Slumgullion

Happy Anniversary to EXPO ‘76. The eclectic covers band comprised of seasoned and humorous veterans of Chicago’s fertile rock scene will celebrate five years of playing any damn song they want with a show at 27Live in Evanston tonight. Robert Cornelius will be their special guest.

I’m certainly not alone in wishing David Bash a quick and full recovery. The International Pop Overthrow Founder/CEO recently had two procedures to fix a blockage in one of his arteries. His Facebook page is overflowing with Get Well messages from musicians and friends from around the globe.

If you were at Lollapalooza in 2013, and caught shows by Atlas Genius and/or Imagine Dragons, you might want to check out the flick Project Almanac, which opened in Chicago today. As revealed by Luis Gomez in a recent Chicago Tribune article, the sci fi tale of three young time travelers filmed a few scenes at those Lolla performances. Project Almanac didn’t fare too well with Chicago’s film critics though; drawing lukewarm reviews in the Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times.

Chicago’s garage rock pioneers The Shadows Of Knight will celebrate their legacy with a 50th Anniversary Show March 14th at The Blues Bar in Mount Prospect. According to a Facebook post, lead vocalist Jimy Sohns is trying to persuade some of the band’s original members to join him on stage for the event. Other special guests will be announced.

The critically acclaimed and sometimes confrontational singer-songwriter Steve Earle has a four-night Solo And Acoustic residency coming up at City Winery February 1 – 4. His special guest will be the off-kilter but always enchanting singer-songwriter Dawn Landes. 

Tickets for Death Cab For Cutie’s April 30th show at the Chicago Theatre went on sale today. Earlier this week, tickets went on sale for Guster’s April 10th gig at the Riviera Theatre.

In light of recent new stories about how the David Bowie Is exhibition was one of the few major successes in what was considered an off year for Chicago area museums in 2014, the obvious solution is to bring in more rock-related exhibitions. The Grammy Museum’s The British Invasion: How 1960s Beat Groups Conquered America comes to mind, but it’s booked at The Beatles Story museum in Liverpool through October 2016. Maybe Chicago could latch onto it after that, but in the meantime, there must be some other worth shows of that ilk available.

Somewhat along those lines, the British Invasion 2015 Tour, which features Peter Asher; Chad And Jeremy;  Billy J. Kramer; Mike Pender’s Searchers; Denny Laine of The Moody Blues and Wings; and Terry Sylvester of The Hollies, will be at City Winery on March 7th. Each of these acts has turned in impressive performances at Fest For Beatles Fans - Chicago in recent years, so it should be a treat to see them all together in one show.

Singer-guitarist Ian Frees will be among the musicians performing at the Acoustic Night at Coffee Planet in Rolling Meadow next Friday. 

Crosby, Stills and Nash have added a second show at The Chicago Theatre. They’ll now be there on May 5th and 6th.

He can still play the honky tonk like anything. Tickets for Mark Knopfler’s October 2nd show at the Chicago Theatre go on sale at 10:00 AM tomorrow. 

The very first Elgin Literary Festival takes place next weekend, February 6–8 at several venues in the downtown area. There will be free workshops, panel discussions, sales, book signings, and guest speakers.

Veteran Chicago musician Eric Howell recently released a single as a preview to his upcoming Music On The Bones album. Working under the moniker King Mixer, he’s offering the melodic fable “Zookeepers” and the more power pop-oriented “45.” The singles are available online and at Howell’s live gigs.

Singer-songwriter Dann Morr wrapped up his Tuesday nights in January residency at The Hideout with a guest appearance from singer-guitarist Kevin Lee.

The Arcada in St. Charles has borrowed Cupid’s bow and arrow and is aiming to entice 1980s rock fans with a Valentine’s Day double bill of Loverboy and The Romantics. And since Valentine’s Day falls on a Saturday this year, it’s a perfect date night.

Let It Be - A Celebration Of The Beatles, a London-bred musical featuring 40 of the band’s tunes, will be at the Rosemont Theatre for two shows on February 21st.

Honey And The 45s, a coed band that combines elements of blues and jazz into original rock songs, will be showcasing its new Mad CD at the Tonic Room next Saturday night, February 7th. They’ll also be at The Hideout on March 1st.

The official David Tennant blog is keeping fans informed on the progress of a Tenth Doctor Figure being created by Big Chief Studios. A closeup of the figure’s face is so lifelike it’s almost frightening. There’s no doubt the finished product, featuring The Doctor in his blue pinstriped suit and sneakers, will be extremely cool. But the blogsite notes it will cost “in the region of £159.99-£189.99.” Now if only someone could make action figures of The Doctor’s companions that looked remotely like the actresses that portrayed them.

Speaking of Doctor Who companions, I was wrong when I stated last week that the Karen Gillan BBC movie We’ll Take Manhattan would be on the ABC network this past Thursday. It’s currently being shown on the ABCiview website. I apologize for the error.