Saturday Slumgullion

The Wild Honey Foundation has put together a stellar lineup for tonight’s A 50th Anniversary All-Star Celebration Of Big Star’s #1 Record! taking place at the Alex Theatre in Glendale, CA. The house band includes Big Star musician Jody Stephens; Mike Mills from R.E.M.; Chris Stamey from The dB’s; and Pat Sansone from Wilco. The Lemon Twigs, Jon Auer from The Posies and Susanna Hoffs from The Bangles are listed as special guests. The event will benefit The Autism Healthcare Collaborative.

It’s Karma It’s Cool recently released the second installment in its quest to offer six digital singles in three months. The English band describes its catchy, original tunes as power pop with bite, so it’s no surprise “Old Bones” places intriguing lyrics to a catchy, guitar-driven arrangement. It follows the first installment “A Gentle Reminder,” which dropped in August. Both of these songs, as well as one yet to come, feature guest Peter Holsapple from The dB’s on keyboards. You won’t see Holsapple in these first two videos since he works with It’s Karma It’s Cool remotely.

Women’s Fest takes place today from 3:00 to 9:00 pm at the Blue Island Beer Company in Blue Island. The event will be hosted by The Edna White Community Garden, The Bloom Bar, and The B*U*B Cafe. Special guests will include WXRT early morning air personality Emma Mac, The Bourbon Belts,  Beverly Phono Mart, Sharon Baker, and Bridget Cavanaugh. Proceeds will benefit the “Crui de Sheela Scholarship for a Student Who Wants to Study the Arts and Sciences” and The Edna White Community Garden. Admission is $30 pre-sale and $35 at the door; Blue Island Beer Company is located at 13357 Olde Western Avenue.

A 55th anniversary 4CD/1 seven-inch single boxset edition of The Monkees album Headquarters will be available exclusively from The Monkees official website on November 18. It will feature outtakes, demos, and newly mixed songs from the original Headquarters.

Blue Heaven, a tribute to blues artists such as B.B. King, Howlin’ Wolf, Big Mama Thornton, and Muddy Waters, has opened at The Black Ensemble and will run through November 27. As noted by theater critic Catey Sullivan in The Chicago SunTimes, the revue is set “at Pearly’s, the otherworldly on-stage venue.” Tickets range from $50 to $55; Black Ensemble Theatre is located at 4450 N. Clark on Chicago’s north side.

Jim Babjak and Dennis Diken of The Smithereens will host an online event on TALKSHOP LIVE on November 8 at 7:00 pm EST. They’ll take questions from fans about how to purchase their recently released effort The Lost Album and a special color vinyl reissue of Christmas With The Smithereens, as well as an autographed poster.

The Chicago Reader will celebrate five decades of being the city’s best-known free paper with a  50ish UnGala at Museum Of Contemporary Art on November 30. The event will take place on three floors, with four stages with live entertainment, food and beverages from the museum’s own catering service, and raffles. Guests will have the opportunity to purchase exclusive “50ish” anniversary merchandise. Tickets start at $25.

Women Sing The Who, the Bandcamp page that features women artists covering songs originally done by the iconic English rockers, posted its latest entry yesterday. Actress/singer-songwriter Mare Winningham brings an easygoing, tuneful approach to “Let My Love Open The Door.” Technically, that’s not a Who song—it’s from lead guitarist Pete Townshend’s 1980 solo effort Empty Glass—but why complain when the result is so enjoyable. Winningham is joined by former Wings guitarist (and frequent Fest For Beatles Fans guest) Laurence Juber, bassist Paul Marshall, and drummer Benjamin Lecourt. Carla Oloson joins Marshall on backup vocals. Olson, first known for her work with The Textones, kicked off the Women Sing The Who series last May with her rousing take on “I Can See For Miles.” It only costs $1 to download “Let My Love Open The Door,” and all proceeds benefit The Who’s charitable organization Teen Cancer America.

