list.in.to.chicago this week: 03.23.2015

I would feel worse about getting this out a day late if either of those Monday shows weren't sold out.

Pick of the week
TV On The Radio (Metro) and Will Butler (Hideout) technically happened already, and were sold out anyway. Actually, lots of the notable shows this week require a trip to Craigslist or Stubhub, but I think you can still find tickets for at least one of the Alejandro Escovedo shows (Friday at SPACE and Saturday at the Promontory), and he's consistently a great performer. I'm inclined to recommend Sonny Knight (Thursday at Bottom Lounge) just because other artists with similar stories (Sharon Jones, Charles Bradley) have been so good.

list.in.to.COZ
Vaughan's on Tuesday and Diver on Saturday, but I would really appreciate it if you marked down FRIDAY, APRIL 10th in your calendar. That's going to be both the record release party and final live show from Andrew Fraker & Sons at Cubby Bear.

Recap
Full rundown of TV On The Radio next week. Saturday night's DIVER show may have been the first time anyone did the limbo during one of our sets.

3.23   monday
TV on the Radio with Nostalghia (Metro)   SOLD OUT!
At first, I didn't quite take to the new record from the Brooklyn indie rock darlings, at least relative to their last two. But then Seeds grew on me, and I think it says something about the quality of the songs that I would spontaneously end up with a different cut stuck in my head over the course of several days, regardless of how recently I had listened to it.

Will Butler with Hearing Things (The Hideout)   SOLD OUT!
I like the first solo record from the "other" Butler in Arcade Fire much more than I do the last Arcade Fire album. The Northwestern alum is just up from Austin, where he called out SXSW as not really being about music, and also pointed out that the "financial model" for many up-and-coming bands is their parents paying for stuff.

3.24   tuesday
Open Jam (Vaughan's)   COZ SINGS!
Getting a week off last week was weird. Maybe we'll have an extra week of pent-up Open Jam energy that will result in some transcendent musical moments. Or we'll play dopey cover tunes.

General Zod with Renegades (Jerry's)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
If it's jazz fusion, it must be Tuesday.

3.25   wednesday
There is literally nothing that looks good this Wednesday.

3.26   thursday
Sonny Knight & the Lakers with Bumpus (Bottom Lounge)
Billed as the next in the series of older soul artists being rediscovered by hipster musicologists.

Preatures with The Bots and Bloods Band (Schubas)   SOLD OUT!
The Australian band has a catchy indie-pop sound reminiscent of bands like Motopony, but a bit more organic.

3.27   friday
Los Lobos (FitzGerald's, Berwyn)   SOLD OUT!
Legendary band. Small venue. It's being billed as a "roadhouse setting," Should be smokin'.

The Decemberists with Alvvays (Chicago Theatre)   SOLD OUT!
You never quite know exactly what you're getting with Colin Meloy and his merry band of well-dressed hipsters, but it's usually pretty good. The new record is maybe as straightforward as the band gets, although it could be laden down with non-stop literary references, for all I ever listen to lyrics.

Screaming Females with Shellshag, Split Feet (Empty Bottle)   SOLD OUT!
High-energy, female-fronted punk rock from that hotbed of punk activity, New Brunswick, New Jersey. They've garnered a pretty solid reputation as an undercard and small-venue phenomenon, so it'll be interesting to see if they can take the next step up the ladder.

Halsey with Young Rising Sons, Olivver The Kid (Park West)   SOLD OUT!
Billboard says the electropop singer was one of the most-mentioned artists at South by Southwest last week. As far as female electropop goes, it's a decent representation of the genre, but I don't know if it's all that different from the other hundred artists doing the same thing and is just popular because it's the newest iteration.

Roscoe Mitchell Quartet (Constellation)
The venerable jazz saxophonist was a founding member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians.

Alejandro Escovedo (SPACE, Evanston)   SOLD OUT!
There's a small subset of artists who manage to live on the border of alt-country and punk rock. Jon Langford is one. Alejandro Escovedo is another. It's kind of a cool border.

3.28   saturday
DIVER (Fado Irish Pub)   SEE COZ LIVE!
Of all the Saturday night shows we're doing during the "Year of Diver," this is the next one.

Benjamin Booker with Olivia Jean (Metro)   SOLD OUT!
Greg Kot of the Tribune, in particular, has said really good things about the young singer and guitarist's raw, bluesy songs.

Depravos De La Mour with Curio, Stickfight (Fizz)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
Guitarist Steve Gerlach, who you may recall from Tomorrow the Moon and Sons of the Silent Age, is apparently back in action after an injury.

Alejandro Escovedo & Susan Voelz with Nicholas Tremulis (The Promontory)
See Friday's listing, but with a slightly different cast of characters and a change of venue.

3.29   sunday
Los Lobos (FitzGerald's, Berwyn)   SOLD OUT!
See Friday's listing.

Storm Large (City Winery)
I feel like a large percentage of contestants from Rock Star: Supernova have gone on to have viable music careers, but given the nature of that show, I'm not surprised. It seemed to attract a different type of singer than the manufactured pop star shows.