Incoming

The David Bowie tribute band Sons Of The Silent Age will once again have special guests at its annual Bowie Birthday Bash at Metro in Chicago’s Wrigleyville neighborhood. This time around, actor Michael Shannon—who’s worked with SOTSA in the past— and musician Jason Narducy have put together a band that will perform a set of T. Rex songs. Tickets for the event, which takes place on January 8, are $25 in advance and $30 on the day of the show. A portion of the proceeds will benefit cancer patients at the NorthShore University HealthSystem’s Integrative Medicine Program.

Just when it looked like this New Year’s Eve would be more open and festive than the 2020 version, venues around the Chicago area have started announcing cancellations due to the spread of the Omicron strain. Before heading out this Friday, make sure the venue of your choice isn’t in lockdown, and be sure to bring proof of being vaccinated.

Requesting proof of vaccination is nothing new for several venues in the Chicago area, as FitzGerald’s in Berwyn pointed out on its website and social media. Unfortunately, the long-running and critically acclaimed club just cancelled its Lydia Loveless and Andrew Sa show scheduled for this New Year’s Eve. An Instagram post stated, “Out of an abundance of caution, we have made the difficult decision to cancel our upcoming shows at FitzGerald’s on New Year’s Eve and January 1st, 2022.” 

Montrose Saloon on Chicago’s north side will ring in the new year with the David Bowie tribute band Super Creeps; rockabilly/garage rockers Amazing Heeby Jeebies; Smithereens tribute band Green Thoughts; and David Ashdown. The music starts at 8:00 pm.

The BoDeans will be performing at The Des Plaines Theatre in suburban Des Plaines on New Year’s Eve. Two weeks later, the venue will offer The Gilmour Project - Pink Floyd Tribute.

Los Lobos have a performance coming up this Thursday at City Winery Chicago, and will be back at that same venue on the next night to celebrate New Year’s Eve.

Unfortunately, this week's flight of Poi Dog Pondering shows at SPACE in Evanston have all been cancelled due to COVID-19 complications.

The Goodman Theatre in downtown Chicago has cancelled the remaining dates for its annual presentation of A Christmas Carol due to the recent COVID-19 surge. It’s undoubtedly a major disappointment for the cast and crew of this cherished show, as well as for the ticket holders who were looking forward to seeing it. Goodman will be streaming a production on its website. Tickets for the stream are $25.

Elvis Costello’s new album The Boy Named If is available as part of an 88-page hardcover storybook written by him. In a recent Instagram post, Costello explained, “Whatever you take out of these tales, I wrote them for you and to make the life of these songs a little less lonely, if you should care to dive in a little deeper.”

Author Brian J. Kramp has a book titled This Band Has No Past: How Cheap Trick Became Cheap Trick coming out in June 2022.

 

The Metropolis Performing Arts Centre in Arlington Heights will kick off  2022 with three tribute concerts in the first month. Tara Vaughan’s She Rocks show on January 7 honors a variety of well-known women performers. A week later, the Metropolis presents A Van Morrison Party with The Soul Commitments; and on January 15, the band Marrakesh Express will play the music of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. Lady Day At Emerson’s Bar And Grill, a tribute to Billie Holiday, opens on January 27 and will run through March 12 at The Metropolis.

The Auditorium Theatre in downtown Chicago will present Too Hot To Handel - The Jazz-Gospel Messiah on January 15 and 16. It’s an original concept by Marin Alsop, arranged by Bob Christianson and Gary Anderson.

The critically acclaimed alt rock/Americana band Over The Rhine recently announced on Facebook that its December 18 career-spanning concert at Memorial Hall in Cincinnati, Ohio was filmed and is now available for fans to view via a private link.

According to The Hollies Official Facebook page, the band played its first gig using that name right around this time in 1962. While it’s commonly believed the name was chosen to honor Buddy Holly, another credible explanation is that Graham Nash, Allan Clarke, etc. picked it because of the holly strung throughout the Oasis club that evening. There’s an extensive feature story about The Hollies on the Abbey Road website. Written by long-time Abbey Road employee Cameron Colbeck, it offers a detailed study of the band’s recording achievements.

I came across the Abbey Road Hollies profile after seeing a post on The Zombies Official Instagram page celebrating the fact that The Zombies had been chosen as one of Abbey Road’s A-Z of Artists who had recorded at the studio. Congratulations to Colin Blunstone, Rod Argent, and the other lads.

Congratulations to Patti Smith on being given the ceremonial Key To New York City on her birthday earlier this week.

Also, a shoutout to the Martyrs’ music venue on Lincoln Avenue for packing a semi-trailer with tons of food donations to be distributed to the victims of the recent tornadoes in Kentucky.