know. This thing may be on its last legs, or I might just be temporarily swamped. Hard to say.

Pick of the week
It's a good week for guitar, with three shows from John Moulder (Pritzker Pavilion on Thursday and the Green Mill on Friday and Saturday) and then a rare tour from Eric Johnson coming to SPACE in Evanston on Friday.

list.in.to.COZ
So, there's office hours at Vaughan's, and a Diver show on Saturday, but your long-range plans should include Andrew Fraker & Sons two weeks from Thursday at Lincoln Hall. Mark your calendars.

Recap
I did not go to Lollapalooza. I did not particularly regret that decision. I did go to Billy Joel a few weeks back at Wrigley, and enjoyed that quite a bit. You forget just how great so many of his songs are, just one after another after another.

8.05   tuesday
Open Jam (Vaughan's)   COZ SINGS!
Since we last spoke, all you need to know is that we've started doing an acoustic version of "Whole Lotta Love" with Monica singing.

Tori Amos with Trevor Moss & Hannah-Lou (Chicago Theatre)
Hard to believe that Amos turned 50 years old last year. She's one of those artists who I probably should have seen live by now, and is touring to support this year's Unrepentant Geraldines album.

Billy Martin's Wicked Knee (SPACE, Evanston)
I've seen projects from Medeski and Wood, but this is the first I've come across from Billy Martin, which the Reader says "often comes off as a post-New Orleans funk combo." Nothing wrong with that.

Hospitality with Porches, Frankie Cosmos (Empty Bottle)
A bit of a buzz band, but I've got them conflated with about half a dozen other female-fronted indie pop bands from Brooklyn.

8.06   wednesday
Tributosaurus (Martyrs')   FRIENDS OF COZ!
This month as the Bee Gees, so suffice it to say it's a good thing they don't dress up as the bands to which they pay tribute.

Cherry Glazerr, Todays Hits, Burndoubt, Yoko & the Oh No's (Beat Kitchen)
I can't decide if a few of these names are actually clever, or trying too hard.

8.07   thursday
John Moulder’s Earthborne Tales of Soul & Spirit (Pritzker Pavilion)
It's been a while since I've seen the local jazz guitarist and longtime Paul Wertico bandmate. Weather is supposed to be good, so you could do a whole lot worse for a free outdoor show in Millenium Park.

Katy Perry with Capital Cities (United Center)
This week it's Perry. Next week it's Miley Cyrus. Whatever it is we did, I apologize on behalf of the entire city.

8.08   friday
Eric Johnson (SPACE, Evanston)
The Texas guitarist was one of the high points of the Hendrix tribute show back in March, even if most people only know him for that one instrumental tune from back in 1990. Also, he could easily pass for Chris Hardwick's older brother.

John Moulder Group (Green Mill)
With the Pritzker show on Thursday and two nights at the Mill, I feel like Moulder is declaring that he's back after a break, but I might have just not been paying close enough attention.

Motley Crue with Alice Cooper (First Midwest Bank Ampitheatre, Tinley Park)
It's allegedly the final tour for one of the first big hair-metal bands, but that doesn't rule out a Vegas residency.

Tributosaurus (Wire, Berwyn)
The suburban reprise of the Wednesday Bee Gees show.

Katy Perry with Capital Cities (United Center)
See Thursday's listing.

8.09   saturday
DIVER (Fado Irish Pub)   SEE COZ LIVE!
The crowd was a bit standoff-ish last time around, and we didn't even play the jazz odyssey. Hopefully this time will be better, and we'll dig into some of the new stuff we've been working on.

Chicago with REO Speedwagon (FirstMerit Bank Pavilion)
Chaka Khan with Syleena Johnson, Zzaje (Chicago Theatre)
I would not blame you if you went to either of these instead of seeing Diver, but they're both close enough that you could stop by afterwards.

Miles Nielsen with Little Fires (Schubas)
The son of Cheap Trick guitarist Rick Nielsen continues his reign as one of the hardest working singer/songwriters in Chicago since Jon Langford.

Mannequin Men with Radar Eyes, Le Tour (Empty Bottle)
Okay, so I thought these guys packed it in a few years ago, but apparently that didn't take, and they've returned with a new bass player and presumably none the worse for wear.

The Cult (Concord Music Hall)
The Wikipedia entry for this band has TEN former drummers before current member and journeyman John Tempesta joined in 2006, but some of those are clearly studio guys who played on one record or another at some point.

John Moulder Group (Green Mill)
See Friday's listing.

8.10   sunday
Boris with The Atlas Moth, Sub Rosa (Bottom Lounge)
Japanese avant-metal, I think. I also think I saw them at Lollapalooza a few years ago and just couldn't get into it.

Goo Goo Dolls with Daughtry, Plain White T's (FirstMerit Bank Pavilion)
Full props to Time Out Chicago for the best blurb on this one. "Iris, meet Deliliah."

Echo & the Bunnymen (Metro)
The 80s new wave icons actually released a new album this year, which looks like one of those scenarios where they played a few classic albums in their entirety on the previous album and remembered that they enjoyed themselves. A few of the principal members also released solo albums in the last few years, so everybody is keeping busy.