The Who have concert posters from their current Hits Back Tour for sale on their official website, and there are a variety to choose from. The debate for fans is whether you buy the one for your city or the one that looks the coolest to you. Personally, I most drawn to the one for Hollywood Bowl.

The 28th Annual Black Harvest Film Festival began yesterday and will run through November 27 at The Gene Siskel Film Center. The festival will present 20 feature films and 25 short films, plus over 15 filmmakers will make personal appearances.

Director Em Cooper has created a terrific video for The Beatles song “I’m Only Sleeping” that’s like an colorful oil painting springing to life in adventurous ways. It can be viewed on YouTube and other sites. This particular version of “I’m Only Sleeping” is from a brand new version of The Beatles’ groundbreaking album Revolver that benefits from the technical wizardry Giles Martin, George Martin’s son.

The long-form improv production of Anarchy: The Improvised Rock Operathe is now running at the recently reopened iO Theater. The venue had been closed since the summer of 2020.

Heather J. Miller (then known as Heather J. Svoboda) performed at iO and all over the Chicago improv scene some years ago. She’s now marking her 11th year at the Cat Adoption Team cat shelter in Portland, OR. CAT is holding a Whisker Wonderland virtual benefit at 7:00 pm on November 11. Miller suggests making a donation of  “$11 or $111 or $1.1M” (that third figure might be her improvising) to help the shelter continue to save cats’ lives.

Battersea Power Station, known to Pink Floyd fans around the globe as the four smokestack building on the band’s Animals album, is now an apartments/shopping complex thanks to a billion dollar rehab. Like they say, money, it’s a hit. No word on whether any of the shops selling souvenir flying pigs.

The Dungeons And Dragons inspired play The Twenty-Sided Tavern is now running at the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place just north of downtown, and will be there through January15. https://www.thetwentysidedtavern.com/ The show has previously sold out previous engagements in Edinburgh, Pittsburg, and New York.

Steve Barton and Dave Scheff from Translator recently finished recording a two-sided holiday single with help from Peter Buck of R.E.M. and Scott McCaughey of Young Fresh Fellows. A Facebook post from Buck states the music will be available to stream soon, and will be hopefully be offered on colored vinyl in 2023.

Doom Flamingo, the Charleston, SC band that describes itself as “a six-headed synthwave beast with a Jekyll and Hyde element to the songwriting” will be haunting Metro with a midnight 18 and over performance on November 11.

The Pino Farina Band will return to Durty Nellie’s in Palatine on November 12. The group recently released the funky, guitar-driven single “Microsun.”

The English Beat’s Wine And Grind Tour 2022 will bring them to City Winery Chicago for shows on December 3 and 4.

 

There are Randolph Street Holiday Markets scheduled at Plumber’s Hall on the weekends of November 12 and 13 and December 17 and 18.

On November 18, The Spindles will be part of a four-band show at Ballydoyle Irish Pub in Downers Grove, with The Embryos, Thrift Store Halo, and Phil Yates and The Affiliates.

Dream Syndicate, one of the prime members of the 1980s Paisley Underground scene in Los Angeles, have a Chicago gig coming up at Lincoln Hall on November 11.

Peter Asher and Jeremy Clyde were each half of popular British Invasion duos (Peter and Gordon and Chad and Jeremy respectively), so it’s only natural they would be compatible as yet another duo. They done shows in the past and will be together again at the The Old Town School Of Folk Music on December 1.

Penn Gillette’s promotional tour for his new novel Random will bring him to the Harold Washington Chicago Public Library on November 10.

The 2022 Aidan Celebration Open House Party will take place on November 19 at the Shea home at 817 S. Fairfield in Elmhurst. The Aidan Shea Foundation supports the Lurie Children’s Hospital, Northwestern Medicine’s Lefkofsky Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, and the University Of Illinois Law School Aidan Shea Memorial Scholarship. Plus, two new programs will benefit from this year’s event—the Illinois-based nonprofit Foster Progress and the 2023 Celtic Irish American Academy in Galway, Ireland. The open house will feature live music by singer-guitarist Scottie Long.