Well, the rumors were true. Sure enough, Tim Kinsella and his former bandmates Mike Kinsella, Sam Zurick, Victor Villareal and Davey von Bohlen came together on stage at the Empty Bottle for the long-awaited Cap’n Jazz reunion this past Friday night, part of the sprawling Joan of Arc Don’t Mind Control Variety Show. The proto–suburban punk forerunners hit the stage close to midnight and powered through early ’90s nuggets “Little League,” “Oh Messy Life,” “We Are Scientists!” and “Que Suerte!” Though the group’s once-spastic youthful energy was slightly tempered with age, it was replaced with noticeably improved musicianship. Die-hard fans may have missed hallmarks of the group’s heyday like Tim’s trumpet honking, but the capacity audience didn’t seem to mind the omission, opting instead to revel in the intense nostalgia of it all.

Back in the pool room, one could have a sip and take home a bag of limited-run Joan of Arc blend from Intelligentsia—perhaps to brew every morning while Live in Chicago wakes you up.

Photos: Martha Williams

We’re barely into 2010 and already the rumor mill is abuzz with speculation surrounding this summer’s festival headliners. The NYE announcement that grunge pioneer Soundgarden is reforming led many to suspect that the group was a shoe-in for this year’s Lollapalooza (which the Seattle group has played twice previously, in 1992 and 1996). Now, NYC/Chicago music blog Consequence of Sound reports an already popular rumor that recently reformed indie heavyweight Pavement will headline this year’s Pitchfork Music Festival. We immediately put in a call to Pitchfork’s office, and while it wouldn’t yet confirm, it didn’t deny it either. COS doesn’t cite its source, but the idea makes enough sense on paper. Pavement frontman Stephen Malkmus has a history with the Pitchfork Fest, having performed solo in 2007.

We’ve also learned from our own private source that Chicago’s own Smith Westerns are slated to appear at this year’s Pitchfork Fest. But back to the guessing game: It’s pretty safe to assume that the folks at Pitchfork will call on their current crop of buzz bands, among them Neon Indian, Surfer Blood, Girls and the Drums. Judging by the site’s coverage, we also wouldn’t be surprised to see rising rapper Freddie Gibbs on the lineup. That is, if Lolla doesn’t snatch him up first, which seems just as likely given the surprisingly homogenous pool of artists from which talent is drawn, as Sun-Times music critic Jim DeRogatis discovered in this revealing interview with William Morris “super-agent” Marc Geiger. As we reported a few months back, Lollapalooza is currently accepting suggestions for this year’s lineup. So if the thought of thousands of shirtless middle-aged dudes in Dr. Martens bellowing “Outshined” in Grant Park is too much to bare, best suggest some alternatives immediately.

Originally published 1/11/2010.

UPDATE: An interview with Pavement multi-instrumentalist Bob Nastanovich in this past Sunday’s edition of Louisville’s Courier-Journal appears to be the source that many web outlets are crediting the Pavement leak to. Nastanovich himself isn’t quoted, but reporter Jeffrey Lee Puckett gives it away when mentioning how the group’s Pitchfork appearance is the closest they’ll get to Louisville on their reunion tour:

“The vast majority of venues will be far larger than any they used to play, but none are expected to be in Louisville. Chicago’s Pitchfork Festival will likely be the closest; the only non-festival U.S. dates announced so far are the late September shows in Central Park.”

The latest episode of our local music podcast The Infinite Loop features terrific local talent Tania Bowers, who as Via Tania recently released her second album, Moon Sweet Moon. The charming full-lenth is the result of a significant time spent abroad chasing her sound, as uncovered in this week’s profile. Bowers recently visited our State and Jackson headquarters for an interview and recording, in which she discussed her role as a makeup artist on Califone’s feature-length film All My Friends Are Funeral Singers and how the moon was essential to her youth in Australia. Best of all, she played two lovely tunes on her tenor ukulele, including “How Come,” on which she teases a gorgeous call and response effect from a lo-fi cassette recorder. It’s breathtaking, and may be the most intimate Infinite Loop performance yet. Hear it for yourself.

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Infinite Loop image: Nadine Nakanishi

Hammy, glammy locals Kill Hannah are the latest victims of a ring of thefts plaguing bands touring through Philadelphia. The Chicago group’s van and equipment were stolen from a Holiday Inn yesterday, just a week after the same thing happened to Virginia band Mae. Read the whole sad story here, along with a list of newly-missing instruments. A similar rash of robberies plagued the City of Brotherly Love just a few years ago, afflicting acts like Film School and Chicago’s own Ambulette (at this point, Philly promoters probably wish they could blame the Yankees for this one). No strangers to adversity, this marks another major setback for the Kill Hannah clan, following last year’s devastating tour bus fire in Europe. Though KH was forced to cancel tonight’s tour-closing concert in NYC with Papa Roach and Jet, the group will play its annual New Heart for Xmas shows, which at this point we’d suggest renaming New Gear for Xmas.

