Slumgullion

Please see yesterday’s Weekend Reminders post for events taking place this weekend.

The Hoodoo Gurus have a live album titled Silk Purse coming out on December 4 that features the Aussie indie rock band performing with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. For those of us familiar with The Hoodoo Gurus’s raucous and frequently funny material, this combination is intriguing. “Hearing my songs performed this way was a truly transcendent experience,” band leader Dave Faulkner states on Facebook. “I had the strange feeling of rediscovering my own music in a fresh, new way.” Fans can get a preview by checking out the song “My Caravan” on YouTube.

The hard-hitting, feminist band L7 will bring its The Last Hurrah Tour 2026 to The Vic Theatre in Chicago on the first day of November. Tickets are now available online.

The annual Chris & Heather's Country Calendar Show will once again feature live performances by local musicians, and take place at the FitzGerald’s venue in Berwyn, IL. Chicago-based musician/artist Heather McAdams creates calendars brimming with cool illustrations of country and rock musicians. This year’s calendar show will take place on December 12.

Happy belated birthday to Grammy Award winning country and western/rock singer-songwriter Shelby Lynne. Her memoir Gunpowder, due out in December, will likely offer interesting reflections on her decades-long career.

The Split Squad, an all-star indie rock band whose members have found considerable success with other indie rock bands, has a new album coming out next year on Pravda Records. In the meantime, they’ve released the catchy single “Spanish Hospital Food” and a truly fun animation video to go with it. Chicago fans will get a kick out of seeing drummer Brad Elvis of The Handcuffs in cartoon mode.

As noted on the SPIN Magazine Facebook page, all four members of Talking Heads have collaborated on a book titled Talking Heads: New Feeling. It’s scheduled for May 2027, and is said to include all kinds of cool stuff that only the band members could have put together.

Long-time entertainment journalist Mark Caro has a knack for creating in-depth, fascinating interviews with rock musicians on his Caropop podcast. Two recent examples are Jim Babjak from The Smithereens, and Palmyra Delran, who recorded with The Friggs and is now a deejay on Little Steven’s Underground Garage Sirius XM channel. Caro’s current podcast features John Murphy, the third member of Shoes (after Jeff Murphy and Gary Klebe) Caro has interviewed. Caropop is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Caro’s YouTube channel.

Now don’t that make you feel a whole lot better? Congratulations to The B-52’s on earning a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame, in front of Amoeba Music store. The ceremony will be held on October 29 at 11:30 am.

Tommi Zender and Alton Smith, both well known musicians on the Chicago scene, promise they’ll “make pleasant sounds” when they perform at Madame Zuzu’s in Highland Park on November 2. That’s the combination teahouse and record store run by Billy (Smashing Pumpkins) and Chloe Corgan.

Chris Isaak’s 15-date On Tour For The Holidays will start in Atlantic City, NJ on November 27 and wrap up in Shipshewana, IN on December 19. The seasonal music tour includes a stop in Milwaukee, WI on December 16 and at the Hard Rock Live Rockford venue in Rockford, IL on December 18.

The Uncommon Ground venue on Chicago’s north side recently announced the second night of its November 16 and 17 Jeff Buckley Tributes is sold out and there are only a few tickets left for the first night.

Twelve days after releasing its Carnaval De Luz album, U2 will perform during halftime at the Green Bay Packers and Los Angeles Rams football game on November 25 at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. Fans not at the stadium will be able to watch U2 on Netflix. Their Greatest Show On Earth World Tour will kick off in Mexico City on February 23 and then move on to South American locations.

The Smithereens will perform at the Park West venue in Chicago on November 21. John Cowsill (The Cowsills, Beach Boys, John Cowsill and Vicki Peterson) will be their guest lead singer, and he’s been doing a terrific job in that role for a while now. (Cowsill, Marshall Crenshaw, and Wesley Stace are taking turns in that role on the current tour.)

Tickets are now on sale for the Richard Thompson And Band with Clayton Linthicum and Quinn Bachand concert at The Vic Theatre on Chicago’s north side on January 30.

