Thursday17
Tinariwen
Friday18
Shemekia CopelandMillie Jackson PostponedKings Go ForthLocksMGMTWreckless Eric & Amy Rigby
Saturday19
EyehategodScotland Yard Gospel ChoirTinariwen
Sunday20
Eyehategod
Monday21
Jeff the Brotherhood
Tuesday22
DM StithWooden Wand
Wednesday23
Devin Hoff, Kent Kessler, Nate McBride, and Jason Roebke
friday18
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MILLIE JACKSON This show has been postponed till October. Da Brat has called Millie Jackson the “mother of hip-hop,” and her brash persona, legendarily risque stage shows, and profanity-laden novelty songs—all part of a style she’d developed by the early 70s—do seem to foreshadow rap in certain ways. Unlike some of her alleged musical progeny, though, Jackson is much more than a potty mouth: to cite only two examples, her 1977 version of Merle Haggard’s “If We’re Not Back in Love by Monday” (retitled “If You’re Not Back in Love by Monday”) mines depths of pathos that the original could only hint at, and her tour-de-force 11-plus-minute rendition of the Luther Ingram soul classic “(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don’t Want to Be Right,” which she had to fight her record company to release as a two-sided single in 1975, is an eloquent portrait of a bad bitch with a tender heart. These days Jackson spends most of her time as a take-no-prisoners AM-radio host on KKDA in Dallas, Texas, though she also maintains a touring schedule that keeps her fairly busy on the southern circuit. Her most recent CD of new material, 2001’s Not for Church Folk! (on her own Weird Wreckuds label), includes a few of the obligatory four-letter-word raunchfests, but as usual she shines most brightly on more substantial fare like “Water, Water,” an ode to the immolating power of passion, and “Leave Me Alone,” a declaration of independence that also lays bare the anguished vulnerability beneath the loner’s misanthropic pose. This concert is a celebration of 50 years in show business for soul and gospel legend Otis Clay; along with Jackson and Clay, the bill also includes the Soul Stirrers, the Victory Travelers, and child prodigy Tariq Griffin. Ali Ollie Woodson, a former member of the Temptations, was originally scheduled to perform as well, but died of leukemia on May 30 at age 58; tonight’s program will include a memorial tribute. This show has been postponed till October. 7 PM, UIC Forum, 725 W. Roosevelt, 312-280-1380 or 866-448-7849, $35-$50. —David Whiteis
KINGS GO FORTH Representing Milwaukee in the vintage soul revival that also includes Sharon Jones and Eli “Paperboy” Reed, Kings Go Forth are a prismatic celebration of the genre’s past glories and future potential—they make an excellent case that the recent resurgence of interest in soul ought to continue for decades to come. In the 70s lead vocalist Jesse “Black Wolf” Davis was in a midwestern group called the Essentials that recorded some unreleased tracks in Curtis Mayfield’s studio, and his high tenor, similar to Mayfield’s, makes comparisons pretty much inevitable—albeit about as enlightening as likening a garage band to the Stooges, a metal band to Black Sabbath, or a polka band to Frank Yankovic & His Yanks. It helps that The Outsiders Are Back (Luaka Bop), which mostly collects the band’s singles to date, is rife with Mayfieldisms—not a bad thing, mind you. Kings Go Forth are a tentet, and their buoyant arrangements—the disco foundation of “Don’t Take My Shadow,” the Purdie shuffle of “High on Your Love,” the ahead-of-the-beat drive of “Now We’re Gone”—allow everybody so much freedom to play that the rich three-part vocal harmonies and killer horn charts can kick the songs up to majestic heights. The Soul Summit DJs open. 9 PM, Double Door, 1572 N. Milwaukee, 773-489-3160 or 877-435-9849, $5. —Brian Costello
sunday20