Leave it to MSNBC to get their Twitter feed hacked right before the weekend. You’d think a prominent news organization of that stature might have its guard up against such sophomoric shenanigans, but it just goes to show that no one is safe from web trolls. Errant tweets like “ALL CARTOONS ARE FUCKIN’ DICKS! @DylanMSNBC, @maddow, @MADNews101 are all cartoons!” and “We LOVE Sean Hannity!! Cum all over us Glenn Beck!!”—are two of the less offensive tweets. Thankfully (for their sake, if not our yuks) it seems as though the network’s already caught on to the error. I can sympathize, as my Twitter account was hacked a few weeks back, and in the hour or two before I realized what had happened, my account had DM’d (that’s Direct Message, for you Twitterphobes) at least half of the folks that I follow. Needless to say, if you receive a DM from MSNBC asking you to check out some sweet pix, by all means delete immediately!

Update: TechCrunch reports that the Twitter account in question was fake all along, and the legit newsstream preceding the offensive tweets (obviously not included in the above screengrab) was only a cheap attempt to deceive overzealous media peeps (like your’s truly!). Here is the official link to MSNBC’s news feed.

Still upset about the lack of hip-hop on last year’s Lolla lineup? Maybe you think the annual music fest behemoth should take on more country acts, or (gasp) jazz artists. As announced earlier on Twitter, fest organizers are taking virtual requests. Submit your own Lollapalooza requests now. Make your voice heard, whether you think the Polkaholics still haven’t gotten their due, or that it’s high time the Waco Brothers headlined the whole shebang. There’s an additional suggestion box on the ballot, so don’t be afraid to air any other grievances. After all, it’s our world. Lolla’s just living in it.

It was just shy of 8pm last night when I rolled up to Lincoln Hall, only to find Chris and Mike Schuba pacing the sidewalk in front of the brand new venue. The brothers seemed a little nervous, but by all indicators there wasn’t too much left to fret over. The hard part was over now with the liquor license obtained and room capacity cemented at just over 500. More assuring was the crowd of concertgoers that had already formed a line streaming down the block, eager to get a glimpse of Lincoln Avenue’s latest addition.

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As we reported earlier this week, things are finally falling into place for Lincoln Hall, the lovely new sibling venue to Schubas. A few new dates have been added since our last post, and now former Soul Coughing frontman Mike Doughty is set to open the venue one week from today. This PDF details the club’s current bookings, along with a few teaser snapshots. Tickets for Lincoln Hall shows are on sale now.

An understated tweet from Schubas promotions guy Tim Stephans quietly announced the launch of Lincoln Hall’s snazzy new website, boasting bookings through the end of the year. It’s an impressive lineup so far, including a collabo from Son Volt’s Jay Farrar and Death Cab for Cutie’s Ben Gibbard (Oct 26), a set from Vic Chesnutt’s band including Fugazi’s Guy Picciotto and members of Godspeed You Black Emperor (Nov 5) and another Eccentric Soul Revue from ace R&B archivists the Numero Group. We’re pleased to see things falling into place for the Schuba brothers, Matt Rucins and co. after rampant speculation and a couple minor setbacks (the club’s intended opener was Hope Sandoval, who played Lakeshore Theater last night instead). As talent buyer Rucins mentioned to us when we previewed the joint a couple months back, the new concert hall will allow bands to stretch out local runs, and sure enough, the Walkmen have added two LH dates (Nov 12, 13) to compliment a Nov 11 gig at Schubas that sold out weeks ago. As of this moment, it all begins October 21 with Brit electro-provocateurs La Roux, though we wouldn’t be surprised if an earlier date were to pop up on the calendar. So, this means it’s legit, right?

We’re saddened to report that the Scotland Yard Gospel Choir was involved in a serious van accident yesterday. The local Bloodshot band was en route to the Midpoint Music Festival in Cincinnati when a tire blowout on I-65 in Indiana caused the van to roll over several times. According to Bloodshot’s website, band members Ethan Adelsman, Jay Santana and Alison Hinderliter have been released from the hospital, while Mark Yoshizumi, Mary Ralph and bandleader Elia Einhorn are still being treated. Donations via PayPal are being accepted here, or at tsygc@bloodshotrecords.com.

The band recently released a new album, …And the Horse You Rode In On, and our thoughts and prayers are with them for a speedy recovery.