Incoming

They’re definitely not through being cool. Tickets are nearly sold out for the DEVO - 50 Years Of De-Evolution concert at the Riviera Theatre on Chicago’s north side this Saturday night. It would be fun to hear off-kilter hits such as “Beautiful World” and “Whip It” performed live, not to mention their groundbreaking take on The Rolling Stones’ “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.”

Chicago Chefs Cook, which describes itself as “A non-profit unifying Chicago’s Chefs Cooks community to provide humanitarian relief to those in need,” has put together a Chicago Chefs Cookbook that will benefit the local organization ChiCare. As noted by writer Lisa Shames on the Eater Chicago website, the Chicago Chefs Cookbook is divided into breakfast and lunch; snacks and sides; soups and salads; dinners; and desserts sections. 

Full disclosure: my nephew Joe Flamm, who runs the Rose Mary restaurant, is among the chefs participating. The book arrives in Mariano’s stores all around the city on Monday, May 13, and there’s a pre-launch event being held this Saturday from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm at the Mariano’s store at 3030 N. Broadway. Chefs will be on hand to sign copies, and there will be a representative from ChiCare.

Van Go, the indie rock band that’s given us hard-edged, melodic gems such as “Invisible Girls,” “Your Three Minutes Are Up,” “Grim Life,” and “Live Through This” across six albums, will perform at Montrose Saloon this Saturday night. Recent Facebook posts from the band indicate there could be some new songs during their show.

Long-time friends and Chicago area musicians Phil Angotti and Mario Zavala will perform together this Friday night at The Crow Bar, at 4001 E. 106th Street. These guys grew up on the city’s east side, sharing a mutual love of bringing British Invasion rock to local clubs via their Rickenbacker guitars. The music starts at 7:00 pm.

Local power pop band Triple promises to perform “All Killer No Filler” music during its gig at the Burlington venue at 3425 W. Fullerton this Saturday. The music starts at 10:00 pm.

I was sad to see the news from the Consequence website (and from various Facebook posts) that Chicago-based musician-producer Steve Albini has died at age 61 from a heart attack. Albini was equally known as a member of hard-edged bands such as Shellac and Big Black, and as a producer for Nirvana, The Pixies, and other counter-culture artists. He could be confrontational—I still have a copy of the Steve albini thinks we suck . . . it’s like a zine or something indie publication—but he was well respected in the music community. Rock In Paradise, Steve.