Aug. 7, 2002
	Bent Nights
All publications Front Page Nightspots Blacklines En La Vida Out! Resource Guide Current WCT Issue	BY VERN HESTER Four Reasons to go to Market Days ("Do yourself a favor...") 1. Dylan Rice creeps me out. A thoroughly congenial young man of such radiant positivity and charm that you would think his name was really Opie. But his music is a different story. Songs of turbulent despair and bottomless anger fill his songbook. I haven't yet gotten over his "I Do and I Don't," so far the most memorable song I've heard this year. But the music is only the half of it. The man has a voice from the underworld...seductively deep and humid one moment, then flipping unexpectedly into a pleading falsetto the next. Seeing him solo at Grinder earlier in the year was riveting, but seeing him with a full band at the first Nevin's Live/Windy City Radio Music Series was a religious experience. To hear "One True Thing," about finding truth in society...particularly in the gay bar culture...is a stinging dash of reality that melts all those rainbow flags and "We Are Family" homilies that the gay community likes to flaunt. Still at work on his debut CD, Rice can be found occasionally at the Uncommon Ground or Grinder. So you're better off seeing him at Market Days with a full band. Unquestionably the most exciting newcomer of the year. Rice plays at the Windy City Radio Stage on Saturday, Aug. 10, from 2:10-2:40 p.m. 2. In contrast to Rice, Andrew Kerr seems all sweet and nice and so is his music. Kerr has such a gently embroidered humor and subtle charm that he sticks out in this age of overkill. To see him at Market Days is probably a comedown because he projects such intimate warmth and integrity that an impersonal space like a street festival (particularly THIS street festival) would presumably undercut his appeal. But that's beside the point. When I saw him open for Melissa Ferrick at the Double Door three months ago he charmed the living shit out of a full house. Irresistibly likeable himself, his songs are sweetly earnest and nakedly sincere. "Don't Forget the Fans," a polite dissection of the Britney cult is satirically biting and subtly gentle at the same time (there's a new one, scathing satire delivered with a fur glove). "Wonder Woman Belt," about his protective older sister, is achingly open hearted and sincere. Kerr doesn't sing loud, so you have to listen hard, even at Market Days. But this is a case where listening hard definitely pays off. Kerr plays with the "Live from New York" bunch on the Windy City Radio Stage, Sunday, Aug. 11 at 7:10 p.m. 3. Got a black-wrapped CD in the mail last week. The disk itself had no label, just black smudgy finger prints (smelled like motor oil), and a card that had the message, "Cum at once ... Jinx Titanic" scrawled in lipstick. I called immediately and though I didn't get Titanic, I got some guy named Tarbaby who told me to be at the Windy City Radio Stage Sunday night. Tarbaby told me that I was expected. Mystery aside, I played the CD and found Mr. Titanic to be quite a cut-up. The CD was loaded with ribald and lusty songs like "You Smell Like Dinner" (which made sliding a biscuit through gravy sound like a lewd act), and "Take it like a Man" (a tart smackdown to gay studliness). Rowdy and naughty, apart from the theme song, "Super 8 Cum Shot," the disk is raucous without being vulgar. The jokey careening wild card aroma adds up to the kind of bawdiness that used to be the province of Screamin' Jay Hawkins and the Divine Ms. M. I don't have a clue who this guy Titanic is, but on the strength of what I've heard, his set at Market Days promises to be unforgettable. Super 8 Cum Shot plays at the Windy City Radio Stage Sunday at 8:15 p.m. 4. Yvonne Doll is something else entirely. The first time I saw her was at Grinder, where she did a quiet, tasteful acoustic set culminating in a thoughtful cover of "Up on the Roof." I had been ribbing her about her love of Carole King ever since, until I saw her at the Nevin's Live/Windy City Radio blow out a month ago. Barefoot with spiky blonde hair, Doll's singing and playing (guitar) are refreshingly fierce and liberating. Ms. King herself could do with a dose of Doll and her band the Locals if only to reclaim the passionate fury she hasn't displayed in, oh, 30 years. But Doll has surrounded herself with a mesmerizing band. Christy Nunes on bass immediately got into that funky groove woman thing that only truly funky women can do. Basher Ross Rutherford pummeled his kit with rushing power one instant, then slinky quiet charm the next. But David Goldman just about stole the show. Slicing notes off his violin with teeth-clenching abandon, down on his knees, playing on his back, the man was fucking possessed. Rutherford is the kind of spirited passionate performer that almost doesn't exist anymore (must be hell in bed). If you miss Yvonne and the Locals, just go home, crawl under the covers ... cry. The Locals will play the Windy City Radio Stage on Sunday, Aug. 11 at 3 p.m.   WEEKEND BRIEFS ... Brooklyn-based duo Bitch and Animal headline Best Cock on the Block Friday, Aug. 9, a performance benefit for Michelle Mahoney's film The Undergrad. The Chicago Kings also perform. Doors 9 p.m., $10, Empty Bottle. 1035 N. Western, (773) 276-3600. Windy City Radio and Nevin's Live present the Windy City Radio Music Series, Aug. 9 featuring Sean Wiggins and Linda Moss, Ellen Rosner, Edie Carey, Teddy Goldstein, Anne Heaton and Star Candy; 9 p.m.-midnight, $8, 1460 Sherman Ave., Evanston, (847) 869-0450. Circuit MOM Productions hosts a variety of Marketdays weekend events, (312) 266-1200, www.circuitmom.com. Scott Free performs Wed., Aug. 7 at Annex, in a benefit for the Chicago Anti-Bashing Network. Starts 8 p.m., $5, 3160 N. Clark.	Dylan Rice (left, photo by Hester) and Andrew Kerr
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