Slumgullion

Photo from the Sons of the Silent Age Facebook page.

Depending on what time you read this, you might still be able to catch some impressive covers of David Bowie tunes by the Sons Of The Silent Age tribute act at Wire in Berwyn tonight. This time out, they’ll be concentrating on the years 1969-1974. New, a tribute a tribute act honoring the 1970s German electronic rock outfit Neu!, will also be on the bill; music starts at 9:00 p.m. Sons of the Silent Age guitarist Steve Gerlach (he’s also in sci-fi rockers Tomorrow The Moon) will be a guest on WNUR-FM 89.3 in Evanston on October 12, at 11:00 a.m. 

The Brooklyn Brewery MASH is promising “a wind-in-your-hair, seat-of-your-pants, highwire-act of a beer bash” called Beer Mansion tonight and tomorrow night at Morgan’s on Fulton. In addition to lots of craft beer, food vendors, games, art, tech, and mysteries, Beer Mansion will have live music by Deeper Connections, Negative Scanner, and Peter Stringer-Hye.

Durty Nellie’s in Palatine will rocking in the daytime tomorrow with a seven-hour event titled Minstrelpalooza. Subtitled The Very Best of ’81, this celebration of the Minstrels music store in Niles will feature the bands Cracked Actor; Cliff Johnson And The Raine; Van Go; The Adonis Experience; and probably a few other bands. Admission is free.

I should have posted the three bits above earlier in the week, but I had to finish a new chapter of my YA/paranormal/romance/rock and roll novel for a monthly meeting of the writers group I belong to last night. You read it here first: If I ever do get this book published, I’ll be the most famous rock and roll novelist in a retirement home.

Durty Nellie’s has booked the critically acclaimed alt rock/Americana band Old 97s for an 8:00 p.m. show on October 21. Admission is $25. This is a particularly ambitious move for the club, so I hope it draws a big crowd.

Classic Album Sundays Chicago presents Bjork’s Homogenic this Sunday at the Saturday Audio Exchange on Belmont. A pre-album playlist kicks things off at 5:30 p.m. and then the Bjork business starts at 6:45. It’s a BYOB event.

Some rock critics actually do get books published. Long-time journalist Bill Paige has published a book titled Everything I Know I Learned From Rock Stars - Conversations 1975 – 1995. It’s a compilation of interviews and articles that includes coverage of Queen, Cheap Trick, ELO, and other acts. Paige was the editor when I had some reviews and articles published in the midwest publication The Prairie Sun back in the early 1980s.

Congratulations to long-time Chicago Tribune rock critic Greg Kot on his biography of Mavis Staples being chosen by the city of Chicago for its One Book, One Chicago reading series. Kot’s 2014 work I’ll Take You There: Mavis Staples, the Staple Singers and the March Up Freedom’s Highway celebrates the life of the iconic soul singer and her family. 

Local alt rock band whitewolfsonicprincess will host a night of rock and roll at The Store venue at 2002 N. Halsted in Chicago on September 30. Parallelicopter and The Remember Knots will also be performing that night.

The Laureates, a local band that has released a pair of full-length albums and recorded a number of interesting cover versions for a series of downloads on their website, will be at The Empty Bottle on October 12.

Cross Country and Innkeepers will share a double bill with Sunshine Boys, the recently formed and volatile trio of rock veterans Freda Love Smith, Jacqueline Schimmel, and Dag Juhlin at Daly Barn next  Saturday, September 30 in the Lincoln Square neighborhood. Utah Carol will also be on the bill; music starts at 7:30.

Martyrs’ on Lincoln Avenue has an eclectic four-act event coming up on October 7 with the sci-fi, high energy music of Tomorrow The Moon, the catchy, coed indie rock of The Handcuffs, the rockabilly sound of The Amazing Heeby Jeebies, and the hard rock/punk of Samson The Aviator.

The Collectors have a show coming up at the Cubby Bear in Wrigleyville on October 20. Erica Loftus of the band The Right Tidys, will be helping out on backup vocals. The Ars Nova and Superbig will also be on the bill that night.

Just a reminder that the Bill Graham Rock And Roll Revolution continues its run at the Illinois Holocaust Museum And Education Center at 9603 Woods Drive. Graham was an iconic music promoter who brought big names bands to the Fillmore concert venue in San Francisco, and later to the Fillmore East in New York. He is credited with helping the careers of Janis Joplin, The Grateful Dead, The Who, and Jimi Hendrix. The exhibition runs through Nov. 12.