Today, Feb. 28
Jobu @ The Kinetic Playground, $5, 9 p.m.
JoBu is just one more kink in a long, knotted line of indiscriminate jam bands. They claim their sound is as distinct as any band can be these days, which means they’ve given up and hope you will too. If you like Moe., Phish, and Umphrey’s McGee, you’ll hear that JoBu likes them too. Nothing is original. White-boy reggae meets ’90s college bar scene meets vomit-stained toilet seats. $5 isn’t much, but it’s a cheap trick. The Kinetic Playground knows you’ll have to run up the tab to enjoy yourself. Don’t be fooled.
Friday, Feb. 29
Bang Camaro, Thunderwing @ The Double Door $10, 8 p.m.
Bang Camaro is a drunken joke that’s gone too far. They’re a group of twenty-somethings that play ’80s arena rock with soaring guitars and huge drums. That’s not their only gimmick: what sets them apart from other bar bands is their rock choir. Yes, a choir. At any given show, 15 to 20 meatheads take a break from the gym and join Bang Camaro on stage. A stupefying and surreal spectacle you have to see to believe. Fair warning: you’ll probably want to gouge out your eyes. Hopping up and down and pumping their fists, they look like autistic kids excited over Ronald McDonald. They should feel ashamed and embarrassed. I hope there will be more people on stage than in the audience, but this is just stupid enough to be huge. $10 could rent a funnier comedy.
Tuesday, March 4
Gogol Bordello @ The Riviera Theatre, $22+, 7.p.m.
Gypsy punk journeymen Gogol Bordello bring their world-weary music to Chicago’s Riviera Theatre. Bandleader and visionary Eugene Hütz is an Eastern European immigrant who came to the United States with a political refugee resettlement program in 1990. He moved to New York City’s Lower East Side and formed the band to popularize Eastern European music in America. So far they’ve reached a moderate level of success themselves. But most Americans still can’t tell Eastern European music from Indian music. Who could blame us? When it comes to world music, it’s easier just to keep it all in the same bin. Ticketmaster’s charging $21.50 per ticket, and you know they’ll gyp you more with service fees.
