Keepers Of The Multicolored Flame

Photo of The Red Plastic Buddha by Lee Klawans.

After the first two bands performed at the Kaleidoscope Eye Festival Of Modern Psychedelia this past Saturday night, it was apparent that psychedelic rock is not strictly a baby boomers’ fascination. Diagonal and White Shape both comprise young musicians fully immersed in the genre. White Shape even organizes a psych rock festival in its hometown of Rockford, IL.

Created by Tim Ferguson from The Red Plastic Buddha; Gregory Curvey from The Luck Of Eden Hall, and journalist/photographer Lee Klawans, Kaleidoscope Eye brought 15 bands from around the country to the LiveWire Lounge on Chicago’s north side. Seven bands, including The Luck Of Eden Hall, played on Friday night, and eight performed on Saturday. I’m not sure if Ferguson has run an event like this before, but during the three-plus hours I was at LiveWire Saturday, he took to the role quite naturally. In addition to introducing each act, he helped move gear off and on the stage after each set ended.

A playlist of psychedelic music ranging from 1960s acts like Count Five to current practitioners kept the vibe going between live performances. Each band benefited from imaginative lighting and swirling visuals crafted by the same tech duo that provided first-rate sound quality throughout the evening. A merchandise table sold CDs, posters, and t-shirts of the various groups involved, and there was a sense of community in seeing so many of the musicians hanging out before and after their shows.

Diagonal, led by charismatic lead vocalist Andy Ryan, was equally proficient at crafting atmospheric dreamscapes and high energy numbers. White Shape singer-keyboards player Kayla Hall’s haunting vocals were woven into hypnotic arrangements and the band would also break loose with some hard-hitting instrumentation. Constantine, which has a longtime loyal following on the midwest club scene, dressed in flower power inspired outfits, and their well-crafted arrangements evoked Traffic by tapping into elements of jazz.

The Red Plastic Buddha once again proved it’s capable of recreating the adventurous songs vocalist-bassist Tim Ferguson composed for their albums. Guitarist Derik Kendall fueled each number but all the band members played with precision and power. They opened with “She’s An Alien” from the Songs For Mara album and followed with a number of freewheeling, psychedelic songs. I couldn’t stay for the the sets by The Orange Pop, Magic Castles, Warhorses, and Sisters Of Your Sunshine Vapor, but it’s a safe bet they carried on in mind-bending fashion.

Slumgullion

It was a pleasant surprise when WXRT air personality Johnny Mars introduced a new song by U2 the other day. The melodic “You’re The Best Thing About Me” will be on a new album titled Songs Of Experience due out in December. WXRT’s morning DJ Lin Brehmer did a short telephone interview with U2 frontman Bono that can be heard on the station’s website. Brehmer was decidedly NOT among those whining about how evil U2 was to deliver a free album a few years back.

Best wishes to Bruce Brodeen as he retires from his online music store Pop Geek Heaven. Brodeen previously ran the the critically acclaimed and influential Not Lame record label. International Pop Overthrow founder David Bash recently posted a tribute to Brodeen on Facebook, noting, “I hope nobody ever forgets his contributions to the pop scene, which were beyond invaluable.”

By the way, congratulations and best wishes to David Bash and Rina Bardfield on their upcoming marriage. I wonder if they’ll have six bands at their reception, each playing a half hour set.

Kaleidoscope Eye Festival Of Modern Psychedelia continues tomorrow night with eight bands at the Live Wire club. Diagonal kicks things off at 7:00 p.m., and will be followed by White Shape; Constantine; The Red Plastic Buddha; The Orange Drop; Magic Castles; Warhorses; and Sisters of Your Sunshine Vapor. Live Wire is located at 3394 N. Milwaukee.

Chicago Fringe Fest finishes up its 2017 run this weekend in Jefferson Park. Those interested in attending will need to buy an admission button for $5.00 (only one is needed for the entire festival), as well as a $10.00 ticket for each show.

UK band The Chemistry Set has created an eye-popping, politically charged video  for “Rubicon,” one of the three impressive songs on its new single on the Fruits de Mer vinyl-only label. The other two tracks are the eccentric and funny “Lovely Cuppa Tea” and a rousing cover of The Moody Blues’ “Legend Of A Mind.”

Riot Fest returns to Chicago for three days at Douglas Park next weekend. Participating acts include New Order; X; The Cribs; Buzzcocks; The Regrettes; Paramore, and The Orwells. The Buzzcocks will also be at Cobra Lounge on September 16, and The Orwells have a gig at House Of Blues on September 14.

