Slumgullion

The Ron Wood documentary Somebody Up There Likes Me will have its U.S. premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in Manhattan. Directed by Mike Figgis, the film honors the musician/artist’s storied career with The Rolling Stones, Rod Stewart, Jeff Beck, and The Faces, as well as his critically acclaimed artwork. Tribeca runs April 15 — 26. Other music-related films at the festival this year include Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road; Jimmy Carter - Rock And Roll President; The Nowhere Inn featuring St. Vincent; and The Go-Go’s featuring The Go-Go’s.

Singer-guitarist Ralph Covert returns to the Hey Nonny venue in Arlington Heights tomorrow night for a special and emotionally resonant project titled Welcome To Deadsville that also features his long-time Bad Examples mate Steve Gerlach; Mike Hartigan; and a string quartet. Covert performed an extensive and thoroughly enjoyable retrospective with The Bad Examples at Hey Nonny a while back.

Reason Number 5,678 why I want to visit England every year: Construction has begun on the 12-acre George Harrison Woodland Walk Memorial in Liverpool and is expected to be completed at some point in 2021. The Liverpool City Council is seeking artists to contribute sculptures honoring Harrison’s music.

Tickets are now on sale for The Hollies’ concert at the Chicago Theatre on July 18. It’s the band’s first visit here since they played ChicagoFest at Soldier Field in 1983. The 2020 The Road Is Long U.S. Tour brings them to America for the first time since a brief series of small-town dates in 2002. On a related note, drummer Bobby Elliott’s autobiography It Aint Heavy, It’s My Story - My Life In Hollies, is coming out in April. It’s available on the band’s official website.

Other concerts that went on sale today include Marshall Crenshaw and The Bottle Rockets at SPACE on May 29; Santana and Earth, Wind and Fire at the Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre on July 11; Clannad at the Irish American Heritage Center on September 15; Phil Angotti and the Mark Watson Band at FitzGerald’s on April 24; Black Keys; Gary Clark Jr., and Marcus King Band at Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre on July 25; Coathangers at Empty Bottle on June 13; Robbie Fulks at SPACE on April 18; New Order and Pet Shop Boys at Huntington Pavilion on September 18; Ty Segall and Freedom Board at Thalia Hall on May 7; and the multi-act South By Southwest Send-Off at The Hideout on March 14.

Moby has a new album titled All Visible Objects coming out today. Next Friday will bring Citizens Of Boomtown by The Boomtown Rats; March 20 brings Mixing Colours by Brian and Roger Eno; and on March 27, we’ll see Gigaton from Pearl Jam and Aporia from Sufjan Stevens.

The Dirty Knobs, featuring long-time Tom Petty and Heartbreakers member Mike Campbell, have a show next Wednesday, March 11 at Park West. Special guest Jeremy Ivey will also be on hand. The Dirty Knobs have actually been together off and on for years, but are releasing their debut album Reckless Abandon on March 29. WXRT DJ Johnny Mars recently played the guitar-driven title track, and it immediately stood out as one of the best songs I’ve heard on the radio in quite a while.

Comedian Steven Wright will be bringing his life-size map of the world to the North Shore Center in Skokie for an evening of stand-up comedy on March 26. Wright’s head-spinning one-liners and offbeat stories are consistently hilarious, although you’ll rarely see him laugh or even crack a smile.

The 37th Annual Chicago Blues Festival will be held on the weekend of June 5 – 7 in Millennium Park. Acts scheduled to perform include Shemekia Copeland; Lil’ Ed and The Blues Imperials; John Primer and Steve Bell; Jimmy Johnson and Billy Branch; Eric Gales; and Catherine Russell.

Foo Fighters will be the headline act for the D.C. Jam Festival in Washington, D.C. on July 4. Other acts scheduled include Chis Stapleton; Pharrell; The Go-Go’s; Band Of Horses; Durand Jones and The Indications; The Regrettes; Beach Bunny; and Radkey. It would be interesting to watch The Go-Go’s and The Regrettes comparing notes backstage since both bands mix punk with the 1960s girl group sound, despite having formed decades apart.

Metric will the headline act for the CBC Festival taking place in Toronto on May 30. CBC is an annual event spotlighting Canadian musicians.

Lin Shook and Perpetual Motion Inc. have a dance performance coming up on April 17 and 18 that should fits right in with the spirit of this year’s Earth Day on April 22. We Touch The Earth, The Earth Touches Us features dancers Natalja Aicardi, Iris Loconto, Lin Shook, and guest dancers. Perpetual Motion brings together dancers of various ages to “open awareness, challenge perceptions, and create community.”

The 48 Annual Dance For Mother Earth Powwow will take place on March 28 and 29 at the Skyline High School in Ann Arbor, MI. The event features Native American singers, dancers, and artists.

Martyrs’ on Lincoln Avenue with be celebrating St. Patrick’s Day early on Saturday, March 14 with the U2 tribute band Without U2 and the Thin Lizzy tribute band Tin Lynott. A week later at that same venue, another double bill of tribute bands will lean more toward angst-ridden British alt rock. Primary will be playing songs by The Cure, and Stil IL, will be covering The Smiths.