Last Friday’s Slumgullion post offered an alphabetical A through M sample of the artists participating in the upcoming Black Friday Record Store Day. Here’s a sample of participating artists from N to Z: Stevie Nicks; NRBQ; Old 97’s; The Pandoras; Prince; Ramones; The Rolling Stones; The Runaways; Bob Seger And The Silver Bullet Band; Brian Setzer Orchestra; Bruce Springsteen And The E Street Band; Tangerine Dream; 10,000 Maniacs; 13th Floor Elevators; Richard And Linda Thompson; The Traveling Wilburys; Jeff Tweedy; Bunny Wailer; War; Bill Withers; Bobby Womack; and XTC. Per tradition, Black Friday Record Store Day follows directly after Thanksgiving.

The Third Eye, a book of personal photographs George Harrison took of his fellow Beatles in the years 1963 – 1969, is now on sale. It features over 200 photographs compiled and curated by Olivia Harrison, along with her essays, and comments from George.

The Soul Avengers, a Chicago-based quartet featuring Steve Dawson, Alton Smith, Bill Brickey, and Chris Greene will return to Evanston SPACE in Evanston, IL on Halloween night.

The Who have released a very fun Acoustic Stripped Mix of their 1975 hit single “Squeeze Box” as a preview of the 50th Anniversary edition of their The Who By Numbers album. Fans can check out the song via an animated video inspired by John Entwistle’s art for the original album cover. The 50th Anniversary Who By Numbers is due out October 30.

Join together, lend a hand. The Music Moves Mountains Foundation, a registered  501 (c)(3) non-profit charity organization that uses music to assist people experiencing medical issues, will present A Tribute To Keith Moon all ages event on November 1 at Central Machine Brewery Works in Austin, Texas. Special guests will include Gregg Bissonette; Stephen Perkins; Michael Jerome; and Keith’s daughter Mandy Moon. In addition to live performances, there will be a silent auction to benefit the Music Moves Mountains Foundation.

The Second Summer, a Chicago-based alt rock/power pop band, will likely showcase its new single “Underwater” when they perform as part of the local label Hardstop Records’ showcase taking place on November 1 at the Bookclub in Chicago. Label mates Hollow Bastion and The Transference will also be on the bill.

The Zombies’ third annual Begin Here Festival (following ones in 2023 and 2024) will take place from October 30 through November 1 in St. Albans in the UK. It’s described on the band’s Facebook page as “a unique fan experience,” and looking over the various activities, that sounds about right. Lead vocalist Colin Blunstone will be accompanied by composer/musician Dave Bainbridge and Q Strings, as well as special guests in a candlelight concert. There will also be a record signing with Blunstone, Rod Argent, and other band members; Q and A sessions with band members; and a ‘60s-themed dance party.

Temp Wishes, a new band led by the perpetually busy Josh Chicoine of The M’s, have a vinyl release show for their self-titled debut record coming up on November 6 at the Constellation venue on Chicago’s north side. They’ll share the bill with folk singer The Singleton Affair. 

The 49th Anniversary Edition of Elvis Costello’s My Aim Is True five-CD box set, with 104 tracks—half of them being previously unreleased—is now available. Costello’s groundbreaking debut featured songs such as “Watching The Detectives,” “Miracle Man,” “Alison,” “Less Than Zero,” and “(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes.”

Marshall Crenshaw’s Fall 2026 Tour, with special guests Sarah Borges and Eric Ambel, will start October 27 in Toronto, ON and continue through November 23 with a concert in New York, NY. Crenshaw will be backed once again by musicians Fernando Perdomo and Derrick Anderson on this tour, which will bring Crenshaw to The Old Town School Of Folk Music in Chicago on Halloween night.

Theater Of The Mind, the imaginative adventure crafted by David Byrne from Talking Heads and writer Mala Gaonkar, has been extended through December at the Reid Murdoch Building at 333 N. LaSalle Street in downtown Chicago. Theater Of The Mind is a Goodman Theatre production.