Concert Thu May 01 2008

A New (Mannequin) Man

Chicago’s very own Mannequin Men will once again embrace the glamour that is the Empty Bottle, but this time bassist Rick Berger will not join them. According to their semi-new blog, Berger has left the group to join his fiancé in doing that whole move to New York to start a new life thing. The split was amicable, so there should be no fall out or bad vibes when new bassist (and blogger from the Chicago Reader’s Crickets music site) Miles Raymer joins the group for a warm up in Cincinnatti before his hometown debut at the corner of Western and Cortez.

The band seemingly has no worries, but the first couple shows with a new member are always chaotic and somewhat loose. But for a band that feeds off those qualities, now may be a good time to reintroduce yourself to the Mannequin Men, because if you miss this show, you will miss the best house party you never went to in college and one of the best live bands in Chicago will rock on without you. Tis all good, though, they play the Flameshovel showcase with Maritime at the Double Door on May 25th as a consolation prize.

The show is May 2nd at the Empty Bottle (1035 N. Western Ave.) with openers Sic Alps set to go on around 8pm. Tyvek and, then the Mannequin Men, to follow, but ask around for the after show spot, as these guys usually do their city proud on gig night. Tickets are $8 in advance and can be bought here on the web or by phone (866-468-3401). You can also wait and get them for $10 at the door. If you don’t already have a copy of their excellent Flameshovel debut, Fresh Rot, you can pick up a copy here or stream samples of all the songs here.

— Mitchell Bandur / Comments (0)