Martyrs’ on Lincoln Avenue has an eclectic four-act event coming up on October 7 with the sci-fi, high energy music of Tomorrow The Moon, the catchy, coed indie rock of The Handcuffs, the rockabilly sound of The Amazing Heeby Jeebies, and the hard rock/punk of Samson The Aviator. The show starts at 8:30 p.m.

Cliff Johnson and The Raine will be the opening act when power pop masters The Smithereens return to The Arcada in St. Charles next Saturday, September 16.

My wife Pam and I met several fun and interesting people at The Windy Kitty Cat Cafe And Lounge’s fundraising event last Saturday night. Chris Poole, whose Facebook page featuring his cats Cole and Marmalade is gaining popularity, was there for the entire event, chatting with just about all of the guests. He reminds me of Arthur Darvill of Doctor Who and Legends of Tomorrow, but maybe it’s just the English accent. Once it officially opens, The Windy Kitty Cafe and Lounge will give people an opportunity to enjoy beverages while visiting with up to 10 cats available for adoption.

Eye Opening

The Luck Of Eden Hall in a particularly mind-bending moment on stage.

The very first Kaleidoscope Eye Festival Of Modern Psychedelia kicks off at 5:00 p.m. tomorrow at Live Wire in Chicago. Tim Ferguson from local band The Red Plastic Buddha, Gregory Curvey from the Detroit-based psychedelic rock band The Luck Of Eden Hall, and writer/photographer Lee Klawans have enlisted 15 bands from around the country to perform tomorrow and Saturday. In addition to The Red Plastic Buddha and The Luck Of Eden Hall, the schedule includes Soft Candy; Magic Castles; The Orange Drop; Brujas del Sol; Constantine; White Shape; Friends Of Dennis Wilson; Junkee Girl; Warhorses; Sisters of Your Sunshine Vapor; Heaven’s Gateway Drugs; Diagonal; and Aethereal.

The Kaleidoscope Eye Festival website  has profiles of most of the acts, along with ticket info and merchandise. Live Wire is located at 3394 N. Milwaukee. WXRT air personality Richard Milne mentioned Kaleidoscope Eye on his Local Anesthetic program last Sunday night, and played the tripped-out and fun “She’s An Alien” from The Red Plastic Buddha’s Songs For Mara album.

Also, Chicago Fringe Fest picks up where it left off last weekend, filling the Jefferson Park neighborhood with avant grade performances at venues like The Gift Theatre; Windy City Music Blackbox Studio; Jefferson Playhouse; and The Congregational Church. A $5.00 admission button is needed to navigate the festival, and there’s a $10.00 ticket for each show.

Colman Gota - Fear The Summer

Fear The Summer, Colman Gota’s followup to last year’s impressive Tape album, once again finds the Madrid-based multi-instrumentalist delivering catchy, guitar-driven songs about navigating life and relationships. In my July 5, 2016 review of Tape, I noted Gota’s acerbic observations are reminiscent of Elvis Costello and Graham Parker, and that holds true for this new collection. The consistently fun arrangements, which also feature a variety of keyboards, fall somewhere between pub rock and power pop.

Gota’s conversational vocal style is well suited to the material, particularly when he addresses an ex-lover on the rollicking “Can I Get It Back” by singing, “I want my life back, if you happen to have it.” The energetic “Never Lie” has Gota contemplating, “Sometimes you wonder what’s on people’s minds, but if I think about it, I’d rather not know.” The title track flips the usual equation of summer with romance by giving us a guy who dreads the season because it brings back memories of a busted relationship.

Gota exudes a restless spirit throughout Fear The Summer; whether he’s rallying against robotic complacency on “Someday, I’ll Get It Right” or just being himself on “What You Want Me To Be.” There’s a satiric edge to “Make A Stand” and “One Mistake,” and Gota even throws in a torch song with “For A Reason.”

Slumgullilon

Kaleidoscope Eye Festival Of Modern Psychedelia logo by Gregory Curvey

Singer-guitarist Jimmy Rane brings his hard-edge power pop band The Viaducts to FitzGerald’s in Berwyn tonight, where they’ll be joined by the Wooly Rhinos and Allegra Malone. The music starts at 8:00 p.m.

