Slumgullion

Metric, led by the dynamic Emily Haines, has a gig tonight at The House Of Blues. The band is touring in support of its late 2015 release, Pagans In Vegas. I haven’t heard the new album yet, but if it carries on the catchy but abrasive synth rock tradition of Synthetica, Fantasies, and Live It Out, it should be interesting.

We gotta get into this place. Eric Burdon and The Animals have shows coming on this Monday and Tuesday, February 15 and 16 at City Winery - Chicago.

Completing the trilogy. My copy of Play On! - Power Pop Heroes Volume No. 3, with the colorful portrait of The Knack on the front cover, arrived in the mail the other day. Like its two predecessors, Volume No. 3 features author and successful critic Ken Sharp’s extensive and informative interviews with some of the best practitioners of power pop. Chicago is represented this time out by Off Broadway (Shoes, Cheap Trick, and Pezband were in Volume No. 2) with Sharp discussing the band’s history and records with with members Cliff Johnson, Ken Harck, Rob Harding, John Ivan, and John Pazdan. Other acts covered in this volume include The Romantics, Rockpile, Greg Kihn, 20/20, The Beat (Paul Collins version) The Knack, and The Plimsouls.

There’s an extensive interview in Volume No. 3 with Peter Case, who in addition to being a founding member of the The Plimsouls, also formed The Nerves with Paul Collins. Case will be performing tomorrow night, February 13 at the Old Town School of Folk Music.

The Wild Honey Foundation, a charitable organization that certainly knows its way around power pop, is offering the Beach Boys 67 — 77 Show Fundraiser at the Alex Theatre in Glendale, CA tomorrow night, February 13. It will benefit the Children’s Music Fund and the Autism Think Tank. Chris Carter, who does a Breakfast With The Beatles radio program, will serve as host, and he’ll be joined by The Wild Honey Orchestra. Recent addition Mike Mills will join a roster of musicians including Al Jardine, Matt Jardine, Micky Dolenz, Steve Wynn, Susan Cowsill, Carla Olson, Broken Sky (featuring John Wicks and Debbi Peterson), The Muffs, members of Brian Wilson’s Band, and Syd Straw. There will also be some Monkees items, autographed by Dolenz, available at the show.

Vinyl, the Martin Scorsese/Mick Jagger produced drama, kicks off this Sunday night at 9:00 PM, February 14 on HBO. The show is set in the 1970s, and concerns a down-on-his-luck record company executive trying to draw renewed energy by tapping into the new punk and disco genres. Meredith Blake’s interview with Jagger in last Sunday’s Chicago Tribune, along with the trailers on the official website, make this look like a promising new series.

The Sirens Of The ‘70s tribute act will present its Ladies Of The Canyon Salute next Thursday, February 18 at FitzGerald’s in Berwyn.

BeatleJuice, the nine-piece band that won the Battle Of The Beatles Bands competition at last year's Fest For Beatles Fans - Chicago, will be performing next Friday, February 20 at Peggy Kinnane’s in Arlington Heights.

Kevin Lee has worked with a number of talented musicians while recording and performing throughout his career, and he continues to make new connections. The Chicago singer-guitarist recently announced on Facebook that guitarist Michael J. Kurtz and bassist-vocalist Patti Prendergast have joined his band The Kings.

The Chicago Architecture Foundation is seeking local artists to help create a graphic novel interpretation of The Wacker Manual, a vintage textbook that first appeared in Chicago schools in 1911. The manual’s objective was to enlighten kids to the benefits of the 1909 Burnham/Bennett Plan for urban design. The chosen artist or artist team will work with the Chicago Architecture Foundation on creating a more hip-looking version that will be released this summer. The project is part of a 50th Anniversary celebration for The CAF.

Los Lobos will tap into their impressive repertoire of songs like “Will The Wolf Survive,” “Shakin’, Shakin’, Shakes,” and “Set Me Free (Rosa Lee)” when they perform on Sunday, February 21 at the McAnnich Arts Center at College of DuPage. They’re sharing the bill with special guests Ballet Folklorico Mexicano.

The Signal Ensemble Theatre’s critically acclaimed production of Heidi Schrek’s The Consultant runs through next Saturday, February 20.

As reported by theatre critic Chris Jones in this past Wednesday’s Chicago Tribune, The Second City comedy institution plans to add the Harold Ramis Film School as part of its training facilities starting in September. The school, named in honor of the late actor/director and Second City alumnus, will focus on creating screenplays, comedy pilots, and other types of scripts.

Dave Stewart, who gained fame as half of The Eurythmics with Annie Lennox before moving on to a career as a high-profile producer, has joined the ranks of Chrissie Hynde, Elvis Costello, and Tom Petty as rock stars writing memoirs of how they started out in the late 1970s. Stewart’s autobiography, Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This - A Life In Music is now available.