Local sound engineer Che Arthur can often be found working the board at the Empty Bottle or other spots around town, and he fronts excellent postpunk quartet Pink Avalanche—that is, when he isn’t on the road as tour manager for Bob Mould. Late last week Arthur celebrated his birthday onstage with Mould at famed Minneapolis club First Avenue, singing “When You Were Mine” (joined by members of opening band the Suicide Commandos) as a tribute to the Purple One. Arthur, who might be the biggest Prince maniac Gossip Wolf has ever met, had this to say: “Prince and Bob have both played huge roles in my musical upbringing, and to suddenly find myself onstage with one to pay tribute to the other in their shared hometown was amazing and surreal.”
Gossip Wolf has long admired Chicago Singles Club, which for three years has highlighted great local acts on its website—each month it’s published a profile packed with photos and accompanied by a mini documentary and a pair of songs recorded by CSC. The club also hosts local artists at Cole’s on the fourth Friday of every month. Alas, CSC is winding down its site—no more monthly profiles—but the fourth-Friday showcases will go on. The CSC team celebrates the site’s third birthday on Monday, May 2, at the Empty Bottle with a free show by Grandkids, Oshwa, the Gold Web, and the Runnies.
The Funs, aka Jessee Rose Crane and Philip Jerome Lesicko, left Chicago in 2012 to refurbish a house in downstate New Douglas, but they’ve stayed connected to the local scene. Chicago bands such as Ego and the Sueves have recorded at the Funs’ home, named Rose Raft. This weekend Crane and Lesicko return to ask for help repairing the place: their fund-raiser features a silent auction and sets by Relevant Hairstyles, Lala Lala, the Hecks, and Swear Beam (which includes both of the Funs). The show is Saturday, April 30; e-mail roseraft.info@gmail.com for details. v
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