It seems like only yesterday the Kaleidoscope Eye Festival Of Modern Psychedelia was a gleam in vocalist-bass player Tim Ferguson’s eye as we talked before his band The Red Plastic Buddha blew away the crowd at International Pop Overthrow - Chicago last April. Ferguson, Gregory Curvey from the critically acclaimed Detroit-based psychedelic rock band The Luck Of Eden Hall, and writer/photographer Lee Klawan now have all the pieces in place for the festival’s debut next weekend at Live Wire on Milwaukee Avenue. Fifteen bands from around the country and representing various facets of psychedelia—“nearly every combination you could imagine,” according to the Facebook page—are scheduled to perform Friday and Saturday. Single day and weekend tickets, as well as deluxe packages and merchandise, are available at the Kaleidoscope Eye Festival website.

The Polonia Festival takes place in Jefferson Park over this Labor Day weekend, and one of the highlights is sure be the Tributosaurus becomes Tom Petty show tonight. Other bands will be going the tribute route at the Polonia Festival, including Heartless as Heart; Reely Dan as Steely Dan; American English as The Beatles; Beggars Banquest as The Rolling Stones; and CTA as Chicago.

Jefferson Park is once again also hosting the annual Chicago Fringe Fest, which opened last night and will offer 47 shows over the next two weekends at The Gift Theatre; Windy City Music Blackbox Studio; Jefferson Playhouse; and The Congregational Church of Jefferson Park. Those interested in attending will need to buy an admission button for $5.00 (only one is needed for the entire festival), as well as a $10.00 ticket for each show. There are also 4-pack, 10-pack, and unlimited package deals.

The Windy Kitty Cat Cafe And Lounge at 1746 W. North Avenue in Chicago is hosting a fundraising event from 6:30 to 9:30 tonight and tomorrow night that will also offer a preview of the soon-to-open venue. WGN radio personality Steve Dale is on hand tonight, and Chris Poole, whose Facebook page featuring his cats Cole and Marmalade is gaining popularity, will be there tomorrow night. The $30 admission price for each night also includes hors ‘doeuvres, refreshments, a silent auction and raffles. Once it officially opens, The Windy Kitty Cat Cafe and Lounge will give people an opportunity to enjoy beverages while visiting with up to 10 cats available for adoption.

New albums coming out next Friday, September 8 include Antisocialites by Alvvays; Shades by Living Colour; Hitchhiker by Neil Young; and Native Invader by Tori Amos. Later this month, we’ll see releases from Ringo Starr; Chris Hillman; Stephen Stills and Judy Collins; David Crosby; and Wolf Alice.

Riot Fest returns to Chicago for three days at Douglas Park starting on Friday, September 15.  Participating acts include New Order; X; The Cribs; Buzzcocks; The Regrettes; Paramore, and The Orwells. The Buzzcocks will also be at Cobra Lounge on September 16, and The Orwells have a gig at House Of Blues on September 14.

Power pop masters The Smithereens will return to The Arcada Theatre in Charles on Saturday, September 16.

The recently announced 2017 – 18 season at the Prairie Center for the Arts in Schaumburg includes a double bill of The Love Generation 1967 – 1970 and the Joe Cocker Tribute Band on Friday, September 29. According to a promotional email from Prairie Center for the Arts, the former features local musicians covering The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Aretha Franklin; The Doors, Jefferson Airplane, and other late 1960s acts. Derrick Procell leads the Cocker tribute.

Sons Of The Silent Age, a highly polished David Bowie tribute band that comprises veterans of the Chicago rock scene, has a gig coming up on September 22 at Wire in Berwyn. New, a tribute a tribute act honoring the 1970s German electronic rock outfit Neu!, will also be on the bill.

Music News

Depending on when you read this, you might still be able to catch Phil Angotti and Friends playing John Lennon’s entire Rock And Roll LP at Reggie’s tonight on State Street. Angotti recently did a terrific job performing Paul McCartney songs at the Apple Jam Stage at Fest For Beatles Fans - Chicago. He’ll be backed by a horn section at Reggie’s with other special guests joining in on stage.

Minstrelpalooza returns to Durty Nellie’s in Palatine for its third installment on Saturday, September 23. Subtitled The Very Best of ’81, this celebration of the Minstrels music store in Niles will once again feature the hard-edged and satirical power pop group Van Go. Other acts will certainly be involved, although I don’t see any listed on the Facebook  page yet. The event is free and will run from 1:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Congratulations to Laurie’s Planet Of Sound on its 20th Anniversary. To mark the occasion, the record store is showing The Monkees’experimental film Head and the lesser-known comedy Record City this Sunday at the Davis Theater. Tickets are free and available at store, which is located at 4639 N. Lincoln Avenue in Chicago. Laurie’s Planet Of Sound has become an essential part of Record Store Day festivities each April, with in-store performances by local acts like Dolly Varden, The Romeros, The Handcuffs, John San Juan, and Phil Angotti.

