Please see yesterday’s Weekend Reminders post for events taking place this weekend.
The Joey’s Song Freezing Man Festival will be held on the weekend of January 8 – 11 at the Majestic Theater in Madison, WI. The annual charity event raises funds to find treatments and cures for epilepsy. The lineup includes Jon Auer; Debbi and Vicki Peterson; The Breeders; Belly; The Know-It-All Boyfriends; Letters To Cleo; John Cowsill; Garbage; Screaming Females; Kenny Hoopla; Freedy Johnston; Portugal. The Man; Silversun Pickups; Heather Porcaro; Steve Porcaro; The Goo Goo Dolls; Sierra Swan; and The Nielsen Trust. Several of these acts will join together for the finale on January 11.
Martyrs’ on Lincoln Avenue in Chicago will host a Jeff Beck Celebration on January 25, with a portion of the proceeds benefitting the UK-based Folly Wildlife Rescue. Beck and his wife Sandra, along with other celebrities, were patrons of animal welfare organization. Several performers will be involved with the Martyrs’ tribute, including Curt Morrison; Chris Siebold; Grant Tye; Marco Villarreal; Dan Peters; Neal Alger; Scott Tipping; Rich Parenti; Jimmy O'Connell; Vijay Tellis-Nayak; Jon Paul; Dan Leali; and Greg Essig.
This Will Be Our Year to save money. The Zombies are having a New Year New Deals sale with up to 80% off for merchandise in their official online store through January 15. That includes posters and t-shirts for $10 each.
Michael Shannon and Jason Narducy will provide a preview of their upcoming R.E.M. Fables Of The Reconstruction tribute tour on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on January 8. That’s according to a recent Facebook post from Dag Juhlin, the guitarist-vocalist who’ll be touring with them again.
Shannon frequently shares a bill with the Sons Of The Silent Age, and he’ll be on hand when the Chicago-based David Bowie tribute band brings its Celebrating 50 Years Of David Bowie’s Young Americans And More show to Metro on January 11. Shannon will perform that night as John Lennon. Metro is located at 3730 N. Clark Street.
Hey Nonny in Arlington Heights will hold its annual Women’s Jazz Festival from January 7 through January 11. The scheduled performers for the first few days are Alyssa Allgood; Karli Bunn and Katie Ernst Quartet; Margaret Murphy Webb; Judy Roberts (and Greg Fishman); Bobbi Wilsyn; Jeannie Tanner Quartet; Jo Ann Daugherty with Sarah Marie Young and Anisha Rush; and The Encounter. See the official Hey Nonny website for the full festival lineup.
A Freddie Mercury Birthday Party 2025 bash will take place at the Casino Barriere Montreux in Paris on September 6th. Since the event will also celebrate 50 years of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” single, attendees are being asked to wear white to match the outfits worn by band members on the A Night At The Opera album cover. According to the official announcement, tickets, t-shirts, and posters will be available to purchase soon. The Freddie Mercury Birthday Party 2025 will benefit The Mercury Phoenix Trust.
Fat Ham will begin its run at the Goodman Theatre in downtown Chicago on January 11 and run through February 23. Playwright James Ijames won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for this modern day/darkly comedic take on William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Fat Ham is directed by Tyrone Phillips, and is a co-production with def-in-ition Theatre.
Aerosmith bassist/backup vocalist Tom Hamilton will perform with his new band Close Enemies, which includes other rock and roll veterans, at City Winery Chicago on January 28. Hamilton was a co-writer on “Sweet Emotion” and other Aerosmith hits.
Solo artist and New Pornographers band member Neko Case will kick off her 2025 book tour for her The Harder I Fight The More I Love You memoir with a January 18 appearance in London with fellow author/musician Kathy Valentine of The Go-Go’s. Case’s stops in North America through early February include February 4 in Chicago with South African journalist Lior Phillips.
Former Elk Grove, IL now Los Angeles based screenwriter/musician Bill Kelly has released a new album under the name Brighton Express. Stanley is a six-song collection of easy-going yet off-kilter pop tunes such as “Wild Dog” and “Sunset.” The more energetic “Into The Room Again” is a tale of unrequited love that includes the line, “You threw a look toward my way telling me I was strange.” Jeff Murphy from Shoes helps out on harmony vocals and synths throughout the album; along with Scotty Lund on drums and Ted Russell Kamp on bass.
With the film A Complete Unknown gathering positive reviews and landing on several film critics’ best of 2024 lists, the timing is right to check out the Ike Riley And The Zimmerman Do Dylan event at FitzGerald’s in Berwyn, IL on Jan 30.
The Alternative History: A Cracker Retrospective tour is now underway, and will wrap up on April 27 in San Francisco. The band, best known for its “Teen Angst (What The World Needs Now)” single, has two shows at the Old Town School Of Folk Music in Chicago on January 12. The 4:00 pm performance will feature Anne Harris as the opening act, but the 7:00 pm show will just be Cracker. The tour takes it name from the band’s recently released album, which is available in 2-CD or 3-LP sets (as well as digitally), and features re-recordings, demos, and live renditions.
Vocalist-musician Cathy Richardson, who’s found success with her own material as well as in tributes to other artists, has a show titled Goddesses Of Rock coming up on January 17 at City Winery Chicago.
Guster’s We Also Have Eras Tour 2025 will start on January 24 in Philadelphia, and will include a stop at Riviera Theatre in Chicago on January 31. Along with performing hits such as “Satellite” and “Amsterdam,” the alternative rock band will present “a deep chronological journey through our music with skits, costume changes, and plenty of piss-poor acting.”
Lee Ketch from the Chicago-based indie rock band Mooner has a solo gig coming up at Constellation on January 9, as the opening act for singer-songwriter Daniel Knox. Constellation is located at 3111 N. Western, the former home of the Viaduct Theater. Ketch recently released new material on his Bandcamp page. Proceeds from these songs will be donated to Nourishing Hope Food Pantry, Chicago, IL.
Elvis Costello and Steve Nieve have a 15-date In Concert Tour USA 2025 kicking off on February 19 in Easton, PA. The tour wraps up in Chicago on March 11, 12, and 14. Those three shows at the Park West will features Costello and Nieve joined by a full band.
Congratulations to veteran Chicago band Go Time! on its new partnership with the esteemed indie label Kool Kat Musik. Led by vocalist-guitarist Scott Niekelski, Go Time! has released a series of hard-edged, emotionally rich power pop albums on the (their own?) Sound Gypsy Recordings label.
Fans of the only band that matters will likely enjoy Manchester-based journalist Iain Key’s upcoming book All The Young Punks - A People’s History Of The Clash. Due out April 11, 2025 from Spenwood Books, it offers the point of view from numerous fans and photos of rare memorabilia. The UK publisher also has books on Thin Lizzy, Slade, Pink Floyd, The Who, and other bands.
Andrew Robert Palmer, who has released solo albums as ARP! and with his sister Becca Palmer as the Chicago alt rock duo Mother Z’s, has a new solo EP titled Letters to the Moon coming out on January 13. The four-track effort (two power pop/two acoustic) will be available on his Bandcamp page. In the meantime, you can check out the previous releases he’s posted there.
