list.in.to.chicago this week: 05.04.2015

I've never been tempted by the North Coast Festival, but that was before they announced both D'Angelo and The Roots on this year's bill. Tickets just went on sale for that.

Pick of the week
Well, you should have gotten Faith No More (Thursday at Concord Music Hall) tickets when you had the chance. I'm really excited about that. Other good options include Tributosaurus as Sting (Wednesday at Martyrs') and the Mike Stern Trio (Thursday through Sunday at the Jazz Showcase). Or one of several 80s-era options on Friday night, but read on to get the lowdown on that.

list.in.to.COZ
Tuesday night office hours, and then Saturday at Fado is the first acoustic duo Diver show since Tony figured out how to properly mic the cocktail kit.

Recap
Monday night was far and away the smallest crowd I've seen at Thalia Hall so far, but that allowed Your Favorite Enemies to venture out onto the main floor as a finale, going so far as to move the drum kit out into the audience while still playing their last song. It started off seeming a bit silly, but ended up being pretty fun. ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead seemed to draw from a hat to decide who was playing guitar, drums and singing on pretty much every song. Lots of switching between instruments. And off-key vocals.

5.05   tuesday
Open Jam (Vaughan's)   COZ SINGS!
It's Cinco de Blackhawks, so this may be a tequila- and hockey-soaked mess. And I mean that in a good way. I hope.

Crosby, Stills & Nash (Chicago Theatre)   SOLD OUT!
If anyone had the sunny harmonies to cut through this fog, the legendary folk-rock trio would be a strong candidate.

The Jesus and Mary Chain with The Black Ryder (Riviera Theatre)   SOLD OUT!
This is the 30th Anniversary tour of the classic shoegazer band's debut album. Somehow I managed to not see any of their show when we had them at the University of Chicago back when Psychocandy was only about five years old.

5.06   wednesday
Tributosaurus (Martyrs')   FRIENDS OF COZ!
They've been The Police before, but this time, they'll be focusing on Sting. Always curious to see what tunes make the cut, and how many jokes Matt Spiegel will make about that damn lute album.

Crosby, Stills & Nash (Chicago Theatre)
See Tuesday's listing. I think tickets are still available.

The Terence Blanchard E-Collective (SPACE, Evanston)
I had a hunch that the jazz trumpeter and composer was going "modern" based on the name of the ensemble, and Pete Margasak's lukewarm take in this week's Reader confirms it.

Waterboys with Bluebonnets (House of Blues)
One of those slightly more traditional Irish rock bands that Diver has been known to cover every once in a great while.

5.07   thursday
Faith No More with Le Butcherettes (Concord Music Hall)   SOLD OUT!
The underrated grunge-era band has been active for a few years now, but mostly at festivals in Europe and the West Coast. Now they're self-releasing a new record and doing a proper tour that will almost certainly include Riot Fest, assuming the current detente between festival organizers and the fest location's alderman is resolved.

Waxahatchee with Carbonleak, Bullnettle (Empty Bottle)   SOLD OUT!
I had a hunch these shows would sell out quick, as I've really liked both records from indie-folk singer/songwriter Katie Crutchfield. Good songs done well.

Mike Stern Trio (Jazz Showcase)
If you want some visibility into how my musical brain works, I found Mike Stern via drummer Dave Weckl, who played on his Upside Downside record back in the late 80s, which was actually one of my first introductions to the late bassist Jaco Pastorius, who plays on one track on that record. Which got me into earlier Weather Report after only knowing one of their post-Jaco albums. Which then got me to Wayne Shorter and back to Miles Davis. And Mike Stern on guitar. Circle of life.

Volbeat with Anthrax, Crobot (Aragaon Ballroom)
I didn't think there were many metal bands that could take top billing over Anthrax. Certainly not a Danish metal-slash-rockabilly band. This tour had to cancel its show in Calgary a few nights ago after they decided the building could not support this much rock.

Southern Culture On The Skids with The Revelettes (Schubas)
The long-running rockabilly band is also at FitzGerald's on Wednesday.

5.08   friday
Daniel Lanois with Rocco Deluca (Empty Bottle)
Ministry (House of Blues)
Grant Hart with Bear With Hawkfist, Brandon Harrod, Adam Rebellius, Exploding Head Syndrome (Red Line Tap)
You've got your choice between an iconic record producer who made a name for himself in the 80s with albums that included Peter Gabriel's So and U2's The Unforgettable Fire and The Joshua Tree, a band that helped put industrial music on the map in the 80s, and then a guy from a band that was a seminal part of the mid-80s indie rock surge in the Midwest. So lots of 80s, but across a much larger musical palette than that usually entails.

Waxahatchee with Carbonleak, Bullnettle (Beat Kitchen)   SOLD OUT!
See Thursday's listing, although at a different venue.

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

5.09   saturday
DIVER (Fado Irish Pub)   SEE COZ LIVE!
This week is the acoustic duo version with me and Andrew, which means the chances of another air guitar contest are probably slim.

Matt Pond PA with Young Buffalo, Wayne Szalinski (Lincoln Hall)
Either Wikipedia considers anyone who has been hired just to play on one of Matt Pond's records to be a "former member" of the band, or Pond and his one consistent musical partner Chris Hansen might need to work on their people skills.

Central Standard with Bumpus, Mer, Ayoh, Jordan Engelhardt (Double Door)
We would be offended at having not been invited to play the Shoeshine Boy Productions if we hadn't, you know, retired from live performance last month. Plus, we can't do Saturdays anyway.

ILoveMakkonen with Key!, Sonny Digital (Metro)
Do we think the Atlanta lo-fi rapper officially changed his stage name when he couldn't just get @makkonen on Twitter?

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

5.10   sunday
Young Fathers with Mas Ysa (Lincoln Hall)
I was going to skip this one until I saw three words in combination (four if you include the hyphen) that I had never seen in such close proximity. Scottish hip-hop trio. As someone who has to use closed captioning for some of the stronger Scottish accents on BBC America, I'm not entirely sure how that will work.

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