Slumgullion

Photo from the Tributosaurus Facebook page.

Wizard World Chicago Comic Con announced today via a sensitively worded e-mail that David Tennant from the Doctor Who and Jessica Jones TV shows has cancelled his appearances at this year’s event due to an illness in his immediate family. While it’s a major disappointment, the important thing is to wish for a full recovery of the person who is ill. “We trust all will be well in London,” the Wizard World message states, “and will be sending our thoughts and prayers to David and his family.” All customers who paid to have an autograph and/or photo session with Tennant will be issued refunds.

The Backlot Bash kicked off in Skokie tonight with A Flock Of Seagulls, The Alarm, and Devil In A Woodpile. Soul Asylum and Frisbie are among the acts performing tomorrow, and on Sunday at 6:30 p.m., Tributosaurus becomes R.E.M. Admission is free.

Also in Skokie, the Bill Graham Rock And Roll Revolution continues its run at the Illinois Holocaust Museum And Education Center at 9603 Woods Drive. Graham was an iconic music promoter who brought big names bands to the Fillmore concert venue in San Francisco, and later to the Fillmore East in New York. He is credited with helping the careers of Janis Joplin, The Grateful Dead, The Who, and Jimi Hendrix. The exhibition runs through Nov. 12.

Acclaimed alt rock/Americana band Over The Rhine performs at SPACE in Evanston tomorrow and Sunday.

I always feel a rush of anticipation whenever I find a package from Fruits de Mer in my mailbox. The British indie label offers vinyl-only releases of current purveyors of prog, garage, and Euro rock and sends out promo CDs of its latest releases. The ones I just received—a five-song EP from the Spanish band Stay and a three-song single from UK veterans The Chemistry Set— are particularly good and I’m hoping to review them in the future.

Tickets are now on sale today for The Buzzcocks gig at Cobra Lounge in Chicago on September 16. Other new shows on sale include Peter Case at FitzGerald’s on October 21; Lemon Twigs at Thalia Hall on October 26; Los Lobos at City Winery on December 10–13; and Orwells at House Of Blues on September 14.

According to Tracy Swartz in a recent CHICAGO INC. column in the Chicago Tribune, the popular Fox series Empire plans to shoot a Prince-themed episode in Chicago for its fourth season.

An article by Robert Holly in this past Wednesday’s Blue Sky page in the Chicago Tribune’s Business section noted that the Reverb online marketplace for musicians is considering selling records and other music formats.

When the Polonia Festival in Jefferson Park takes place over the Labor Day weekend, one of the highlights will surely be the Tributosaurus becomes Tom Petty show on September 1. Other bands will be going the tribute route at the Polonia Festival, including Heartless as Heart; Reely Dan as Steely Dan; American English as The Beatles; Beggars Banquest as The Rolling Stones; and CTA as Chicago.

Congratulations to Streetwise as it celebrates its 25th Anniversary. I was at the first public meeting for Streetwise back 1992 when the idea of creating a publication that homeless people could sell to help support themselves was still in early development. I wrote entertainment features for Streetwise during its first few years, and I’m glad to see the publication still actively covers the performing arts scene in Chicago. Pick up a copy of the latest issue for $2 from one of the vendors in the downtown area.

I second that emotion. It was nice to see the support and affection popular weatherman Tom Skilling received after becoming overwhelmed as he reported on the recent eclipse for WGN TV. Reportedly, his tears were a response to witnessing the deep effect the solar event was having on those who had come out to view it.

In a perfect world, I would have spent the bulk of last weekend basking in the communal and creative vibes of the inaugural YippieFest at the Prop Thtr. As it was, a hectic schedule, a freelance overload, and a nasty cold limited me to a Saturday night visit to this three-day festival dedicated to carrying on the spirit of the Abbie Hoffman Died For Our Sins festival that was staged by the Mary-Arrchie Theatre for several years. From what I heard, former Mary-Arrchie Theatre Artistic Director (the troupe called it quits in 2016) dropped by on Friday night to show his support. On Saturday, Famous In Future performed a mix of old and new comedy material to packed and appreciative house, followed by an engaging new work from Black Forest Theatre that opened with a tribute to the late Sam Shepard. Here’s hoping YippieFest becomes a new summer tradition.