continued from page 42
Chicago; Makaya McCraven’s Universal Beings/Drab Majesty/
Wingtips/Fee Lion — Empty Bottle, Chicago; Stevie Craig Band
— Fire Water Saloon, Edison Park; Blackberry Jam — Fire Water
Saloon, Mt. Greenwood; Country Night in Berwyn — FitzGerald’s,
Berwyn; Brian Kovacs — Four Winds Casino, New Buffalo, MI;
Andy Brown/Alan Gresik Swing Shift Orchestra — Green Mill,
Chicago; Otep — H.O.M.E. Bar, Arlington Heights; Makena
Hartlin — HB Jones, Elmhurst; Devil In A Woodpile/Doug Paisley
/The Other Years — Hideout, Chicago; Steel Panther/Chicago
Slim & Friends/Chicago Blues All Stars — House of Blues,
Chicago; Joey DeFrancesco — Jazz Showcase, Chicago; Mike
Wheeler/Nellie Tiger Travis — Kingston Mines, Chicago; Laura
Jane Grace & The Devouring Mothers/Cory Branan/Fred
Thomas — Lincoln Hall, Chicago; Golden Gate Wingmen w/John
Kadlecik/Jay Lane/Jeff Chimenti/Reed Mathis — Martyrs’,
Chicago; Kevin Presbrey — Nevin’s Brewing Co., Plainfield; So
You Think You Can Karaoke Hip/Hop R&B Edition — Promontory
Theater, Chicago; Jim Ryan’s Classic Album Night — Reggie’s,
Chicago; Kenny G. — Rialto Square Theater, Joliet; Ear Candy —
Rivers Casino, Des Plaines; James Wheeler Blues Jam — Rosa’s
Lounge, Chicago; Carbon Tigers — Sleeping Village, Chicago;
Victor Garcia (CD Release) — Space, Evanston; Throwing Shade
Live — Thalia Hall, Chicago; Ministry — The Forge, Joliet; You
Folk/Jewel Osco — The Owl, Chicago; Peter Melichar — The
Sandlot Wrigley, Chicago; Mark Normand/Steve Rannazzisi —
Zanies, Chicago.
FRIDAY 30 NOVEMBER
Concert For George — 210 Live, Highwood; Marc Anthony —
Allstate Arena, Rosemont; Mike Smith/ Mark Colby — Andy’s
Jazz Club, Chicago; TNWSC/Smashing Pumpkins/Grandson/
Albert Hammon Jr. — Aragon Ballroom, Chicago; Winger —
Arcada Theater, St. Charles; Lurrie Bell — B.L.U.E.S., Chicago;
Coverlicious — Ballydoyle, Aurora; Six To Midnight —
Bannerman’s, Bartlett; Tyler Krienitz — Bar Evolution, Batavia;
Luke Null — Beat Kitchen, Chicago; BTS Express/Shirley
Johnson — Blue Chicago, Chicago; Mike Zabrin’s Funktastic/
Recycle The Day — Blue Chip Casino-Rocks Lounge, Michigan City,
IN; Hey Jimmy — Blue Chip Casino-Vegas Baby, Michigan City, IN;
Keys N Krates — Bottom Lounge, Chicago; Coax & Folks/Johnny
Justice & The Southside Railroad/DJ Mike Gator/DJ Mike Y —
Bourbon Street, Merrionette Park; Monster/After Forever —
Brauer House, Lombard; Kimi Hayes — Broken Oar, Port
Barrington; Sorry For Partying — Bub City, Chicago; Fletcher
Rockwell — Bub City, Rosemont; Dr. Feelgood/Photograph
Tribute — Cheers, Midlothian; Trailer Park Boys — Chicago
Theater, Chicago; Sidewalk Chalk/Lowdown Brass Band/
Dynamo — Chop Shop/1st Ward, Chicago; Jane Lynch & A
Swingin’ Little Christmas — City Winery, Chicago; Mike Toomey
Christmas Special — Club Arcada, St. Charles; Googoosh —
Copernicus Center, Chicago; The Way Down Wanderers/Growler
/Amoramora — Cubby Bear, Chicago; McLennon — Doc’s Victory
Pub, Elmhurst; Face N Time — Dock’s Bar, Wauconda; Pat
McCurdy/In The Flesh — Durty Nellie’s, Palatine; Comedy Dance
Chicago — Elbo Room, Chicago; Cult Leader/Primitive Weapons
/God Mother — Empty Bottle, Chicago; Trouble Ahead —
Evanston Rocks, Evanston; Rendition — Fire Water Saloon, Mt.
