Saturday Slumgullion

Photo from the Official George Harrison Facebook page.

I posted a Slumgullion yesterday. Here’s the Saturday version.

George Harrison’s birthday is next Tuesday, and Chicago area fans will be celebrating tonight at the My Sweet George event Martyrs’ on the city’s north side. See my February 18 post for details. WXRT air personality Terri Hemmert’s Breakfast With The Beatles broadcast tomorrow will be devoted to Harrison, and that can be accessed at 93.1 on the radio dial or via the Audacy app.

Indie rock acts Doug Gillard and Bunnygrunt have recorded a seven-inch split single titled “A Tribute To Game Theory.” Gillard picked “Dripping With Looks” and Bunnygrunt chose “Together Now, Very Minor,” and both tracks are available on vinyl or as downloads on the Bert Dax Bandcamp page. It’s nice to see the late Scott Miller and his underrated band Game Theory getting some recognition.

Local covers band The Sofa Kings will perform a 21-and-over charity show at the Durty Nellie’s venue in Palatine on Friday, February 28. The event will benefit Gerry's Cafe, the non-profit coffee shop in Arlington Heights staffed by adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. My wife Pam and I are frequent customers at Gerry’s Cafe because of the good food and beverages, and friendly service.

Martin Phillipps, the guiding force of New Zealand’s evocative indie rock band The Chills, passed away in July last year, but an album of previously unreleased material is coming out this Tuesday. The 20-song Spring Board: The Early Unrecorded Songs will be available as a download via The Chills Bandcamp page, but the gold vinyl double LP has sold out.

Eternal Flame - The Authorized Biography of the Bangles is now available, and judging from The Bangles Official Facebook page, the band is thrilled with Jennifer Otter Bickerdike’s book and how well it’s selling.

The Zombies’ official biographer Robin Platts has written a book titled Times and Seasons - The Rise and Fall and Rise of The Zombies that’s now available from HoZac Books. Bangles singer-guitarist and long-time fan Susanna Hoffs did a fine job of writing the Forward. I particularly liked this comment regarding the band’s original lineup: “Rod, a choir boy; Hugh, a drummer in the marching band; Chris, who played bass; and Paul, who played guitar — and Colin — played rugby which I can hardly imagine! He had to have been the kindest bloke you could ever knock heads with in a rugby scrum.” Quite a while ago, I did a telephone interview with Colin Blunstone regarding his solo concert at City Winery Chicago, and found him amazingly friendly.

The Michael Steven Cohen 100th Show Celebration will take place at Montrose Saloon on April 6 at 6:00 pm. Cohen will unveil a new group called The Everly Hillbillies, and Montrose Saloon honcho/musician Eric Chial will be his special guest. Note: Cohen means 100 shows at Montrose Saloon. Who knows how many thousands of shows he’s done if we count all the venues he’s performed at over the years in various bands?

Just Like Heaven: A Tribute To The Cure is now available from American Laundromat Records in vinyl format. Participating artists include Dean and Britta; Class Actress; Black Francis +Violet Clark; The Wedding Present; and Tanya Donelly.

The Webstirs have a show coming up on March 8 at Phyllis’ Musical Inn on Chicago’s north side. The band has been setting clever and humorous lyrics to catchy arrangements for several years now, and has released six albums. Phyllis’ Musical Inn is located at 1800 W. Division.

Inhaler has embarked on a world tour in support of its recently released third album Open Wide. The Irish band has sold out most of its February U.K. dates (some with singer-songwriter Heidi Curtis as the opening act). Inhaler has a dozen shows scheduled for the U.S., including St. Patrick’s Day at the Houston, TX House Of Blues. But nothing in Chicago so far.

Best wishes to the owners of Bookclub, a new Chicago venue that has opened at 2871 N Lincoln Avenue, the former home of the popular Elbo Room club. As noted in a recent article by writer Doug George in the Chicago Tribune, Bookclub will present eclectic and adventurous entertainment seven nights a week.

New Jersey-based indie rock act Slow Buildings (AKA Jason Legacy) has released a new album titled Crash Landings, Coincidences, Chaos. Considering that name and song titles such as “Every Day Is Just Like High School” and “Emotional Honesty Gets Me Nowhere,” the emotional lyrics are no surprise, but Legacy’s consistently catchy, inventive arrangements keep things entertaining.

Chicago vocalist Erica Loftus has performed with The Right Tidys, The Collection, and Red Wigglers, along with joining Van Go in the recording studio. She’ll be onstage with the punk rock cover band Horse And Sparrow at the Atlantic Bar and Grill on February 28. Jan King And Medicine Ball are also on the bill that night. Atlantic Bar and Grill is located at 5062 N. Lincoln Avenue.

Scottish indie rockers Franz Ferdinand recently released Human Fear, their first album in a while, and will soon kick off a world tour. The American leg of that tour includes an April 5 concert at The Vic in Chicago.

The Experience Hendrix 2025 Tour starts on March 11 in Cincinnati; and will also include Toronto; Milwaukee; Chicago (Chicago Theatre, March 21); Detroit; Atlantic City; and Washington, DC. Performers will include Kenny Wayne Shepherd; Marcus King; Christone Kingfish Ingram; Zakk Wylde; Eric Johnson; Devon Allman; Samantha Fish; David Hildago and Cesar Rosas from Los Lobos; Dweezil Zappa; Ally Venable; and Dylan Triplett.

Tickets are now on sale for the Stop Making Sense: A Film By Jonathan Demme And Talking Heads Live Event Hosted By Jerry Harrison event coming on May 1 to the North Shore Center For The Performing Arts in Skokie, IL. The re-release of Demme’s iconic 1984 concert flick has been restored in 4K, and Talking Heads guitarist Jerry Harrison will provide an introduction, as well comments and a Q&A session afterward. Limited meet and greet tickets are available.

Music industry people across the country have been helping victims of the California wildfires; whether it’s the Good Music To Lift Los Angeles download album; the FireAid Benefit concert in Los Angeles; or t-shirts available from the Consequence and Bandcamp websites. Now, comedians are literally getting in the act with Let’s Get L.Aid - A Night Of Music And Comedy For L.A. Wildfire Relief. The event will be held at The United Theater on Broadway in Los Angeles on March 16. So far, “Weird Al” Yankovic; Al Jardine; Eric Idle; Margaret Cho; Peter Asher; and Rufus Wainwright are among the performers, with more to be added. The Wild Honey Foundation is helping out, so it’s a safe bet some popular musicians will be signing on.

According to Jeff Lynne’s official Facebook site, Dhani Harrison will be a special guest at Jeff Lynne’s ELO - The Over And Out Tour on a few dates in the U.K. Those dates will be July 5 and 6 in Birmingham, and July 9 and 10 in Manchester.

Fans who miss the blend of atmosphere and melody so entertainingly crafted by the English band Lush should check out the upcoming album from founding member Miki Berenyi’s new band. Tripla by the Miki Berenyi Trio is due out April 4 and is available to pre-order in digital and vinyl formats. Lush aficionados will also find much to like on the two albums the band’s cofounder Emma Anderson released over the past two years.