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player ready...It’ll be a somewhat different NRBQ than longtime Chicago fans have come to expect when the veteran group hits the stage Saturday at the Cubby Bear.
After a mind-boggling 20 years with the same lineup, guitarist Al Anderson left the band just before the start of the year. He’s been replaced by Johnny Spampinato, the younger brother of the group’s bass player, Joey Spampinato.
The timing of “Big Al’s” departure is unfortunate, as it coincides with the release of NRBQ’s best album in years, “Message for the Mess Age,” on Rhino Records’ Forward subsidiary. While Anderson shared lead vocal and songwriting duties with Joey and keyboardist Terry Adams, his jaw-dropping, rockabilly-influenced fretwork will be sorely missed.
Reached on the road in Atlanta, Joey Spampinato said the split was amicable, but his tone suggests otherwise.
“From what I read in an interview he did, Al left because he felt he didn’t have enough power in the band and because he was tired of playing the same circuit we’ve played all these years,” he said. “Also, he spends a lot of time writing songs with other people in Nashville, and I guess he feels like he’s going to make a pile of money doing that.”
Joey reports that brother Johnny, formerly with the Incredible Casuals, is fitting in well after only a few months.
“He was a natural choice, and when the break with Al came he just fell into place,” he said. “He’s a great guitar player and that’s what he’s concentrating on. Right now he’s just doing lead vocals on (Anderson’s) “A Little Bit of Bad,” because we didn’t want to overload him too much. He’s got such a backlog of material to learn, and we’re breaking him in slowly. So far we haven’t heard anything negative (about the change) at all. We were expecting to hear people yelling out, `We want Big Al,’ but that hasn’t been the case.”
Since its formation in 1968, NRBQ has always been a band that has marched to a different beat. They’ve ignored trends and fads and worked in so many styles of music that it’s almost impossible to categorize their sound. As a live band, they have no equal. Adams is one of rock ‘n’ roll’s wackiest characters. Spampinato is a rock-solid bassist who shines as a vocalist on the band’s more melodic material. Rounding out the band is Tom Ardolino, a drummer who brings to mind the Rolling Stones’ Charlie Watts.
Speaking of the Stones, Spampinato is one of several bass players who auditioned to replace Bill Wyman. With a full schedule of commitments with NRBQ, Spampinato says an offer to join a Stones tour would have been a “tough call.” He has more pressing things on his mind, anyway.
“Tell people NRBQ has turned a new page, but we’re still alive and kicking and we’ll continue to do so,” he says.
Other concerts of note
Black Uhuru, Friday at the Cubby Bear: Black Uhuru has long been one of reggae’s most successful acts, fusing topical lyrics about the human condition with some of the sweetest harmonies and most hypnotic grooves around. The group has had a somewhat fluid roster over the years, but a few years ago original members Don Carlos and Garth Dennis rejoined Duckie Simpson, who has been the constant throughout Black Uhuru’s 20-year career. All three are fine singers, and they’ll be joined by former Wailers guitarist Earl “Chinna” Smith.
James Blood Ulmer, Friday at Lounge Ax: Once a celebrated disciple of free-form jazzman Ornette Coleman, guitarist James Blood Ulmer has made a right turn towards the mainstream. But don’t get the wrong idea: Ulmer is never going to be your garden variety rocker. His current “Blues Preacher” album is aptly titled, as blues are the common threads that tie his forays into Hendrix-style rock, funk and even a bit of country together. Ulmer’s deep, if occasionally unintelligible, vocals perfectly match his music, while his fiery guitar playing is as potent as ever.
Luna, Friday at Metro: Luna’s dreamy, hummable music on their current “Bewitched” album is an antidote to the “noise for the sake of noise” ethos of so many alternative rock acts these days. Frontman Dean Wareham’s vocals and lyrics are subtle but effective, and they have just enough of an arty touch about their music to make them more than just “easy-listening” alternative rock. Opening at this 11:30 p.m. show is Low.
Urge Overkill, Saturday, Sunday at Metro: Attention rat-packers: Those studied masters of everything groovy are returning for two triumphant hometown gigs. Wear your peace medallion. Saturday is sold out.
Ali Farka Toure, Saturday at the Old Town School of Folk Music: African vocalist-guitarist Ali Farka Toure’s recent collaboration with Ry Cooder, “Talking Timbuktu,” has drawn raves for bridging the gap between traditional west African music and American blues. A native of Timbuktu, Mali, Toure was drawn to John Lee Hooker’s electrified delta blues style in the ’60s, and although he has been called the “African John Lee Hooker,” it’s due more to his free-form sense of time than for any vocal resemblance. These 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. shows should be two of the year’s best world music concerts.
Nine Inch Nails, Saturday at the Riviera Theatre: Upon first exposure, Nine Inch Nails’ music sounds like the perfect soundtrack for root canal work. And like a root canal, NIN’s music can be painful, but it is ultimately worth the trouble. NIN is actually Trent Reznor, whose slice ‘n’ dice method of creating music via computers and other high-tech “toys” has reached its pinnacle on “The Downward Spiral,” which provides some of the most challenging music to ever hit the Top 30 on Billboard’s top albums chart. It’ll be interesting to see how Reznor and his touring musicians are able to reproduce the album’s complex sound onstage at this sold-out show.
The Charlatans, Queen Sarah Saturday, Sunday at the Vic: Survivors of the Great Manchester Hype of a few years ago (please report in, Happy Mondays and Stone Roses), the Charlatans have returned with the groove-friendly album “Up To Our Hips,” which includes at least one sure-fire “Triple A” radio hit, the infectious “Can’t Get Out of Bed.” We know the feeling. Opening is North Carolina’s brash Queen Sarah Saturday, who sound like a less commercially oriented version of Material Issue.
Syd Straw, Sunday at Lounge Ax: Everyone’s favorite modern rock guest vocalist steps to the front for this show in which she’ll be backed by members of Chicago’s Poi Dog Pondering.
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Matthew Sweet, Tuesday-Thursday at the Park West: Like the BoDeans and John Hiatt, tuneful rocker Matthew Sweet has become a major alternative album rock radio star in Chicago, hence this unusual three-night stint. Sweet’s latest release is the seven-song EP, “Son of Altered Beast,” a hodge-podge of live cuts, remixes and outtakes. WXRT is sponsoring the first night and Q-101 the second, as they arm-wrestle over rights to become Chicago’s official “Matthew Sweet Station.” The first two nights are sold out.