Greenwood; American English/Cannonball — FitzGerald’s,
Berwyn; Loverboy (Silver Creek)/Shock Roxy/DJ — Four Winds
Casino, New Buffalo, MI; OMT — Frankie’s Blue Room, Naperville;
Flipside Show w/Chris Foreman/Velvet Lounge Legacy/After
Hours Jazz Jam — Green Mill, Chicago; My Metal Heart —
H.O.M.E. Bar, Arlington Heights; Simply Sound — Harp & Fiddle,
Park Ridge; Wume/TALsounds/ Hujo — Hideout, Chicago; It
Takes Two — Hollywood Casino, Aurora; Tynan — Hollywood
Casino, Joliet; Dave Herrero/John Primer — House of Blues,
Chicago; James Libera — Incontro A Tavola, S. Barrington;
Whiskey & Harmony — Jake’s on Tap, Palos Heights; Joey
DeFrancesco — Jazz Showcase, Chicago; Live Band Karaoke w/
Erik Donner — Jimmy’s Grill, Naperville; Sal & Izy/The
FarmRaiser 2018 w/Hello Dave — Joe’s Bar, Chicago; Hoosier
Ditty — JW Hollstein’s Saloon, Tinley Park; Kathleen Dooley —
Kennedy Point, Bristol; Joe Fascetta — Kerry Piper, Willowbrook;
Joanna Connor/Shawn Holt — Kingston Mines, Chicago;
MeWithoutYou/The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No
Longer Afraid To Die/Hold Down The Ocean — Lincoln Hall,
Chicago; Punch Cabbie/Along THe Parallel/When Wealthy
Fell/A Silent Truth — Live Wire, Chicago; Golden Gate Wingmen
w/John Kadlecik/Jay Lane/Jeff Chimenti/Reed Mathis —
Martyrs’, Chicago; Horton’s Holiday Hayride w/The Reverend
Horton Heat/Junior Brown/The Blasters/Big Sandy — Metro,
Chicago; Mixtape Junkies/Members Only — Nevin’s Brewing Co.,
Plainfield; Bob Schneider — Old Town School, Chicago; Rowdy
Souls/Burnt Biscuits — Penny Road Pub, Barrington; Heaven
And Hell/Lights Out Chicago — Pheasant Run Mainstage, St.
Charles; Zeshan B — Promontory Theater, Chicago; The Slackers
— Reggie’s, Chicago; 7th Heaven/Julian Jumpin Perez/DJ Q —
Rivers Casino, Des Plaines; Melvin Taylor & The Slack Band —
Rosa’s Lounge, Chicago; Carlile/Emily Blue/People Museum —
Sleeping Village, Chicago; Dolly Varden — Space, Evanston;
Advanced Placement Tour/The Regrettes/ Welles/Micky
James/Hallow Point — Subterranean, Chicago; J.D. McPherson
w/Joel Paterson — Thalia Hall, Chicago; Saving Abel/Frontline
/Achilles/Blacklist Regulars — The Forge, Joliet; The
Pickpockets — The Sandlot, Chicago; Phosphorescent/Liz
Cooper and The Stampede — The Vic, Chicago; John Kimsey &
The Twisted Roots Quartet/Donna Adler — Uncommon Ground,
Chicago; Charlie Wilson R&B Jam — United Center, Chicago;
Jason Stone — White Eagle, Niles; DJ Messes — World of Beer,
Evanston; The Baked Potatoes — Zachary’s Bar, Palos Heights.
44 illinoisentertainer.com november
2018
continued from page 24
Dangerous, until the only things missing
are Christopher Walken and more cowbell.
Adjacent to handclap-propelled anthems
like “Body Talks” sits more sobering mate-
rial, such as “Freak Like You,” “Who Am
I?,” “Tatler Magazine,” and “In Love With
a Camera,” allowing Spiller to weigh in on
his celebrity, indicting his own lifestyle a
bit in the process. Spiller didn’t waste any
time on undertaking the Wants followup –
he's been composing mid-tour, trying to
get a handle on a theme. Because, as the
saying goes, you have your entire life to
come up with your first album, then a few
short months of scrambling to arrive at its
successor. “So your second and third
albums are always written in a moment in
time, but what you find is, the things that
are written in a small space in time are usu-
ally the strongest,” he says. “So a lot of the
real standout tracks on Young & Dangerous
were ones that I finished late in the creative
process — some of them were flea ting
around for well over a year, but they were
finalized with the music and vocals just as
the album was being handed in. In perfect
Struts fashion, everything happened last
minute.”
On record – and on tour – Spiller is
returning to two of his favorite instru-
ments, piano, and harmonica, which takes
him back to the UK pub circuit where he
and Slack first tested out the then-harp-
honking Struts sound. “When we first met,
we used to blues jam at those local pubs,”
he adds. “And it was one of those things
where we would just look at each other
and think, ‘Why in the fuck haven’t we
done this before? It sounds really cool,” he
recollects. The revival of keyboards is cru-
cial, he says, “When I was 19 or 20 and
making my own demos, learning the craft
of what makes a song a song, I was always
writing them on piano – I rarely picked up
a guitar, which is weird because my dad’s
a guitar player,” he continues. Now he’s
openly embracing the instrument again.
He's also saying "yes" whenever possi-
ble, or potentially life-altering. And he con-
fesses that he’s agreed to a few boundary-
pushing experiments here and there that,
at least on the surface, seem pretty prepos-
terous. Desmond Child alone has trans-
formed his entire studio style. “I have
learned truckloads from that man,” Spiller
concludes. “I’ve learned about the impor-
tance of believing in the words that you’re
singing. He was incredibly camp, and we
would sit there in the studio writing out
our lyrics, and then we’d have these
Shakespeare monologues, where we read
those lyrics aloud. It was like we were per-
forming in some London theater.
“But his reasoning was if you can’t
stand up and recite your lyrics with
extreme emotion, then how in the hell are
you ever going to sing them convincingly
to an audience? So that’s something I’ve
definitely taken into the studio with me.
And I get a lot of funny looks, but hey! It
works!”
Appearing 11/23, 11/24 at House Of Blues,
Chicago.