list.in.to.chicago this week: 09.01.2014

So I have a vague notion about how to get back on track with my publishing. We'll see how it works over the next couple of weeks.

And I'm ignoring Garth Brooks on purpose.

Pick of the week
I don't think it's sold out, so Death Cab For Cutie on Friday at the Hideout Block Party seems like a pretty obvious choice. Saturday has some good options if you're looking to laugh, namely Garfunkel & Oates (House of Blues), the Internet Cat Video Festival (Metro) and, well, Yanni (Sears Centre). Which is a long way to go for a laugh, in that it's in Hoffman Estates.

list.in.to.COZ
Regular office hours Tuesday at Vaughan's, and then we're in a stretch of Diver shows pretty much every two weeks at Fado through November.

Recap
Crap, when was the last full list, and what have I seen since then? Billy Joel at Wrigley Field was excellent. So many great songs. Robyn with ROYSKOPP at Pritzker Pavilion was much better once they joined forces, after being a bit monotonous out of the gate. Randomly caught a bit of LeRoy Bach and Dan Bitney at The Whistler on Friday, which was leaning towards the avant-jazz side of the spectrum, but not scary avant-jazz. And then I heard that Dave Holland's PRISM killed at Jazz Fest.

Also, thanks to everyone who came out to the Andrew Fraker & Sons show a week and a half ago. We had fun. Still haven't listened to the recording.

9.02   tuesday
X with Not In The Face (City Winery)
A four-night residency from the legendary L.A. punk band, with one of their records in its entirety each night. First up is Los Angeles.

Parachute with Matt Wertz (Lincoln Hall)
They've toured with Goo Goo Dolls and 3 Doors Down and have had songs in cosmetics commercials, so I'm going out on a limb and guessing there won't be much in the way of rough edges for this one.

Open Jam (Vaughan's)   COZ SINGS!
Last week we actually took a stab at "Changes" from Yes, on acoustic guitar and djembe. This week, I feel we may have to pay tribute to the singer from Survivor, who passed away over the weekend.

9.03   wednesday
Tin Lynott with Scott Tipping Syndicate plays Jimi Hendrix “Axis: Bold As Love” (Martyrs')
So along with Chicago's primary Thin Lizzy tribute band, you've got Tipping (from Magic Box and a few other local bands) leading on a Hendrix album tribute. And Martyrs' takes its tributes pretty seriously.

X with Not In The Face (City Winery)
See Tuesday's listing, with Wild Gift as the album being celebrated.

9.04   thursday
Trampled by Turtles with Hurray for the Riff Raff (Riviera Theatre)
We're getting to a point where we'll start to see if the folk revival really has legs, as the post-Mumford wave of bands start to get a little longer in the tooth and are less of a novelty.

KF Jacques with Black Japan, Magatha Trysty, Krystal Metcalfe, Cardinal Harbor, Matt Gold (House of Blues)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
Been meaning to check these guys out for a while now, because from talking to them and seeing posts on Facebook, I honest haven't the slightest idea what they're about. And I mean that in the best possible way. Seems a bit theatrical, and electronic, but still very rock and roll.

The Right Now with Bumpus, Dave Hamilton (Lincoln Hall)
Two mini-generations of local funk bands, almost like a passing of the torch.

Judy Roberts Quartet (Jazz Showcase)
The pianist and singer left Chicago back in 2007, and has been back intermittently since then.

X with Not In The Face (City Winery)
See Tuesday's listing, with Under the Big Black Sun as the album being celebrated.

9.05   friday
Death Cab for Cutie with Hamilton Leithauser, Handsome Family, Bad Luck Jonathan (Hideout Block Party)
So the big deal here is that this is either the only show or one of very few shows Death Cab For Cutie is scheduled to play this year, and will either be their last with founding member Chris Walla, or their first without him.

Geronimo! with Hey! Rabbit, The Couch, Fishsticks en Fuego, Hanzel & Gretel (Beat Kitchen)
Hand Practices with Garbage Friends, Kinda Good (Quenchers Saloon)
On the one hand, I'm starting to worry that we're running out of band names. On the other hand, you have to choose between The Couch at Beat Kitchen and a band that's Kinda Good at Quenchers. Which is pretty awesome.

The English Beat (SPACE, Evanston)
It's been at least a few months since we saw Dave Wakeling come through town, so I guess we were due. Next time, I'm guessing it'll be as General Public.

X with Not In The Face (City Winery)
See Tuesday's listing, with More Fun In The New World as the final album given the main billing.

Judy Roberts Quartet (Jazz Showcase)
See Thursday's listing.

9.06   saturday
DIVER (Fado Irish Pub)
So during that stretch where I wasn't writing the list, Diver actually played a show with someone else on drums. It was weird, but I figured gigging until the wee hours of the morning and then running my first (sprint) triathlon would have been a particuarly bad idea.

The War On Drugs with The Dismemberment Plan, The Funky Meters, Mac DeMarco, Sylvan Esso, Valerie June, Empires, Plastic Crimewave Vision Celestial Guitarkestra (Hideout Block Party)
Despite a lot of press, I've resisted checking out The War On Drugs. You've got a couple other up-and-comers in DeMarco and June, plus the timeless New Orleans grooves of whoever is in the Funky Meters these days.

Garfunkel & Oates (House of Blues)
The musical comedy duo got picked up for an eight-episode run on IFC, and hopefully they don't get so focused on the TV show that they forget about writing new music, which is what I think happened to Flight of the Conchords. Then again, one of those guys won an Oscar, so I guess it worked out alright for them.

Yanni (Sears Centre, Hoffman Estates)
I sort of want to see if the Greek composer's hair and mustache are still fully intact from twenty years ago, but I don't want that in my web browser's search history.

The English Beat (SPACE, Evanston)
See Friday's listing.

Internet Cat Video Festival 2014 (Metro)
Yes, this is really a thing.

Judy Roberts Quartet (Jazz Showcase)
See Thursday's listing.

9.07   sunday
Judy Roberts Quartet (Jazz Showcase)
See Thursday's listing.